Hello Fellow Sufferers — A Recent Virus/Cold Triggered a Major Tinnitus Worsening

Hi there,

I've had some intermittent tinnitus for the past few years - nothing big. A recent month long virus/cold triggered a major tinnitus attack. I went to the ENT and to my surprise, I have moderate to severe hearing loss. He gave me prednisone, but left me with little confidence there is anything I can do about this.

I have had constant neck/nerve pain for the past 10 years. So on one hand, I take NSAIDs every day so I can not walk around with a migraine all the time, and this is a known risk. But on the other hand, when I tilt my head, my tinnitus noticeably goes way higher, leaving me with the thought that this could be mitigated somehow. My ENT seemed useless.

 

Hello and welcome. Hope you find support and information here to help.

It's funny how many people say their ENT was useless, when we go to them with other issues apart from tinnitus which may or may not be related and with which they ought to be able to help us - but once they hear mention of "tinnitus" they can't wait to get us out the door. Next time I'm going to ask my local doctor to refer me on without even mentioning the tinnitus word...

 

Well, to be fair, he did recommend considering a hearing aid

 

Are you sure it's hearing loss? I scored bad on a heavy T day (12 sounds) once, but the next audiogram a few months later came out clean. Neck-induced T here, btw.

I was recovering quite well from my T this January, when suddenly a cold brought my T back near day 1. It stayed like that for a few weeks, but these days I'm doing quite well again. Many silent periods during the day, just the nights can be quite if T is active at that time.

Anyway, your increase could very well be temporary.

 

Welcome to the forum. Consider my ENT said 'The only thing I can stop your ringing is to SHOOT you", your ENT is probably more helpful than mine. LOL.

Since you have chronic neck problem and your tinnitus can be changed by tilting your head, it may suggest your neck muscle or neck problem is a culprit of your somatic tinnitus. Try search the forum with neck pain, neck muscle, or neck injury to see if you can find some prior discussions on this subject. I don't know if chiropractors can help you but some of them do specialize on neck maneuver for tinnitus. Just google on it you will find some helpful info on this, such as this one below. Good luck. God bless.

https://www.drlanoue.ca/blog/chiropractic-and-tinnitus--is-it-a-viable-treatment-