Tinnitus + old age + ear cleaning

I am 73 and have put up with tinnitus for several decades..in my case is consists of a whistling noise in both ears..but different sounding. Many years ago I had to have grommets inserted in both ears to allow drainage...a problem brought on with extremely bad hayfever leading to a blocked nose and fluid behind the ear drum. The Tinnitus was brought on with the high pitched turbine noise inside helicopters before earmuffs were commonly used.

A few days ago my doctor recommended that I have my ears suctioned out to remove a build up of wax...however it has turned out to be bad advice, as I am now left with reduced hearing in both ears plus a new problem...that being when I hear speech or music or any continuous noise, it now sounds in my head like a rattly speaker...the sound is sort of broken/cut up...and distorted.

So I now relate to the old proverb: That sometimes the cure is worse than the bite.

Has anyone else encountered this rattle effect in their hearing after the suction procedure?

[berry76]

Oh dear - I do hope your auditory system is settling down now. I always champion wax suctioning versus syphoning and my hearing is always better afterwards, with no affect on my tinnitus. I wonder if it would be worth just having your ear canals checked again - or could you clearly see your ear drums after the procedure. You should be hearing more clearly not worse.

I'm 77 but going strong, despite the sound intrusions of varying strength, and much sadness caused by loss of husband.

[NicBTA Partner]

Hello and welcome to the British Tinnitus Association forum. Do feel free to ask any questions, I hope that you find this a helpful and supportive place to help you manage your tinnitus.

We have some resources that you might like to check out in addition to our home here:

tinnitus.org.uk

- our information on ear wax removal can be found here tinnitus.org.uk/ear-wax. There can be a temporary occurrence or worsening of tinnitus after ear wax removal, but this generally settles down - some ears do respond to cleaning as they would trauma.

takeontinnitus.co.uk

Helpline 0800 018 0527 (Monday-Friday 9am-5pm) (outside the UK you can call [phone])

Warmest wishes

Nic (BTA Communications Manager and Forum Administrator)

[Hidden in reply to NicBTA]

Thanks NicBTA,

Its fairly obvious in my case, that both of my ears ..should I say the Cochlears reacted very badly to the microsuctioning noise...it makes sense if you think about it, if you already have/suffer from Tinnitus..this really indicates that the sensory nerves in the cochlear are already damaged in some way, So if you add a jumbo jet engine inside your ear , add some wax removing pressure on the drum...the chances are your ears are not going to like it...

I have according to the ENT experts, suffered ( more) damage to both Cochlears and its irreverseable too. So my warning to all tinnitus suffers is think twice before undergoing microsuctioning...Its obvious that the rush to see microsuctioning of ear wax as a normal efficient procedure..has completely bypassed the need to adequately research the risks of futher hearing loss in some people. I am living proof of that...my hearing was okay albeit with tinnitus..before I went in for the wax removal procedure. Not only that, the microsuctioning also must have produced a small tear in the drum as afterwards, eardrops simply passed into my throat.