Severe Tinnitus Spike After Manual Earwax Removal

[Massi91]

Hello,

I had my earwax removed because my ears felt blocked, and my tinnitus became louder, especially in my left ear, which was fully blocked by the wax. The removal was done manually, not through microsuction or any similar method.

Since the removal, my tinnitus has been extremely loud, especially when I wake up. It feels so high pitched that I can barely tolerate it. I have had tinnitus for 15 years and have gone through several wax removals before, but this is the first time I have experienced such a severe spike. I feel really hopeless.

That said, yesterday was actually my best day. My tinnitus was about 1 out of 10. I am not sure how that happened. Maybe the pitch was so high that I could not hear it anymore?

Has anyone else experienced something similar? My left ear canal also feels like it is burning.

Any insight would mean a lot.

 

[Jon R.]

@Massi91, can I ask what happened in the end? I am sorry that you did not get any replies.

I have noticed the same thing, especially when waking up from a nap. I had manual wax removal done yesterday. It is now louder than it was before the procedure, although some wax is still on my eardrum. I have to go back in three weeks to finish the job once the remaining wax has dried.

I avoided irrigation and microsuction because I hoped that manual removal would be safer. But I guess we cannot win. With manual removal, there is a lot of poking and pulling at wax that is stuck to the eardrum, and that cannot be any healthier than irrigation.

The noise levels were fine, but I experienced fleeting tinnitus while my ear was being cleaned. So there clearly has to be some connection between tinnitus and the ear canal, even without excessive noise.