Sudden Onset: Woke Up with Unilateral Tinnitus

Hi all, introducing myself -

I woke up middle of the night about a month ago with a ringing noise in my right ear, which has continued (no issues with the left ear so far).

As it stands, there’s only two primary things I think might have caused it - first is issues related to my jaw and teeth grinding (normally I wear a mouth guard, but didn’t that particular evening); second is related to a bad sinus infection that has been on and off since September (3.5 months). Maybe one additional possible cause, just living in a very quiet house might be putting my brain on overdrive searching for sounds.

I generally avoid loud noises, concerts, etc., do listen to music occasionally on headphones, but never super loud. Hearing is normal, recent blood work is fine, and ENT saw no obvious issues with my ear (but has put me on an aggressive steroid/antibiotic course to knock out the sinusitis, with possible procedure in January to fix some structural issues on the left side of the nose).

Weirdly enough, I can make the ringing go away completely in the right ear if I clench my jaw on the left side, but not on the right side. But obviously I can’t sustain a tight jaw clench for more than a few seconds, and it wouldn’t be a good idea to do so anyways.

The ringing is certainly annoying (especially at night and it is impacting my sleep somewhat, and I’ve started using a white noise machine) but thankfully I can mostly ignore it if there is ambient noise while I’m going about my day. The primary anxiety around it is at night before bed, as I live alone in a quiet house and am worried that it will impact my sleep. Some nights is has, others it hasn’t.

After reading through some of the forums, I’ll admit I’m grateful my tinnitus isn’t any worse than it is currently, but nevertheless am open to guidance / suggestions.

Is there a chance that knocking out the sinus issues might help it to go away? Based on the jaw clenching, would seeing a dentist help potentially? My ENT was rather dismissive of the notion that he could help with the tinnitus (though he’s going after the sinus issues aggressively), any suggestions as to how to address that with him if clearing out the sinus pressure doesn’t fix the right ear ringing? Any other DIY treatment or care that worked for you / others in a similar situation?

Thanks all -
Ben

 

Hi @Ben Jammin - love your handle and welcome to the forum. I'm sorry to be one of your unfortunate welcoming committee.

My onset was due to an acoustic trauma, different enough from what you're describing that I'm not sure I can weigh in with anything useful relative to your tinnitus itself.

Another ENT (or another conversation with your current one) probably wouldn't hurt, but my biggest recommendations would be to take care of yourself emotionally (and seek therapeutic/psychiatric support if needed), to eat healthily/hydrate/stay well-rested, and to keep in touch to get support from this amazing community.

Not sure any of this is useful to you. I'm wishing you healing and silence!

 

The welcome is very much appreciated! Having put in a lot of work in my 20s to develop techniques to manage anxiety and depression, I feel I have a leg up in some respects - for which I am grateful.

But, have to be especially vigilant in the coming days and weeks, prioritize self-care and reaching out to people as I hold out hope that this will be short-lived (and more importantly, having peace about the situation regardless of what the future might bring).

Will definitely be staying connected to this group! Hope to eventually be of help to others.

 

Hi @Ben Jammin -- My best guess is it's your sinus infection that's the main culprit causing your tinnitus. I would like to caution you on the "aggressive" approach your doctor is prescribing however. My understanding is doctors often prescribe a fluoroquinolone type of antibiotic for sinus infections, such as Levaquin.

These are extremely dangerous, and in my opinion, totally uncalled for when dealing with sinus infections. I could post more on these dangers if you're interested, but you could do a quick online search on "floxed", and that will give you a pretty quick understanding of some of those dangers.

Regarding the structural issues you mention on the left side of the nose; you may want to check out a procedure called "nasal specific". It involves inserting a balloon into the sinuses and then expanding it. It's usually done by chiropractors for people with structural blockages in their sinus cavity.

Main stream medicine has recently started doing it to help relieve chronic allergy symptoms for many people. Unfortunately, they put a person under anesthesia to do it, and it runs several thousand dollars. A chiropractor will do it in his office for $50-$100. There's also been reports of Nasal Specific helping with tinnitus. The following is at THIS LINK:

"Cindy Stein, MEd, PT, has found this therapy very beneficial for patients who have suffered concussions. Additionally, it can help sinus issues, TMJ dysfunction, insomnia, headaches, tinnitus, fatigue, and many more symptoms."​

There are a number of non-drug therapies you could try to clear out your sinus infection(s). You could try nebulizing with very dilute (.1%) food grade hydrogen peroxide, with a drop of iodine added. I once read a testimonial online by a man who experienced exasperating, ongoing sinus infections for years, being unable to shake them. When he finally discovered iodine supplementation, his sinus infection(s) cleared up within days. -- You might also also find the sinus rinse described in this video to be quite valuable.

