Moving On — Some Questions Left (Somatic Tinnitus, Earplugs, Ear Wax)

Hey everyone,

I have had my tinnitus now since 2 months. The first month it was pretty stable (louder in the morning, then a bit quieter and louder in the evening). Now the second month it started to fluctuate more, I get periods of complete silence, the tinnitus changes ear sometimes etc. Today I awoke to a pretty loud whistling in my left ear, now it calmed down a bit. My tinnitus now fluctuates normally between (0,5-3)/10. Maybe sometimes a also a bit louder but then only for a short time.

Since I was on holidays the last month I tried to stay away from noise (no concerts, clubs and bars) and use earplugs most of the time I was outside. But since I don't find a pattern to my tinnitus I'll try now to move on with my normal life. But I have 2 questions left regarding earplugs and somatic tinnitus.

Somatic Tinnitus
Since some weeks I notice that when I turn my head all the way to the left/right I get this strange static/whistling in my left ear (where I normally don't have tinnitus). The same happens when I push my head/neck forward or when I push my jaw forward. I don't notice any change in my normal tinnitus.
Is this something else? Is this somatic tinnitus? I had a car accident with a trauma 1,5 month before my tinnitus could that be connected? @Greg Sacramento sry for tagging you but I noticed you often give advice for neck/jaw problems

Earplugs
My tinnitus did not come after an acoustic trauma. I have/had no hyperacusis, no ear fullness, no muffled hearing. Just tinnitus.
However I bought 3M 1100 foam earplugs and intend to use them whenever I'm around louder noise (car, street, gym). Better safe than sorry. Do you insert foam earplugs always fully? I tried that the other day it gave me a strange pressure in my ear, so I was afraid and put it in a little less so that maybe 1 cm of the plug stuck out of my ear. Or should I insert them always fully?

Also how do you handle earwax? Normally I don´t have much wax but I am afraid that with more earplug use I could get more. Since I had a bad experience with the last microsuction I would rather maybe use some ear drops and if there really is some wax after a while extract it first manually and just as a last resort use microsuction. @Bill Bauer maybe you can help me with my questions here

Thanks to everyone for your help

 

@Deamon22 I be glad to help you. Give me a hour and I will put some thoughts together that relate your accident and conditions.

 

Thank you so much☺️In my introduction thread i wrote a bit more about the accident.

 

@Deamon22 Could it me that you had a compromise immune system due to a cold that was the trigger for development of tinnitus. This can include temporary ETD. A cold and any ETD can have allergy involvement.
This can weaken deep vertical and lateral nerve fibers of the medial pterygoid, masseter and temporalis. With this inner ear pressure can be a problem.

Your accident may have added to a prior experiencing episode of ear ringing.

When you move your jaw and neck BOTH forward and get increased T, it can include deep vertical fibers and sometimes facet joints of the neck, but more your problem seems to be myofascial - a very slight malposition of the TMJ occlusion which normally isn't a big deal. Facet joint weakness would have shown on your radiological testing and it did not.

Could you provide the exact nature of any hearing loss. Many with jaw joint improvement can see great improvement with T. I think this is a focus area along with strengthening your immune systems. I don't think that your neck muscles are a big concern, but your trapezius muscles are probably tight. I would also do some masseter and temporalis trigger point therapy.

I would consider taking NAC and magnesium chelate. I would have a dentist examine your jaw.

If your neck really hurts then muscles that may need trigger point therapy would be suboccipital, scalenes, semispinalis capitis, sterncleidomastoid and maybe posterior digastric. The Trigger Point Therapy Book.

Stay in touch - add more - or correct me if needed on events.

 

My last ENT said that i probabaly have some kind of allergy, i think pollen since i suffered from that as a child, so i have to do an allergy test later this autumn. He said that my ET are working now, but my sinuses look like they are constantly a bit swollen and irritated. Not so much that i notice it a lot bot nontheless...Also at night i breathe mostly trough my mouth since i feel like i cant quiet breathe as good trough my nose...
I had earlier this year a bit of a problem with facial pain and pressure around my left eye and cheek. Do you think that could be connected? The ENT said that could be connected because of the allergy.

