Sudden Tinnitus from COVID-19 Infection

Hi, apologies for the long post. For background, I'm a relatively healthy 23-year-old male, I have no hearing issues and I'm always conscientious about noise levels in general, especially with earbuds. I also have slight TMJ on the right side of my jaw but it's rarely bothersome. Back in early September I had a small accident where I got hit on the side of the neck with a dumbbell lightly, but I didn't experience any soreness (this might be important for later). At the end of September I got sick with COVID-19 for the first time and just had run of the mill symptoms. However, as soon as I tested negative, I tried blowing my nose once and I felt a sharp pain in both ears. I chalked it up as lingering inflammation but then noticed an incredibly loud, high pitched ringing and that whenever I swallowed or moved the back of my tongue I would feel my ears clicking.

At first these were just an annoyance, but their persistence quickly became debilitating for me. Caffeine didn't increase the ringing, but I've noticed that whenever I open my jaw wide or jut the jaw forward there's an increase in both the volume and noise. Sometimes, there's something akin to a flashbang where the ringing gets much louder in one of the ears for no apparent reason but then it quickly subsides. I cannot stay in a room without my loud box fan, and even then I can still clearly hear the ringing; I also haven't been able to find any sort of noise on my phone that helps mask it. My right Eustachian tube clicks more than the left one.

After about a week I went to Urgent Care, and they said that my ears were inflamed and prescribed antibiotics and steroids (I'll list all the medications I've taken at the end of this). The inflammation went away, but the ringing and clicking were still present. I had a Zoom call with my PCP and he thought it was Eustachian tube dysfunction and prescribed both ear and nasal steroids along with steam inhalation. However, when he finally checked my ears there wasn't any fluid or pressure behind the eardrums so he had no idea what to do. He referred me to both a chiropractor and ENT, with the chiropractor giving me neck and jaw adjustments and acupuncture. I started that about two weeks ago and haven't seen any improvement yet. I finally went to the ENT yesterday and it was incredibly disappointing. He prescribed me Valium, kept trying to insist that the ringing was due to high frequency hearing loss despite me being able to hear those sounds, and said to come back in two months for a hearing test despite me telling him how debilitating the sounds were. All he did was look at my eardrums, which is exactly what my PCP already did. I asked him why my Eustachian tubes were clicking when I swallowed or moved my tongue and he simply said "I don't know." My PCP was also disappointed when I told this to him as he expected that they would do something more for me. He believes that COVID-19 could have caused a chain reaction with the nerves in my head and he's certain that I'll get better as long as I keep going to the chiropractor. The chiropractic clinic I've been going to is extremely professional and I feel cared for there, but I'm not sure if acupuncture or neck adjustments would help.

I'm genuinely stumped right now. It's not Eustachian tube dysfunction, not inner ear dysfunction, and its most likely not hearing loss. It's absolutely the worst thing to happen to me, and it's discouraging that it seems like medical professional either have no idea what's causing the ringing or they don't seem to care. It's only been six weeks with this but every day feels like an eternity, and there has been quite literally nothing that's given me relief. The Eustachian tube crackling is annoying, but the tinnitus itself is unbearable. Please tell me what you think.

These are the meds and treatments I've used for the past six weeks (in order):

• Afrin
• Sudafed
• Amoxicillin
• Prednisone
• Hydroxyzine
• Zyrtec (still using)
• Ciproflaxocin ear drops
• Flonase
• Steam inhalation
• Methocarbamol (started taking this yesterday to see if it'll help with the TMJ)
• Valium (I feel like my anxiety increased when I took this last night)

 

I also got tinnitus after COVID-19 - but it was 1 month after and I was not doing anything. In your case you blew your nose and that is when it started.

You have been taking a lot of meds. As you say the Chiropractor provides you with sympathy and makes you feel like someone is hearing your pain - but otherwise is unlikely to help - same for acupuncture and other alternative therapies. If you have the money that's fine - otherwise I would advise you not to waste any more money. Come on Tinnitus Talk - you will get lots of sympathy and advice for free.

Maybe you need to find another ENT.

By the way I am stumped too - as are most of us on here. It is an infuriating condition. Good luck and spend some time browsing the info and advice on this board.

 

Hi @gjs108 -- The first thing I'd mention is that you must be extremely careful about what drugs you let enter your body, especially when you already have tinnitus. When looking at your list of things you've done, Ciprofloxacin ear drops jumped out at me. You should never, ever, ever use these drops for your ears.

