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What Causes Pinging Headaches?

Headaches can cause a lot of different side effects throughout the body. Many migraine sufferers have reported experiencing illusions of light or colored patterns before or during their headache. Other common side effects of headaches are fatigue, nausea and sensitivity to light. One occasional side effect for some people is a pinging or ringing sound in their ears. These so-called pinging headaches can have several different causes, depending on the patient and his medical history.

  1. TMJ

    • Temporomandibular Joint and Muscle Disorder is a series of conditions that involve pain and tightness around the jaw and surrounding tissue. There are multiple causes of TMJ, but pain is a frequent side effect of it. While the jaw may hurt, pain is frequently reported in other areas of the body, such as the head and neck area, according to The TMJ Association. The tensor tympani and tensor levi palatini muscles, which directly affect the ears, clench up when the jaw is tightened, and the result can be a pinging noise in the ears, as well as a headache or migraine.

    Stress

    • While TMJ is a specific physical condition that results in the muscles tightening and causing pain and pinging in the ears, stress can have a similar effect. Stress is the most common headache trigger, and ringing ears can be a frequent side effect as the muscles in the face and neck tighten up, according to the Mayo Clinic. The symptoms are very similar to TMJ except the muscle tightening is brought about by mental stimulation and not a specific physical malady. Stress hormones can change the chemical composition in the brain and contribute to the headaches.

    Tinnitus

    • Tinnitus is the name given to abnormal sounds detected by the ear. This can be a pinging noise, roar or pulsing sound even when there is no noise in the room. The condition is more common for people as they get older or if they suffer ear damage from loud noise over a sustained period of time. Just like tinnitus can be a side effect for headaches, headaches can be a side effect from chronic tinnitus. The pinging in the ears can become stressful and unbearable for some people, and result in sleep disturbances and high stress levels, which make headaches more likely. Tinnitus can be indicative of several ear diseases, such as Meniere's disease.

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