After Blowing My Nose, Now Louder Tinnitus & Masking Sounds Have Distorted Fluttering Sound

Hi everyone; I've been experiencing tinnitus and what could probably be described as hyperacusis or some sort of acoustic trauma since Feburary. I acquired it simply by blowing my nose, causing my ears to pop and the ringing to be there immediately afterward. Immediately I could tell I didn't simply have tinnitus, as I was unable to listen to noises like rain or broadband sound to soothe it, with a sort of ringing raging over and overlapping it. I made a rather stupid mistake soon afterward; as my father also has tinnitus and has for longer than me, he had been browsing here and proposed that I try hyperbaric therapy quickly as the tinnitus had just started. Of course, given the circumstances that I received tinnitus in the first place under, doing a sort of treatment that involves the ears popping in and out from adjustments in pressure level was extremely ill-advised and resulted in a greater acoustic trauma or potential hyperacusis that expanded this overlapping ringing to the sounds of cars, human voices, and any sort of impact sound. Additionally, music began to sound shrill and distorted, and began to chop up, as though I couldn't properly process it.

Thankfully, I found a nature based tinnitus sound therapy video online that was not distorted for me at all. Several, though not all, of my previous symptoms began to improve as I listened to it at night and throughout the day. Additionally, I began to experience several symptoms like the cracking of my jaw and clicking in my ears coupled with joint stiffness and irregular head pain that I could only assume was TMJ. An audiologist informed me that continuing sound enrichment therapy was the right way to go about things, and this seemed to corroborate with a lot of advice I read on here. Thus, my plan was to continue with the sound therapy and seek treatment for the TMJ.

However, roughly two weeks ago things changed drastically for the worse. I woke up with nasal congestion, and tried to blow my nose, only for the exact same thing to happen. I acquired a new, louder form of tinnitus then and there; additionally, in the coming days I sadly learned that all nature based sound therapies were no longer effective, as they now distorted to form a sort of audible fluttering sound. Then, last night, things drastically worsened. This "fluttering" sound (I can best describe it as a pronounced 'wowowowo' that lasts about 4-5 seconds) has not only become much louder and more consistent out of nowhere, but it now overlaps everything. Sound therapy, the wind, music, the noises I make when I move around. It's just a constant overlapping of all sounds, and there's no escaping it. I feel like I'm not only back at square one, but that things are much worse now than they've ever been. As it felt like I was making genuine progress, this has left me extremely disheartened to say the least.

If you've taken the time to read all this, I really appreciate it. I guess my basic question is, should I continue listening to any sort of noise at night and throughout the day even if it sounds distorted and contains this constant fluttering now. Additionally, I don't know where I stand on the TMJ treatment; I was about to book a consultation with a specialized dentist, but this newfound problem has left me wondering if I have some other kind of problem instead. Searching this board has uncovered the possibility that I might have TTTS, though I'm not sure the "fluttering" noise I experience is the same as others, and I get it primarily in my right ear, at times in my left, and constantly in other sounds.

I'd be thankful for any advice or perspective whatsoever. This is the lowest point I've been at since the tinnitus started and the first time I've genuinely questioned how I can possibly habituate going forward.

 

Hi,

So sorry to see you here. Have you seen an ENT since the onset? You didn't mention it so IMO you must see one soon as according to what you said it seems like there is fluid in your ears or something is wrong with your Eustachian tubes.

Some questions which may help:
Have you been exposed to a noxious (extremely loud) noise like a concert specially near the onset of your tinnitus?
Do you have jaw pain or TMJD like symptoms?

You did hyperbaric oxygen therapy, well, but you need to find the root cause. It's maybe noise induced or it may NOT be related to noise so you should first see an ear doctor (ENT) to check for other things like ETD, ear infection.

Regardless of the cause, tinnitus mostly fades to a good level. It will most probably improve for you or completely go away.

I know how distressing this disease is but the more distressed you are, the louder it gets.

Don't panic, go see an ENT, I hope to see you in the Success Stories section soon.

Good luck.

 

Hi

I actually have been to the ENT, and he sent me in to get an MRI of which I haven't gotten the results back yet. He couldn't find anything wrong with my ears, but this could perhaps be different now. It probably would have been best to wait until I got the results back to post a thread here, but I kind of started this one while panicking from sleep deprivation caused by the new fluttering noise.

I'm fairly certain the onset of my tinnitus has nothing to with loud noise as I wasn't exposed to any at all in the months surrounding it. I do have occasional jaw pain and a multitude of TMJ symptoms so I'll probably call and sort something out.

Thanks for your reply