Tinnitus Changed Ears? How?

Hey all,

I’m new here so I’ll briefly tell you my back story. About 2 weeks ago I got sick and had a runny nose and general cold symptoms. I woke up one morning to notice my ears were blocked. I couldn’t hear properly out of either of them. I assume this was due to a build up of fluid. Around that same time the tinnitus started in my right ear. This lasted maybe a day and then for some reason changed to my left. It has been in my left ear for 2 weeks now and has gradually improved. It started as a high pitched tone then morphed into a cricket type sound (which was much more tolerable). Also I could only hear it in a quiet room. I saw a doctor and he recommended nasal drops. So last night I tried them. They immediately changed the tone from the cricket sound into a higher pitched squeal. Then as I was lying down it stopped completely in my left ear and started in my right. This freaked me out for an hour as it was much louder. After that the sound in the left ear returned. Now both ears have tinnitus....

I’m not sure what to do. It doesn’t seem as if it’s caused by noise damage. I originally thought it must be fluid behind my left ear drum. But the fact it changed to my right makes me think it’s some sort of Eustachian tube dysfunction. Does anyone have any ideas on how to help?

 

@alex96,
Welcome to Tinnitus Talk.
Try steam inhalation and get some sudefed to clear any mucus in your tubes.
A sinus spray can help.
This time of year could be allergy related to pollen .
love glynis

 

Hi Glynis,

Thanks for the response! I find sudafed can make it worse for me and make the pitch higher. Also the decongestant sprays make it 10x worse. Not sure why.