Gareth Davies

And if I wiggle my mouth around I feel a “glob” of something inside, in that area. Can only assume it’s squished up tissue. Hurts as usual, etc.

Oh yay! Absolutely best of luck Gareth! I hope it helps.

@Gareth Davies thank you. yeah loudness isn't an issue anymore. I don't hear it driving or in the house with low ambient noise around. I don't hear it outside. I'm experiencing almost complete silence. In the last few days, most tones have actually vanished. I have one annoying morsecode sound left. But even that is fading. I haven't done anything specific - just protected my ears. How's yours these days?

Jealous ;) But that’s good news then! The same as it was in September really. I can’t hear it that’s much outside or if I move quickly. But staying still indoors? I put an electrical masking noise on (which luckily masks 100%). I don’t seem to get spikes - though I don’t feel tempted to test that theory anytime soon haha.

I don’t think it’s going to progress or improve any further until the ETD is resolved (it’s like a cereal commercial in there).
Luckily I’ve got a double ENT appointment this week - public and private.
If they re-confirm evidence of inflammation and the dilation surgery is green-lit, there might be changes in the future.
Again, just got to stay hopeful...

Maybe. You could go on top of the pops?

At long last, all of my dreams are coming true!

Mine changes both pitch and sound on certain jaw movements,but for now that's only temporarily.

Mine used to.

our TMJ is too close to the ear. Or nerve endings in the joint cartilage somehow get irritated from the joint itself, due to position or due to muscle tension. ETD is being caused by the same damn thing... if you have been clenching, mewing or chewing hard, don’t.

It could be sudden sensorineural hearing loss which is likely to be reversible if you start treatment immediately

I was carrying out some ETD exercises last night, maybe that irritated the inflammation? Managed to pop my ear after a few hours; ringing has died down a bit :S Tapping the front of my ear is a bit like tapping a balloon - so I’m hoping it’s just unbalanced air pressure rather than SSHL.

I think my hearing has gone back to normal - I can hear the rustling of pages at arm’s length, for example. I’ll speak with my audiologist first thing.

Oh that sounds like good news! :) I've had just fizzing before. So much more tolerable.

It is much easier to listen to! :) Okay, it’s still a noise, but much less annoying :D

Awesome - congratulations! It ought to continue to improve. Often the more it improves, the slower it seems to improve, but improve it does and before you know it you will be feeling a lot better.

Sorry to hear that was the case! (I hope your AI is minor.) Yeah, people on this board advise acceptance or total emotional apathy when it comes to T. All the best either way!

Haha - it said it looked like spam?
No problem at all :)
In that case, can I assume you have habituated or healed perhaps?

I have seen improvement; day zero it was originally a horrible CACOPHONY of metal drills / scraping metal with multiple tones and random, loud “biting” spikes that lasted microseconds apiece; I’d get dozens of them per day.
No fun.

Now it’s a single tone in my right ear. A thin line of sound; like the noise the filament of a light bulb makes, made audible.
Unfortunately, the volume is not whisper quiet, but it’s better than it was. The inflammation in my ear is improved (though present), and my eardrum can still crackle at will.

I will just have to patiently wait for more change; as tough as that is some days :) Sometimes it’s happier though - there’s a degree of volatility.
Outside it’s pretty good, so hiking and general walks have been quasi-breaks from it. Kind of miss swimming though (can’t risk more infections!)

Actually chuckled at that. Good on you, being able to apply humour to it. Stay strong, brother.

Like, if I put my good ear on a pillow when trying to sleep, but it’s not always there. Weird.

Nevermind, I found something which masks and can go on a loop :)

This isn't Exactly what you asked about, but perhaps it will help - cat's purring: https://purrli.com/

Try it! It's pretty harmless, some experience vivid dreams. Hasn't helped me, but lots of people with sleep issues get good results from melatonin. Weird thing is that I think you have to experiment with dosage. I was better off on 3 mg, than on 9mg.

If that doesn’t work, I’d try Benadryl. It works really well for me.

TTTS?

From an ear infection?

tensor tympani spasming. probably from hyperacusis but idk about the role your infection plays. avoid noises that cause it for a few weeks at least. the middle ear needs rest in my experience.

