Ear Pain

[Natalie Roberts]

So, 9 weeks in with mild/moderate T that fluctuates and is reactive to sound. When it first started I was getting twinges of pain in both ears which made me think it was an infection but both dr's I've been to say my ears looked fine. My hearing test also didn't indicate any issue with ear pressure. The pain went away but over the last week or two I'm noticing it has come back. It's not a lasting pain but I do get twinges of pain in both ears.. Is this related to the tinnitus? Should I go to a different ENT for another opinion?

 

[glynis]

Hi Natalie,
Tinnitus should not cause pain unless ear pressure.
Always best to get your ears checked as could be a ear infection brewing if having pain.

I'm not to good at the moment and need see a doctor when the surgery opens tomorrow as have a sinus infection and now sever pain in both ears and tinnitus through the roof and gone on my lungs also causing breathing problems....lots of love glynis

 

[Natalie Roberts]

Hi Natalie,
Tinnitus should not cause pain unless ear pressure.
Always best to get your ears checked as could be a ear infection brewing if having pain.

I'm not to good at the moment and need see a doctor when the surgery opens tomorrow as have a sinus infection and now sever pain in both ears and tinnitus through the roof and gone on my lungs also causing breathing problems....lots of love glynis

I'm sory you aren't doing well I hate to read that. I hope you start to feel better soon. I am noticing my throat feels slightly sore too so I don't know whats going on..

 

[Zorro!]

So, 9 weeks in with mild/moderate T that fluctuates and is reactive to sound. When it first started I was getting twinges of pain in both ears which made me think it was an infection but both dr's I've been to say my ears looked fine. My hearing test also didn't indicate any issue with ear pressure. The pain went away but over the last week or two I'm noticing it has come back. It's not a lasting pain but I do get twinges of pain in both ears.. Is this related to the tinnitus? Should I go to a different ENT for another opinion?

I've been going thru some intense ear/head pain over the last month or so. My doc initially thought I might have a sinus/ear infection but later on the ENT said I was clear. She had no explanation for the inner ear pain or for the intense sinus pain and pressure other than to suggest it might be TMJ and to get checked by my dentist. Oddly enough I had just gotten checked by my dentist 4 days earlier and was told I do not have TMJ. The ENT just shrugged when I informed her of this and admitted she had no answer for the problem then.

At any rate, I was told to take Aleve and to wait it out for 4 - 6 weeks. Things have improved slightly in terms of the pain, but it's definitely slow going. And it does flare up and come back at times, which is scary and totally sucks.

So I'm not saying that you shouldn't go to another ENT. But just be prepared that they might not have any different answer than what you've already gotten.

Hang in there though. Hopefully in time all these weird issues will disappear.

 

[Dana]

@glynis
Such saddening news that you have recent other conditions besides your Meniere's disease and the T symptom (pain in your ears, infection in your sinuses, probably another one in your lungs..)
Nothing worse than having some other thing on top of Meniere's and T.
This summer I had a pneumonia on top of my T and other ear problems (fullness).
The fever from the pneumonia is hard to bear in general, but when added with worsened T..
Now I have to deal with a flu.

I wish you to recover soon from your recently added problems!
Life is so unfair when good people suffer from bad problems, it's revolting.
Get well soon.

 

[Jptsr1]

So, 9 weeks in with mild/moderate T that fluctuates and is reactive to sound. When it first started I was getting twinges of pain in both ears which made me think it was an infection but both dr's I've been to say my ears looked fine. My hearing test also didn't indicate any issue with ear pressure. The pain went away but over the last week or two I'm noticing it has come back. It's not a lasting pain but I do get twinges of pain in both ears.. Is this related to the tinnitus? Should I go to a different ENT for another opinion?

If your doctor is just looking into your ear canal with a otoscope then he/she is only seeing a fraction of the picture. Plenty of structures behind the eardrum that can be subject to infection or disease. Perhaps ask you physician what criteria are they using to rule out some sort of inner ear infection. Or maybe ask them for a referral to a specialist.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0d/Blausen_0328_EarAnatomy.png

 

[Natalie Roberts]

I've been going thru some intense ear/head pain over the last month or so. My doc initially thought I might have a sinus/ear infection but later on the ENT said I was clear. She had no explanation for the inner ear pain or for the intense sinus pain and pressure other than to suggest it might be TMJ and to get checked by my dentist. Oddly enough I had just gotten checked by my dentist 4 days earlier and was told I do not have TMJ. The ENT just shrugged when I informed her of this and admitted she had no answer for the problem then.

At any rate, I was told to take Aleve and to wait it out for 4 - 6 weeks. Things have improved slightly in terms of the pain, but it's definitely slow going. And it does flare up and come back at times, which is scary and totally sucks.

So I'm not saying that you shouldn't go to another ENT. But just be prepared that they might not have any different answer than what you've already gotten.

Hang in there though. Hopefully in time all these weird issues will disappear.

I'm pretty sure its not an infection so I don't know what they would say anyway.. my throat is kind of sore today so maybe I'm just getting sick.. Ugh. By the way, I like your profile picture

 

[Natalie Roberts]

If your doctor is just looking into your ear canal with a otoscope then he/she is only seeing a fraction of the picture. Plenty of structures behind the eardrum that can be subject to infection or disease. Perhaps ask you physician what criteria are they using to rule out some sort of inner ear infection. Or maybe ask them for a referral to a specialist.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0d/Blausen_0328_EarAnatomy.png

What kind of specialist? I have seen two ENT's so far so don't know where to go from here.

 

[Jptsr1]

What kind of specialist? I have seen two ENT's so far so don't know where to go from here.

