Outlook for Me?

[eom]

Hi all;

(skip to the question section if this is too long)

Introduction:

So I have read a bit on here already about this (I found individuals with similar stories to mine) and I kinda already know the answer I'm gonna get, but I'll post anyway to try and calm my nerves.

Story:

Beginning of last week I noticed a ringing in my left ear. I went to the doctor and it was diagnosed as a middle ear infection. Ran the course of the meds, went back to the doctor, and the middle ear infection became an external ear infection. I am now being treated for that with a 7 day course of ear drops.

Someone else here had a story that involved this sort of chain of events, so I feel a bit more relaxed about that chain of events. Also, I was concerned that I had left an ear infection cultivate for months on end. Turns out if that had happened, I would have gotten a much more serious illness. I confirmed that with my GP and an ENT friend. So I was glad to rule that out as well.

A friend told me that they experience ringing in the ear during an ear infection, and my siblings have also gotten it when they got an ear infection. I'm glad to know on that front this isn't exactly an "uncommon" thing. In all of their cases, the ringing eventually went away.

My Personal History:

This left ear has a history of wax buildup (a naturally runny ear seems to run in my family). I made an appointment with my ENT for next week in order to conduct a more thorough evaluation.

The ear does feel clogged with wax and the GP noted hat there was a large presence of wax buildup, so I expect that the ENT will probably want to remove all of that wax through microsuction - I've had that procedure done in the past as well.

The ringing sound is only in my left ear. A rather peculiar thing happened earlier this week as well - after a nice steamy shower, the sound appeared to go away (or at least, sunk to very inaudible tone - that's ok, I can live with that). I went to bed rather excited, but woke up with the sound having returned. I told some of my medical-based friends, and they're of the opinion that this is due to wax buildup.

I can say though, objectively, the sound has improved over the past week. I know that I'm slightly biased since I just want this to go away - but it has gotten better. Last night I was able to sleep without any real sleep aids (before I had taken NyQuil and the occasional tranquilizer).

To my knowledge, I have not had any injuries to the ear nor do I have Meniere's disease or anything of that sort. I have also not been exposed to any sort of loud noise for as long as I can remember. I do wear ear buds for listening to music and such, but that is never with volume up too loud.

Questions:

1. Can a middle ear infection/outer ear infection cause ringing in my left ear?

2. Can an excessive wax buildup cause ringing ?

3. In your opinions, will this eventually clear up?

4. I know most people I've spoken to say that this usually takes 4-5 weeks to clear up after infection. Is that true? I'm aware everyone is different in terms of time to heal ...

5. When I go to the ENT next week, is there any question(s) I need to ask him in particular?

I was absolutely terrified last week, as I thought I had an ear infection for months/year and didnt know about it. As of now, I'm a bit more calm. That's why I decided to write my story and get some opinions from you guys.

Apologies for the lengthy message.

Kindest regards always;

~ Alex

 

[GregCA]

1. Can a middle ear infection/outer ear infection cause ringing in my left ear?

Yes

2. Can an excessive wax buildup cause ringing ?

Yes

3. In your opinions, will this eventually clear up?

Most likely yes

4. I know most people I've spoken to say that this usually takes 4-5 weeks to clear up after infection. Is that true?

It varies, which means there is no need to panic if the ringing isn't gone after a couple of weeks.

 

[eom]

I should also note, that ear usually has more wax in it because of the over production of wax I experience. It feels overly clogged now. Is this a cause for concern? I've had wax removed in the past (few years ago) and my hearing improved 10 fold.

 

[Bill Bauer]

I can say though, objectively, the sound has improved over the past week. I know that I'm slightly biased since I just want this to go away - but it has gotten better.

A really good sign!

I know most people I've spoken to say that this usually takes 4-5 weeks to clear up after infection. Is that true? I'm aware everyone is different in terms of time to heal ...

If it gets better between now and that 4-5 weeks deadline (but is still there at the time of the deadline), there is no reason for it to stop improving. It might take 3-6-12-24 months to fade.

Check out the thread below where I summarize everything (24 tips spread over three posts) I learned about managing tinnitus after reading the posts on this forum for the past 11 months
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/thread...itus-recently-this-info-will-be-useful.25741/

 

[eom]

Hey all;

I got an ear infection about a month ago. I went to the ENT and got meds to treat it. It seemed like they worked.

I knew I had an infection because of the ringing on one side of my hearing. It's very variable. Some days it's bad, other days it seems like it completely disappears.

What I was curious about - I was told I had a lot of wax buildup by several people that looked in my ear including the ENT. When he microsuctioned my ear a little bit, the ringing went away completely. He didn't remove all of the wax, just removed a small amount. He wanted to wait for the infection to completely clear before doing anything else. However, I felt something move around in there later that day and the ringing slowly returned. What are the chances this thing is from wax impaction?

