Eardrum Scarring: Can Anyone Tell Me More About It?

I saw an NP (nurse practitioner) at a walk-in clinic after seeing an ENT. The ENT said there was nothing wrong with my ears and "meditate, stay calm" (I think we've all been there.) My tinnitus got worse and than moved to my right ear and is now intolerable and very painful. Every time a fan turns on I hear screeching whistles and it hurts almost into my face and the base of my skull. Not normal "hurt" it's a newer kind of pain I had only really experienced a few times when things were obviously way too loud. The NP at the walk-in clinic said that I had a scar on my right eardrum and a bit of fluid in my left. All of this happened just after a steroid shot in my hand for carpel tunnel. She gave me antibiotics and sent me on my way. This was a month ago and I had seen the ENT about 3 weeks before. I am still super messed up and the pain from sounds are not getting any better, I'd say it's doubled in discomfort. Tinnitus was never really a thing for me, and I could live with tinnitus, I really think I could habituate but you can't habituate to pain from the world, you can only hide from it or remove it from your life.

Healing a scarred eardrum is a thing though, it's a surgery with a high success rate. Which could result in returning to normal life. I don't want to hope for a scarred eardrum to be what is wrong but I kind of just want any answer that makes sense - any answer that isn't "live with it." F#*% that non-sense. I will fight and persevere until I have an adequate answer.

Oh and I tried CBD today, a bunch of it for the first time. Nothing happened really, just kind of felt a bit calmer maybe.

-Matthew

 

I have the same thing - shrill whistling over fans - after getting microsuction. I’ll be following your progress. I hope it gets better for you.

 

Interesting, so maybe ear drum scarring can contribute to hyperacusis. I've heard of glial scarring at least.

 

A scarred eardrum vibrates less, so conducts less sound. The result can be conductive hearing loss.

A perforated eardrum also conducts less sound than a normal eardrum, but once it heals and closes can produce hyperacusis or sensitivity to sound.