Hello, I'm New Here

[Gbelle54]

Hello, I'm new to the forum.

I had a sinus infection in April this year (2018). After a short course of antibiotics, the infection moved into my left ear. I woke up with a painful, blocked left ear. Also, there was a high volume of white noise coming from my ear. I scheduled with an ENT. An audiogram showed slight hearing loss in the upper ranges. He prescribed a prednisone taper, and to follow-up in 2 weeks, saying I had viral labrynthitis. The tinnitus resulting from the virus has decreased to a mild volume, but it's still there, 3 months later. The ENT said "It will take 6 weeks to 6 months to recover from labyrinthitis. 70% of people recover from labyrinthitis with no damage. Once you have it, you will never get it again. Stay away from loud sounds in the meantime."

Has anyone had a viral labyrinthitis diagnosis and tinnitus as a result of it? I wanted to join this community to be among others who are dealing with this issue. My ENT could only recommend I use masking sounds to combat the tinnitus. I look forward to hearing from anyone with thoughts/ideas.

I can listen to radio with no problem, but have a difficult time watching TV without a spike in tinnitus. I don't understand what would cause this reaction - ?

Thank you.

 

[glynis]

@Gbelle54 ,
Welcome to Tinnitus Talk.
I was diagnosed with Labyrinthitus at first by my doctor but after I kept getting constant attacks of vertigo and full blown Menieres symptoms and sever Tinnitus in both ears.
After lot's of tests by ENT I got diagnosed with Meniere's Disease.
That was over 14 years ago .
love glynis

 

[Gbelle54]

Hello Glynis, and thank you for the welcome!

I feel fortunate that I did not have - and still do not have - vertigo symptoms. However, the tinnitus remains mostly in my left ear.

My best to you.

 

[Contrast]

Tinnitus is linked to the amount of hearing loss one has usually. The more hearing loss the louder the tinnitus.
It's unknown why tinnitus randomly fades in some individuals and not others, the one ways tinnitus might consistently fade if there was a way to restore lost hearing or some experimental epilepsy drugs. All that I mentioned is clinical and pre-clinical research about a decade away.

Alternative causes are TMD, cervical problems and head trauma.

 

[Contrast]

Well if this is the case and you do not have permanent damage to your inner ear, it may be your tinnitus will go away and you won't be damned to this miserable corner of the internet.

Please keep us updated on your case if your tinnitus goes away or not within 6-8 months.