Expert: Dina Q Goldin, Ph.D. - 12/10/2008

Question
Hi,
Am vasanth and my age is 20. Am having a slight ringing in
my left ear from past 3 days. Am able to hear it only when
am in a silent room or when i put a finger into my left ear
to block external noise. Am having a slight stiffness in my
right jaw(i,e i can open my mouth fully but sometimes it is
bit difficult and am not experiencing any pain), i asked my
dentist he told the stiffness is because of growth of
wisdom teeth. I just want to know what is that ringing and
is there any connection between the ringing in the left ear
and stiffness in the right jaw? Is it a symptom of Acoustic
Neuroma ?? Please let me know.Am mentally upset and can't
concentrate in my work because of this worry.

Answer
The stiffness in the right jaw is definitely not connected to the Acoustic Neuroma.  There is a small chance that the ringing in the left ear is connected, but there are many other possible reasons for it. As far as the connection between the stiffess and the ringing, it is also possible, but the possible causes for that are outside my expertise.

If the ringing does not go away within a month, of if you start having problems hearing in the left ear (i.e. using a phone on the left), you should try to figure out the cause.  An MRI with gadolinuium (a contrasting agent) will definitely establish if there is AN.  But the doctor may feel that this expensive test is unwarranted, given that the chance of AN is very small. In this case, I recommend BSER test (Brain Stem Evoked Response test, aka ABER).  It is simple and painless, much better than it sounds, and it will determine if there is any chance of a tumor or not.