Help! I‘m Caught in a Downward Spiral...

Ok, so first of all I have to say I have had tinnitus for almost 20 years with. It was a 1/10 for 18 years, then became a 3-4/10 after having been exposed to loud noise (went up to 7/10 but settled at 3-4/10).

As I have mentioned in another thread in was exposed to a bang from an air rifle which felt so loud I got very worried and went to the ENT and ended up with a 5 day schedule for prednisone which caused my tinnitus to spike really really bad (and for the record: I measured the bang from the air rifle afterwards in the exact same conditions and it actually was nowhere near „damage-inducing“ - in fact it was at 105-107dB.

Shortly after this incident I flew to Portugal (where I am right now) and although the flight didn’t bother me (or my tinnitus, for that sake) much the spike from the prednisone is still quite loud and it actually makes me quite anxious at times.

To add to the drama I know that there is something called „pool sinusitis“ which is caused by the chloride in the pool water. Since I -as probably anyone on this forum- want avoid any infections or inflammations that could affect my ear I started googling and found that rinsing the nose with saline solution after swimming in the pool helps to reduce the risk of „pool sinusitis“. Because I have to little kids whose sole task for the vacation is playing in the pool I couldn’t completely avoid the pool. So I bought a nose rinsing bottle at the local pharmacy and used it. Unfortunately I blew my nose -which I know one should not do after a nose rinse, but it just kinda happened like a reflex- and i felt a popping sound in my right ear.

Now I am worried like hell that I might have blown water into my middle ear which I understand could cause infections in the middle ear. I seem to get so over-anxious that I just start doing things because I’m afraid something bad could happen and then it only gets worse....
I feel really helpless right now....

 

First off, make sure you always use sterile water when rinsing your nasal cavity to prevent nasty infections.
Secondly, the popping noise is more likely than not just your ear equalizing pressure, because you unknowingly performed the valsalva maneuver. This is a normal reflex of the Eustachian tubes when putting pressure on the mechanism by blowing your nose. Just watch out in the future and you should be fine.

 

@Bill_
I would get a nasil spray for your sinuses from the chemist and do steam inhalation instead of a saline solution rinse or sterile water .

love glynis

 

I used still water from a closed bottle - don’t trust the tap water here...

 

It’s 2.30am here now and I’m wide awake because my ear feels full and just very slightly warm. I‘m so scared now

 

Put a warm towel by your ear to sleep on...Try to sleep .
love glynis

 

Your anxiety is making your T worse! Try to calm down as much as possible. Use youtube to find some soothing rain or spring water noises.

What caused your T 20 years ago?