Is My Respiratory System Causing the Ringing I Hear?

This is a little lengthy, but I guess it's better to be more detailed for anyone who might be able to point out where my issues came from.

I'm currently having a bit of an episode with my right ear right now. The ringing isn't always there, but it is there. The times I am most likely to hear it is when I'm talking or humming, when a chair is dragged across the floor, or a similar sound is made/heard. I will say that even with the above scenarios, it isn't always heard. When I whisper, it seems to be more rarely heard, if at all. The ringing also seems to react to certain sounds, in addition to the ones I mentioned above. Then again, it might be because the sounds that my ear reacts to are similar in pitch/frequency to the sounds above. Sometimes the ringing doesn't react straight away, but maybe a couple of seconds after I hear the sound? I'm not too sure about this part.

I think what bothers me most is when I speak, because it's basically my own voice. That isn't exactly calming.

Now, the thing is, when I'm about to burp, I sometimes hear the ringing right before I let the air out. Kind of like when the air is like somewhere within my head/throat. It then goes away after I burp.

To add to all that, I have had ETD since 2015, the same year I first encountered tinnitus. My tinnitus has/had gotten much better, and the ETD has not really been an issue since.

The reason why I mention my respiratory system is because the ringing seems to mostly occur when I speak, or when I'm about to burp. That has got to be related to the airway in my body, right?

But then it also reacts to sounds like a chair being dragged across the floor or anything similar. And when I lie down or sleep, it seems to get better. In fact, I think I'm probably fine for the first few minutes after I wake up.

I have also used earphones/headphones since the end of 2016 up until last Friday, when I kinda heard ringing sounds, seemingly all of a sudden, from the Bluetooth earphones I was using at that time. I don't know how significant this fact may be, I'm just adding it. I first heard the ringing when I was talking through the mic, and when certain sounds from certain songs were heard. I kept using the earphones for a few more hours. Hopefully that was all that happened with regards to the earphones. I will say that I don't use the earphones a lot, though. At most, maybe around 75% of the entire time the last ~15 weeks. This was also mostly only on the commute to school/back home. Volume has on average been no more than 60%.

I should add that sometimes, when I breathe in through my nose, I can kind of hear the air moving through on the right side of my face(assuming that was the nasal cavity). The right side is where I have ETD and the ringing sounds from time to time.

Also, when I try to cover my ear to test for the sound, I hear this ringing sound which may or may not be the same ringing sound I usually hear. It is heard right when I'm about to cover my ear, or right after I take my hand off. I may not hear it at all when my hand is over my ear or completely away from it. Why is this?

 

I have the same, when I breathe in heavily through my nose I feel air in my right ear crackling and my eardrum moving a bit. Started after a cold 2 weeks ago but has subsided for the most part. Sometimes I still notice a bit but it seems to get better.

 

Did you experience any ringing while you had the cold?

And also, after thinking about it, before this current episode started, I actually had some high pitched noise come through on the right side while I was breathing. It may have even been going on for weeks. Maybe it is my respiratory system...

But still, I don't see why other things can cause my right ear to ring?

 

Yes, i had a pretty bad spike after my cold for about 1-2 weeks. Then it faded again back to zero/baseline.

Maybe you have some sinus problems, you could always check with your ENT. He also sent me to do a CT to see if there was a problem because of chronic sinusitis. However since my T pretty much faded i am still debating if i should do it.

 

This sounds like TTTS, with the rustling sound replaced by ringing. When I had TTTS, I would hear a "whoosh" sound after every sentence of mine. I have never read anyone here describe anything like that...

 

Well, I've read about it, but I'm too sure about the details. Can you break it down to me? More importantly, is this very bad and can I heal from it?

 

Maybe I should. I'll see how things go over the next few days.

 

In TTTS, the muscles inside of the ear twitch in response to sounds, and one can hear this twitching. Many people (myself included) recover from TTTS, but some never do.

In your case, I would wait for 3-6 months. If it doesn't get better, then you might have a long term problem there. Until that happens, there is a very good chance that this will end up being a temporary setback.

I wish I was in Singapore right now...

 

Hopefully I'll be among this group as well.

Well, I just read up TTTS in detail, and neck/shoulder pain, which I'm currently having, was described as one of potential causes. I'll have to try to cure it then.

Also, is regular(in the sense that it sounds like regular T, but comes and goes) T another result of TTTS? In addition to the ringing that occurs with my voice, etc., I seem to have that from time to time. I guess it's intermittent.

Finally, is there anything you did that helped with improving and getting rid of TTTS? Any information is highly valued.

Wanna come here on a holiday?

