Hey Everyone! Ear Popped and Tinnitus Started While Watching TV and Talking

Hi!

First of all I wanted to say, what an amazing community this is! I have been lurking this past week to find some tips and help, what I can do to not make anything worse as it is and also to try and stay positive (THANKS SUCCESS STORIES; I BELIEVE IN YOU AND ME!) Everybody is really encouraging each other and that's nice to see!

Well... let's jump right into it, shall we!

It started in May the 23th! My dad and I were casually just watching TV and we were just talking, when suddenly I felt like my left ear was building something up (?) and then POP!!!! and then a signal! A really loud signal that lasted for 2-3 min. Then it went away. However, I was still left with a mild, really mild signal voice and an old TV sound in my LEFT ear! Also I kinda became really sensitive to noise!!

Naturally, I FREAKED OUT! Ironically, there was a post on Reddit I've read, in the week this all happened, about someone giving himself tinnitus with bone conducted earphones! And I just thought... WOW, that's crazy! We all think about illnesses affecting for example, the stomach or the heart, but I've never really thought about the ear! So of course I became more mindful, I listened to music in a low volume and was really careful!

Also an important note: When this POP!! happened I was listening to a podcast with headphones! But I didn't hear a signal right after! The POP happened 4 hours later! After I was done with headphones! And I really listened to it in a low volume!

Because I've heard you shouldn't wait with something like this, the next day we drove to the emergency room to see an ENT doctor! She looked at me and said everything is fine, but there was I guess a lot of earwax and she did a microsuction, even though I told her I hear something in my ears! We even did an Audiogram and thankfully no hearing loss and my ears looked great! Still I was very perplexed and I thought she would give me STEROIDS, because I've heard you have to take them as soon as possible to try to restore some hair cells. She gave me some Ibruprofen, to take for 5 das, 2 each day, which I took 2 from them, but they gave me big headaches I couldn't take them anymore and a muscle relief tablets because I am known to have high tension in the neck/shoulder department!

The next day I went to my practical doctor, who said she sees that my LEFT ear is kinda red and gave me eardrops (Betnesol-N), something for my nose, an oil and a spray, and something called RETARDTABLETTES (because I am one)! I took that for about an week and it didn't really change anything! Right now the tinnitus is kind of louder than it was, when this all happened!

Because I want to be as transparent as I can be (and I need someone to talk to guys!!) I wanted to mention I really had some stressful weeks before all this happened with my ears! I guess I kinda became a hypochondriac because I really had bad headaches, had to do an MRI, naturally freaked out again and the result was tension in my muscles in the shoulder and neck area! THANK GOD! Nothing MAJOR!!!!!

And now I also remembered something! I have a night guard for my teeth, that I haven't worn since January because I had to take and wisdom tooth out and I was scared it could get infected because my night guard is really old and I really have to get a new one as soon as possible! Maybe that could also be a reason!

And my last point! The past weeks before the POP!! I heard a rumbling noise in my ears when I was eating or when I was drinking. I felt like my ears are full! But I didn't think much of it. I also used headphones at low volume. But there were also some incidents where my in ears felt a static shock? Could that be the reason for all of this or am I imagining things! After a while I didn't listen to any music or podcasts anymore because I was busy working! In fact I only listened to the music and podcasts when I was traveling to work in the morning and after in the train. I even stopped listening to music when I got home because I was so tired from work and it is a new job, so I wanted to sleep well! I even planned to go to an ENT before all of this happened, but well I guess 2020 hates me!

I am so sorry if this is all out of place, but I am trying to write everything down that maybe is the cause of this!

I would be lying if I said everything is fine and good and wonderful! Of course I am not trying to stress and I am really careful with my hearing now. When I get on the train I wear earplugs, when I am drying my hair with a hairdryer--> earplugs!

The success stories gave me some glimpse of hope that maybe this is just temporary or because of some infection that lasts longer to heal. At this point I really don't know anymore! I miss listening to music because I really love it and it gave me sooo much joy in my life, but at this point I am not risking anything! And I am hoping everything is going to be fine!

