Trying to Find Out the Cause for My Tinnitus That Started During a Bad Cold and Blocked Sinuses

Hi everyone. Have been reading lots of posts to find similar stories to try and figure out my tinnitus, but then thought, just post a thread yourself!

I had a really bad cold and blocked sinuses in January. It lasted for three weeks. My tinnitus, which is a high pitched whistle in my right ear, started a few days in. Both ears were full and I experienced pulsing in my left ear, which lasted only for a few days. I hoped the whistling would go once all the congestion had gone. But sadly it hasn’t. It seems to be a lot worse in the evenings.

I went to my GP and he said both ears are full of wax and to use Otex (hydrogen peroxide) drops for 10 days with a two day break in between. I started using it, and wax came out of my right ear but made no difference to the tinnitus. Nothing came out of my left ear. After a few days, my ears were feeling irritated so I stopped using it and switched to olive oil. Nothing else came out.

Back to a different doctor two week ago. I have very occasional mild pain that lasts for a few seconds in both ears. I don’t think I have any hearing loss. But what I do have is a blocked nose and post nasal drip every night, I’ve never snored and now I do!

The doctor said my left ear is compacted with wax (I don’t hear tinnitus in this ear) and he said my Right ear is slightly scarred with a slightly retracted eardrum. No wax. This is the tinnitus ear. I also get a lot of clicking when I am talking or it will just suddenly click.

I have an appointment in a weeks time at the tinnitus clinic at my local hospital. They rang me up and said if I have pain then I should be seen by ENT, but my pain is very very occasional. So the nurse said stick with the tinnitus clinic. Not sure I’ve done the right thing there, but if I change the appointment now I will have to wait weeks for ENT.

Sorry for rambling. This is really stressing me out. This year so far has been full of health problems for me and my family and is really making me stressed and worried.

Any advice would be gratefully received.

Thank you
Clare

 

Colds and infections can definitely bring on tinnitus. I'm no doctor so I can't say much about your case, but I recognise some of your symptoms (congestion and occasional earpains lasting for seconds) which, in my case, is likely due to fluid buildup.

Since you're still congested, I'm guessing whatever caused your issues in the first place hasn't subsided yet. Your tinnitus might still go once this all goes away, but it might take a while even after infections/inflammations clear! Anyway, I think you're doing the right thing here. Even if the tinnitus clinic isn't helpful, you can always make an appointment with an ENT after.

Don't stress it too much. Many people get temporary tinnitus from a cold or infection. There's not much you can do but wait it out, but having it looked at is smart. Clicking and crackling when talking/yawning/swallowing indicates problems with the eustachian tubes, which are very common and, too, caused by infections as simple as the common cold.

Good luck! Hope it all subsides

 

Hi, your tinnitus start sounds very similar to mine! Mine is still ongoing now over a year later but when they’ve looked into it I have some major issues in my sinuses/tubes that need correcting. So hopefully once yours dies down that will be it!

I would book in for ear wax removal if I was you- I went for micro suction and it helped a lot (but do your research before hand- some people say it worsens their tinnitus but it helped me). Also look into some natural remedies to bring down inflammation because I’ve found once the initial infection has settled down it’s the resounding inflammation that keeps my tinnitus high! I take over the counter Sudafed to decongest my tubes, lots and lots of water, sleep with a humidifier on and put my hot penguin (a microwaveable what bag) on my ears/face/neck for relief.

I hope some of that helps, stick in there- tinnitus is a funny old thing and sometimes it just does what it wants! I’ve found it’s just best to go along with it and deal with the spikes as and when xx

 

Thank you for your replies. It’s very much appreciated. Have had a couple of really bad days with it. Can’t seem to escape from the noise no matter what I do :-(
Still stressing that I should have changed the appointment to an ent.
What happens at the tinnitus clinic? Do they just try and help you cope or do they investigate why it started?
Thanks guys. This forum is a lifesaver xx

 

First off if you are using regular olive oil you purchased from the shop stop using it. Most store bought olive oils carry bacteria in them. Find olive oil from a health food shop that's been sterilized.

Have you had your GP check for blocked eustachian tubes which will cause infection in the ears and tube. A good nasal spray to clear the infection will really help. Even if you are nasal plugged it helps. Only be sure to use the spray properly as most GPs won't tell you. You can Google proper way to spray for infection of eustachian tube.

