Ear Infection Tinnitus

So here's my story:

Last month (August 25th to be exact) I woke up in the early hours with a severe headache and everything was spinning, I stumbled to the bathroom and took some paracetamol and went back to bed. Woke up with my head feeling fine in the morning, but a feeling of my right ear being full and my hearing not being 100%. This was after I had started taking amoxicillin a few days earlier for clearing up an ingrown toenail.

Went to the GP on the Monday (the same day the tinnitus started) and was told I had otitis externa and was prescribed some eardrops to clear that up. As per his advice, I also had the ear microsuctioned to increase the speed that the drops should work and again a week later to suck all the crap that builds up due to the drops. Despite being told that it would clear up alongside the infection, the ringing in my ear persisted and didn't have any noticeable changes.

So I went back to the GP two weeks ago and he said that the eardrum now looked inflamed and prescribed Sofradex to clear that up. While using these drops I've noticed that it did appear to slowly reduce the volume of the ringing (presumably as the inflammed eardrum calmed down), but now that I've stopped using the drops it's gone back to how it was before I last saw the GP. My hearing hasn't returned to normal either.

He told me to give it a month before going back if these drops didn't do the trick to clear it up, but now knowing that I have to wait another two weeks before seeing him has gotten my brain to go into overdrive and I've started Googling tinnitus. I'm fearing that I'm going to be stuck with this for the rest of my life (GP said the Sofradex stuff he prescribed are the best drops out there and that if drops can fix it, it will). I've found many posts online about people that had the ringing start due to infections but they've never actually commented later on with updates and has me fearing the worst. The only hope I can cling to is that the GP said it's quite unusual for a 28 year old to have tinnitus without it being related to exposure to loud noise for an extended period of time.

I can't sleep, I can't focus, I can't escape it. This two week wait before I can get an update is going to be torture.

 

Hi @square

If your tinnitus is caused by an ear infection then it will go in time. Try to be patient and I advise not to read too much about tinnitus online. Use sound enrichment at night instead of sleeping in a quiet room. Click on the link below and read my article on tinnitus that you might find helpful.

Michael


https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/tinnitus-a-personal-view.18668/

 

Hi, I'm 33 and I've had tinnitus for a bit over two months. I believe that mine is from Eustachian tube dysfunction which arose after an ear infection.

Keep in mind that far more people comment online with panic stories than with success stories. If the problem goes away, there is less incentive to post about it, people would just as soon forget about it.

In my case, the tinnitus increased in intensity for about two and a half weeks and then spent a week at maximum intensity, before I started to notice that it was beginning to slowly recede. I went to a GP, an audiologist, and an ENT twice, but the recession had already begun by the time I got in with the ENT. It's been a month since then and the tinnitus is still present, but a whisper compared to what it used to be, I don't have much trouble ignoring it. But, I still notice that it is getting better every few days, so I am hopeful that complete resolution is not too far away.

My point with this is that ear healing can be very slow. Stories that I've read online back this up. It could be a weeks to months process, and you shouldn't get too discouraged if you are not seeing quick results. I know it stinks, but you'll have to find ways to cope while you wait for it to get better.

I used sound enrichment a lot during weeks two through seven. It really helped me stay sane, once I realized that I could silence the tinnitus for periods of time. I found some sounds that effectively masked the tinnitus (this can be done with sound even at a lower volume level than the tinnitus). Nature sounds like running water or crickets work well, but there are also sounds specifically designed for tinnitus masking. I think that total masking isn't helpful for long-term habituation if that ends up being what is required, but early on, it can totally give your mind a break while you wrap your head around what's happening. Look on YouTube, or at the sounds that you received when signing up for this forum, or at nature background sound phone apps (I used the TMSoft "White Noise" app a lot, with the crickets and "heavy rain" sound mixed together with some noise). For sleeping at night you can use a white noise machine or simply hook your phone or laptop up to a decent set of speakers... Or, check out options designed specifically for sleeping like a sound pillow or headband.

You should consider getting an appointment with ENT as well, I think... A GP typically doesn't look much beyond the outer ear, but you mentioned that you had spinning early on, and I believe that balance-related symptoms are more indicative of an inner ear problem. If your ear still seems "full" but your ear canal is clear, there may be fluid in your middle ear which could be because of a Eustachian tube issue (this can also cause tinnitus). Any of this could be caused just by inflammation from an infection that spread beyond your outer ear, but ear drops will not help with anything besides outer ear problems, they do not penetrate the ear drum. ENTs usually have a long wait time (several weeks)... Ask to be put on the cancellation wait list and maybe you will be able to get in sooner.

Actually, an audiologist should be able to do an ear pressure test (tympanometry) which may reveal if you have fluid in your middle ear. It's much faster to get in with an audiologist than with an ENT.

Good luck and I hope that you start to notice it getting better soon.