 

Hi @Maarryy123 !
I'm sorry to hear about your situation. I'm not really sure if I can help you but there are some more experienced people on here who might. Maybe @Michael Leigh or @Greg Sacramento or @Bill Bauer ? Was the mouthguard for TMJ? That could be a probable cause. Did you have an ear infection? Wax impaction? Anyway, reach out and hopefully things will start improving!

 

@Maarryy123
Just one comment - hard for any of us to know.
Your ear POPS may be due to ear pressure change which may be from ear wax, but POPS can be caused from many other things including ETD. When there's ear pressure change happening which can effect ear nerves/muscles and eardrum, noise sensitivity can happen easily.

If you get ear wax again, use drops for several days before removal. To control ear wax, you could wear a surgical head net that will extend over ears when your house heater / air conditioner is running or if someone is vacuuming.

 

Many people (myself included) got tinnitus hours/days after the initial trauma.

Unbelievable!!! Ibuprofen is ototoxic.

www.hlaa-sbc.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Ototoxic_Brochure.pdf

It isn't uncommon to get tinnitus as a result of taking Ibuprofen.

In the future, if you ever need to clean wax from your ears, make sure to turn down microsuction, and ask them to use manual tools instead. There are many horror stories on this forum that involve microsuction. You will also want to avoid your dental hygienist using an ultrasonic tool to clean your teeth. Ask them to use the manual tools.

How long after you had your MRI did your tinnitus turn on?! If it was less than 10-14 days before the onset of your tinnitus, your tinnitus might have been caused by the MRI...

In the future, only do an MRI scan if you are convinced that not having this scan done carries a significant risk of death. MRI can cause serious tinnitus that goes away less often than tinnitus due to other causes. (I am saying the latter because none of the three people I know who got tinnitus as a result of having an MRI got better - this sample size is very small, so please take it with a grain of salt.) To see all of the horror stories involving an MRI, search this site.

Don't blame yourself. Your doctors let you down. They are not treating tinnitus as a serious illness worthy of their concern, so they are not aware that many of their treatments cause tinnitus.

If your tinnitus is due to TMJ, that's a good news. A lot of the time tinnitus eventually goes away months after TMJ had been treated.

Ear fullness is a sign that ears had been hurt/harmed.

You are doing the right thing.

I believe that if you play music through your speakers at reasonably low volume, you will likely be ok.

Your tinnitus is very new, and it sounds like it isn't too loud. That's great - many people who had injured their ears a lot more than you (initially their tinnitus was very loud) experienced their tinnitus fading.

There is a high chance that over the next two months your tinnitus will begin fading. If it begins fading, there is no reason for it to not continue to fade. In that case, unless you hurt your ears again, you ought to eventually (the process can take 1-3 years) get to the "can hear it only in quiet rooms" stage.

Don't panic, and just give it time.

You will want to continue to protect your ears from all of the noises that don't feel right to you, including the moderate noises like that of a vacuum cleaner. Many of us who tried it have been happy with the result.

Normally I don't include the information about horror stories in my replies to the people new to tinnitus. I felt compelled to do this here, to ensure that you don't repeat those mistakes. Don't worry, doing things that make one's tinnitus worse (or that increase the risk of it getting worse) is unavoidable, and people overcome stuff like that all of the time.

Whenever someone reports that their tinnitus is gone, I ask them whether they can still hear it in a quiet room (to determine whether their tinnitus is actually 100% gone). Check out the search results below. When you click on each of the text links there, you will see my question. Scroll down to see their answer.
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/search/4086100/?q=quiet+room+earplugs&o=relevance&c[user][0]=22665

Also, check out
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/thread...eone-else-who-has-tinnitus.26850/#post-307822

and
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/spontaneous-recovery-stats-many-recover-3-studies.21441/

 

P.S. Just to be clear, just because something can be harmful and there are horror stories about it on this site, doesn't mean that there is a high risk of it harming you. The risk might be 1 in 100. Due to how bad tinnitus can get, you wouldn't want to voluntarily expose yourself to this risk, but if inadvertently you got exposed to that risk, a lot of the time it isn't the end of the world.

