Hissing Tinnitus After Using Olive Oil Ear Drops

Hello all. I’ve had tinnitus for a year now. It’s usually a ringing noise.

Recently I went to the ENT who said I had an earwax build up and said to use olive oil or olive oil ear drops. I bought Otex but was afraid to use it as it says on the packet not to use if you have tinnitus so I’ve been using regular olive oil.

It was fine for a couple of days until 2 days ago when my ear started making a hissing noise. There’s also a kind of crunching sound in my ear which I assume is the wax.

The crunching is a lot better but the hissing is still there. I’m hoping it’s only temporary as it’s a horrible noise on top of the ringing I already have.

I’m worried the olive oil caused some kind of spike in my tinnitus. I’m hoping it isn’t permanent and the noise goes away soon.

Has anyone else experienced this?

 

Hey, I’m not sure if anyone saw this post but really struggling with the hissing noise in my ear. I’m hoping the olive oil hasn’t made it permanent.

 

There's no way olive oil can make tinnitus permanently worse. What you need to do is go back to an ENT and have your ears checked out, the oil could have lodged the wax in certain way and now needs to be manually scraped away with a curette.

You'll be fine.

 

Thanks so much for replying to me. I’ve been freaking out and worried for two days now.

I don’t know why I now have a hissing noise in my ear after I used the olive oil when it was only a ringing noise before. It’s so loud at the moment. I’m going to call the ENT and have it manually cleaned.

Your comment calmed me down a bit. Thank you.

 

I personally wouldn't use olive oil in the ear. I reckon all it does is gum the wax up which has probably happened to yourself.

 

I’m worried as I previously only had a ringing noise in my ears and for 2 days now, since using the olive oil ear drops, I’ve had a hissing noise which I didn’t have before. I’m hoping it isn’t permanent and goes away as it’s so loud currently.

 

Hi Caroline. Here is what I would do. I would Google ear wax removal near you and go and see an audiologist who does ear suction. I have one near me in London. He has a look in the ear and if there is wax build up, he charges £100 to do it. If there is none, the cost is £25. My ears and tinnitus feel so much better afterwards. I think the olive oil it bungs up the ear by mixing with any wax you have and that will make noises worse.

 

I got a left ear hiss - went to the doctor who said chronic ear wax - use olive oil. I did notice after starting on the olive oil - my hearing level in my left ear went muffled. This was entirely due to the wax softening and expanding due to the oil. Maybe in your case pressure on the ear drum from expanding wax is causing the hiss. I used Otex too - a lot of it - as the wax was hard and the oil was not making an impact - it needs some breaking up. I got it out in the end and the tinnitus did improve - but I am left with a hiss 6 months later.

I did have microsuction - but the hard wax near the drum would not shift. I kept going with Otex and got it out myself with an oral irrigator. I would not recommend you do it yourself - just keep going with the oil - or even water drops. Not sure if a curette is going to get hardened wax out all the way into the narrow channel where the ear drum is but good luck. NB microsuction machine is a vacuum and the suction tool is a long very thin syringe like tube. Frankly I did not like the look of it and I know some people on this forum advise not to do microsuction. I imagined something else - I did not like the thought that one slip and I might have a punctured ear drum. The audiologist was not prepared to risk getting closer to my left ear drum to clear the wax.

 

Hi, thanks so much for your advice. I don’t know why the ENT doctor didn’t clean it and told me to use olive oil first. I’m hoping the hissing noise is only temporary and once it’s cleaned it will go away as it’s currently a horrible high pitched noise.

 

It is standard procedure to use olive oil to soften the wax before removal is attempted.

 

Hi, thanks for all your advice. I’ve had the hissing sound for 3 days now and it’s still very high pitched. Worried as I only had a ringing sound previously. I’m hoping you’re right and it’s pressure from the ear drum and it’s isn’t permanent. Sorry to hear you also have the hissing noise.

Yeah I read on this forum some people advised not to do microsuction. I’m worried that might make it even worse. I’m going to call the GP next week and see what she says.

Has the hissing tinnitus improved for you? Mine is so loud. It’s currently worse than the ringing I already had.

 

If I could turn the clock back - I would probably persevere with either bicarb of soda ear drops - plain water ear drops - or olive oil - until even if months pass - the wax starts coming out on its own. I got mine out with an oral irrigator which probably was not the best idea. But my tinnitus level was troublesome - a hiss but it could ramp up and resonate in the ear - waking me at night and stopping me from getting back to sleep. When I got the wax out - levels halved to an acceptably quiet hiss with occasional spike. If it stays like this for the rest of my life - I can live with it.

I should tell you I also had COVID-19 1 month before the hiss started - so mine may have nothing to do with the wax but given that the wax in my right ear where I have no tinnitus - came out easily with the microsuction - and the wax in the left ear would not come out - the ear where I have the tinnitus - I think the wax is probably the cause. Why it persists now the wax is gone - I have no idea.

Of course you should take advice from your GP - I know someone whose tinnitus cleared when she had her wax flushed. On the other hand we hear of people whose tinnitus increases after the flushing or microsuction. There are risks and no two cases of tinnitus are the same.

 

I hope mine becomes more quiet as it’s also stopping me from getting back to sleep. I already had a ringing noise before so I just want the hiss to go away as the ringing was manageable. That is strange that it persists now that the wax is out but glad to hear it’s more quiet now. Yes, it’s difficult knowing what to do because as you say, no two cases of tinnitus are the same and it could get worse or better. I’ll be talking to my GP next week and see what she says. Thanks again for the advice.

 

Why didn’t the ENT just manually remove the ear wax with a curette when you saw them in the first place?

 

I would opt for manual wax removal but not with microsuction.

 

Where I live it looks like they usually recommend using olive oil drops before removing earwax. I wish he had just done it manually.

 

Thanks for the the advice. Yeah I will have it manually removed but not with microsuction as I’m worried that may make my tinnitus worse.