It's caused me a lot of anxiety the past few weeks. I have a follow up with my ENT next week to make sure everything is ok. I'm scared I've got this forever, or that I have some other sort of serious undiagnosed underlying condition. I know that tinnitus from ear infections takes awhile to clear anyway, I'd just like a bit of reassurance. Sleep has been very difficult over the past few weeks. I've already got some ideas for sleeping meds should that need arise (Remeron seems to be a decent option)

Thanks all;
Alex

 

[threefirefour]

Hi all;

(skip to the question section if this is too long)

Introduction:

So I have read a bit on here already about this (I found individuals with similar stories to mine) and I kinda already know the answer I'm gonna get, but I'll post anyway to try and calm my nerves.

Story:

Beginning of last week I noticed a ringing in my left ear. I went to the doctor and it was diagnosed as a middle ear infection. Ran the course of the meds, went back to the doctor, and the middle ear infection became an external ear infection. I am now being treated for that with a 7 day course of ear drops.

Someone else here had a story that involved this sort of chain of events, so I feel a bit more relaxed about that chain of events. Also, I was concerned that I had left an ear infection cultivate for months on end. Turns out if that had happened, I would have gotten a much more serious illness. I confirmed that with my GP and an ENT friend. So I was glad to rule that out as well.

A friend told me that they experience ringing in the ear during an ear infection, and my siblings have also gotten it when they got an ear infection. I'm glad to know on that front this isn't exactly an "uncommon" thing. In all of their cases, the ringing eventually went away.

My Personal History:

This left ear has a history of wax buildup (a naturally runny ear seems to run in my family). I made an appointment with my ENT for next week in order to conduct a more thorough evaluation.

The ear does feel clogged with wax and the GP noted hat there was a large presence of wax buildup, so I expect that the ENT will probably want to remove all of that wax through microsuction - I've had that procedure done in the past as well.

The ringing sound is only in my left ear. A rather peculiar thing happened earlier this week as well - after a nice steamy shower, the sound appeared to go away (or at least, sunk to very inaudible tone - that's ok, I can live with that). I went to bed rather excited, but woke up with the sound having returned. I told some of my medical-based friends, and they're of the opinion that this is due to wax buildup.

I can say though, objectively, the sound has improved over the past week. I know that I'm slightly biased since I just want this to go away - but it has gotten better. Last night I was able to sleep without any real sleep aids (before I had taken NyQuil and the occasional tranquilizer).

To my knowledge, I have not had any injuries to the ear nor do I have Meniere's disease or anything of that sort. I have also not been exposed to any sort of loud noise for as long as I can remember. I do wear ear buds for listening to music and such, but that is never with volume up too loud.

Questions:

1. Can a middle ear infection/outer ear infection cause ringing in my left ear?

2. Can an excessive wax buildup cause ringing ?

3. In your opinions, will this eventually clear up?

4. I know most people I've spoken to say that this usually takes 4-5 weeks to clear up after infection. Is that true? I'm aware everyone is different in terms of time to heal ...

5. When I go to the ENT next week, is there any question(s) I need to ask him in particular?

I was absolutely terrified last week, as I thought I had an ear infection for months/year and didnt know about it. As of now, I'm a bit more calm. That's why I decided to write my story and get some opinions from you guys.

Apologies for the lengthy message.

Kindest regards always;

~ Alex

I think you'll be safe. Just be sure to keep your ears clean every now and then in the future. Use earwax removal once every few months.

 

[eom]

Just wanted to update everyone - hopefully to lessen the problem of "people not updating as their conditions improve."

Firstly, the tinnitus I experienced as a result of my ear infection has gotten WAY better. I am now at a phase where I can only hear it in very quiet rooms (e.g. without a fan on or anything of the sort - I'm talking dead silence). My tinnitus never really got over a 5/10 in terms of intensity, it just amped up my anxiety because its not a symptom I've ever experienced before!

It still does fluctuate - some days seem better than others and my tinnitus has gotten increasingly variable lately (a good sign, from what I've read). Yesterday was a lot better than today - but it looks like tinnitus caused by ear infections usually go away as time goes on. To those suffering as a result of an infection - have faith. This is not permanent. It takes time and as many on this forum have said, ears take time to heal properly. Have faith and don't let this control your life.

I did all the research too - I even thought I had an acoustic neuroma or a major neck injury at one point. But simplicity is usually the right answer. Turns out, I probably just had an ear infection that caused unilateral tinnitus as a symptom. Not uncommon, but really annoying xD

I've still got a follow up with my ENT next week, as he and I suspect the residual tinnitus might be caused by cerumen impaction due to my history with a really waxy ear.

To those that have this condition permanently (could be me still - who knows yet?)- my heart goes out to you. This was quite a difficult month or so for me to deal with this. I'll try and provide some comfort - remember, we all have our health problems. Some people are dying of stage 4 cancer, others get congestive heart failure at the age of 50. Some people get autoimmune attacks on their body, and some people have a nasty tinnitus in their ears. Life is suffering - the struggle is learning to endure the suffering to enjoy the good times.

I will try to remember to come back and update everyone after my ENT appointment. As I said before, my tinnitus was a result of an ear infection I got back in the end of December (after Christmas). It is now early February ... so the 3-6 month timeline of improvement I've been told by many people here seems to be about right. Ears take time to heal, much like a broken arm, pulled muscle, etc.