Tinnitus for 3 Months After a Cold

I've been reading Tinnitus Talk since February, but this is my first post. I'm 36 years old. I had jaw surgery in 2017 for sleep apnea. During a routine orthodontic checkup in February 2019 when I opened my jaw, I had an anterior disc displacement of my right TMJ, which eventually led to osteoarthritis of the TMJ.

On February 14, I had some Eustachian tube issue. At first I thought it was some earwax in my ears, so I proceeded to try to remove the earwax. Big mistake. Along with the Eustachian tube dysfunction, I ended up with some some mild hyperacusis and an outer ear infection of my right ear. My family physician prescribed me some Ciprodex, and doing a Valsalva manuever would equalize my ear pressure so that the sound sensitivity would go away for a few hours. However, my journey with tinnitus didn't really begin until the week after that, when I developed a cold. The cold and the outer ear infection quickly resolved, but the tinnitus stayed.

The tinnitus has multiple sounds, one of which is a higher frequency tea kettle on both ears, and the other is a very low frequency hum only on my right ear. I can also hear my heartbeat from time to time. I had a CT scan done at a private clinic, which ruled out the common causes of pulsatile tinnitus. In late May, when the COVID-19 restrictions were lifted in my city, I finally got a chance to see an ENT specialist, who did a hearing test. The audiogram came back with no hearing loss, and the tympanometry test came back as Type A, meaning no significant Eustachian tube dysfunction. However, all this time I still had tinnitus, and the ENT specialist said that if the tinnitus doesn't resolve on its own, then it's essentially idiopathic tinnitus. He said I've done everything that I could have done already. Before I left the ENT clinic, I said that I also had some balance issues ever since the cold, so he did schedule me to do a balance test and a hospital at a future date.

Besides tinnitus, some of the other issues that I have include:

• TMJ related pain in my right ear
• Some sound sensitivity in my right ear upon hearing loud noises, or when I talk a bit loudly (the right ear would make some sound reflex about half a second after I pronounce the last syllable)
• Fast resting heart rate (90+ bpm)
• Dizziness and imbalance whether walking, sitting, or standing still
• Nausea without vomiting

I have scoured the Internet for information, but to this day I have no idea what exactly is going on that is causing my tinnitus. The loud constant low frequency tinnitus seems to be rare among people who don't have hearing loss. If I had low frequency hearing loss, I would have suspected Meniere's, but my hearing test came back fine.

If this tinnitus is something that will stay with me as the ENT hinted at, I want to habituate to it quickly so that it doesn't affect my life and ability to work anymore. I tend to be very sensitive when it comes to health issues, which would make it harder for me to habituate. I've watched a video on Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for tinnitus, though I don't know if that would help. For now I have to deal with my TMJ first, because the osteoarthritis is worsening and my jaw is becoming unstable.

 

Omg!! I feel exactly like you! It's also the right ear by mine!

 

@Prince20 -- Ciprodex is ototoxic, and I'd recommend never putting that in your ears again (damage is normally cumulativer). -- Also, some of the symptoms you describe sound like it could be connected to a vestibular disorder. You may want to check out the links below. -- Take care!

• CAUSES OF DIZZINESS
• THE HUMAN BALANCE SYSTEM
• SYMPTOMS
• DIAGNOSIS
• TREATMENT
• LIVING WITH A VESTIBULAR DISORDER