Worn Out and Worried — New Hissing Noise and Ears Feeling Muffled

I've had tinnitus for a couple years now, since I was 17. It was a rough start but i got used to it over time. Not exactly sure of the root cause of my tinnitus.

ENTs are I have ETD. I've been taking all kinds of nasal medicines which have not helped. I've had a hearing test which showed no hearing loss.

Since I habituated to my tinnitus, i stopped going to ENTs.

But recently, as of last Thursday, a sort of low hissing noise started in my left ear and I noticed my ears were bit muffled, I could hear more in my right ear than in my left. I felt a bit of confusion too if it makes sense and just kinda of hard of hearing in general.

Right now honestly not even sure what could possibly be going on and I'm just worried this is going to get worse or I might lose my hearing.

I booked an appointment with ENT but it's on November 17th, 2021 which seems really far away. Considering going to walk-in clinic, to see if it could be fluid or earwax.

 

Although tinnitus can occur without a cause this is often not the case. The most common cause is exposure to loud noise. If you were a regular user of any type of headphones including earbuds and headsets, it is likely one of these caused the tinnitus. A lot of people that use these devices are not aware they are listening to audio at too high a volume.

Regularly attending venues where loud music is played or working in a noisy environment can also cause tinnitus. Your ENT doctor diagnosed ETD so you may have this. The ear and auditory system is your doctor's area of expertise, so you're doing the right thing going back for further investigation. An ENT appointment can take a while especially when the problem relates to tinnitus. Unless there are additional symptoms such as acute pain in the ears, problems with balance, dizziness or deafness, doctors prefer to leave the ears alone and give them time to right themselves which they sometimes do.

If you are experiencing additional symptoms that I have mentioned and they seem to be getting worse, it's probably a good idea to see a doctor sooner. If you use any type of headphones my advice is keep the volume as low as possible, as there's the risk of making the tinnitus worse. If possible try not to use them even at low volume.

I wish you well,
Michael