Question: I am having a feeling of fullness, sensitivity to certain sounds, and loss of hearing. I think the symptoms are due to grinding my teeth heavily at night. I wear a night guard but my dentist said I wore through the night guard fast and said he was shocked by how many deep bite marks it had.

The symptoms are primarily in the right ear but occasionally in the left ear. They started about 3 ½ weeks ago and have been getting worse. My ENT did several tests and said this is a sensorineural not a conductive hearing loss issue. He described it as a nerve issue. He said my hearing is the same as a few years ago in the left ear, though it is significantly worse in the right ear. The left ear is sensitive to sounds and sometimes feels full even though the hearing is OK. The ENT prescribed Prednisone for 12 days.

My main question is, do I need a muscle relaxant to stop my teeth grinding? I’m pretty sure this is a stress response. I just bought a house, which was a very stressful decision, and I’ve also been having more caffeine than usual. I stopped the caffeine today though. I know teeth grinding can be due to sleep apnea but I am pretty sure I do not have any of the symptoms of sleep apnea.

Thank you for your message. I'm pretty sure I grind only at night. I am 5'5" and 135 pounds.