Can anyone advise? I noticed a ringing in my left ear 2 weeks ago and was instructed by my gp to add OTC oil drops to the ear in case it was wax. I did and when gp examined my ear, he said there was no blockage, apart from eardrum looking a bit dull. I am now worse off from the noise that oil drops created after I put them in my ear. Has anyone ever found that tinnitus is worse after these types of drops? I'm at my wits end from it.
I have had tinnitus in the right ear for 6 yrs now but this never caused me as much distress as what I am feeling in left ear.
Sorry to read that you are having difficulties at the moment. The BTA's general advice - written in conjunction with ENT personnel - would be that a few drops of olive oil are a safe and effective way of breaking up any excess wax which your GP has observed to be present in the ear canal.
You mention using an over the counter product on your GP's advice - having followed this, it would be difficult to gauge why you are encountering the difficulties which you describe - is there anything different about how your ears feel following the oil treatment?
Try not to be too anxious about this - your tinnitus may be more noticeable and concerning to you if you are feeling under pressure or concerned about why the advice you're been given hasn't resulted in a positive outcome. If any wax has left the ear in the interim period, this can result in tinnitus increasing for a while as the ear gets used to hearing new or unmuffled sounds, but this does settle down.
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