Hello — Tinnitus Spike from Social Events After 7 Years of Being Barely Noticeable

Hello, I'm a 63 year old lady in south west Ireland. I've had tinnitus since a family party in a hotel with live music in 2012. That was in the October, but by Christmas it had quietened down and no longer caused me any distress.

This summer it has increased slightly just by attending a couple of social events that weren't particularly loud. On 20th July I was invited to a friend's lunch party at her house, 15 people talking, no music. Really not a loud occasion at all but I was anxious because of the slight increase I'd had, so wore ear plugs, Stoppers, squashy ones you mold to shape.

As soon as I got home the tinnitus was much worse, making me feel very distressed. I had a high pitched EEEEE sound, and it was central in my head. I read that I could have compacted my earwax by shoving the earplugs in. I used olive oil ear drops for nine days but it was still the same so I went to an Audiology Clinic for earwax removal. I knew I had a lot of wax as I've always been that way. Hadn't had them cleaned out for years though as scared of noise in my ears.

I explained I wanted a removal without any sound because of the tinnitus and told him I have Hyperacusis too. He assured me it would be silent and said it would take about 4 or 5 minutes per ear. As soon as he started I thought the sound was too loud for me and called out to stop. I think 5 or 6 seconds was the most it lasted.

He referred me to the clinic in the city to get the manual removal I was asking for. I went there 3 days later and that was great. The manual removal was carefully done without going near the eardrum and I agreed to irrigation at the lowest level to dislodge the wax that was close to the eardrum. So with a combination of those two things my ears are now perfectly clear of wax. I was shown before and after photos and the difference was amazing.

That was on 1st August and since then my right ear has felt perfect but the left one has felt full and blocked and my tinnitus is only in the left ear (the one that had a few seconds of microsuction). I'm worried that the very short spell of microsuction noise has not done me any favours.

I went to the Doctors on 7th August and he said both my ears are perfect and clear and no sign of any fluid in the middle ear on the left and told me it should all settle down. He didn't think the brief microsuction was anything to worry about. He gave me Amitriptyline to help me sleep and treat my anxiety, which I admit is off the scale. I need the masking noise to sleep too.

I would love someone to reassure me that the 5 or 6 seconds of microsuction couldn't have made things any worse, and that there is a good chance this tinnitus will quieten down again like it did in 2012. I know there are people on here who have had their tinnitus caused, or worsened, by microsuction, and I'd like to know how long they had this wretched gadget in their ear at the time.

Finally I will add that anxiety and I have a long history. I was very anxious before the lunch party that caused the initial spike and since then my stomach is a knot of fear. Even if I calm myself down during the day, the evening rise in volume and the shock of the morning screech get me every day. Once I get up it doesn't seem as bad and I can even read in relative silence during the morning without needing the masking noise. I am now 4 weeks after the lunch party and almost 3 weeks after the ear cleaning.

Sorry this is so long and thanks very much for listening to my woes.

 

Welcome to the forum. There may not be enough members with microsuction problem reading your post. So it is best you can use the search function on microsuction to see more discussions on this in the past. Here is one where the original poster reported in post #17 that it has improved a lot. So be hopeful and positive that yours will calm down also in due time. Good luck. God bless.

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/tinnitus-worse-after-microsuction.30414/

 

Hi @billie48
Thanks for replying to me and for the link. I have actually read that thread before, and some others I found on microsuction. It's great that the OP's recovered so well, although that was only a few days after their cleaning, so they were very lucky. My ear is still screaming after three weeks. I'm finding it difficult to be positive to be honest.