Did My Tinnitus Get Worse or Is It a Common Cold?

[Jorge]

Last Saturday I had band practice/show so I was around music for about 7 hours that day. I wore earplugs and that helped decrease the volume. On Sunday night I began feeling a little congested and on Monday morning I woke up with my left ear clogged/full. My sinuses were full of mucus and so on. Common cold symptoms, cough, mucus, sneezing, etc. But now my throat is getting better but my ear is still clogged and my tinnitus has gotten louder.
Should I be worried? I'll give it another week before I go to the ENT because again, this might just be a cold (something I haven't experienced yet with tinnitus). Care to share your experiences with colds/tinnitus?

 

[cullenbohannon]

It's probably fluid in your ears. See an ENT. They may be able to help you.

 

[Lynnette]

I just got over my first cold with tinnitus and surprisingly it didn't affect my tinnitus much at all. I was hesitant to use any cold medication though and just roughed it out. Medicines I never thought twice about in the past are now something I'm very careful about using only when I really need them! I'm sure if you give yourself a little time, your tinnitus will return to it's baseline level in a few days.

 

[Cassidy]

I'm just in the middle of a cold and my tinnitus has increased in one ear and remained stable in the other. What is weird though is that in the ear were it has increased, the tone has changed to a low-frequency tonal sound which is usual to the higher frequency whistle that I usually experience. I'm not terribly congested either. Any ideas why it could change tones to a very low tone?

 

[billie48]

Congestions caused by cold can always temporarily increase the volume. The other possible culprit is the quality of sleep being affected and we can wake up very tired which will increase the ringing. However, the problem will usually be rectified by getting over the cold. So there is nothing to worry about it.