Swimming, Syringing and the Pathology of Unilateral Hyperacusis

Discussion in 'Support' started by Aaron91, Oct 8, 2020.

    1. Aaron91
      Gloomy

      Aaron91 Member Podcast Patron Benefactor Ambassador Advocate

      Tinnitus Since:
      2007
      Cause of Tinnitus:
      Loud music/headphones/concerts - Hyperacusis from motorbike
      I'm looking for some further insight into the pathology behind my specific case of hyperacusis and whether perhaps there's something else going on that could perhaps be treated.

      So I'm almost five months now into my hyperacusis after being exposed to a severely loud motorbike and have improved significantly (gone from total isolation to being able to go out with ear plugs and live at home without them), but I'm still suffering on a day-to-day basis with things such as cutlery, metallic sounds, artificial audio sources (phones etc), rustling paper, plastic etc. I should note that these remaining issues are mostly confined to my right ear - my left ear is I'd say 80 to 85% recovered.

      I recently went swimming without earplugs and generally tried to avoid going underwater, but there were one or two moments where I did go about 0.5-1 metre deep and I noticed my hyperacusis get worse in the subsequent days in the right ear only. I should note that I've always struggled with equalising my ears pre-hyperacusis when on a plane and a few days before my noise trauma I attempted to syringe my right ear without much success as I was having wax problems.

      I'm now wondering whether there's something else going on with my right ear that I'm unaware of that may be related to my attempt to syringe it in the days leading up to the noise trauma. I know that my right ear "feels" different - almost as if something has physiologically changed in its structure and I think this may have been the case since my attempt to syringe my ear. After having my ears checked a month after developing hyperacusis, I was told that my eardrums were fine and had no infection, but I'm now wondering whether perhaps I have a small hole in the eardrum that went unnoticed - perhaps because the ENT, by his own admission, only removed enough wax to be able to get a visual on the eardrum. I'm trying to determine whether what I'm feeling in my right ear is either the remaining wax, a small hole in the eardrum (making the hyperacusis worse), hearing loss, ETD or some kind of physiological damage to the bone structures in my right ear. I should note that I also continue to get the trigeminal neuralgia-like jaw pain that others have described, but again, it's pretty much confined to the right side of my face.

      I'd be grateful to anyone with some deeper understanding of the structures of the ear who could shed some light on what may be going on here!
       
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