Common Symptom? Inner Numbness Along with Tinnitus

[defoxington]

Hey All,

I first got tinnitus earlier this year in February 2019 after years of DJing without proper ear protection. No hearing loss, but persistent 24/7 15 kHz or so sound in my left ear. Sound isn't too loud, but enough to cause the distress a lot of us go through. Right ear is fine.

One major irritant along with the sound though, is my inner left ear constantly feels, I don't know if numb is the right word, but just off. Like it needs to be popped but can't be, like there's maybe a little extra pressure, not sure what, but regardless, the feeling is just different from the norm. I can feel the rest of my face, no problem there.

I'm wondering if anyone else experiences this, or any thoughts people might have. Is this just a phantom effect from stress? Is it possible the nerve damage from the loud noise runs deeper than just causing tinnitus - are my nerves inflamed? The doctors have looked and there's no fluid or anything in there - I'm told it looks like an otherwise healthy ear, so whatever damage is causing it is at a microscopic level.

Getting an MRI tomorrow to see if there's any growth putting pressure on a nerve, but I'm not confident they'll find anything. Anyways, please let me know your thoughts.

Thanks.

Daniel

 

[Contrast]

Yes I had ear and facial numbness along with tinnitus as well as noise induced pain. It's may not be common, but it exist.

Also may I ask how do you know you don't have any hearing loss?

 

[Contrast]

They only test the bare vitals of human speech. Hearing used to process human voice in quiet is like the tip of the iceberg compared to the full range of human hearing preceiving complex noise like music.

 

[defoxington]

Thanks for your response. Regarding hearing loss, I'm going by what the audiologist who tested my hearing told me. To that end, we did the standard soundproof room, headphone tonal beep test. There could be some marginal hearing loss, but if so, it's just that.

 

[Contrast]

It's always funny when new scientific discoveries about the inner ear are found, and lay people on a tinnitus forum are more interested in the science of the inner ear then audiologist.

sources:
http://www.jneurosci.org/content/31/38/13452
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378595516302507

 

[Mymlan]

@defoxington I experience exact the same thing with my left ear (where I also have most of my tinnitus). I feel pressure and ear fullness. It might be from an acoustic trauma. Be really careful with any loud noise from now on. Stop using headphones if you do use them. Protect your ears and eventually you will heal.

Like I've been told from others on this forum is that the numb feeling and pressure will go away, but it can take a long time.

 

[defoxington]

Thanks for the response. How long have you had the numbness/weird feeling? I don't expect the noise to go away, but it would be nice if all that numb/pressure/inflamed feeling hit the road for good!

 

[Mymlan]

No problem. I had it for about 2,5 month now (along with my tinnitus and hyperacusis). I think this is a common problem for those with acoustic trauma. Just be careful and there is a chance that you'll be fine/improve. Have you seen an ENT or an audiologist to have a hearing test?

@Contrast knows a lot about hidden hearing loss, so try and see if that can be your case.

 

[Mila9828]

Hey All,

I first got tinnitus earlier this year in February 2019 after years of DJing without proper ear protection. No hearing loss, but persistent 24/7 15 kHz or so sound in my left ear. Sound isn't too loud, but enough to cause the distress a lot of us go through. Right ear is fine.

One major irritant along with the sound though, is my inner left ear constantly feels, I don't know if numb is the right word, but just off. Like it needs to be popped but can't be, like there's maybe a little extra pressure, not sure what, but regardless, the feeling is just different from the norm. I can feel the rest of my face, no problem there.

I'm wondering if anyone else experiences this, or any thoughts people might have. Is this just a phantom effect from stress? Is it possible the nerve damage from the loud noise runs deeper than just causing tinnitus - are my nerves inflamed? The doctors have looked and there's no fluid or anything in there - I'm told it looks like an otherwise healthy ear, so whatever damage is causing it is at a microscopic level.

Getting an MRI tomorrow to see if there's any growth putting pressure on a nerve, but I'm not confident they'll find anything. Anyways, please let me know your thoughts.

Thanks.

Daniel

This is going to sound super weird but did it cause you to "hear" numb as well? Usually with inner ear numbness it feels like the eardrum goes numb and so sound going through your ear isn't felt.

 

[Mila9828]

@defoxington I experience exact the same thing with my left ear (where I also have most of my tinnitus). I feel pressure and ear fullness. It might be from an acoustic trauma. Be really careful with any loud noise from now on. Stop using headphones if you do use them. Protect your ears and eventually you will heal.

Like I've been told from others on this forum is that the numb feeling and pressure will go away, but it can take a long time.

Does the numbness cause you to hear weird? I feel like along with ear numbness I can't feel sound.

 

[Mymlan]

Does the numbness cause you to hear weird? I feel like along with ear numbness I can't feel sound.

What do you mean by "feel sound"?
I don't think that the numbness affects my hearing. It's more annoying.