- Sep 2, 2017
- 32
- Tinnitus Since
- 08/2017
- Cause of Tinnitus
- Noise exposure in a cinema
Hello, All!
I wanted to see if anyone could help me diagnose exactly what's going on with my right ear. About 6 weeks ago, I had a co-worker sneeze very loudly within about a meter of my right ear (he sits directly beside me). This was after an acoustic trauma to my left ear 2 weeks prior. At this point, I had already been doing a lot of reading on T and H and had definitely made myself paranoid. The sneeze shouldn't have been enough to actually damage my "good" right ear, but I immediately felt a fullness sensation. That night, I went to urgent care and got put on a 9-day course of Prednisone just in case.
The following morning, I noticed that running the water in the sink would make my right eardrum flutter. A few days later, ringing started in my right ear. To this day, all of these symptoms persist (ear drum flutter, ear fullness, and tinnitus, as well as some mild Hyperacusis). Two weeks ago, I flew to a hyperbaric clinic to have 6 sessions of treatment, as this was all I had time for at the time. With the first 5 sessions, almost all of my symptoms in my right ear seemed to disappear. Then, I had one last sessions, which oddly brought all of the symptoms back. After getting back in town, I was able to find another clinic nearby that also does HBOT. I went to have an additional session today, but the experience was a bit different than the other clinic.
The chamber seemed to pressurize much faster. So quickly, that my right ear was actually hurting. I was able to equalize my left ear with no problem, but my right ear would not equalize until it was actually hurting. I got them to slow it down, which made everything much easier. When they brought the pressure back down at the end of the session, both ears equalized with no problem at all. The problem is, that after this session, I am continuing to have ear pain and an almost increased sense of "fullness".
It is worth noting that yesterday, I went to an audiologist to have some custom earplugs made. She pushed some tiny pieces of cotton way back in my ear canal to protect my eardrum. The left ear felt fine when she pushed it in, but the right ear got these stabbing pains as she pushed it in. I am sure she didn't push it any farther than the left.
tl;dr: Having eardrum spasms to certain sounds, believing it's TTTS. HBOT caused earpain in my right ear today that is still lingering. Custom earplug molding appointment at the audiologist yesterday caused a lot of the same pain.
So, I guess I have a few things that I would like some help figuring out:
1) Does it sound like I got a barotrauma from the last session of HBOT? I went to an urgent care clinic afterward and they said my eardrum appeared fine and that there was no fluid behind it.
2) I feel like the sneeze that I received gave me an acoustic shock with Tensor Tympani Syndrome. Could the TTTS be responsible for the pain that I was feeling at both the audiologist and during HBOT? What is strange is that the first 6 sessions at the other clinic did not cause any pain at all.
3) If anyone has similar symptoms, what is the best way that you would suggest treating this or helping with recovery?
Thank you all and God bless!
I wanted to see if anyone could help me diagnose exactly what's going on with my right ear. About 6 weeks ago, I had a co-worker sneeze very loudly within about a meter of my right ear (he sits directly beside me). This was after an acoustic trauma to my left ear 2 weeks prior. At this point, I had already been doing a lot of reading on T and H and had definitely made myself paranoid. The sneeze shouldn't have been enough to actually damage my "good" right ear, but I immediately felt a fullness sensation. That night, I went to urgent care and got put on a 9-day course of Prednisone just in case.
The following morning, I noticed that running the water in the sink would make my right eardrum flutter. A few days later, ringing started in my right ear. To this day, all of these symptoms persist (ear drum flutter, ear fullness, and tinnitus, as well as some mild Hyperacusis). Two weeks ago, I flew to a hyperbaric clinic to have 6 sessions of treatment, as this was all I had time for at the time. With the first 5 sessions, almost all of my symptoms in my right ear seemed to disappear. Then, I had one last sessions, which oddly brought all of the symptoms back. After getting back in town, I was able to find another clinic nearby that also does HBOT. I went to have an additional session today, but the experience was a bit different than the other clinic.
The chamber seemed to pressurize much faster. So quickly, that my right ear was actually hurting. I was able to equalize my left ear with no problem, but my right ear would not equalize until it was actually hurting. I got them to slow it down, which made everything much easier. When they brought the pressure back down at the end of the session, both ears equalized with no problem at all. The problem is, that after this session, I am continuing to have ear pain and an almost increased sense of "fullness".
It is worth noting that yesterday, I went to an audiologist to have some custom earplugs made. She pushed some tiny pieces of cotton way back in my ear canal to protect my eardrum. The left ear felt fine when she pushed it in, but the right ear got these stabbing pains as she pushed it in. I am sure she didn't push it any farther than the left.
tl;dr: Having eardrum spasms to certain sounds, believing it's TTTS. HBOT caused earpain in my right ear today that is still lingering. Custom earplug molding appointment at the audiologist yesterday caused a lot of the same pain.
So, I guess I have a few things that I would like some help figuring out:
1) Does it sound like I got a barotrauma from the last session of HBOT? I went to an urgent care clinic afterward and they said my eardrum appeared fine and that there was no fluid behind it.
2) I feel like the sneeze that I received gave me an acoustic shock with Tensor Tympani Syndrome. Could the TTTS be responsible for the pain that I was feeling at both the audiologist and during HBOT? What is strange is that the first 6 sessions at the other clinic did not cause any pain at all.
3) If anyone has similar symptoms, what is the best way that you would suggest treating this or helping with recovery?
Thank you all and God bless!
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