Tinnitus Caused by Fluid Behind Eardrum

Hi everyone. I'm a 16-year-old male, and I have had tinnitus for the last three months.

It all started in November when I was sick. One night I was lying on the couch and all of a sudden my ears plugged up, and ever since then I've had tinnitus, I guess it's pretty mild but still enough to annoy me, especially because I'm an athlete and I need to be focused on other things, not my ears.

So anyway, I went to my family doctor and it has been found that I have fluid behind my ears that is causing my tinnitus.

My doctor gave me a nasal spray which didn't work. My other option is going to probably getting tubes in the eardrum to drain the fluid out.

My main question is will the tinnitus go away after the fluid gets drained? I am getting very scared about this, and have been having massive depression and emotional breakdowns, which were never a case before this tinnitus.

I'm only 16 and I want my life back.

 

Try lowering your salt intake. You don't have Meniere's but the problem here is an excess of endolymphatic hydrops which causes fullness/pressure in the inner ear. Endolymph fluid normally is removed by being absorbed by the blood vessels in the inner ear and by being drawn into the endolymphatic sac which then passes the fluid into the blood and lymphatic systems. Endolymph surrounds the hair cells and is continuously changed every 20 minutes. One of the ways to try to control excessive hydrops is by lowering salt intake. Some foods have a really high amount of salt in them especially fast foods. I'm not saying lowering salt intake will definitely work for you but it is worth considering. I've been on a low salt diet for over 15 years. It hasn't changed my tinnitus as the damage was done a long time ago and once the hair cells are dead they are dead but I also had vertigo and other symptoms which are all but gone. Give it a try. You have nothing to lose.

 

It's not in my inner ear, the fluid is only in my middle ear

 

Hey T Bone: Get the fluid drained out of your ears now. Why is your doctor waiting? Fluid inside your ear can cause hair cell damage. In the meantime, lowering your salt intake won't hurt. So you said you were "sick" in November when this started, which I assume means you had a cold or sinus infection or something? That can cause fluid build up. In the meantime don't panic... Your tinnitus can very well be temporary. But get the fluid taken care of ASAP.

 

Did your tinnitus ever get better?

My tinnitus started in September 2020 due to me blocking my ears with oil. Tinnitus doctor said I had fluid in the ears. Back then the tinnitus was bad. I got anxiety. I could not focus on anything. I was crying hysterically. It was my right ear but soon moved to the left and to the head. I used to hear fizzle, tinkle, crickets, you name it, I had it. I could hear it everywhere. Only a few things could mask it. It was so bad and just thinking about that time makes me want to cry. It used to be like a 9/10. I wanted to kill myself at that point. I was so miserable. I would wake up crying thinking why am I alive. I used to get pressure in my ear and muffled hearing which the doctor prescribed ear drops for which helped with all that.

In November 2020 I had a hearing test. My hearing was fine and she said to live with it basically. She ignored my symptoms when I said I get popping, crackling and clicking in my ears and bit of pain sometimes very mild and sometimes itching. When I open my mouth there is clicking and it sounds like something is trying to move in my ear. Back then it felt like there was something in my ear.

I still get bad days and every 3/4 weeks it improves. However, this month there have been no improvements so I am thinking how do I accept it and habituate to it when it spikes and fluctuates and there are also 3-4 sounds I get. I don't even think I have a baseline. It currently sits between a 2 and 3 out of 10. When I am busy I cannot hear it, and when it's quiet I can mainly hear it in the morning, at night and if I stop what I am doing to listen to it.

I am torn between accepting it and hoping for it to get better. I WANT to accept it but then I am finding it difficult because I have hope. It is not bad but I still get bad days like these past few days. And there hasn't been any improvement when there should have been.