Can a CT Scan Make My Tinnitus Worse?

[PugDog1]

Hi everyone,

I have a CT scan with dye on the 3rd of January and I haven't given it any thought til I stumbled across someone complaining it had intensified their tinnitus...

Has anyone got any experience of this?

I'm now really worried & the ENT department aren't being very helpful in the first place - I feel that if I refuse the dye they will use it as another reason to discharge me without actually looking into my issues :-(

 

[Badger19]

A CT isn't loud at all. You'll be fine.

 

[PugDog1]

@Badger19 it is the contrast dye I am worried about. I don't get spikes from noise really but I do get spikes from elevated heart rate- isn't tinnitus a weird and wonderful thing ‍

 

[Tybs]

I've read a lot of stories online so far where people got worse tinnitus after a MRI, but I have yet to encounter the first mention of a CT scan to do something bad. Tinnitus is a weird one, but I'd say you'll probably be fine with this.

 

[Juan]

Hi everyone,

I have a CT scan with dye on the 3rd of January and I haven't given it any thought til I stumbled across someone complaining it had intensified their tinnitus...

Has anyone got any experience of this?

I'm now really worried & the ENT department aren't being very helpful in the first place - I feel that if I refuse the dye they will use it as another reason to discharge me without actually looking into my issues :-(

I don't think a CT Scan can make any damage really… an MRI is a different thing, that's loud as hell, but a CT Scan is silent.

 

[Badger19]

@Badger19 it is the contrast dye I am worried about. I don't get spikes from noise really but I do get spikes from elevated heart rate- isn't tinnitus a weird and wonderful thing ‍

Had a similar CT recently, no issues at all.

 

[MRItechssuck]

Wear earplugs just in case, ya know?

And plugs are cool.

 

[Labyrinthine]

@Badger19 it is the contrast dye I am worried about. I don't get spikes from noise really but I do get spikes from elevated heart rate- isn't tinnitus a weird and wonderful thing ‍

Fortunately, CT scanners and x-rays are relatively quiet as opposed to a MRI. As for the contrast dye, a quick forum search lead me to this thread:

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/contrast-dyes-for-ct-scans.28953/

As a CT technologist and T sufferer I can tell you first hand that the contrast does not have effect on T. The CT is not as noisy as a MRI by any means, you just hear the tube spinning up. If you have earplugs in you wont even notice it

 

[Digital Doc]

While MRI's are dangerously loud, any modern CT scanner is pretty quiet. Most CT's are also a lot shorter at just a few minutes, while MRI sequences can easily go 45 mins to an hour or more. I would not worry about a CT scan from a T perspective.

 

[PugDog1]

Just to update everyone I didn't even end up having the dye so nothing to worry about!
My CT scan was exactly the same as my MRI time wise but I do agree it is quieter and less claustrophobic!