My First Dealing with Tinnitus

Hello,

I've recently noticed a, almost pure tone, 1.55kHz ringing in my right ear in rooms that have sound levels in the < 55-60 dB range. This frequency is really annoying! It is very noticeable with ear protection on.

A couple things I have noticed. Large stretches, arms reaching back over shoulders, make it much louder.

If I generate the ringing tone I can still hear the tone from the tone generator just fine but when I get the volume down near to or less than the level of the ringing I start to get this phase cancellation effect.

This is really annoying because in a room that has any 1.55kHz sound component to it and is low in volume, it creates this pulsating mosquito type sound.

Also I've noticed if I cover my ear and create the right amount of air pressure, it seems to go away, but then gets louder as I reduce the pressure back down. I've swept through frequencies on my computer and I don't really notice any hearing loss near there.

Thoughts on what to do?

 

That sure sounds interesting. It could be the pressure in your eardrum. Definitely talk to an ENT about it.

 

I guess that is one question... Should I see an ENT or an audiologist first or does this all have to start with my GP in order to get into an ENT or audiologist?

 

Considering they're near useless, I usually wouldn't recommend an ENT, but in this case yeah. Sounds like a pressure issue. Hope you get rid of it.

 

Well I went to the ENT. My hearing is "normal" according to their test. He even examined my ears even with a microscope and saw no issues. His only thought was to try a steroid to see if that might help IF there is any inner ear inflammation. He said there were no guarantees there. He said he rarely sees people with T in just one ear so he said I could get an MRI done which would easily show any inner ear inflammation, but that is going to cost quite a bit of money.

 

I'm not sure where to go from here. I think it is still very strange that I can get the tone to go away with the right pressure in my ear by plugging it with my finger or an ear plug. Any ideas on what to do next?