Tinnitus Gone from Tone to Hiss/Static?

Hello,

I've had tinnitus for nearly three months now. It was probably caused by earwax which has since been removed. I've had blood and MRI tests and there was no other cause shown (plus no hearing loss on my tests there).

It was a very loud very high pitched tone at first that I could hear in all moderately quiet environments (e.g. over TV in a quiet room, outside on a non-busy street). It's been fading very slowly since it started and two days ago I had a victory - went into work and a quite quiet hallway where I'd usually hear it (only noise is the A/C) I couldn't hear it any more.

But then that evening I think I messed up. I was very stressed and had been trying to pop my ears because they felt full. And I woke up to a strange new noise - a static/hiss sound. I've read a bit on this forum that this can sometimes be a good sign - is this always true? I find the static harder to mask and ignore (e.g. I can hear a little static quality to music I listen to now, at a quiet volume, but this covered the tone before). The static is driving me mad and some reassurance that this is a step on the road to healing and not a setback would be really appreciated.

Thanks so much.

 

Want to preface this with saying my response is not about the sound of your tinnitus.

This is my experience only. I have not ready anyone else saying this so it may be an anomaly for me. I used to constantly pop my ears due to pressure. Not via Valsalva or anything forceful, but just constantly throughout the day via yawning or moving my jaw, swallowing hard, tugging on my ears sometimes etc.

Then I just decided to stop trying to pop my ears and deal with the pressure for awhile and see if leaving it alone helped anything (after over a year). Within a couple weeks the pressure sensation in my face and ears greatly improved. I think that constantly popping your ears that may have inflammation related to ETD exacerbates and perpetuates the condition.

Again, only my experience, but it may be worth a shot to see if it does anything for you. It’s funny out of the probably hundreds of threads that people have made about ear noise increases after getting tinnitus, they are told it’s probably just normal and they didn’t notice it till they got tinnitus. That wasn’t my experience at all. I went from horrible pops and clicks 2 1/2 years ago to barely any noticeable pops and clicks related to my Eustachian tubes now.

 

Hi GoatSheep,

Thank you so much for taking the time to reply and for this advice, I’ve been trying your tactic for a couple of days now and think you’re right! Trying to ignore it and not be popping my ears constantly seems to have done some good. Thank you so much!

 

How's your static?

It disappeared?

 

Hello,

The static has calmed down quite a bit although the tinnitus still has a more staticy quality than before. It’s also getting lower and lower in pitch every couple of days which is a nightmare right now because I’d started to habituate to the old sound and every day it feels new now! But I read a few posts on here saying that can be a good sign so I’m really hoping it’ll keep fading. Will share an update if it does!