Tinnitus After Tooth Infection

Hello my fellow T talkers.

I developed T during the time I had a severe infection in my tooth. It was an impacted wisdom tooth, the last tooth under the right ear. I’ve had T for 8 months now.

I am coping well with hearing aids that have masking sounds. I thank God I found a solution that allows me to keep my sanity.

I am also a piano teacher. I have a small high frequency hearing loss that I discovered after getting T.

Pleased to meet everyone here.

~Val

 

Welcome to the forum Val. Nice to know you have been coping well with your T. You are welcome to share more of your thoughts and positive experiences to help out others who are still struggling. Take care. God bless.

 

Welcome to the forum! I hope things get better for you.

 

Thanks to both of you.
I look forward to hearing about your experiences with T as well.

~Val

 

Hello, Val: Well come to the forum. I’m sorry about your tinnitus, it’s good that you found a way to cop with it, at least this will allow you to go on with your life.
What kind of antibiotic were you given and for how long, if I may ask?

Thanks.

 

I have written my success story and share some strategies. If you have the time, check it out.

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/thread...w-i-recovered-from-tinnitus-hyperacusis.3148/

 

Hi Anima, I was using penicillin during the time I had the abscess and was developing tinnitus.
It was a high ringing and sometimes a lower hissing (like steam). I still have the T but I use masking sounds to help me out.

I also had HYPERACUSIS but I think that is getting better now.

 

Billie48- WOW - your story is amazing!!!!!

 

Val, Penicillin is harmless for the vestibular system and ototoxicity can be discarded, which is good news. I believe that your tinnitus will go away and, in my opinion, it’s perhaps just a matter of time if the cause of your tinnitus was the tooth. I presume that your mouth and ears have been checked looking for swellings, TMJ, etc.
I had root canal infection that made my mouth hurt and burn for two years, even after the tooth was finally extracted the pain was still present for months. Sometimes nerves are temporary damaged by infections and generally solve by itself with time. I wish this will be your case. Best regards.

 

Thank you, Anima, for your advice. Yes, I have had many ENT visits, Audiology tests, and went to a TMJ (TMD) specialist. None of them could find a specific cause for my T except speculating about my slight hearing loss in the upper ranges.

I use a hearing aid for the hearing loss that also has masking capabilities, made by Starkey company, called NuEar. They were very expensive but they help me keep my sanity.

The ENT said he would do a brain scan after I still have this for more than 5 months. He said the scan usually comes up normal if my T is caused by hearing loss.

 

Val, how good that you get some relief with your hearing aid, I wish I had your luck. Unfortunately, I can’t use hearing aids like you do because my tinnitus badly reacts to noise, even to my own voice if I speak too loud. Go figure, I’m almost deaf and hearing aids are banned to me. Ironies of life.
It’s a bit strange though that the tinnitus didn’t show up before the abscess, if it’s indeed related to your hearing lose. I still think (and wish) that your tinnitus will diminish little by little.
About myself, I already had a serious hearing lose in both ears (meanly in left one) before my first tinnitus on set, which is antibiotic (Metronidazole) induced, and never before it I had experienced any sort of tinnitus. Hearing lose doesn’t always mean Tinnitus, generally, there is a cause that triggers it. In my case was ototoxicity, latter on aggravated by an anaesthetic with ototoxic potential again which I was not aware of. In your case it might be a lot of stress related to the infection, who knows, but certainly nothing to worry about in your brain, surely not. Your scan will be fine.

I’m now looking for a different solution because I was supposed to have otosclerosis, wich I apparently haven’t, so things might change a lot for me. You know, I was diagnosed with this problem by different doctors (reputated ones) in the last 30 years, just to find out last moth, by a high resolution scan, that my middle ear bones are absolutely non otoesclerotics, they are fine. I now know it was a clever decision I took when I refused all those stapedectomies that I was offered by the myriad of doctors that saw me in the past. Side effects can be horrible if the stapedectomy surgery fails, and it can fail as any other medical procedure do. At the moment I’m after a Baha implant for the middle ear, but, for this to be possible, my inner ear should be fine, otherwise that kind of implant won’t be available for me. I’ve an appointment with an otologist team who will check if the implant in my case is going to be a valid option or not, but this won’t be till February (Spanish Health System at its best, but, for our shame, it's more or less the same in the rest of EU countries). That will be a long wait for my desgrace, but to pay all the procedure from my pocket is too expensive and I’m a retired person, so it's my only chance if I want the implant.

I wish you all the luck in the world for your tinnitus to settle soon.

Warm regards.

 

Thank you so much for your encouragement and for all the information you have imparted.

I have resigned myself, day by day, to accept my situation. Are you a Christian? I know that God guides us in all decisions.

I hope you don’t mind, Anima, if I offer thoughts and prayers for you to improve, even before February.

My friends have told me (during my worst times) live from one moment to the next.

Many blessings,
Val

 

Resignation is all we can do, I’m afraid, but never surrender though.
I was Catholic during my youth, but I became agnostic a long time ago. If you lived in my country you wouldn’t be surprised that I lost my faith. I respect everybody’s else belief, Val, and I think it’s very kind and generous of you to offer thoughts and prayers for my improvement. I’m honoured you do and I am very grateful to you for it.
I think your friends’ advice is very wise, that’s what we all should do: live the moment even in difficuld times.
Thank you very much once more, Val, you will be in my thoughts too, wishing you all the best in life.

 

I am going to be thinking about the success of your implant in February. It is not a long time off if you imagine yourself back to health again and having a less stressful life. I thank you again for talking to me on this forum.

~Val

 

Thank you, Val, I’ll update in February.
It was my pleasure to talk to you.

Anima

 

Hi Val,
I'm experiencing the same thing (tinnitus after an infection in my wisdom tooth). I'm five months in... Are you feeling any better?

Best regards
Emelie

 

@Emelie and @Val ZeeBee -can I ask whether your tinnitus started before you were given the antibiotics? Mine seem to start with an earwax impaction but I was find it suspicious that it began the first day I took an antibiotic – my ear wax impaction was mis diagnosed as a possible infection

 

Hi Emelie,

My T started during the time I had a severe abscess in the wisdom tooth under my ear. The antibiotic came a few days before T.

It could have been a coincidence, or it could have triggered my T.

I have hearing loss in the same frequency as the T ringing. My ringing is about level 4 from a scale of 1 to 10.

What number is your ringing? Take care.

~Val

 

Hi Val,

I'm thinking about having mine remowed since they are causing so much trouble. My ringning changes s lot in both sound, volume and ear... Sometimes it's about level 2/10 and sometimes 6/10. It's much worse during a cold. Have you seen any improvement during these months?

I don't have any hearing loss.

/Emelie

 

Hi!

Mine started during the antibiotics (a penicillin called Kåvepenin). Could be the medication or the infection (or both). Have you seen any improvements in the ringing?

/Emelie

 

Hi Emelie,

Good luck with your decision.

My T goes between 3/10 to 6/10. It spikes when there is a big weather change. As long as the weather stays constant the T stays around 3/10. I can live with that as long as I use masking sounds.

~Val