Tinnitus, Pulsatile Tinnitus, Tonic Tensor Tympani Syndrome?

Hi folks,

Thought I would post here to get your collective wisdom. For at least 10 years I have had some hearing issues in my right ear, mainly in situations with high background noise. My ear will feel full and everything will be slightly quieter in that ear, I also occasionally get a non-rhythmic drumming sound which after some reading I was sure was TTTS. When this first started my ENT at the time performed a septoplasty - with the thought that this was somehow pressure related. It didn't achieve anything. I decided to live with it, and an increased distrust in the medical system - and then we fast forward 10 years to now.

Around 2 weeks ago I started noticing that along with the fullness I was getting crackling noise in this environments with high background noise (bars, loud phone calls, loud music). This is a lot more frustrating and I thought maybe I had some fluid build up. I went to my primary care yesterday and they said my ear looked fine. Slightly more concerning, I am also getting occasional "wooshing" which I know is referred to as pulsatile tinnitus - but its just very short bursts and comes with that fullness feeling which I'm used to. The PT and fullness come together for a few seconds and then disappear. I don't feel like my symptoms are typical of PT, and it seems unlikely to have had all these issues in this ear with no PT to then also develop a vascular issue.

All in all I'm left quite confused and frustrated. I have that horrible feeling i'm going to be in for a very long process with an ENT. I've booked an appointment for a couple of weeks time, but in the mean time I would love to hear your thoughts.

For the record I'm a 30 year old guy, with no history of ear trauma or really anything of medical significance (for which I am very grateful!). Most of the time in a quiet normal environment, my hearing is 100%.

Thanks

 

Another week has gone by and my symptoms are much the same. I definitely do have allergies at this time of year, and I feel like the fullness is more common alongside my allergy symptoms. My right nostril (same side as ear trouble) is congested most of the time.

PT hasn’t got any better or any worse really, anytime I hear it I can make it go away by equalising pressure in my ear (like vasalva). Another week and a half until I see the ENT, would love to know if anyone has had a similar story.

 

Please be careful with Valsalva maneuver. Some people here believe it might have been the primary cause of their tinnitus.

 

Another person has had a similar experience
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/thread...euver-by-increasing-pressure-in-my-head.2008/

 

Thanks for the replies. Spent many more hours trawling the web for similar symptoms - a bad habit.

Things are much the same now as when I first posted. I find it interesting I can’t find many examples of people with such a wide range of different problems in the same ear - the intermittent fullness, sometimes pulsating, and then distortion. It almost sounds similar to some descriptions of hyperacusis, and TTTS. I guess the overall progression of symptoms from something that has been stable for 10 years is the scary part. Of course now have all the anxiety about acoustic neuroma and vascular issues!

 

Had my appointment with the ENT a few days ago, including a hearing test.

The doc had thoughts around the fullness I've experienced for years - suggesting I had an over sensitive reflex which is triggering the stapedius muscle to contract. He said one option is to cut the stapedius muscle in surgery. At this stage in my life and this severity, I'm not ready to consider surgery for this condition.

With regards to the distortion and fleeting pulsatile tinnitus, he couldn't offer any suggestions. The hearing test came back above normal across the board, and with a lack of any neurological symptoms he didn't see a need to take this further unless things were deteriorating.

So at this stage, I'm kind of stuck. I'm happy to wait this out for a few months and see if anything changes with seasonal allergies, stress etc. As long as nothing gets worse this is probably something I could learn to cope with. Given that all the symptoms seem to revolve around loud background noise, it's hard to believe this isn't all somehow related to tensor tympani/stapedius muscle.

Wishing you all the best.