I did a Audiogram immediately after onset of the cold, and it showed some dips to around 20db at 500 and 8k. However since my head felt completly blocked they told me to do another hearing test after the infection cleared up. I did the new test then just for the right ear since i hat T just there and it was normal. I could do maybe an extended audiogram to 16k next. The T began fluctuating to my other ear just recently.

Ok so i have an appointment with an osteopath on the beginning of September, so i´ll talk to him about this.

Ok i´ll order some NAC and magnesium chelate. Do you also think mag citrate is worse? i usually used that.

 

@Greg Sacramento also i just realized something, when my T is loudest in the morning, could it be because i have my mouth open the whole night and that creates problems with my TMJ? Because my T never spikes during the day, if it gets louder its nearly always after waking up.

Because strangely after i eat my T reduces significantly....not totally zero, but often it goes down a lot....

 

@Deamon22 That great news with the hearing test. I think that you will see great improvement soon. Allergy testing and seeing an osteopath are very smart moves. The osteopath will perform and show you trigger point therapy for facial pain and pressure around left eye and cheek. From this she/he will probably do masseter and temporalis trigger point therapy along with neck muscles. Any type of magnesium is good. You should take a small amount of calcium with the magnesium.

Let us know how things go. Write anytime. Wishing you the best and I think that the best will happen for you.

 

@Greg Sacramento thank you so much for your help, what you said really made a lot of sense. Tbh until now i never really thought about that all this could be connected. I´ll try now everything and update you then thank you

 

I insert them as deep as possible, while still allowing me to easily pinch them and to pull them out (if I insert them too deep, it gets hard to get them out).
In case you haven't seen the instructions on how to insert them

Fitting Instructions for 3M 1100 Ear Plugs -...

You may also want to search YouTube using the keywords "how to insert foam earplugs".

[Make sure to pull out earplugs very slowly. Pulling them out fast can result in a loud pop that might cause a T spike.]

I have been using earplugs when I sleep for over 10 years [I began doing it before I got T]. I haven't noticed wax accumulating at a faster rate when I use earplugs. But of course everyone is different.

 

Ok great maybe i did something wrong inserting them, i‘ll try again. Also good that you don‘t notice any change on wax build up. since i never had any problems until now with wax i hope it stays that way. Thanks Bill

The ONLY good thing about getting T is that now my girlfriend and my other friends all have earplugs on themso at least they hopefully never have to deal with this shot.

 

Since you are pretty sure that your tinnitus is not noise-induced, I don't think protection in a normal environment by plugs makes sense (car, traffic, etc.).
A permanent earplug management also prevents the options of defocusing.

 

There are many posts here made by people whose T is not noise-induced, who got T spikes as a result of moderate noises (e.g. the noise at a gym).

It also promotes habituation.

 

Yeah could be, since with earplugs i obviously hear it more. However, at least the first months i‘ll try to wear them more, to see how the T developed. I‘m so afraid to make it worse that i‘ll gladly use earplugs ecc.

Ah btw i got a small spike after a 7h flight and 4h drive all without earplugs 1 month after onset. After that i deceided to buy earplugs.

 

@Greg Sacramento Quick update, today i had my second visit with my osteopath. More or less he said the same things like you, he treated my neck, trapezius (which was ok, no problems there) sternocleidomastoid and everything in that area. My masseter muscle was very painful and tight on the left side where my somatic T sits. Also the muscle around the left TMJ bone felt very very tight. A lot worse then on the right side.

Now i have to do some excercises for the jaw (pushing forward and sidewards) + stretching of the neck and the sternocleidomastoid. In some weeks or a month i will do a follow up treatment.
Also he told me to change my pillow, mine is very high so my neck is probably under constant stress, i should use a normal low one that my neck and spine is neutral.

The T in my right ear (which i couldn‘t modulate) has gotten better over the last weeks. It feels like a tone went away and im left now with a very mild baseline thats just audible in the morning with my ear on the pillow.

Now the left side (that i can modulate by turning my head and jaw) is fluctuating very much but is often silent and often beeps a bit. No idea

All in all i‘m pretty confident together with some cardiovascular activity and a healthy eating habit it will get better.

Thank you so much for your input Greg. I will update after a while

 

UPDATE

Having a really good week since sunday, T was barely audible and 1 tone in my right ear disappeared. Left ear is more or less silent at the moment. Now i have just 1 tone in my right ear left.