 

I tried to protect my ears from noise whenever I could.

Yes, someday I want to see it again.

I am not sure...

 

Yeah, I'm no longer using the earphones I mentioned. I'm also probably going to talk at a lower volume than I usually do for now.

Well, let's hope it's just something that is only temporary like the potential TTTS. It's also not always there, so I have hope for it to go away.

When was the last time you came here?

 

I believe it was about 4 years ago. The botanical garden was incredible. I was lucky - one of the days I was there was a public holiday and got to see the palace.

 

@Hariz Nonis It seem to be your stapedius muscle. It's involuntary muscle contraction that occurs in the middle ear in response to high intensity sound and most always when a person starts to vocalize. Feeling air moving on one side of face is common as the stapedius muscle can react to facial movements.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/neuroscience/stapedius-muscle

 

The big white house? That's the President's place of residence!

 

Oh man, is there any way I can heal from this?

 

That's the one. It was interesting to visit it.

 

Unfortunately, time is the only medicine available to us.

 

... So there isn't anything I can do to curb the issue? Like massaging around my ear, etc.?

 

@Hariz Nonis One possibility causing stapedius muscle reaction - upper respiratory, ETD and facial input would be some type of toxin(s) around your environment - where you live. Have you had blood work for toxic infections?

 

Hello mate! amazing! What a coincidence that you have written me to read your story and to my amazement I see that it resembles mine in some ways.
I will go directly to the question.
When the tinnitus began in the left ear 15.4.2017, in addition to a list of possible factors that could have triggered it, there were also problems with the eustachian tubes. today the ears continue to open and close constantly.
About one year after its onset, I experienced the same thing you describe, a reactive tinnitus.
before certain sounds or sounds produced by maneuvers such as scratching my head, neck, etc., I listened as a kind of high frequency beep that appeared only during that moment.
the truth is that I obsessed a little and all the time I was looking to scratch myself to see if it appeared or not, and indeed there it was.
so I thought: shit, another noise but now in the right ear (in addition to the one I had in the left ear) but why? what's going on? I was angry but after several days I said: to take for ass, step of the noise, I give up, I do not know why it is happening.
and it was happening for several months until one day I scratched my head and it was gone.
I have studied a branch of medicine and I have my theories and hypothesis of why it could happen and how the noise is related to the muscles, atm, structures of the ear and E.T. but like everything in tinnitus is difficult to prove (in another message if you want to expose you)

So you know, I think it's going to be removed, but when, it's hard to predict, I do not think it lasts many months but every person is a world.

my advice, do not obsess about the noise or the time it may take to get rid of it, send it to hell and it sure happens to you, the day you least expect it, you will not have it anymore.
and second, try to minimize time with headphones and if you like games try to adopt better neck and back positions.

a hug mate, I will pray for you!

 

I do have ETD, but it hasn't really caused much of an issue all this time.

Idk about upper respiratory, but I am currently taking some meds as I seem to having a runny nose the past few days.

Finally, I just started my internship last week. My workplace isn't exactly quiet, as there are air conditioning units right next to me, although there is a door between us. My desk is, however, quite dusty. And I didn't come to work for two days last week. All this started on the day I returned to the office.

 

Yes, dust is a toxin and it may also depend on dirty air conditioning filters. It does seem that you have a slight weak immune/respiratory immune system - research this. Try a multi vitamin.

 

If there's something you want to say in detail, please do. The fact that you may have gone through something similar means you might have something to say that can benefit me. I am of course not trying to let it take over, but making it go away forever is the best.

 

Well I guess it's time to wipe my desk clean. I am also kind of allergic to dust, what more with my ETD not helping. What sort of vitamins do you think will help?

 

You can and should try everything you can think of (e.g., the above, various supplements, etc.). You might end up being one of the people who finds something that helps them.

 

Wiped my desk first thing when I arrived at the office. There are still some old components next to me, and they are dusty. Hopefully, at least my immediate area being cleaner has helped. Now, I just have to see what else might work.

 

@Bill Bauer @Greg Sacramento my right jaw/right side of my face seems to be a little tight/tense right now. My right ear was also a little itchy earlier. Are any of these symptoms of TTTS/stapedius muscle?

 

I don't think so.

 

Well, it went away after some massaging. Hopefully it didn't mean anything negative.

 

Hello @Ramòn

If there is anything you'd like to say in detail, please do so. The fact that you may have gone through something similar means you might have something to say that can benefit me. I am of course not trying to let it take over, but making it go away forever is the best.

I am no longer using the earphones, and I have not played a game in a long time. I guess time will tell for this part of the story.