About a month ago, I started getting rather severe tinnitus in my left ear as a result of ear wax. I had decided to wait for an appointment until my left ear became almost completely blocked, so I panicked and had an appointment with a private doctor to clean my wax. They used microsuction and it didn’t hurt, though it was quite loud.
Going home after the appointment, I noticed that the tinnitus pretty much vanished, however I had sensitive hearing and very quiet tinnitus in both ears which I dismissed as temporary.
Nearly 3 weeks later, the sensitive hearing is gone however the tinnitus has gotten somewhat loud. I can never hear it if I am listening to something or doing something, however the moment I’m in complete silence or I plug my ears it is quite loud, making it quite annoying to sleep with.
I then called a doctor, who scheduled an appointment but also prescribed me some antibiotic eardrops, which sadly made my tinnitus about 10-20% louder and made my ear canal hurt when i touched it, so I stopped using it as he said to.
I have the appointment for it in a few days but I’ve been worrying about it. Is there a possibility that this is temporary?
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James8424
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Hi James sorry to hear your dealing with this every chance it may be temporary as it’s so new. Next GP appointment ask to be referred to ENT dept at your local hospital. It will take time for an appointment to become available but they will run tests and have specialist knowledge to determine what’s going on with your hearing. Don’t let your GP resist this request it’s the referral pathway outlined by the NICE guidelines on tinnitus. You may find by the time the appointment comes round all is well but it would be helpful to have it in your back pocket just in case. Other than that given like many others you find using sound helpful try using an environmental sound you like at night at low volume level over a speaker not headphones. Here are links to a phone app and a dedicated stand alone unit that do that resound.com/en-gb/hearing-a...
Hi James it seems we have been going through the same process as many others ear wax ear infection I'm guessing that's why you were given the drops for the infection my Tinnitus started because of the infection after wax removal eventually I saw a consultant who found the right drops for me which cleared the infection the wax didn't come back but the Tinnitus was still there which I still have there are things you can do to help yourself if you use a shower use swimmers ear plugs your ears are quiet happy to clean themselves any water left in the ear canal could cause a infection also at night use a app at night I use white noise but there's a big choice out there a quiet room is bad because you just concentrate on the Tinnitus noise using a app or some other noise your brain will push the Tinnitus noise into the background. During the day just carry on with whatever you do the Tinnitus noise will just calm down.
Eventually you will find the Tinnitus will start to hibernate but remember it's up to you to deal with it you will get good days and some bad we all do I've always said Tinnitus is the Bear on my back take it on and beat it might take a bit of time but you sound determined and confident you can always get advice from the BTS who have help lines
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