I Can Stop my Tinnitus by Doing Valsalva Maneuver / by Increasing Pressure in My Head

Hi all,

I've had tinnitus for nearly 6 months now, more than likely due to noise exposure, but who knows, I don't have hearing loss.

The interesting thing is that I can stop my tinnitus by doing Valsalva maneuver or by increasing the pressure in my head, i.e. hanging upside down.

Anyone else experiencing the same thing?

 

Have you seen an ENT? It could be objective tinnitus - ie caused by problems in the middle ear. That could be treatable.

 

I have seen an ENT, but they didn't find anything... However I have chronic sinusitis due to bad tooth... I don't know if there is any connection, the dentist said it's unlikely...

 

Does it dissapear completely? Is it consistent that you can make it dissappear? If yes and yes, I would try another specialist. That beeing said, many people report that they can change their tinnitus by jaw/teeth movement.
Good luck!

 

Yes my tinnitus disappears completely as long as I'm upside down, or as long as my ears are popped out... I am aware that many people can do the same thing, that's why I was asking Thanks anyway!

 

That's pretty interesting, the fact that you can stop it with those methods could definitely suggest there might be somehting physically treatable that might be effecting your tinnitus. I'd keep your efforts up and try to find an ENT who might be willing to further investigate this for you.Have you had an MRI done yet? Or had the doctor check your septum/adenoids/nasal passage?

 

I have tried hanging upside down and it does lower the volume of my tinnitus considerably but only while I'm upside down. So does exercise but only for a few minutes after I stop. I have noise induced tinnitus and have seen an ENT to rule out other causes.

 

I have had intermittent tinnitus since my teens - It comes on in one ear at a time usually - I got up from a couch and noticed modulation of the pitch with the movement, I thought that was interesting, so I tried it again - same thing, so I did a more forceful valsalva (contracting stomach muscles with throat closed, not blowing air into middle ear) and immediately the tinnitus went away. It was so unexpected, I searched the web and found this site. Seems other movements of head and neck can do the same thing (Reference "Head, Neck, and Eye Movements That Modulate Tinnitus" - Simmons et al. 2008). Didn't feel a pop in my ear(s), so I'm thinking modulation of venous pressure may have had something to do with it. Next time I get tinnitus, I'll try some other head/neck movements, and see if the Valsalva thing is reproducible for mine as well.

 

My tinnitus started from doing the Valsalva maneuver repeatedly, then worsened by antibiotic ear drops.

 

Maybe you should try that Earpopper device

Home Version: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00449CW36/?tag=tinntalk-20

Pro Version: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005FCBTGW/?tag=tinntalk-20

 

Not a good move. I agree with @Telis about the valsava maneuver. Though my tinnitus had its origins in two ruptured ear drums after a severe cold, popping my ears one late August afternoon gave me chronic tinnitus. I've never been silent since. Please, don't get the ear popper or perform the valsava maneuver, especially if you have to force it. If you have pressure in your ears, try nasal steroids for a few months. And if popping your ears really alleviates your tinnitus, go to an ENT and talk to him. You might need ear tubes to normalize the pressure in your ear.

Just don't pop! Please!

 

I just realised that this seems to work for me as well. Although my left ear will squeal loudly, after that settles, the tinnitus is lower?

 

Yes, I experience this too. But I have no clue why as I got my tinnitus from ototoxic ear drops.

Anyone else experience the same thing?

 

Hi @Marton, it is exactly the same for me. 7 years passed already, how do you feel now?

 

I can also do this.

Is there anyone else that can? If so, I have another question for you.

 

My tinnitus also stops during the Valsalva maneuver but I haven't tried hanging upside yet. I took a couple of Sudafed today and have been using a Neti Pot for a few days.

I'm 5-6 months away from an ENT appointment because of COVID-19 but I check into this wonderful forum regularly to try and maintain my sanity. Best of luck to everyone

 

Hanging upside down didn’t help but Valsalva sure does. Where did everyone go? I think we might be on to something! Are you all better and so have abandoned the discussion

 

I've noticed the same thing with the Valsalva. See a thread I started on this here:

The Valsalva Maneuver Substantially Lowers My Tinnitus

The Valsalva helps dramatically for my lowest-frequency tinnitus tone. However, if I do the Valsalva "too much," my highest frequency tinnitus tone becomes substantially more prominent, and this lasts as many as several days after. Another user in my thread reported something similar, that it made her tinnitus "shriller in nature." This was also temporary for her.

As a result of this, I've vowed to do the Valsalva only when my bad ear "feels" like it needs to be equalized. This is maybe once a week or so.

 

Wish @Marton would reply as it seems he’s the only one who can do both, silence his tinnitus by doing Valsalva maneuver and hanging upside down

 

This is interesting. I can change frequency and volume (slightly increases) when moving my jaw and tensing my jaw muscles, which I learned when it sometimes changed while yawning. I also occasionally get a thumping sound that may be a spasm of some sort followed by the volume significantly reducing, though only for a short time before returning to normal. I haven't noticed any correlation of that to any activity of movement though.

Before my tinnitus got worse last year I traveled via commercial air regularly, and I've been curious how that will go (volume is a concern) but I wonder if ears popping will give a spike, if it may provide relief or maybe a temporary change. I haven't been in a situation where my ears would pop since then so I don't know. On a road trip this past summer I recall the pressure in my ears changing a bit over some hills but not quite enough height or fast enough change to pop. I don't recall any significant change other than the feeling of a bit of pressure. I have read here that valsalva made tinnitus worse for at least one person, so I'm not inclined to try and risk over doing it.