Tinnitus from Valsalva Maneuver While Swimming

Hello all. Like most first posts, I wish I wasn't here, but am glad this forum exists. I had a pressure injury or barotrama from performing the Valsalva Maneuver with too much force while swimming on May 30th. I've seen all sorts of causes that people have reported on here and on the web. Wanted to get a sense of prognosis or typical experience from those who had sudden onset of tinnitus from a pressure injury.

I'm 18 days into this thing and experience much of the emotions I read about, sadness, anger, why me, I want a do over, and why can't they find a cure...all those things I'm sure everyone has went through.

I noticed the ringing and about 70% hearing loss in my left ear about 30 mins - 1 hour after swimming. Audio sounded distorted, but eventually came back to sudo-normal. I felt pressure in my left ear and a stuffiness along with a 8hz tone that was constant. Then I made an appointment with my doc. He noticed my eardrum was red and inflamed and gave me some antibiotics for 10 days until the follow up visit. The stuffiness seemed to be relieved about a week later but the tinnitus went from a constant tone to now a little cricket noise mixed in. Its hard not to be overwhelmed when considering this may be permanent and have moments that can let myself get sad. I went to the ENT doc on Monday and am now 3 days into Methylprednisolone.

I feel like the tinnitus is less, but believe that may be me getting use to the sound for the last 18 days, but I see a pattern from long timers similar to mine. Primary care doc, ent, audiologists, hear aids, technology, habitation and coping. Right now, I'm at the ENT and steroid phase. Seems like most people who accepted it have success stories that give us newbies hope.

At what point do you get use to it and learn to accept it or am I too early to resign myself to this being permanent?

What are the chances that ear injuries heal and tinnitus symptoms go away with the healing?

What is the best and most critical thing you've done to get back your normal?

Anecdotal stories or vitamins or diets that may have helped reduce your tinnitus?

Cheers,

Wes in Texas

 

Hi Wes

Welcome to the forum. It's early days yet for you and there will quite likely be more ups and downs to come. But the more you can protect yourself from noise at this vulnerable stage, the better your chance of keeping your tinnitus at a manageable level and hopefully in time it can reduce to the point where you can ignore it.

You may suffer setbacks and worry that you are at a new higher baseline than before, but changes in tinnitus are normal from day to day, week to week, often minute by minute.

For most people it seems to take around 3 to 6 months before things start to get easier. Just hang in there and try to figure out what works to get you through the days and nights.

Vitamins B, C and magnesium seem to help. NAC (N-Acetyl-Cysteine) can protect from spikes and aid faster recovery from them. Some swear by turmeric, taurine and other more expensive supplements.

White noise and nature sounds can help in quiet environments. Avoid headphones and loud environments. Take ear plugs when you leave the house and around kitchen noise, but don't use them for more than a few minutes at a time in case your ears become over-sensitized or you may develop hyperacusis.

You'll find more information on all these topics by using the Search panel at the top of the page.

Best of luck!