Tinnitus Spike After Cold Compress on Ear

Hi everyone.

My name is Thuan. I've had tinnitus for 2 years since May 2018 after an ear infection in my right ear. I have tinnitus only in my right ear. For the past few years, my tinnitus was acceptable but it has slowly gotten worse this month (got louder progressively where background noise does not fully mask it) so I went to ER and they ordered a CT scan to rule out tumor. However, after my ER visit and CT scan, I've started having motion sickness and dry vomiting spells. So I've tried using a cold compress (ice in a plastic bag) over my ear to see if it would help because I thought I might have some inflammation.

However, 10 minutes after pressing the cold compress to my ear (rotating from front ear and the back of the ear), my tinnitus suddenly spike really LOUD as of this post 5 hours ago. Before, I would rate my tinnitus as 4/10, now it is 8/10 in loudness even walking in open street with constant car traffic. It is so loud that I can still hear my tinnitus with my usual tinnitus maskers, whereas before tinnitus soundtracks eliminates it.

I have been taking Ibuprofen (for the past year for my TMJ) with Benadryl (for sleeping) and Sudofed (seasonal allergies) for the past 2 weeks but stopped 2 days ago when I started having vertigo attacks. I did not notice they were listed in the ototoxic list but I do not think they had contributed to this since I had been taking them for quite a long time. Do you guys think this might have contributed to my worsening tinnitus and the cold compress just triggered it?

Has anyone have this sudden spike before from a ice cold compress? If so, did it go back to normal for you? I feel extremely scared right now!

I have an upcoming ENT appointment in a month previously requested by my primary doctor. What are your advice when I go to see my specialist again? Do you guys think an MRI scan might elucidate the cause? I am willing to shell out the cash for it. But MRI has a lot of radiation so I'm afraid if MRI will make my tinnitus even worse. Do you think an MRI will help or make it worse?

 

Update: My tinnitus went back to slightly above baseline today. This was very scary. Perhaps the cold compressed caused a severe pressure change inside the Eustachian tube or middle ear. Or maybe it was something else. But whatever it is, I got the scare of my life.

 

I have constant tinnitus in my right ear. Recently, my left ear has been having short lived tinnitus for a couple of seconds on a weekly basis. This past week, my good left non-tinnitus ear is also feeling tender, sensitive to sound but also lower in sound volume (muffled feeling) than my tinnitus right ear. For the entire week. Also been feeling tingling and tickle sensation only on left ear.

I'm scared I'm going to suddenly develop permanent tinnitus on my good ear.

I'm popping 2x vitamins and covering my ear to any expected loud noise like closing the microwave oven door.

Any advice or opinions? My ENT visit is about two months away...