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Tinnitus and ear irrigation

Posted , 4 users are following.

bennyk
bennyk

Hello

I am a 25 year old male and have chronic tinnitus for the past three months. I am struggling with the ringing and have already spent coinsiderable money on treatments.

my story begins. i woke up 4 months ago and heard a high pitched tone. i waited a week and then went to a local GP. the GP looked at my ears and said that they were heavily impacted with wax. she then proceeded to irrigatre my left ear. i felt that the irrigation took a long time and occassionaly during the procedure i felt a couple of pinhing pains and pulled my head back. i also found the water fairly cold. after carrying out that irrigation she looked at my right ear and said to use drops and come back in a week.

i have got my ears irrigated in the past but the nurses who did it would not irrigate until a week of drops was carried out. i felt very worried leaving the office incase the GP had damaged my ear.

i went back the week later and the GP irrigated my second ear. I still had ringing and infact i found the sound was worse after the irrigation. i found the ringing in the ear that was irrigated without the use of drops was much worse.

i went back to the GP and met a different doctor a week after. he looked at my ear and said there was now fluid behind the my left ear and he put me on steriods to drain it out.

I got my hearing tested and i have no measurable hearing loss. i infact have 0dB hearing at some of the higher frequencies. i was then referred to an ENT and was in with him for only 10 mins and got no information, he only said do i want an MRI.

the riging in the ear that was irrigated without the use of drops is irritating me heavily i can hear it during the day as well asnight. my other ear dose not bother me during the day.

can irrigaiting ears without the preuse of drops casue tinnitus. my ear drum was not perforated but can the act of water hitting the ear drum damage the ossicles or in any way physically damage the ear causing tinnitus. i completely regret going to the GP and she irrigating my left ear without drop as i am worried that this casused my tinnitus. since that day i have spent 1000 euro on different appointments including accupuncture. This Tinnitus is causing me a serious problem and i have recently just started a new job and the tinnitus is effecting me. will it ever go i am only 25 and honestly feel like i am going to have to stop work because of it. Has that GP casused my tinnitus by carrying out an irrigation without the pre use of softening drops

thank you for taking the time to read my query

0 likes, 6 replies

6 Replies

  • dambudzo
    dambudzo bennyk

    Posted

    hi

    i suppose tha it is possible that the tinnitus was caused by something that only became evident after your ears were irrigated. but i agree that it is very strange that the GP irrigated before the use of drops if the wax was impacted. also odd that the GP irrigated and not a nurse.

    the ENT doctor doesn't sound particularly helpful either. 

    it might calm down with time.

    but then it depends on what the underlying problem is. have you returned to the doctor who presecribed the steroids to confirm that the fluid is gone from the left ear? and perhaps that doctor could suggest what might be causing the tinnitus?

    you might find some useful info on the website of the british tinnitus association.

    good luck

     

    • bennyk
      bennyk dambudzo

      Posted

      thank you very much for the reply

      i just would love to know if the ear can be damaged from carrying out an ear irrigation without the use of drops. surely this isnt normal practice and surely a doctor would know the correct procedure. after giving her 80 euro all i fell i have ended up with is a life debilitating condition sad can anyone tell me what physical damage can ear irrigation do to the ear to cause tinnitus? when water hits your ear drum can the shaking of the ossicles damage the coclea or do the ossicles get damaged or what??

      i got it done by two nurses in the past and it was painless becaus they always told me to pretreat with drops. when i went back to a different GP he said the fluid was gone i also asked the ENT and he said the fluid was gone.

      this probem is starting to put me in a fair bit of debt now so i am not sure what to do?

      I have never felt so bad the past few months in all my life. i had just gotten my degree in may and thought that my trouble were over and i could start making a bit of money but now this issue is really puttinh me down. im worried that i will develop depression because of it?

  • bennyk
    bennyk

    Posted

    my hearing test ranges from 0db to 10 db. i was wondering is it normal to get tinnitus when your hearing is at worst 10dB?
    • dambudzo
      dambudzo bennyk

      Posted

      i'm not sure if tinnitus is linked to hearing in that way. 
  • beth03710
    beth03710 bennyk

    Posted

    Hi, I havent got the answer to your question but as a sufferer of tinnitus myself since a young child I thought I could help. It's a horrible thing to have but you aren't alone. I always try to keep background sounds, music always helps me take my mind off of it. I always find the more I think about it the wose mine is. Going to sleep can be hard sometimes, but there are things to help you. There is a tinnitus website for sufferers like us, https://www.tinnitus.org.uk/ there should be lots of info on there for you. I just thought I would reply to let you know you aren't alone, I'm 21 years old and suffered all my life, infact I thought the constant ringing was a normal thing until a few years ago! I know that wasn't very helpful to your question but there are websites and people you can speak to if need be smile

  • janet49694
    janet49694 bennyk

    Posted

    i got tinnitis over 15 yrs ago and i still have it once you get it there really nothing you can do about it and in my opinion the nurse and dr seemed to be idiots i just got my ears cleaned it took 5 minutes i already had the ringing in the ears and the irrigation dint make it worse if anything it was better but i still have it and im stuck with it i understand you its annoying but it will get better in time i take serc for it as well if you cant handle it and it is making you miserable pleas go see another dr there are groups you can join ive learnt to live with mine and it doesnt bother me that much maybe the cleaning of your ears aggravated it  but it should settle down after awhile im sorry to hear your problem its not easy to deal with it kept me awake for 2 nights in a row when i first got it but after that it settled down once i started taking the serc for it theres really not much u can do about it you have to learn to manage it and learn to live with it i went crazy with it at first and thought i cant live with this forever i will go crazy but i have and i also have menieres disease and serc can control that to so good luck and i hope u get better soon and feel ok all the best
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