The dangers of all kinds of fluoroquinolone antibiotics (such as Ciprofloxacin) are simply not worth the risk of using them, especially when there are safe and non-toxic alternatives. I would recommend going to a naturopathic physician, who would likely suggest any number of non-drug therapies.

For self care, I would suggest looking into nebulizing any number of natural substances, such as extremely dilute hydrogen peroxide, glutathione, colloidal silver, NAC, Vitamin C, etc. These can get deep into your Eustachian tubes and begin to start gently clearing any lingering infection. I'm not a doctor, but I would think you could find an ND who could help you get started on nebulizing and other safe and effective treatments.

Take care!

Check this out, from THIS POST:

 

Hi @gjs108, sorry to hear about your tinnitus. There are quite a few people around here who've come by their tinnitus in a similar fashion. For some of them it got better after a while, for others... I hope you're one of the lucky ones who'll recover from this nightmare within a couple of weeks.

I agree with @Lane that you ought to be careful when it comes to your meds. Dealing with / finding ways to manage your tinnitus, should it become chronical, is different to what you've experienced with any other illness. You've already got a taste of it with your ENT - there is a lot about tinnitus that isn't understood / known yet - take that as a warning and be on the cautious side when it comes to the meds you're prescribed. Read the warnings (some meds meant to help with tinnitus actually have tinnitus listed as a side effect) and check with the people on Tinnitus Talk if you are unsure. We've all been where you are right now and a lot of useful information has been shared in the threads. Use the search function and have a look around; it will give you an idea as to what to expect. There are also many more general threads where you can just hang out for a laugh.

Everybody here knows how hard it is to live with tinnitus, so there is no need to make excuses for being upset or in pain. I know that knowing that doesn't really make your tinnitus any better but it might lift up your spirit. When you have an invisible illness it makes you feel isolated because nobody really gets it, but here are thousands of people who do, so go and get involved

If you haven't worked out some of your own means to distract yourself from your tinnitus, I'd advise to try keeping yourself busy. Go for a walk or to the gym, it will make you feel better. If additional noises don't aggravate your tinnitus, find a masking noise you can live with or listen to music, a podcast, ... In the beginning, we tend to listen to our tinnitus 24/7 - Is it still there? Has it calmed down? Changed pitch? Become louder? - but that's pretty much the worst thing you can do because the more attention you pay it, the more persistent it becomes.
Maybe this helps a little.

I wish you all the best and hope you'll be tinnitus free again in no time!

Best regards,
Leila

 

@Lane, you do realise that almost all vitamins/supplements/minerals that come in pills and capsules are synthetic? Natural molecules simply decompose mainly through oxidation and light. I think some people think these vitamins are extracted from foods - they are not! And they are unregulated so you have no quality assurance that you are getting what you think. Added to this, pharma companies now own a lot of the brands. Food is the best source really as the bioavailability of one nutrient often increases that of another. It amazes me how easily people are taken in by this 'natural' marketing.

 

Are you still using this snake, er sorry - I mean garlic oil? I know you said you had some success.

I note that it has St. John's Wort in it.

Not sure how it can solve inner ear inflammation frankly.

 

Agreed - billions of $ are spent by people believing they are getting these nutrients properly absorbed into the body. Clinical trial mega studies have actually been unable to confirm whether any vitamin/supplement type product has any benefit at all compared with placebos.

 

@Nick47 -- I don't quite know what to make of your reply, as it has little to do with the gist of my post, which is that nebulizing various (non-drug) substances can be very therapeutic. It appears you're saying nebulizing Vit. C, hydrogen peroxide, colloidal silver, NAC, glutathione, etc. is some kind of waste of time and money because they're synthetic? Am I reading that right? And since they're synthetic, then they can't possibly be beneficial? Is that what you're saying?

Your reply is really pretty confusing. What you "seem to be saying" would be a direct contradiction of what I've run across during many hours of research I've done on the topic, and the extensive nebulization I've done for myself. If you have a case to make against the nebulizing suggestions I made, then maybe you could clarify about what you disagree on. To make some broad statements about people being taken in by "natural" marketing feels pretty off-topic.

BTW, are you saying there are synthetic minerals on the market? I've never heard of such a thing. Perhaps you could steer me in the direction of what that might be all about. Also, BTW, I am aware that various vitamins, amino acids, etc. are synthetic. That doesn't seem to keep them from being therapeutic according to the literature I've run across. Is there really a difference in the hydrogen peroxide made in nature and that produced in a lab?