Playing a Video Game at Low Volume, Suddenly My Ear Felt Full and Almost Numb, Followed by Tinnitus

Hi! I'm Natalie, and I'm 26. A little over two weeks ago, I was sitting in bed late at night and playing a video game with my friends at low volume. Suddenly, my left ear felt very full and almost numb. It subsided quickly but it left behind a high-pitched ringing that had me awake all night.

I tend to get a lot of earwax, so I figured it got impacted in my ear. I irrigated both and got a TON of earwax out, but the tinnitus has remained and is now in both ears. I also often get pressure in my ears. It just feels like they need popped often. There's a lot of crackling when I swallow or yawn as well.

I've gone to my doctor who has said there was no fluid buildup or signs of injury/infection. She didn't recommend going to an ENT at the time either since I had no pain or vertigo or hearing loss or any other symptoms.

It's been almost three weeks, and while I do think the tinnitus has gotten softer, it's still there. It's like a hissing noise, but sometimes I can hear a high-pitched ringing that only lasts for a few seconds or minutes before resolving back to that hiss. The worst is at night: I'm a side sleeper and the sound is so much louder when I'm on one side. I use rain noises to help mask the sound, but it doesn't always work.

It's caused me massive anxiety, to the point where my doctor prescribed me Lexapro and recommended me to a therapist as I wasn't sleeping or eating. I've constantly scoured the internet for causes and scared myself with things like tumors and MS and heart disease. My doctor has said I appear physically healthy, but I can't stop worrying that it will get worse.

Now, it doesn't affect my day-to-day too much, but in silence it still stresses me out. Does it get better? Is there still hope that it'll go away? Or does anyone have any tips on how to cope or learn to live with this annoying noise?

Thank you for taking the time to read! I hope everyone is doing well, and if you take the time to reply, please know I appreciate it so much.

 

It's a really good sign your tinnitus has already lowered in volume. Good chance it could go away or be so quiet you won't notice it. If I were you, I'd make sure and protect my ears from loud sounds. Stay away from headphones and earbuds for awhile. One more thing; avoid small cruddy speakers like your cellphone.

Try everything to get max sleep. Seems to work the best for me.

 

Best to avoid AD meds if you can, especially at your age. Likely won't help unless you've had this for years, and might make "new" ringing coming off them (fun fun fun... been there).

You honestly sound like you are getting better and won't be typing here much longer.

Hiss, even loud hiss, is better than ring, which is better than drone.

It could've been anything... blood vessel spasm, lost some neurons... so much earwax your tinnitus inhibition threshold was breached, so even though you can hear, the tinnitus will remain (shitty eh?).

My guess is in a year you won't hear it at all. Neurons take forever (YEARS) to repair and can take a while to get "unstuck" (think weeks).

No more headphones for a few months. You don't want to get your neurons more stuck in tinnitus mode.

 

Stress and lack of sleep is really tough on a person and can result in other health issues over time. If you can't get a full night's sleep in one go, try taking some naps to catch up. Most people need about 8 hours a day but it doesn't have to be all at once. When tinnitus first appears it indeed causes a lot of anxiety. Totally understandable. It is really important to manage the stress ad anxiety. That doesn't need to be medications. Try some relaxation and meditation techniques to help reduce your anxiety.

I would suggest following advice others have given here and also to keep medical professionals in the loop as appropriate: MDs, ENTs, audiologists.

Here's a video of one woman's experience with tinnitus, which you might find helpful:

How I got BETTER with TINNITUS! It does...