Hope this helps. Don't let them GPs do suction or wash your ears, it will mess your hearing and cause tinnitus. Avoid getting water in your ears, swimmers ear is a good way for infection to start.

 

Thought I would update my post. Tinnitus still with me! And loud at the moment.
Went to Audiology at my local hospital three weeks ago. Had a hearing test, and ears looked at. No retracted eardrum. Everything looked normal and healthy. No excessive wax build up either. Hearing test normal apart from very high frequency range in both ears. Which is considered to be age related.
Because my T is only in one ear they want me to have an MRI to rule out a benign lump in my ear as the cause. Bit worried but have been told 95% of people are fine.
MRI books for 30th April, but that has been cancelled today which I fully expected to happen given the current circumstances.
I suppose I am still at that stage where I am looking for a medical answer to the T. How could it be my brain creating this noise!? So hard to accept. And now life has changed and I’m not at work everyday to mask the noise,it’s all I hear. How is everyone coping?
I just want to sit in silence again :-(

 

Hi, sorry it has still stayed with you, and not subsided. I went to a top ENT surgeon in NYC 2.5 years ago, at the tinnitus center of one of the nation's top hospitals. He told me that he had tinnitus himself, and couldn't figure out where it came from. He also tried every supposed remedy there is, including Ginkgo, with no improvement. He recommended against an MRI, as it is usually not useful, but said that he'd send me for one, if I really wanted to. I thanked him, and declined. What was extremely helpful to me about this visit, was that the doctor I saw, has tinnitus and performs the most up to date surgeries in the world, for his field, regularly, with no problems. I began to realize that this tinnitus is not the awful monster it appeared to be, in MOST cases, and that the doctors's advice that it would become a non-issue, as it was for him, helped me to accept the situation, and habituate. Excuse me, I have to go perform some brain surgeries, there's patients waiting.

Hang in there, your chances of improvement, in so many ways, is practically guaranteed.

 

Thank you for your positive messages. Trying hard to habituate to the noise. It’s so high pitched at times, or maybe it’s because it’s quiet a lot at home I can hear it more.
Stay safe xx

 

Hi all. A little update on my situation. For the last month my tinnitus became really quiet I had to focus to hear it. Almost like switching it on and off! It was lovely.
Then BAM! One night last week as I was getting into bed it was like someone switched the volume up and now it’s with me always. I hear a high pitched tone all the time, just in my left ear. So annoyed as I thought I had habituated to it. The only thing I had done different that night was eat a Chinese takeaway!

Today i received a phone call for my MRI for this Thursday. Bit apprehensive about it but I personally need to rule out the tumour. I am a worrier about my health at the best of times!
Thanks for listening x

 

A trip through an MRI scanner can take your existing tinnitus to a whole new level. Be sure it's what you want.

 

I have heard this and don’t know what to do. I need to know there isn’t a tumour there but on the other hand I don’t want my T to get worse!

 

I still don’t see point of MRI unless you have other symptoms besides tinnitus. It’s just too loud even with earplugs and ear muffs. Really does increase risks of making tinnitus worse.

 

I have had tinnitus after getting blocked sinuses in January. Blocked ears for a few weeks and then left with high pitched ringing in my right ear only. Was so anxious and angry, I was finding life hard. I tried so hard mentally to not let it control me.

In April I felt as if I could cope with the tinnitus and it wasn’t bothering me as much as it did in the beginning. I was so happy, perhaps it was going away...

Then at the beginning of May, I went to bed and it was like someone had turned the frequency up And I am back to square one :-( It’s louder then before, more high pitched. More like a whistle and I am finding it hard to mask. It just shouts louder!!

I was offered an MRI which from reading these threads people are against. But I have health anxiety and felt like I just need to know. I had the MRI last week and it hasn’t changed the tinnitus at all. Waiting for results.

So now I am back to reading success stories and trying to get into a positive mind set because I am sure that’s what helped me before. But this time it feels different. I feel like it’s never going to go.
Thanks for reading my post. I sometimes just need to write it all down.

Clare
Xx

 

@Clare_jla How is your T now?