@BillBauer you are exactly right with that one! When I put my earplugs in before I start driving, the volume always seems a lot lower than after the journey, when I turn my car off. But it's not actually louder - it's the perception of it being louder as there's no longer noise covering it.

Back when my T would spike as a result of a shower, at one point I had been wearing earplugs to the shower.

@Bill Bauer I also used earplugs in the shower. However, I've stopped now. I didn't feel they made a difference personally.

I think it must have to do something with the frequency as well. I do hear it in the car (normally I wear earpro, but have tried without it too) whereas in much, much quieter situations I don't.

Are you wearing earplugs in those quieter situations?

No. I mean I can hear it in the car without earplugs, and don't hear at home with background music or the TV on without earplugs as well. I don't understand how it works. If I put earplugs in/earmuffs on, volume goes up of course.

I thought I'd have vs only because I have tinnitus. I really think it is unlikely, I've asked my doctor and optometrist about this.

Sorry, I wasn’t clear. No I don’t have VS. But I was just wondering on how likely it could happen (or does there lie madness?), and whether there are any steps to prevent it or at least reduce the chance - beyond healthy living.

Over the past 3.5 years, I've read the posts of about 3-4 people who had reported that they got VS. I don't think it is common.

Awesome!! This is a major development. It ought to continue to fade. The next stage is a hiss.

Thank you Bill! I hope so too.

Whatever doesn't feel too loud and doesn't result in a T spike is probably safe. Even Some of the things that feel loud and result in minor T spikes are Probably safe (but personally I have been choosing to avoid things like that and it has worked out well for me).

I’m sorry Bill. That must have been a extremely tough time.
Your mental resilience must be titanium at this point.
I’m actually thinking of cancelling my dental appointment for next month, or asking that manual tools be used instead.

Perhaps, you’re right. I need to stop reading horror stories on this forum.
It’s just that the noise last night was akin to dozens of high-vibration steel wires relentlessly scraping against each other. It’s quieter today - the ear released some air, reducing pressure, etc, etc.
Thanks again.

>I’m actually thinking of cancelling my dental appointment for next month, or asking that manual tools be used instead.

If it's a dental cleaning appointment, there is no need to cancel it. But make sure to ask for them to use only the manual tools. There is no downside - manual tools are as effective as the ultrasonic scaler.

Months...

Mind if I ask if it was your first ear infection? And whether it was inner or middle infection?
I hope yours settles down.

It was my first ever ear infection. Was initially an outer ear infection and then became an middle ear infection.

The only difference is that the pressure in my right-ear (the one that was infected) is gone and I had a decongestant before going to sleep (I take a nasal spray in the morning.)

Other than that, no loud noise exposure during the day; so I don’t know why it’s happening :(
It’s been okay recently. Now it’s a horrific high-pitch scream.

Apparently “decongestants (pseudoephedrine) can aggravate tinnitus by raising blood pressure” - well, last time I have one.
I took it because I thought it would help my ETD...

He printed off a couple of pieces of paper from the tympanometry machine; one indicated my left ear (which he stated looked normal) and the second my right ear, which had the infection, the reading on that was abnormal. I haven't flown anywhere in more than a month. I also have a weird sticky/crackly feeling whenever I move the right-side of my face.

An extended audiogram tests for hearing loss in the upper high frequencies. Standard audiograms only measure up to 8khz, and do not cover the 8khz-16khz range that is covered by an extended audiogram. Ask for one although not every place will offer one - you may need to call around! I know they sometimes use extended audiograms to test hearing loss in cancer patients, as many cancer drugs are ototoxic.

Alternatively, you could have hidden hearing loss, which is damage to the synapses that connect to the hair cells - this is not measurable on an audiogram and typically manifests as speech in noise difficulties.

However, the good news is that for most people it gets better. There's even a pretty good chance that eventually you will get to the "can hear it only in quiet rooms" stage. You will want to make sure that you don't hurt your ears during this period of vulnerability as your body is healing.

You will want to avoid taking ototoxic drugs, avoid microsuction or syringing (performed when you need to clean wax out of your ears; a manual tool should be used), and not let your dental hygienist use an ultrasonic scaling tool on you (a manual tool should be used).

For more details, see

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/tinnitus-week-2018-what-advice-would-you-give-to-someone-else-who-has-tinnitus.26850/#post-307822