Tinnitus After Myringotomy — Need Answers

I'm hoping someone with a much better understanding of tinnitus can explain this to me and let me know what to expect. I had a myringotomy a month ago and immediately since my ear has been ringing continuously. I didn't have this before the myringotomy.

Have I been permanently damaged by this procedure? Did the doctor do something unintentionally to the bones in my middle ear and is that what is causing this? He used an anesthetic called phenol on my eardrum. I have read that if it gets into the inner ear it causes cochlear damage.

Could this have happened and be causing the tinnitus? If it goes away will I have hearing loss go with it? I think it might have gotten a little softer in the last few days but I'm not sure if I'm just getting use to it. Does tinnitus go up and down like that all the time? I have researched a little online and read about a couple people that had this happen after having a myringotomy but I haven't been able to get any answers. I've also read about tinnitus being caused by a perforated eardrum which is what a myringotomy does. I still have the perforation in my eardrum as it hasn't healed yet.

Is there anyone with tinnitus that got it after having ear tubes placed? Can I expect to continue to live with this or will it subside as hopefully my eardrum heals? If tinnitus is caused by hair cells that have been damaged, how would this have happened to me when having the myringotomy? The buzzing sound that I have been hearing has been so loud that my ear feels numb like an electricity has been running thru it. Does tinnitus ever feel that way to anyone else?

Sorry for all the questions. I am very stressed and disturbed about all this. Any answers you could give would be great.

 

Hi Marie, I saw this old post back from 2013 & was hoping I could ask you a question. I'm having tinnitus in my ear after a myringotomy I had done 2.5 months ago. I saw that you were having similar issues after your myringotomy in 2013. I would really appreciate if you could let me know how your experience has been since then & if the tinnitus has gone away? Any info you have would be incredibly helpful as I haven't been able to find much online. Thank you so much for your time & I hope things have gotten better for you! -Kaitlin

 

Hi Kaitlin,

Not sure if you are still on this thread but sending a message in the off chance. I too am having the same issue. I had a retracted ear drum since last December 2019 that with medications etc wasn’t getting better and so my ent did a myringotomy to release the pressure and I have had horribly loud and constant ringing/roaring/sounds electrical at times like static with the ringing everyday since and that has been since July 24th. So it’s been going on almost a month and a half now since the myringotomy with no breaks. Curious if yours ever went away or if you found any answers or relief. I’m really hoping things have improved for you. I know your pain. This is really disturbing and disrupting my life. Any help or update on how you are doing would be greatly appreciated. I too could not find anything online and my ENT really didn’t give me any thoughts on the subject just kind of looked at me surprised when I told him at my follow-up.

Thanks!

Terra