All ENT's are not created equal. I'm not sure where you are but here in the states I start looking for doctors using healthgrades.com . Then I google their names to see if they pop up in any local forums with recommendations or horror stories. My neighborhood has an awesome forum where I get the low down on the local Docs before I go see them. Point is you dont need just an ENT, you need a good ENT that knows what he or she is doing.

 

[Natalie Roberts]

All ENT's are not created equal. I'm not sure where you are but here in the states I start looking for doctors using healthgrades.com . Then I google their names to see if they pop up in any local forums with recommendations or horror stories. My neighborhood has an awesome forum where I get the low down on the local Docs before I go see them. Point is you dont need just an ENT, you need a good ENT that knows what he or she is doing.

I will check that out. Thank you

 

[makethemgold]

If you've found anyone in the NYC area that you'd considered "good" please let me know. I've had awful luck with NY Eye and Ear. Really had no need for a specialist that kept me waiting for four hours to spend 30 seconds looking inside my ears and going "well, looks good to me. so you've got ringing. the audiogram checks out ok. maybe it'll go away. maybe not. at least it's not cancer. and fullness? yeah, we hear that a lot too. really nothing we can do for you. maybe try an antidepressant?" and sent me on my way.

 

[Jptsr1]

If you've found anyone in the NYC area that you'd considered "good" please let me know. I've had awful luck with NY Eye and Ear. Really had no need for a specialist that kept me waiting for four hours to spend 30 seconds looking inside my ears and going "well, looks good to me. so you've got ringing. the audiogram checks out ok. maybe it'll go away. maybe not. at least it's not cancer. and fullness? yeah, we hear that a lot too. really nothing we can do for you. maybe try an antidepressant?" and sent me on my way.

My own ENT in the Bronx is good with ear infections but unfortunately he is in the "you have to just deal with it" camp when it comes to tinnitus. Same with my regular doctor. I did get a recommendation for an ENT here in NJ.

Seth Kanowitz MD
http://www.healthgrades.com/physician/dr-seth-kanowitz-xrx4g

I have not done much checking on him but the person who recommended him raved about his service (albeit for an issue not related to tinnitus). I'm going to do some more digging and I'll let you know if I come up with anything.

 

[makethemgold]

Thanks

I'm scheduled to see someone at New York Otology in late January (barring something miraculous occurring before then; not holding my breath).

 

[Zorro!]

I'm pretty sure its not an infection so I don't know what they would say anyway.. my throat is kind of sore today so maybe I'm just getting sick.. Ugh. By the way, I like your profile picture

Personally I think it's an inflamed nerve/nerves in the head, odd as that sounds. It bugs me that when I tell my doctors that there is an actual physical pain inside my ears they dismiss it because they don't see any fluid behind the ear drum or redness inside the ear canal. I even told my ENT that it hurts to put a Q-tip in my ear and got the standard "don't put anything in your ear smaller than you elbow blah blah blah" response as a way to deflect the fact that she has no clue what the issue could be.

I wasn't too keen on the infection theory myself as I take really good care of myself, lots of vitamin D, etc. and almost never get colds. I can't remember the last time I got the flu to be honest. But things did get really bad after I had major foot surgery back in November so I just assumed I picked something up from the hospital. I admit it really freaked me out because, like I said, I haven't gotten sick in years and thought I was doing everything right when it comes to staying healthy. Having gotten conflicting opinions from my primary doc verses my ENT I'm thinking that maybe I didn't have an infection and my problems are all related to my inner ear and its attending nerves being inflamed for some unknown reason.

At any rate, I'm pulling for you to get some answers to what's going on with you. Try no to feel too bad if the next ENT doesn't give you much relief though. I think sometimes we just need to give ourselves a break from all these doctors and just allow our bodies to go thru whatever it is they're going thru. All the appointments and jumping thru hoops to get answers can really add to the stress we are dealing with.

Of course best wishes always.

 

[Natalie Roberts]

Personally I think it's an inflamed nerve/nerves in the head, odd as that sounds. It bugs me that when I tell my doctors that there is an actual physical pain inside my ears they dismiss it because they don't see any fluid behind the ear drum or redness inside the ear canal. I even told my ENT that it hurts to put a Q-tip in my ear and got the standard "don't put anything in your ear smaller than you elbow blah blah blah" response as a way to deflect the fact that she has no clue what the issue could be.

I wasn't too keen on the infection theory myself as I take really good care of myself, lots of vitamin D, etc. and almost never get colds. I can't remember the last time I got the flu to be honest. But things did get really bad after I had major foot surgery back in November so I just assumed I picked something up from the hospital. I admit it really freaked me out because, like I said, I haven't gotten sick in years and thought I was doing everything right when it comes to staying healthy. Having gotten conflicting opinions from my primary doc verses my ENT I'm thinking that maybe I didn't have an infection and my problems are all related to my inner ear and its attending nerves being inflamed for some unknown reason.

At any rate, I'm pulling for you to get some answers to what's going on with you. Try no to feel too bad if the next ENT doesn't give you much relief though. I think sometimes we just need to give ourselves a break from all these doctors and just allow our bodies to go thru whatever it is they're going thru. All the appointments and jumping thru hoops to get answers can really add to the stress we are dealing with.

Of course best wishes always.

I agree about giving ourself a a break from the dr! I had been going to a dr almost 2x a week for the last few months due to my ears, issues with chest pain and pregnancy related issues. Also, for chiropractic care. I'm so sick of co pays I just stopped going to everyone except my OBGYN. I'm hoping just giving my body time to handle this will help a bunch on its own. Plus I'm due to deliver my baby in just about 3 weeks and I was told I had a high chance of my tinnitus fading a few months after child birth or after breastfeeding so I feel I'm closer to improvement now then when I started this journey 9 weeks ago. Hope I'm right thanks for all your feedback and advise!