Can Anyone Else Make Their Tinnitus Go Away by Physical Manipulation?

[Owen]

Hello,
I wrote a long (probably too long if I'm honest) introduction to my tinnitus a few weeks ago. Even though I have now had it for over 18 months, I am still really struggling to cope - especially with sleep.

The main reason for the sleep issue is that I cannot sleep effectively sitting up and lying down makes it a lot louder.
As I have explained to the ENT and my GP (and anyone else that will listen), this isn't instant, it isn't a blood pressure issue as exercise doesn't affect it and it takes around half an hour to an hour and I can feel pressure increase in my sinuses, my nose blocks and then my ear blocks up as well and every time I swallow, I can here these strange cracks, pops and vacuums being created in that ear and the ringing just gets a lot louder and I am forced to sit upright for around 15-20 minutes and the noise eventually damps back down again. As I'm sure you can appreciate, this also makes habituation extremely difficult.

The real point of the post though is to ask a rather strange question. Does anyone else have tinnitus that placing their little finger slightly into the affected ear and then pulling out gently, creating a tiny vacuum causes their tinnitus to go? and when I say go, I don't mean a bit quieter and whilst doing it, or for ten seconds, I mean sometimes it can be gone completely for an hour or more and I can hear... nothing. However, when lying down, this technique has absolutely no effect, I have to be upright.

N.B. Gently performing the vasalva maneuver has the same effect, although less reliably as my right tube often seems to simply not open and I don't wish to pop them hard, but this can be fixed and it opens easily enough if I have recently washed out my sinuses with a neti-pot and neilmed.

I would be indebted to anyone that has had a similar experience and could offer me details.

 

[Sound Wave]

Sounds to me that your T could be physical in nature, which I would consider a positive thing, since maybe it can be cured. One question, when you lie down and get stuffy sinuses, does this happen everywhere or just in your bed? If only in your bed, I would wash the pillow / buy a new one and in general make sure that you don't get an allergic reaction to dust / mold etc.

 

[Owen]

Hi Sound Wave.

Thank you for your response. I have conducted the same experiment elsewhere and it is wherever I am - I live in a house with no pets and am a bit obsessive over cleaning and washing the bed linen (in unscented conditioner, with an extra rinse as well, since this all started).

I developed terrible allergies once I started levothyroxine. I no longer take it and have NDT and many of the allergies have reduced (I used to get skin rashes, the lining of my mouth used to peal off etc - it was pretty bad, but the doctors refused to accept a link), but the sinus problems and ear fullness have not cleared 7 months since I stopped taking it.

I guess also relevant is that if I internally belch/hiccup or yawn - effectively the motion that pulls on the muscles in the ear (I think mostly the tensor tympani muscle), it makes the noise louder, but as soon as I perform the weird little vacuum maneuver, it gets quieter again. Opening my jaw wide without yawning has no such effect, so I can't fake it, it needs those muscles to be activated.

 

[Owen]

I just wondered if anyone else has had or has a similar experience to mine? I have had this for over a year now and it still seems to have the same positive effect in silencing the noise, but it is always temporary (for a few minutes or up to an hour or so).

I'm not sure whether or not it is a good thing to do to keep shutting it up. I am very gentle, as it is only the slightest adjustment needed to silence it, but habituation is virtually non-existent, as whenever it gets to me during the day I have a means to get rid of it, even if it is only temporary.

On the other hand, I feel like just leaving it falls into the category of it being permanent and wonder if I don't keep "resetting" it, will it eventually become stuck and not go away, even if I do manipulate my ear.