Sinus Operation — Could It Help My Tinnitus?

Well I got the news today that I need sinus surgery! After a year of battling I finally got a CT scan and it showed severe sinus disease on the right side. This is also the side where I have tinnitus.

My tinnitus came at the same time my sinus issues started so I wonder if the operation will help at all.

Anyone else had sinus surgery?

 

I had sinus surgery January 31, 2019.
It fixed my sinus issues but did not fix my tinnitus.

 

@cjbhab if you don’t mind me asking, how did your tinnitus come on?

 

@PugDog1 -- Just to mention, I met a woman about a week ago who said her husband had gotten sinus surgery, and he now feels it was one of the worst decisions of his life. I don't know whether or not he had a competent surgeon, or what the whole story is, but surgery always involves risks.

I would suggest you get a 2nd opinion, and perhaps even a third. You also might want to look into a relatively benign technique called Nasal Specific, which has shown to produce almost miraculous results for some people, including major improvements in tinnitus.

Some sinus issues are caused by things going on in the neck, so you may want to consider seeing a Chiropractor or Osteopath. You may also want to try to do some natural sinsus rinses. Below is a link to one that I'm planning on doing sometime, but haven't since I really don't have any sinus issues at this time. Note his mention of the book Sinus Survival, which espouses a holistic approach to sinus issues.

Chronic Sinus Problems? Try the Bulletproof Sinus Rinse.

I consider most any kind of surgery to be a "Big" deal. Perhaps especially more so when dealing with issues like tinnitus, where the doctors we go see often don't know what they're doing. -- I would be awfully surprised if you weren't able to correct your sinus issues (and perhaps tinnitus) without doing a sinus surgery.

BTW, a common thing ignorant doctors do is prescribe extremely dangerous fluoroquinolone antibiotics (like Cipro) for sinus infections. Don't Ever Do That! Some who have taken these (sometimes even a single dose) had their tinnitus permanently worsened. Others who've taken those antiobiotics ended up having their lives turned upside down (as in permanent misery and disability for the rest of their lives).

P.S. -- The following thread connects somewhat with the above-linked video: -- Iodine Supplementation for Better Brain and Sinus Health — Which "Might" Improve Tinnitus. -- I read one testimonial online of a man who experienced exasperating, ongoing sinus infections for years, being unable to shake them. When he finally discovered iodine supplementation, his sinus infections cleared up within days.

 

@Lane unfortunately It’s a last resort as I have tried everything else! I’m not bothered if it doesn’t take my tinnitus away but it would be nice to not have constant stabby pain ha!

I am also looking to get my adenoids removed because I think that is the root of all my congestion!

 

@Lane also in what way did he feel it was the worst decision? This is literally only to clean out my sinuses not to alter them in any way.

 

@PugDog1 -- As I recall, he'd had a history of trauma to his nose; broke it a couple of times, and I think more. He'd tried many things to try to improve it, and finally decided to do sinus surgery. Apparently, all his sinus problems became much worse, and he was never able to alleviate those worsened symptoms. Again as I recall, he thought it contributed to a blood clot that occurred in the frontal area of his head, which required emergency surgery.

Please check out the first link in my prior post, where the person doing the video said he was 2 days away from some kind of "roto-rooter" type sinus cleansing. He decided to do the sinus cleanse instead, and was able to avoid the cleansing, which sounded pretty intrusive. What I find interesting, is his sinus cleaning "solution" contained IODINE. I think this could be critical, because as I mentioned, I read one testimonial by a man who'd battled chronic infections for years, and when he supplemented with iodine, they went away for good in just a few days. -- Seems to me that this would be worth trying before doing a more invasive sinus procedure that you seem to be considering.

Also of note, the sinuses generally have the highest concentrations of iodine compared to other parts of the body. Which makes sense, because iodine is an antiseptic, and having it be concentrated in the sinuses would seem to represent a first line of defense against all kinds of pathogens we might be breathing in. -- All the Best...

 

@Lane I think I have tried every single type of sinus rinse available My CT scan showed severe sinus disease in all of my right side sinuses and there’s nothing else they (NHS) can do in terms of treatment except clean everything out :-(

I haven’t had any issues with my nose so here’s hoping

 

@Lane Also I should add I’m not supposed to attempt rinses anymore because the fluid was getting trapped and contributing to the problem !

 

I just had a sinus surgery and septoplasty procedure done last Wednesday, similarly i had pretty severe sinus disease on my right side (and minor on my left) that was not responding to any number of antibiotics or sinus rinses. Granted that I am still fairly early on in the healing process, i can say that the pressure i was previously feeling in my ears has been greatly reduced and my tinnitus has been bothering me less since the procedure. I am not sure if that is due to the pressure decrease or if it there is actually a mild reduction in volume. Let me know if you have any more questions!

 

@PugDog1, make sure to only accept surgery if the specialist has reviews and if they are 95%+ favorable/positive.

I say this because my physician gave me a referral to see a 2nd ENT. I didn't really want to go and it was an 1hr+ drive into a somewhat noisier city - well, it's larger than my city .

I also didn't think he could help me. How many people here have posts about the great help they received from an ENT? Not many.

I decided to see if this ENT had any reviews. I thought if I go, I would like to receive some feedback at least about others' experiences.

Most if not almost all the reviews were about patients' experiences with nose surgery. It was all negative. Quite a few reviewers stated explicitly that he ruined their lives. I know it was a different problem than tinnitus/ears but I thought if he's so incompetent in another body part/different discipline, I don't want him touching me and concluded that it's not worth the risk.

 

@Colt206 thats so great to hear! How is the pain post op? I had my tonsils out in 2018 & that was rough!

@PeteJ its NHS so I wouldn’t be choosing my surgeon or be able to view reviews on him :-(

 

If you have ETD it could. ETD might cause some minor chronic inflammation that could register as tinnitus.

 

@mrbrightside614 tbey think my swollen sinuses are causing my ETD :-(

 

It stands to reason that you're a case that could benefit from this. I think ETD inflammation, like any inflammation, would decrease slowly over a longer period of time once you've addressed the primary issue--sinus problems, in your case.

I'm going to have a septoplasty (septal deviation surgery) sometime in April if my tinnitus doesn't go away by then. I'm a little nervous about the procedure and if they'd use any loud tools when I'm under anesthesia.

 

@mrbrightside614 I’m sure you will be fine, I’m pleased that they are also doing something for you! I’m going to go to my consultation with an open mind but lots of questions so I know I’m 100% doing the right thing!

 

@PugDog1 the post op pain actually wasn't too bad, I'd say it's more of general discomfort than pain. The pain was similar to that of a bad sinus infection.

 

I started with something similar to pulsatile tinnitus in Feb 2016 - at this point, I had no ringing in my ears, just an annoying thump.

In June 2016 I noticed a very faint ringing in my ears... it has continually gotten worse since then despite my efforts to wear ear plugs and avoid loud settings.

Cause is probably too many concerts etc over the years.