Ear Drum Test (Tympanometry) Makes Tinnitus Worse?

[bellringer]

I am going on five weeks since an acoustic trauma incident left me with Tinnitus in my left ear. For much of the month I have been at an intensity of 8 out of 10 until this past week where Monday it settled down to around a 4. By Thursday before a hearing test my tinnitus was even more quiet.

I am going on the AM-101 clinical trial and on Thursday as part of the screening process I underwent an ear drum test (Tympanometry). The audiologist had a hard time getting the probe to detect my drum condition so for a few minutes she kept probing my ear. It was really uncomfortable. After the test a doctor probed my ear and picked out some ear wax that was also uncomfortable. Right before all this I was in the waiting room remarking to myself that this was the quietest my tinnitus has ever been since the event.

After leaving the office and into the next day (today) I had rather intense tinnitus back up to 8 out of 10. It started to settle down this evening and is now down to a 6 out of 10. I want to blame the test for my cranking up of my tinnitus. Anyone else ever have had bad experience with the drum test?

 

[Mark Beehre]

@bellringer Tinnitus is unpredictable. For some people tinnitus reacts to sound and others to food. Tinnitus also reacts to nothing discernible. You want to get better so you search for answers and try and find patterns. Where this will eventually lead you is hiding in a shell, afraid to go out, afraid to do anything meaningful with your life. I get that. I have done that. To an extent I still do that. But the consequences aren't positive. Having hours to feel down and out about your life does not help ones constitution.

The best advice I can give you is this: Your tinnitus started in May. It's now July. It's been 2 months. Try giving it at least a year. It does get better with time. Your ear needs to time to heal and your neural pathways need time to reconfigure. Since you are having quiet days the implication is that it will likely head that way with time. Try and find a solution that keeps it quiet as much as possible. I moved closer to work to avoid the daily 30 minute return drive and my loud days decreased to the point where I had a more positive outlook on life. I still have trouble 8 months on, but I can handle more now than before. I hope that in another 4 months I can resume living at home and make the daily drive to work. Heck I even got engaged and have a wedding to plan. Try to be mindful that life can still go on despite what is happening. You will get better!

 

[Mad maggot]

I've never had this. How are you doing now?

 

[Nic1982]

Hi,

I got tinnitus almost 6 weeks ago after getting water in my ear! It was really loud for 24 hours, then down to say 5-6/10 for 24 hours, then down to 2/10 when eventually after a week it had gone. Since then I continued to have a feeling of ear pressure/pain and fleeting tinnitus that would last just a minute or two. I was referred to acute ENT and they did this same test on me on Friday. Then that evening my tinnitus returned too! The same as you, I found it really uncomfortable and they struggled to get a good fit on my ear. It was not quite as loud as the original onset, it was about 5/10 for 24 hours and now it's there but very quiet, 1-2/10. How's yours today?

 

[bellringer]

Mine came down a bit yesterday, but I got stressed out today and I am up to a 7 now. Mine seems to react to noise and stress.