Yesterday when i came home i sat in my garage in my car with windows up and earplugs (-20db) in. The Niosh app measured around 28db. I just heard some slight whistling in the right ear, but really far in the background.

If it stays like this i´m happy. Nearly 3 months in now.

 

@Deamon22 That's really good news as you are doing what is needed.

Glad to hear that your beeping in right ear has calmed down. Your jaw is healing and with that you shouldn't get anymore ear twitching. You have recovered well.

 

Thanks Greg, and thank you for all the support. I got my NAC today so will also start with that. Further i have still to do the allergy test and i hope it keeps getting better. I`ll update a bit later

 

Please protect your ears no matter where your tinnitus comes from. Ear damage is still ear damage. Plus, there is absolutely no proof or evidence that your tinnitus is any different from ours, beyond its cause. Until we know it is a fact, as you said, better safe than sorry.

Personally, I don't care for foam earplugs. They are difficult to put in, I have trouble finding any that will even fit my ears, and I dislike putting something so deep into my ear canal.

I use musician's ear plugs with different filters. If I need any more protection I use ear muffs.


Worth mentioning, as well, that during my year here I've never found any consensus about how best to clean your ears, beyond at least making sure that your earwax has been softened for several days prior to whatever method you choose. If you feel comfortable with it, you can probably regularly use Debrox without syringing it.

 

Thanks for taking the time to respond.

No worries, i protect my ears all the time, i don't take any risks. I use Earpeace musician plugs (around 20db protection) for shorter drives and shopping. If i know i am in the city for a longer time or go to the gym i use my foam earplugs. Sometimes it would be more comfortable to use muffs but i don't like how bulky they are.

I think i'll handle wax like this. If i know i have wax that needs to be removed, i'll use drops to soften it and ask the ENT if he can remove it manually. If it is to close to the drum i would use microsuction, but only for a short time.

@Red How are you doing?

 

Hello everyone, a quick question regarding VERTIGO.

Around three weeks ago, 2 days after my first osteopathy appointment, i woke up normally in the morning, turned around after a few minutes in bed and the room started spinning really bad. I stood up because i felt sea sick, and everything went back to normal. When i laid back down and turned around in bed it started again. Strangely when i was sitting or standing i felt nothing.

After a while i tried the half somersault maneuver for BPPV. The first time i didn´t felt much improvement, however after the second time it got better and went away. I had no other symptoms.

Since then it never returned. This was the first time i experienced this. Any ideas? Could it have been because of the treatment? Or should i not worry?
I had a bit of dizziness and balance problems after my car accident in april but that went away after some weeks.

 

@Deamon22 Classic SCM Muscles
https://officehealthinfo.wordpress.com/2012/09/11/the-sternocleidomastoid-scm-muscle-and-vetrigo/

 

@Greg Sacramento can i ask you another question really quick? While inserting my ear plugs yesterday i noticed a smull bump (like the size of a small pea) right in front of the tragus (starts where the tragus ends) under the skin of my right ear. On the left side there seems to be the same but a lot smaller i think. I just had a quick look on the internet and it says it could be a lymph node? Any idea? Should i get it checked out?

No other symptoms, just a bit of aching now because i pressed around there like crazy Also i noticed that while having ear plugs in my right ear starts itching right underneath that small lump after a while.

Of course as soon as T gets better something else has to pop up.

 

@Deamon22 It's rarely anything to worry about. The lymph node is just lymph/fluid being drained from either your cheeks, sinus or eye area. Sometimes from the Eustachian tubes. It should clear up within a week.

 

Thank you my friend. I´ll wait a week and see how it develops.

 

So my tinnitus is now really really low since about 1 month, i don't really hear it anymore. Sometimes i hear it slightly at night if my right ear is on the pillow or if i plug my ears. Also there is just one tone left fortunately.

However, there is still something that bothers me. Sometimes i still feel like there is some static in my head, like an electrical wire on the left side of my head. It's not a tone, it's really hard to describe. I had that a bit since the beginning but never really noticed it, i feel like most of the time it's not there. And when i plug my ears i don't hear it. So, very strange, sometimes i nearly feel like i'm imagining it.

It kind of feels like the sound it makes when i push my jaw forward or clench my teeth, but less loud. Anyone an idea? I hope it will also go away with time, since my tinnitus is nearly non existent anymore.