Temporary Tinnitus

marie1967 · 2013-12-06T22:44+00:00

Hello John,

I know just how you feel. Three weeks ago I had a myringotomy for pressure in one of my ears. Immediately following I have had this screaming tinnitus in that ear. Ent doesn't know what to think. I didn't have it before the procedure. I would have thought that it would have left by now if it was just temporary. I do know that eardrums take 6 weeks to heal and close. I don't know if that caused it or if the anesthetic topical got down in my inner ear and damaged it. Does anybody know anything about this? Has anyone had it happen to them before? It's bad enough having the muffled hearing in the ear from the cut eardrum let alone this tinnitus. I cannot tell if it has gotten any better or not. Is it both your ears or just one? Where did you get info about tinnitus being temporary? I don't know who to ask or what to do. I don't want to live like this.

john45611 · 2013-12-07T01:45+00:00

Hi Marie!

Looks like we are gonna have to cope for the long term but I am sure both of ours will go. A doctor said to me permanent tinnitus is caused by exposure to loud noises for years. As I said before a doctor (I say a doctor as I've seen three) said it will last no longer than a year, if it is still here in a years time I don't have a clue what I am going to do. I think people underestimate tinnitus, I feel with technology etc today we should have a simple cure for it, because I bet in 20 years time there will be a cure and it will be so simple to carry out and stop the ringing but 'they' haven't looked into it enough, almost putting it aside. I have the ringing in both of my ears although seems to be more on the left. All of the three doctors I have seen have told me it is temporary and I have not caused any permanent damage. Life has suddenly become ridiculously hard, I just wish I had never listened to music that loud, but then again, i wish that false fire alarm was not set off by a drunken student at 3am in the morning!

marie1967 · 2013-12-07T03:24+00:00

I've read on other websites that it is suppose to occur when there has been damage to the cochlea. I don't understand that in my case because the myringotomy caused this tinnitus. I can't prove it but I know as it started immediately after he perforated my eardrum. How could he have done damage to my cochlea by doing that? What about the anesthetic that he put on my eardrum? I wonder if I am having a reaction to that? Why do you think that mine is temporary? If that doctor didn't damage my cochlea then it has to be the eardrum causing the tinnitus because of the perforation. It won't be healed for several more weeks. Is your tinnitus in one ear or both? Is it very loud? Mine is a buzzing noise. God, I hope this shit goes away? I feel like this doctor did something wrong because this is happening. It scares me.

marie1967 · 2013-12-15T20:20+00:00

Hi John,

Just wondering if your tinnitus has gotten any better in the last few days. Mine seems to have gotten alittle softer or not as loud. I don't know if that's typical of tinnitus in general or if it means that it will slowly fade. I wish someone would tell me. Do you know anything about that? Have any doctors ever told you that if it stops there is still permanent hearing damage? The buzzing is so bad for me that it makes my ear and the way I hear feel numb. Does it affect you that way? I had a myringotomy before and never had this tinnitus from it. I know the procedure caused it as it started immediately after. I'm just afraid that it won't stop. I have heard that if you have tinnitus for 6 months or more then it becomes chronic. What is the 6 month thing? Why did the doctors say a year for it to stop max?

mike20842 · 2014-03-18T11:17+00:00

Hi John;

I am also curious if your T has improved.

I've been fighting mine for just under 10 weeks. Whats crazy is the way mine started. I had 2-3 nights of restless sleep. I finally realized I had a slight ringing in my ears, some slight pressure under my eyes and my ears felt slightly stopped up. I began using a saline spray to clear my sinuses. 2 days later I was at the doctor because my ears were ringing too loudly to sleep. He said he didn't see any signs of infection, but he gave me a Z-pak and some Robitussin cough syrup. I don't believe the antibiotics did anything, but the Robitussin stopped the ringing immediately. I didn't realize it then, but it has guaifenesin in it. That is all I ever needed.

As I said, I didn't make that connection until too late. After the antibiotics were done, and the ringing was still comeing back, I went back to using the saline spray. That was January 12th. That is when my descent into hell began. I used it like crazy that night, along with antihistamines, steam and spray and oral decongestants.

I had no idea that your ears could make noises like that. I felt like I was being tortured. After 40 hours of this I found a friend with some Xanax and managed to sleep. I have seen my GP and an ENT. There is no sign of any infections. My GP prescribed Nasonex in case there was some Eustachian tube inflammation. I used it for a week. It made my ears ring something fierce and I just couldn't take it any longer. My ears/hearing are excellent. Both doctors and my pharmacist say it is a temporary thing, but it will take time to resolve. It is absolutely insane that saline spray can cause this.

I have had days where my ears were almost normal, followed by days that seemed like I had an alarm clock ringing in my brain for the entire day.

At this point the spikes are not nearly as severe, but the hissing/ringing has become pretty much non-stop. Sometimes louder, sometimes less loud. I don't know if this leveling out is a good sign or not though. I can not express how badly this sucks.

hugo05220 · 2014-03-27T19:29+00:00

John,

Did this condition ever go away for you? I started having Tinnitus after a flight I took with an ear infection. Unfortunately every website that I go to is pretty bad news. I am hopping that I don't have to have this for the rest of my life. Just wondering if the Tinnitus ever go away for you. Thanks!

john45611 · 2014-03-28T02:07+00:00

Sorry for the late reply. I still have the ringing so that's almost 6 months now. I had a hearing test at the ENT and they say I have perfect hearing, and referred me to the tinnitus clinic. The woman there said my ears have recovered but I'm still hearing the noise because my brain thinks it's important - everyone is able to hear the noise but the brain doesn't pick it up because it knows it isn't important. Excessively loud headphones is obviously the cause of mine and she said it will take time but eventually it should lessen and go. To 'kick start' this she said always have noise around you 24/7 so that the brain can learn to tune the ringing with the background noise so that it becomes background noise in time, so it lessens. She also said don't over protect them because their is a risk that can cause a big problem, so I can still go to clubs etc. but take breaks every 45m or so and don't stand next to the speakers.

The only thing I ask for in life is for this noise to either go completely or lessen significantly. If I knew that loud noises could cause constant ringing I never would have used headphones again and protected them at gigs etc. (even though I've only been to one, Oasis!)

Make sure you stress the importance and aware family and friends of how the ringing is caused so that they can avoid the mistakes we (I) have made.

Anyway, as Balotelli says, why always me?

Temporary Tinnitus

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