Is it worth a try?

[doris22]

Hi . I've done the usual trip to Doc's and ent also MRI. I have tinnitus on my left mainly, but when it's bad, it fills my whole head, it seems. Doctor says my ears are clear apart from normal wax but Can, they really see down your whole ear? When it first started my ear felt full of pressure. My hearing is slightly less on this side too but I wasn't told that after hearing the test but Ican tell.. I'm wondering if I should have my ears cleaned professionally just to make sure. Any thoughts please? Thank you. 😊

[perlcoder]

Hello,

My T (more than 20 years now), is predominantly on the left, but like yours it can expand to fill my entire head, as well as varying in pitch and character. It can even switch sides for a while, for example if I sleep on my left my brain will "helpfully" conclude that there can be no source of sound on the left and put the T on the right. Typically these days it will be filling my head when I wake, but as I get up, put my hearing aids in, and begin to move around in the world of real sounds (water running, kettle boiling, radio on etc), it becomes exclusively left sided again. For the majority of us, T is largely unpredictable - it does what the brain chooses to do.

That feeling of pressure affects me too, and sometimes I think that my hearing in that ear must be obstructed - but it never is. It is just the brain trying to make sense of the nonsense sound that it has itself generated.

So far as your ear canal is concerned, I believe (I am not a doctor I can be wrong about everything), they can see all the way to your ear drum if there is no wax left there. I happen to have (they tell me), very narrow ear canals and so the otoscope can be quite uncomfortable for me, and means that the doctor / nurse has to do a good deal of manoeuvring it and pulling at my ear - but they always get a good view eventually, and if there is a scrap of wax they see it.

I am a bit surprised that you have got as far as an ENT and MRI without your ears having been thoroughly cleared of wax, but I suppose that if there is only a little, not a consistent plug of wax, then microsuction / syringing have not been thought necessary. I don't personally see why you would not have them cleared completely by a professional, but some people do find that either technique caused or exacerbated their T, so there may be an element of risk in that course of action - though it has never happened to me and I have regular syringing. Just personally, I would doubt that a tiny amount of wax that a doctor has not chosen to have removed could be a cause of your T - but I can of course be wrong about that too.

Best wishes.

[doris22 in reply to perlcoder]

Thank you. I know I'm just grasping at straws. I've never had a plug of wax. My T started quietly 4 years ago and is getting louder. If I'm out and about I dont notice it. As soon I get indoors it over powers the silence it seems. Certain sounds make it stop for awhile but it seems to me I am just replacing one sound for another. All the best and thanks for your reply.

[CamperT25]

I get the ear pressure, no wax, it's caused by eustachian tube dysfunction. This is a tube that connects yr ear to yr throat. To ease the tinnitus I use Sterimar Congestion spray first to clear nostrils, then straight after, Vicks Soother spray. This really helps. Once the pressure in your ear eases so will the loudness of the T. Hope this helps, Hxx

[Parrcj in reply to CamperT25]

Thanks for the advice above I do have eustachian tube dysfunction, I will give your suggestion a try . An operation to unblock the tube was suggested but no promises it would relieve the T. My T is so painful in the morning subsides once up and moving, is this the case with others ? T has changed my lifestyle completely, so will try anying for slight release.

Off to buy some Congestion spray and Sterimar 🤞

[CamperT25 in reply to Parrcj]

For me it really works, my GP suggested this combination and as Sterimar is natural that's also beneficial. The Vicks Soother works then I had a grommet put in my right ear, it helped thecT but caused severe hearing issues, very muffled for ages, then very loud. Ok when grommet fell out, hearing back to normal. Hxx

[doris22 in reply to CamperT25]

Thank you for your advice. I'll give that a go. Kind thanks.

[Vic24]

Hi! Although I’ve been suffering from T for almost 18 years and I’ve had the same senzațional in the ears, especially fulness of the ears, I’ve never had ear cleaning proffedionally.

Doctors in Romania recommend that we have: 1. Doppler for the carotid arteries2. Brain MRI to see if there isn’t a Schwanomma ( a non-canceros tumour)on the auditive nerve when there is ringing in one ear.

Meanwhile, I’ve always been recommended to take Magnesium forte for 2 weeks and Complex B .

For fulness in the ear there are some special exercises on Y tube.

Good health! Have walks daily and find a hobby to forget about your T!

[doris22 in reply to Vic24]

Thank you for your good advice. All the best.

[Hel_C]

The answer is No

Your ear canal is not so long that it cannot be seen with the instruments that a GP, nurse, audiologist use. If someone tells you your ear canal is free from wax, then it is. It does not need cleaning and if you did it anyway that could encourage the production of more wax so you could cause a problem that is not there in the first place.

I hope that helps.

[doris22 in reply to Hel_C]

Thank you. That's good then. I can stop grasping at that idea. Many thanks

[MobilePhoneandStress]

Ear wax removal helps T, but is a risk in itself. Do NOT get the type where they blast water at your eardrum, that stretches it. The gentle micro-suction is better, it is a heavenly relief of some pressure. Best to use olive oil first to soften the suction pulling, so the wax comes out faster and limits how long they're doing it. It does relieve some pressure, but there's always some risk of damaging the ear drum, nobody really knows.

My T's got worse steadily for 12 years, it roars throbs and pulses constantly now. Many brain scans, it's crazy nothing can be found to help. Friends can't understand, so I mostly say nothing there's no point. I just avoid social most functions as my T can be so loud I'm fighting to hear. Hearing aids only amplify outside noise until it's all unbearable.

Something is seriously wrong when so many of us are having our lives destroyed by this. And nobody can help. GP's want to help, but the truth is, there's no solution.

[doris22 in reply to MobilePhoneandStress]

Thank you for your reply. Yes mine started quietly and hardly bothered me but has just got louder over the the 4 years I've had it. I noticed when I went on holiday last year to Italy it was quieter and if I'm out I often don't notice it but as soon as I get home it starts up loud and hissing. I was wondering about electric pylons and cables. There is some that goes over the top of where I live? All the best.

[MobilePhoneandStress]

It's always louder at home, because out-and-about noise masks the noise inside our heads.

Once home, all we've got is the T noise.

I believe the cause is radio frequencies. Mainly mobile phone transmissions. Much is said about the damaged being caused to us all. It's like the nerves or cells close to our ears and in our heads have been cooked or lost their sheaths, or probably both. Irreparably damaged. I spent 36 years in the tech world,. Radio transmissions close to the head (eg mobile phones) heat up the brain cells next to them.