Introduction — Tinnitus Appeared After a Major Head Cold

Good Morning,

I've just found Tinnitus Talk and have been checking it out. I actually have not been formally diagnosed with tinnitus, but I believe I have been experiencing it. Hoping something or someone will shed some light on this and/or maybe have experienced something similar.

A year or so ago (I don't really know the exact date/time of year, etc), I had the worst head cold that I had in quite some time. I remember my ears feeling full-like, during the head cold/flu whatever it was. As they cleared up, I remember sitting at my work desk and an ear would 'pop', clear up and then I was momentarily dizzy. I think that happened two or three times. I really don't remember much ear pain, just the fullness and then the 'popping'. May I also mention this job I was at was quite stressful, too. Ever since then I've had like a dull buzzing/hissing type noise more in my left ear, but have noticed it in both. More often than not, one or both ears (seems to be more often in left than the right), it like makes a crackling noise when I swallow.

I recently started a new job, a couple month ago, but while I was at this previous very stressful job, I also listened to online radio or music on my phone via earbuds. I very rarely had them very loud, however occasionally I would turn it up some as my neighbor in the next cubicle over was almost always either talking loud or singing along to his music. And have also experienced some stress due to my father passing away in April.

I haven't really had any other noticeable problems/issues (other than the crackling/buzzing, etc) up until recently. I've been wanting to listen to some music while at my new job. Until I found the right settings/volume to where I could play it without earbuds and not bother my cubicle neighbors, I listened with earbuds, with the volume quite low for maybe a week or two. Since doing that I've noticed the buzzing a little more and maybe 3-4 momentary out of the blue dizzy like spells that only last a few seconds. And in addition it's that time of year for the sinus drainage/pressure (which I've been experiencing the last 2-3 days), and it seems to be dry in our office. I've cut out the earbuds almost entirely this week. I feel great otherwise and have no trouble sleeping, however I could use an hour to two more a night (I'm a night owl and have to be up early for work in the morning - working on the sleep routine, too). My feeling is that some or all of these issues are somehow inner-related to each other.

It's time to schedule my wellness exam, and I want to determine if and what to say or discuss with my healthcare provider. I really would like to approach any treatment(s), if necessary, more naturally/holistic if possible. Trying to delay any chemical drugs as much and as long as possible, as I know they can cause a vicious cycle of other symptoms and problems.

Sorry for the length of my first post.
Any input and or suggestions is most appreciated.
Thanks!

 

Hello there. I am currently about 3-4 weeks into having Tinnitus (or at least when I started noticing it) and I think mine has onset from a combination of things (heaphones, being sick, concerts) I never listened to my headphones loudly as I’ve always had really good hearing which is slightly sensitive. I also had a really bad cold and had to take 2 flights with it, and my ears struggled a bit with adjusting to the pressure (cleared after about an hour but the descents were very painful despite taking decongestians)

I think we all handle this thing differently, and I had a really rough time with panic attacks and anxiety these last few weeks. Sounds like you’re already handling it better.

What I would advise is to go to schedule an appointment with a GP to rule out any standard issues, and then maybe an ENT after.

I went straight to an ENT and he just checked my ears briefly and did a hearing test which didn’t indicate any hearing loss, but didn’t check my blood pressure or anything like that. My ringing has not subsided but I’m starting to get used to it, but the pressure/sensitive in my ears is really starting to bug me. I’ve also stopped wearing ear plugs to sleep in and noticed my ear wax has been building up a lot more in these last few weeks, so I want to make sure that isn’t the cause of this new pressure.

Do you suffer from allergies at all?

 

Welcome to the forum. It is a good idea to check out your ears with an ENT especially. Your description of crackling sounds while swallowing etc. points to something in your eustachian tubes that may be malfunctioning, something they call ETD. You can search out the internet on ETD or search this forum. Here is a sample site which talks about the problem of ETD. Good luck with your wellness exam. Take care. God bless.

https://www.audicus.com/ear-noises-explained/