Tinnitus, Hyperacusis and Hearing Loss from Ear Wax Removal

Hi, 3 months ago I went to an ENT doctor with a blocked ear.

He started to remove the wax with a curette, but after about 10 seconds said the wax was much too soft and it would take too long. I insisted that I only wanted to have the wax removed manually, but to no avail.

He then used the irrigation method and after that used some kind of suction method to finish the job off.

I then had a hearing test to be told to my surprise that I have mild hearing loss.

Since then I have a high pitched noise 24/7 in both ears and in my head. I also have hyper-acusis and a sort of echo in one ear.

The hearing loss is worse in the right ear and the tinnitus is also worse in that ear. I think that this was caused by the suction instrument (it looked like a pen). I am very distressed by the whole incident and cannot even find an ENT doctor to acknowledge that the tinnitus was caused because of the ear wax removal. Any help or comments are greatly appreciated.

 

Dont ever do the syringing. I did the test but it wasn't ear wax removal, it was the caloric test where they put water in the ear. It severely damaged my ears. I hear less on both ears, tinnitus increased a tad bit, popping sounds on R ear, and have quite Severe H.

 

Alexandroula are you Greek?

 

Hi, thanks for the advice. Sorry to hear about the caloric test making your tinnitus worse. Surely these things should not happen. Have you had a prognosis? I am trying to find a doctor who has experience in tinnitus/hearing loss being caused by ear wax removal. btw, what does H stand for? and No, I am not Greek, I am English.

 

H is Hyperacusis. Good luck it is hard to find a good T doctor.

 

there does not seem to be many around, also any psychologists specialising in T, eg CBT. went to have T measured for T retraining therapy but i am a bit skeptical, dont fancy having white noise inside ear all day. also very expensive.
have you had any therapy?

 

Hey, my very mild Tinnitus was increased and I also got hypercausis as a result of micro suction which I really regret. I think personally it was all down to the procedure being carried out improperly. A friend of mine @Blue28 acquired Tinnitus and hypercausis as a result of this procedure too.

 

Hi @Alexandroula

As my friend @Vicki14 stated I got tinnitus, hyperacusis and hearing loss following a microsuction procedure to remove ear wax. I agree with @Vicki14 that the procedure wasn't carried out correctly, and that this caused severe damage to my hearing.

 

Hi Vicky, Blue28
Sorry for the late reply. I am still suffering from the tinnitus. Did you ever find out why the microsuction caused the tinnitus? I spoke to an ENT doctor who said there would have had to be blood, or a feeling of dizziness for the microsuction to cause tinnitus. And that it must have been the stress that caused it. But i am not of the same opinion.

Its very difficult to get answers. Did you ever try and complain about the doctor?

 

http://www.tinnitusjournal.com/arti...resulting-from-cerumen-removal-procedures.pdf

Hey I just want to share this study on how ear wax removal can go wrong and damage hearing.
and obviously damaging hearing can cause tinnitus and noise induced pain.


You should consider legal action, honestly.

 

Dear Contrast
thank you very much for this interesting article. I have something similar written by the same doctor.
I think it may be difficult to prove. The doctor used a device that was not like the microsuction I have seen since in other surgeries. I would also need to find a doctor who would be able to confirm that the tinnitus was caused by the procedure, and so far they even deny that it happened as a result, even though i got it straight after the treatment.

I asked the doctor to use the manual method as I have sensitive ears, several times, but he said it would take too long. Apparently as I "gave him my ear" it means i consented. Its all a bit messy, and I am suffering as a result.