Bad Cold/Sinus Issues Leading to Burst Ear Drum Then Left with Pulsatile Tinnitus

Hi All,

Recently joined this forum as a self help kinda thing as I am driving myself crazy!!

Story goes.....

I had been going to see an acupuncture guy for back reasons however the last appointment i had i had an extremely bad cold and my sinus's were very blocked up so he suggested to do some acupuncture on my sinus's that day so that i could breath more easily... at the time i did not think anything of it but when i was lying there with needles stuck in my i suddenly started hearing my heartbeat in my ear a little i put it down to being a bit stressed with needles being stuck in my face!!! the heartbeating in ear went as soon as a stood up and i did not think anything more about it.... that evening i felt extremely unwell and had a temperature then a sudden pain in my left ear after hours of pain the very next day my ear drum perforated.... the pain stopped but i lost my hearing in that ear and was very off balance for weeks..... after about 2 weeks the dizziness went but i still could not hear in that ear until about 6 or 7 weeks later. My hearing came back all be it not as good as it used to be but thankfully came back but then i was left with constant ringing in that ear along with constant whooshing in time with my heartbeat which has not eased even till this day!! so i guess i will be left with it.....

I had an ENT appointment last month they did a hearing test & pressure test and said that hearing was ok but not great & pressure test was fine, at that point they told me that it was tinnitus and not likely to go away.

I said to them i wasent so worried about the ringing it was the whoosing in time with my heartbeat that really concerned me and they said that they th0ught that it was because my eardrum maybe damaged blood vessels around my ear which has interfered with my auditory system,

The whooshing gets worse when i get up too quickly or lye down too quickly, move my head too quickly or if i get upset/stressed out or exercising!

ENT said that if i wanted i could have an MRI Scan with Contrast Dye to put my mind at rest. However there would be nothing they can do if they do find damaged blood vessels..... so is it really worth putting myself through just for the sake of piece of mind..... as i have heard that MRI's are noisy and can give a tinnitus spike and the contrast dye itself has risks associated..... driving myself crazy what the best course of action would be!!! any suggestions welcomed!!! or ways to reduce the constant whooshing at night... i can cope during the day by keeping busy!

 

i had mine for about the same time you have but i got it in both ears sound like whooshing crickets or some one walking in the snow i also have h. how loud is yours mine is 1-2 /10 in the mornings to 5-7 in the evenings

 

When your hearing is down you can pick the sound up from your caroted artery and hear tinnitus also.
Hearing aids will help and for some people a small beta blocker can help so you have things to look into thay might help cope better with it.
Love glynis

 

I am new to tinnitus how can i assess how loud it is?
yes i have heard of these masking hearing aids how do you go about getting one of those? i can cope with it during the day but nights can be a bit of a struggle to get sleep at times! i have found that listening to the radio and setting it on a time often helps me to drop off to sleep

 

I have had pulsatile tinnitus since Sept. I have been to 2 ents. The first one said I had nasal polyps and if I removed them it would solve my problem. The polyps do not bother me. The second ent disagreed that polyps had anything to do with pulsatile tinnitus and said it was a vascular problem. The MRA he ordered came back normal. I was doing some research and found out that many people with pulsatile tinnitus suffered from a narrowing of a vein or veins in the brain. The correct test to order is a mrv. There is a physician in nyc who has done the surgery with success. They put in a stent in the blocked vein.They are doing a research project on this and are asking for participants. Just saw this yesterday. There is another physician in NYC, I believe Dr. Shapiro who does this surgery also. I think I need to see a neurosurgeon or interventional neurologist. I believe they know more about pulsatile tinnitus than an ENT.

 

The tests listed on my hospital letter are MRA Head, MRI IAM with Gadolinium, MRI head MRV Cranial
can they do these tests without the Gadolinium? cant say i like the idea of that dye being injected

 

When I went for the Mra the tech said they could get very clear images these days without dye, and did not need for me to have it. This was a surprise to me because when I talked to the mri dept on the phone they told me to come in 30 mins prior for a lab test to test my kidney function. I do have chronic hematuria, so that might have been the reason they did not give it to me. I think most physicians/radiologists order the dye to ensure they get the clearest of images. Looks like your physician was thorough with the tests he ordered for you.

 

In terms of noise levels will it affect my Tinnitus? i am a bit worried about it all if im honest and not sure if it is worth putting myself through it as i am managing to live with the tinnitus its just an annoyance !

 

The mri is noisy, but they gave me headphones with music of my choice. It was a little loud even with the headphones. You may want to wear Ear plugs as well. I am claustrophobic so had some oral ativan about 45 minutes before the test. They also covered my eyes with a towel. It was not as bad as I thought it would be.