Persistent Ringing & Clogged Sensation After 6 Hour Flight

Hello! New member here- going on 2 days of a hum and discomfort in my right ear (the same ear that used to give me trouble forcing me to quit a sport I loved- Scuba Diving, about 10 years ago).

For most of my adult life I've had the occasional discomfort & squeal of ringing in my ears but it always subsided within a minute. Yesterday began a nearly continuous hum and clogged feeling in my ear that led to trouble sleeping last night and a distraction from being able to focus 100% on my job (a special effects puppeteer).

Although I've no recollection of exposure to any particularly loud sounds (other than a Boston concert in college a quarter century ago), the only think I can think of is either my excessive time in airplanes or perhaps a dental infection (I am plagued by bad teeth and inadequate insurance to keep them in good working order). Being from the US, there is no real support from the insurance system when it comes to dental surgeries- somehow it is deemed an elective procedure to maintain dental wellness.

The reason I thought it may be dental related is I have a bad tooth which I am saving up funds to have pupped (with a likely 'sinus lift') and it may have become infected. It is in the upper right side below the painful ear. Timing being everything, I was on a flight to Canada yesterday when this occurred and wont be able to seek a doctor back home for a week.

With any luck, I will be able to do my job here and also get sleep at night over the next 6 days until I can get this looked at by a doctor.

Thanks for listening, tinnitustalk community!

 

Hi Matt,
Welcome. It's true that dental insurance in the USA is not good. I hope that you can find someone to help you when you get home. I'm hopeful that your tinnitus is temporary. Keep us posted.

 

If you have trouble sleeping, consider masking the T with your computer or smart phone. If you need some suggestions, here are some sites:

TT's audio player: https://www.tinnitustalk.com/audioplayer/

or download free sound generator ‘aire freshener’: http://www.peterhirschberg.com/mysoftware.html

or make your own rain sound: http://mynoise.net/NoiseMachines/rainNoiseGenerator.php

or search youtube with words like 'tinnitus masking sounds', 'white noise', 'rain sound' etc.

 

Have a look at the thread I created with tips to help with sleep: https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/cant-sleep-try-these-suggestions.14574/#post-174635