Tinnitus or Something Else? Buzzing and Dizziness for 10-20 Seconds Every 2-4 Minutes

Hi everyone,

Right ear fullness, high pitch buzzing appearing for 10-20 seconds, then disappearing.

Male
33 years old
Caucasian/Asian

Back in June 2019, I woke up a Saturday morning and I started experiencing some crackling, popping, high pitch tin can rustling sounds in my right ear. It felt like there was fluid swishing around and I couldn’t get it out. My ear felt full and wouldn’t pop. It was annoying, but not debilitating. After one week, I went to the Urgent Care and the health professional there told me he could see bubbles behind my ear drum. They told me to take the Nasacort and wait and it’ll dry out.

So I waited, and it didn’t go away. Fast forward to beginning of September 2019, and the high pitch crackling/popping every now and then has turned into a high pitch buzzing for about 10-20 seconds. Then it stops. Then it starts back up again maybe every 2-4 minutes. Then it starts again. Rinse, repeat over and over. Now I went and saw an ENT and he said there is absolutely no fluid behind my ear drum.

The fullness is still there. But now, when the buzzing happens, it causes dizziness because one side of my head is experiencing the noise, and the other is not. I bought that Eustachi device to try to push my eustachian tube open with air, but when I do it, my left ear pops, but my right one does not pop.

Can anyone provide any insight on what’s going on in my right ear? Is the noise I am hearing because of my inner ear pressure trying to equalize but it can’t? Is my right eustachian tube dysfunctional and closed or is there a more serious issue going on here?

Just want to add I first went to the ENT 3 weeks ago. He told me to drink more water and retain more salt. Yesterday I went back for a check up and they made an incision in my ear drum to see if that would equalize the pressure and stop the buzzing. It did not. Next step is a ct scan then they will do the balloon dilation procedure to open up the Eustachian tube. But if that won’t fix it and it’s another issue, I’d rather not go under anesthesia and do that procedure.

Also want to add that the buzzing goes away during strenuous activity that has my heart rate up; running, basketball, sex, etc. not sure if that is all related?

Edit: the sound is more of a static than a buzzing I guess. Or something of a combination.

Well you guys are caught up now. Any opinions are welcomed, please!

 

Welcome to the forum. I am not a doctor so I can only speculate. Dizziness and tinnitus can be caused by meniere's disease. But if your vigorous exercise can change your tinnitus it suggests your T can be somatic or related to blood flow. Do you consider your T a form of pulsatile tinnitus such as following your heart beat?

For blockage of eustachian tube, you may want to try a draining technique taught in a YouTube video by a doctor. Never hurt to try it before requiring doctor's help. Search it out with eustachian tube draining or drainage. Good luck. God bless.

 

Hi,

Thank you for the response. No the tinnitus does not have any rhythm. It’s more of a low static for 10-20 seconds then goes away.

It’s more like the crackling and popping but for 10-20 seconds straight then disappears. Then starts back up again 2-4 minutes later.


I will YouTube search that technique thank you

 

Some of your symptoms may point to TTTS. Google it. Like this one

http://en.friends-against-wind.org/health/tonic-tensor-tympani-syndrome