For good measure, check out THIS POST and some of the comments on apple cider vinegar.

And this:

Citronella Oil Used to Successfully Treat Tinnitus Caused by Phlegm Congestion

A bottom line: You don't need antibiotics to successfully treat a sinus infection. In my opinion, it could be one of the worst options to pursue, as antiobiotics are well known to cause or exacerbate tinnitus.

Take care, and good luck!

P.S.

BTW, both anxiety and depression can be caused or exacerbated by chronic underlying issues in the sinuses such as infections and/or structural issues. The nasal specific technique I mentioned above can also be used to unlock the cranial plates in the head, leading to greater flexibility and rhythm. Locked cranials can also cause anxiety and depression. Do you by any chance have a history of head injury or concussion?

 

Lane, I really appreciate the time you took to craft a thorough response - clear that the support network is strong here.

ENT put me on a corticosteroid and a non-fluoroquinolone antibiotic (Clarithromycin) so I think I'm ok there for now, but I appreciate the information and the watch-out for the 'floxed' risks.

I've heard this referred to as a balloon sinuplasty - maybe not exactly the same thing as this but might be very similar. That was on the menu of possible options for me after the ENT follow-up in January.

As for the cost / chiropractic alternative, I have to believe that not every chiropractor is able to do this procedure - I guess it's just a matter of doing the research and making sure the chiropractor is qualified to do it, based on my limited knowledge, it seems more invasive (?) than a chiropractor is normally trained for. But I'll do some research.

Same here, I will have to do some more research, I've never heard of consuming any form of hydrogren peroxide so would need to ensure I DIY this safely. Any recommendations as to where to learn more?

Appreciate the additional DIY / home remedy options, I will continue exploring.

No head injuries, but prior neck/shoulder injury that I've lived with for about 10 years now, and while it's a source of chronic pain it's never resulted in tinnitus. Sinus infections seem to be independent of the neck pain, but who knows for sure... everything is interconnected.

In any case, thanks again for all the information.

Unfortunately, it looks like my left ear has joined the party - consistent whistle tone (~2500 Hz) but pretty quiet. Distinguished from the right ear which is more of a ringing, the exact tone hard to pinpoint. Add that to the list...

 

Update ~2 weeks later:

It’s fair to say that this experience with tinnitus is the most psychologically challenging ailment I’ve ever experienced. Exercise, prayer, time spent engrossed in other activities, background noise (everything from white noise to showers to YouTube), and family time have been my allies through this journey.

Have a somewhat positive update - after an aggressive course of some or all of the following, overall sinus symptoms have improved (to be clear I’m not claiming any one thing here is causal or will work for you if you have sinus-induced tinnitus, but it’s what seems to be helping me so far):

From ENT: corticosteroid (1 week, completed) and antibiotic (3 weeks, still in progress)

From pharmacy: Simply saline nasal rinse (1x / day); Mucinex D (2x / day per instructions); Zyrtec (1x / day per instructions); Flonase (2 sprays / nostril / day); Vitamin D supplement (1x / day), Vitamin B12 supplement (1x / day).

Other: I took the recommendation (see above) of gently breathing in a few drops of Citronella Oil on a small washcloth (10-20 minutes per day for 3 days, sporadic); shoving the electric toothbrush in my mouth in the hopes of ‘pulsing’ free some of the phlegm; and finally using physical manipulation (massage, yawning, holding breath while holding nose to try to ‘pop’ the ears; swallowing while pinching nose etc.) to attempt to draw fluid through the Eustachian tubes.

Net results...

The ringing in the right ear has... changed. The original ringing in the ear has lowered in volume, while a still higher frequency (somewhere between a ringing and a buzzing) has emerged.

Over the past few days, it’s become clear that (a) there is fluid in my right ear on the wrong side of the eardrum, which I can actually feel when I lean my head front to back, side to side etc.; and (b) there is some draining of the ear going on, as I’ll have random spurts where phlegm is clearly draining through the Eustachian tube.

While the higher frequency is more annoying and I’m struggling to get good sleep with it, I see these changes as net positive overall, in that something (or things) I’m doing seems to working to clear the sinuses. I’m hoping that nothing I’m doing is inadvertently causing the even higher pitched ringing, except as a consequence of the ear beginning to clear.

Planning to continue with this approach until I connect with the ENT again in January - in the meantime, really appreciate those who contributed above. I will look to provide another update, but am open to any additional questions / impressions / recommendations.