Gave Myself Tinnitus with Hot Water from the Shower

On January the 19th I managed to burn my own eardrum, with hot water from the shower.

How did I manage to do something so retarded you might ask. Well, I HAD a habit of using water from the shower to clean my ears from wax/dust/sweat by tilting my head and letting a single stream get into my ear canal. I have been doing this safely for over 15 years. 1000+ times at minimum.

BUT, 3 weeks ago I messed up.

I was having a nice shower like always, but I forgot my shampoo in the bedroom. I pop out of the bathroom to get it. I turn the shower back on and I start cleaning my ear right away. After about 40 seconds on my left ear I turn my head and I instantly became dizzy and off balance.

I stopped the shower but the damage had been done.

What had happened is in the time i was getting the shampoo from the bedroom, the hot water that was in the pipes cooled down a bit. So when I adjusted the water temperature, it was mild for about 20 seconds and spiked after that. When the water was hitting my skin I didn't realize it was that hot.

The tinnitus started immediately at a level of about 7/10 and I had pain in my skin for about 3 days. I wouldn't even classify it as 1st degree burn since the redness was almost invisible. More like being somewhat flushed.

Over the next week my tinnitus was in the 5-6/10 range. Then it dropped to about 4/10.

I decided to try anti-inflammatory drug called Colchicum. It's mainly used for the heart but has also been used in dermatology. It's entirely plant based so it's mild. However, it only made the tinnitus spike to about 7/10 for 2 days and then I stopped using it.

The next week the tinnitus went down significantly. Mostly at 3-4/10 but one day it was at 2/10. I really had to make myself hear it.

I also had VERY MILD hypersensitivity for the first 7-10 days. Surprisingly the damaged ear has better hearing than the good one.

Last week the tinnitus settled to about 4/10, so being dumb I tried the anti-inflammatory again. I thought maybe the first time the spike was unrelated, or maybe the timing wasn't right. Instant spike to 7/10, so lesson learned I guess.

I still have healing up to do. Unfortunately, the whole process doesn't seem to be linear.

I have sensations in my left ear canal. It itches sometimes but rarely, 1-4 times a day max. I can also gain sensation about my left ear canal by tightening the muscles on my scalp. You know, when you want to move the ears up and down a bit.

I can also gain sensation about my left eardrum by closing my nose and increasing the pressure. I can only gain sensation for the damaged one. This way I can also make it "hear" when it brushes against the hairs in my ear canal or i just hear the drum moving, I cannot tell exactly. If I press my head into the pillow hard I can sometimes hear my pulse, but not every time.

I don't know if I'm feeling pain. It's definitely a sensory awareness.

Also, raising my pulse and blood pressure while out of bed seems to have a positive effect. However, I'm not sure how much of it is masking and how much healing. When in bed, high blood pressure seems to have more negative effect, but that's maybe because I'm more relaxed and can zone in on the tinnitus more.

I'm looking for suggestions on how to speed up the healing process. I'm looking for something to soothe the eardrum but not be anti-inflammatory at the same time. Something topical and mild. It also needs to be generic enough for me to get it in my country.

 

What about an anti-flammatory diet? This is certainly the most natural way.

There may not be a quick solution to this. Ears can take a long time to heal when damaged.

 

I agree with @Jupiterman here. A diet could be beneficial. I am trying one myself and I think I have gotten some good results (could also be the passage of time). 2 things I would recommend are ginger and curcumin.

 

Since my post, things have gotten worse. I've developed a middle ear infection that has been steady for 2 weeks. I have a mild temperature of 37.2 C everyday. I have been taking antibiotics and TobraDex (corticosteroid eye drops) with anti-inflammatory for the past 5 days with no improvement.

I need your advice because things seem to be getting worse.

 

Have you gone to more than one doctor?

 

Yes, he was the one who perscribed an antihistamine and the TobraDex.