Ear Spasming Like Crazy — Like Pulsatile Tinnitus But Not in Rhythm with My Heart

[Orions Pain]

So I'm approaching my three month mark and I woke up today and my good ear was ringing a bit more than usual but the ringing was fairly soft, like a light eeee and I noticed my usual hiss was a bit better.

But with that, my "good" ear has been spasming like crazy non-stop since I woke up. I can't even describe the feeling. It's almost like pulsatile tinnitus, but it's not in rhythm with my heart. I've never experienced this before and my cheekbones feel pain, and pain in my jaw as well.

If anyone here can rumble their ears you'll know what I mean, it's like that but 10x as bad and just in one ear. It's almost resonating in my sinus area and the same side of my face is feeling extreme pressure. It's almost as if something in my ear is constricting and twisting around. I can hardly concentrate at work it is that bad. What could this be?? I'm freaking out at work right now and I just got new insurance so I don't even have a doctor I can see right now and I'm afraid if I go to the emergency room they won't help me.

The only thing I can think of is I had some red wine last night but I've had alcohol after getting my tinnitus over these last few months and it's never affected me this way.

 

[bobvann]

This drove me to drink red wine every evening

 

[MrCrybaby]

Hello! I understand why you are scared, this is a scary symptom to experience. In my amateur opinion it sounds like your middle ear muscles could be spasming (this can be a symptom of hyperacusis). Because the muscle is attached to the trigeminal nerve, when it is over activated it can irritate the nerve and create pain/altered sensation elsewhere where the nerve connects, such as the jaw and cheekbones.

When exposed to sound I feel a dull pressure, or even pain if the sound is louder, on the left side of my face. I understand how distracting this can be.

 

[Orions Pain]

Hello! I understand why you are scared, this is a scary symptom to experience. In my amateur opinion it sounds like your middle ear muscles could be spasming (this can be a symptom of hyperacusis). Because the muscle is attached to the trigeminal nerve, when it is over activated it can irritate the nerve and create pain/altered sensation elsewhere where the nerve connects, such as the jaw and cheekbones.

When exposed to sound I feel a dull pressure, or even pain if the sound is louder, on the left side of my face. I understand how distracting this can be.

It's honestly so scary and it's the most uncomfortable sensation I've ever felt. How could it be that my H is getting worse with time

I am freaking out. The same ear is SO itchy too.

It's not even that it reacts to loud sounds or anything like that. It was doing it when I was just laying down in my room earlier today before work

 

[MrCrybaby]

It's honestly so scary and it's the most uncomfortable sensation I've ever felt. How could it be that my H is getting worse with time

I am freaking out. The same ear is SO itchy too

Itchiness is a common symptom of E tube dysfunction, which is also related to H. I had these sort of symptoms start a month after my big noise mishap. What you need to understand is that even when our sound tolerance rebounds our H hasn't really healed. The damage is still there and it leads to many additional symptoms.

As cliche as it is, accepting the noise will make it much more bearable. It REALLY sucks but that's all we can do about it for now.

 

[Orions Pain]

It's not so much the noise that bothers me now but all of these uncomfortable sensations

And H is so much scarier than T or noise damage since doctors seem to be even more in the blind about H

 

[Orions Pain]

I also did notice my good ear was popping a lot more than my bad one these last few days

 

[MrCrybaby]

It's not so much the noise that bothers me now but all of these uncomfortable sensations

And H is so much scarier than T or noise damage since doctors seem to be even more in the blind about H

In my experience, the sensations improve with time (to a degree), and you become more used to them. It is VERY disturbing at first but a positive outlook and understanding of your limits (sound exposure wise) will help you adjust.

I found becoming more aware of what was happening in my ears made it all less scary.

 

[Orions Pain]

In my experience, the sensations improve with time (to a degree), and you become more used to them. It is VERY disturbing at first but a positive outlook and understanding of your limits (sound exposure wise) will help you adjust.

I found becoming more aware of what was happening in my ears made it all less scary.

This is way worse than my actual T which is already fairly moderate. I feel like someone is wringing out my ear, it's not even a mild pressure, it's straight up terrible spasms non stop

 

[MrCrybaby]

I also did notice my good ear was popping a lot more than my bad one these last few days

Don't bother keeping track of which ear is better or worse. It will ebb and flow and obsessing over each little pop and twitch will drive you off the walls.

 

[MrCrybaby]

This is way worse than my actual T which is already fairly moderate. I feel like someone is wringing out my ear, it's not even a mild pressure, it's straight up terrible spasms non stop

Yes it's awful. Resting your ears and relaxing your mind is all you can do to help. See if avoiding noise helps your ear calm down.

 

[Orions Pain]

It's not a little l

Don't bother keeping track of which ear is better or worse. It will ebb and flow and obsessing over each little pop and twitch will drive you off the walls.

It's not a little pop. I was literally leaning over my desk in pain

 

[MrCrybaby]

@Orions Pain that sucks, I feel for you. You can look into TTTS, which may resonate with you symptom wise. You may also want to check with a doctor if you have fluid build up in your ear. That can create a very tight feeling in the ear, altered feeling in the face, and does not always result in distorted hearing.

 

[Orions Pain]

It seems to have gone away, but my ear still feels sensitive. I am so scared of it returning, that was absolutely terrible. One thing I've noticed is my ears tend to rumble when I have pain somewhere, like a cut or something.

Due to the stress from my tinnitus I had a health issue pop up again, and I've been in a lot of pain because of it lately. I wonder if this is what caused the spasm. I took a painkiller earlier and it simmered down a few hours after

 

[Orions Pain]

Update, so far the sensation hasn't come back since the afternoon yesterday. It's strange because my usual Dysacusis seems slightly better today and the ear that had the rumbling/vibrating yesterday is my bad one where the Dysacusis is the most prominent.
I still have the Dysacusis a tiny bit but a lot less than most days this week.

It's a bit itchy today in my ear and I have moments where I get hit with an ache but it only lasts a few seconds.

I wonder if it was linked with some kind of inflammation or something because it did improve when I took an aspirin. Or it's linked to my other chronic pain and is a reaction to that pain.

What could this be. From that I understand TTTS usually reacts to sounds. This was almost like a rumbling sensation that was consistent rather than reacting to anything loud. Plus my office is fairly quiet

Perhaps the wine I drank the night before did some damage as well

Also it was weird that the weird popping/clicking and pressure changes when swallowing transitioned to this ear over the last few days at well. Can't be just a coincidence right?

I know ears pop for most people, but when mine pop I feel a pressure release. It happens fairly bad after being in a car and I know it's not from noise because I sit in my car at lunch sometimes without having it on and I get the pressure issues then as well.

 

[ryand]

@Orions Pain, I just read this post, and I'm sorry in general, but I think you have an inflammation issue. Red wine makes me miserable for 2 days with tons of ear pressure. Specifically my reaction to red wine the next day.

Just curious, do you ever have any other increased pain or discomfort when your tinnitus volume is higher? Did you stop drinking red or white wine?

 

[Dirtworks]

I'm beginning to suspect red wine might be exasperating my tinnitus as well. Lately I've been having a couple of glasses of cheap red wine most evenings. I didn't last evening and it seems quieter this morning. Too bad, I was rather enjoying it, the wine I mean.