 

@Maarryy123

Many things can cause the pop in your ears including a build-up of earwax. Since you have had it removed hopefully things will calm down. If you need to have microsuction or ear irrigation to remove wax in the future, then I suggest you apply eardrops/olive oil to each ear 3x a day for 10 days before having the wax removed. This will thoroughly loosen the wax. If you don't do this problems can sometimes occur: making pre-existing tinnitus worse or causing it where it wasn't present before.

I see that you really love listening to music and whilst there's nothing wrong with this, it could be the reason for the pop and subsequent audio signals you heard in your ears. If you listen to your music a lot through headphones, earbuds, or AirPods, in-fact any type of headphones then this is the likely cause of sounds you have described hearing. If I am correct then I strongly advise you not to use any type of headphones for at least 3 months and preferably never use them again even at low volume.

Headphones of any type are the most common cause of Noise induced tinnitus including headsets. Many people do not realize when using these devices, they are listening at too high a volume and often for long periods without giving the ears and auditory system sufficient rest. Over time tinnitus can develop so you need to be careful. If you have been a regular user of headphones then I advise you to seriously think about what I have said. Please click on the links below and read my posts that you may find helpful.

All the best
Michael

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/new-to-tinnitus-what-to-do.12558/
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/tinnitus-a-personal-view.18668/
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/hyperacusis-as-i-see-it.19174/

 

Hi, thank you for your reply!

My mouthguard is only used at night, as nightguard, because when I was young I had braces. However, they look like they do not fit me anymore, but i will still try them on and hopefully notice some changes!

I guess I had wax build up, even though I cleaned my ears with a spray in April, maybe that could also be the culprit!

Thank you sooo much!!!
Love, Mary!! ^^

 

Hi Greg!

I never really thought about ear pressure really, because I don't fly and I only associated it with flying or swimming!

I actually started working late March in an office, where I have to take the elevator and there is an air conditioner behind my back! Maybe that was building the pressure, along side with my stress and also listening to music, in the train in the morning! Guess I didn't give my ears time to breathe!

I will give them their well needed rest! I just find it sad, that they have to make contact this way!

Thanks again!!

 

Hi Bill!!

Also a huge thank you to you too for replying!!
Thank you so much!!! That's really motivating to hear!!

I actually hear my tinnitus only when I am in a quiet room (THANK GOD!!), but still it isn't really pleasant!! And I feel like my hearing is kinda muffed ! But considering that everything is fine! I do not have any pain, I am a little sensitive about certain sounds but that's I guess it!
But the ENT said that everything is fine, nothing looks damaged, but I only have high tension in my neck/shoulder area, which I am getting physiotherapy from now on!

I don't really know anymore!! But again, HOPE!!

Again thank you so much for you reply and taking the time to comment on my issue!!

Love, Mary!! ^^

 

I guess I forgot to @...
I am kinda new so I don't know if you get notifications even if I responded without @... so I will try!
@Bill Bauer @Greg Sacramento @LilSass @Michael Leigh

 

Update!

So yesterday I was visiting my little cousins, everything was fine, when all of a sudden my little cousin decided he needs to kill a fly with a swat, on a metal surface, kinda directly at my ear!
Well now my ear is extra aggressive and I am going crazy! I am literally doing everything to be safe and protect my ears, but it just makes everything worse!!

Today I went to a tinnitus specialist! I again did an audiogram everything is fine, thankfully!! I am so glad!

However, I told her there is like something coming from my ear into my mouth! She looked at me and said: "Yes that is true!!" The others haven't said anything about this. I feel like my left nostril is stuffy, but I got I looked at 2 weeks ago and nothing was found!

Anyways I am having Cortison 500mg infusions done on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday!
I am kinda scared that they will worsen my tinnitus because I only hear it know in a quite room, but maybe it is an infection so I don't know anymore at this point!

Also the ear bone near my cheekbones is kinda bigger than the other! Maybe that is inflamed!
Hopefully everything goes well!

I am also trying to drink a lot of water and also drinking ginger tea! I am also thinking of adding Magnesium to my Vitamin D oil!

I hope you all are having a beautiful day!