Questions About Causes/Exacerbation of Tinnitus?

A few weeks ago, I noticed a "whoosing" sound in my ear that would come and go intermittently. I had been traveling a lot for job interviews, so I chalked it up to stress and such. However, recently around new years a high pitched noise came about with it. I went to my Doctor and she said it was due to an infection. I got antibiotics, which hopefully cleared up the infection but now the ringing noise remains. Its very variable in sound - sometimes its loud and sometimes I can barely hear it (like right now).

I've always had trouble with my eustachian tube in my left ear ever since I was a kid. Could the abnormally cold/warm weather patterns be causing my tinnitus? The ear definitely feels blocked with some fullness and muffled hearing. Is that something that people have had past experience with?

Also, a few weeks ago I think I might have pulled a muscle in my upper back. The tinnitus didn't happen right after the pull, but it happened a few weeks later. Could that be causing my tinnitus or am I just grasping at straws?

I will admit, its caused me a LOT of stress over the past few weeks. My muscles are tense all over and I'm very scared for my future.

 

It very well could. Maybe you have a cold or something. When I had ETD it was like this too. It was extremely variant with sound too.

That pulled muscle COULD have something to do with it, and explain the variability. Does your tinnitus get louder/quieter when you move your upper back?

 

I don't really notice any difference when I move the muscle. The tinnitus seems fairly constant. Plus, the pulled muscle is on the right side and my tinnitus is focused in my left ear.

I noticed that your cause listed is from TMJ - does that mean there's a chance that if its ETD it can go away? I scheduled a follow-up with my ENT this week (on the advice of my GP).

 

Absolutely. I still have tinnitus from TMD but I was able to reduce it by fixing my ETD. A poster here completely cured his tinnitus this way.

 

Yeah, I didnt really think the cause was from my back. I couldn't find any literature that pointed to any possible connections. I was just trying to grasp at straws and find a "plausible connection" for my brain to fixate on.

I'll ask my ENT and see what he thinks though. My GP did note that there was a lot of wax and fluid in my ear when she prescribed the antibio, so I /suspect\ that might be the main culprit, lol.

I was just surprised, because I didn't feel any pain when I had the infection. Just the ringing noise. I was sure I would feel pain if it was from infection, right? or do these things affect all people differently?

 

Not always. My infection wasn't painful.

 

Sorry to keep quoting you, lol.

My ears pop/click a lot when I swallow as well. Does that indicate potential ETD/fluid in the ear space ?

 

That's how you reply here anyways. Yes this is a big indicator of ETD.

 

Hm, so like normal I'm probably way overreacting to this condition. Is there really a chance that ETD/ear infection can cause permanent damage to the point where tinnitus lasts forever ?

 

Infection? yes. ETD? I don't think so.

 

Really? How long would the infection have to last in order for it to cause permanent damage? Surely, if you catch it early and get medication to combat it that wouldn't lead to anything permanent right?