MemberHello my name is Phil, I've had tinnitus in my right ear for over two years now. It is a high pitched continuous whining noise. Whilst the tone is always the same the loudness fluctuates greatly day to day.
As for the cause, and there is a big question mark over this, not so much on my part but the ENT. I don't really no where to start but I'll try!
Back in June/2015, I took a flight to Greece, with a ear full of wax (I could still hear okay and wasn't aware of it). I've always had problems with my eustation tubes when I've flown and they normally take at least 3 hours to clear, sometimes it's even taken a day or two to clear completely.
I knew something was wrong when after 2/3 hours after landing my left ear had started to clear but my right ear felt exactly the same as it did when I had got off the plane. A short time after I had realised my right ear was 100% completely blocked with ear wax. This wouldn't have been helped by the fact I was wearing earplugs on the plane. After a couple of days with no improvement it was obvious the problem wasn't going to go away on it's own and I had to spend the whole week on holiday with a blocked ear. I was dreading the return flight, no doubt this made it even worse.
On arriving back home I had to wait a further two weeks to have my ear cleared, the doctor insisted I used ear drops for two weeks first, even though I was in so much discomfort. The swooshing noises with all the popping was very disturbing and I was in a lot of pain. In the end, finally after 3 weeks I had the ear wax removed (Just to note, this wasn't done by syringing but by a special instrument of some sort).
Even though after having the wax removed, the swooshing noise disappeared altogether but I've now got a high pitched ringing noise which I've got to put up with for the rest of my life. I did a hearing test and I've got slight high frequency hearing loss in my right ear, but it's not actually that much worse than my left ear (ear without the tinnitus!). I did have an MRI scan and that was all clear.
I had a number of appointments with the ENT who basically put it down to my job (working in a factory) and disregarded everything else (I have put here) and said it was a coincidence. In my opinion it wasn't a coincidence but to the ENT it was definitely noise induced. It had been suggested to me that the noise had always been there but now my ear is unblocked I have tuned into it. Could that really be the case? If I can't hear it, surely it's not there!
It sounds silly but I've been umming and ahhing whether to join this forum for the last two years. I always had it in my mind that nothing I did would make a difference and I've just got to lump it. The circumstances in which this noise has come about has been so hard to explain and understand which is why maybe I haven't been able to move on. Tinnitus is such a mystery, I wish I could go back in time to see what my ear was like before getting blocked. Don't get me wrong, I manage this a lot better than I did (after the initial onset) but still have too many low days. I monitor the noise everyday and can't get it out of mind. Even when it's not at it's worst I wonder how long it'll last. I'm hoping that after writing all this (sorry to go on!) and joining this forum , I may be able to move on completely. I'm sorry if it sounds like I'm over complicating everything and also about the long introduction!
Many thanks for reading this, if anyone can relate to any of it please let me know. Phil
As for the cause, and there is a big question mark over this, not so much on my part but the ENT. I don't really no where to start but I'll try!
Back in June/2015, I took a flight to Greece, with a ear full of wax (I could still hear okay and wasn't aware of it). I've always had problems with my eustation tubes when I've flown and they normally take at least 3 hours to clear, sometimes it's even taken a day or two to clear completely.
I knew something was wrong when after 2/3 hours after landing my left ear had started to clear but my right ear felt exactly the same as it did when I had got off the plane. A short time after I had realised my right ear was 100% completely blocked with ear wax. This wouldn't have been helped by the fact I was wearing earplugs on the plane. After a couple of days with no improvement it was obvious the problem wasn't going to go away on it's own and I had to spend the whole week on holiday with a blocked ear. I was dreading the return flight, no doubt this made it even worse.
On arriving back home I had to wait a further two weeks to have my ear cleared, the doctor insisted I used ear drops for two weeks first, even though I was in so much discomfort. The swooshing noises with all the popping was very disturbing and I was in a lot of pain. In the end, finally after 3 weeks I had the ear wax removed (Just to note, this wasn't done by syringing but by a special instrument of some sort).
Even though after having the wax removed, the swooshing noise disappeared altogether but I've now got a high pitched ringing noise which I've got to put up with for the rest of my life. I did a hearing test and I've got slight high frequency hearing loss in my right ear, but it's not actually that much worse than my left ear (ear without the tinnitus!). I did have an MRI scan and that was all clear.
I had a number of appointments with the ENT who basically put it down to my job (working in a factory) and disregarded everything else (I have put here) and said it was a coincidence. In my opinion it wasn't a coincidence but to the ENT it was definitely noise induced. It had been suggested to me that the noise had always been there but now my ear is unblocked I have tuned into it. Could that really be the case? If I can't hear it, surely it's not there!
It sounds silly but I've been umming and ahhing whether to join this forum for the last two years. I always had it in my mind that nothing I did would make a difference and I've just got to lump it. The circumstances in which this noise has come about has been so hard to explain and understand which is why maybe I haven't been able to move on. Tinnitus is such a mystery, I wish I could go back in time to see what my ear was like before getting blocked. Don't get me wrong, I manage this a lot better than I did (after the initial onset) but still have too many low days. I monitor the noise everyday and can't get it out of mind. Even when it's not at it's worst I wonder how long it'll last. I'm hoping that after writing all this (sorry to go on!) and joining this forum , I may be able to move on completely. I'm sorry if it sounds like I'm over complicating everything and also about the long introduction!
Many thanks for reading this, if anyone can relate to any of it please let me know. Phil
...I find it interesting that Eric Clapton said his tinnitus has gotten better...his ears must've gotten pummeled over the years. From a website: 
