No Tinnitus When I Plug My Ears with My Fingers

[Blodorn]

Hi guys,

Today I noticed that when I plug my ears with my fingers, I can only hear the sound of blood circulating.

When I unplug my ears, the tinnitus takes a few seconds to come back.

Any idea? That's kind of weird and strange but at least it gives me some rest.

 

[Michael B]

The only thing I can think of is that your ears are affected by sounds, such as with hyperacusis.

 

[Mathieulh]

My T is constant, earplugs (of using fingers in this case) or not.

 

[Bob den Hartog]

Hi guys,

Today I noticed that when I plug my ears with my fingers, I can only hear the sound of blood circulating.

When I unplug my ears, the tinnitus takes a few seconds to come back.

Any idea? That's kind of weird and strange but at least it gives me some rest.

Hey, do you also have kind of a clicking sound inside your ears when you swallow? Because I might know what's happening then.

Had gotten sick over the weekend, with ears getting full of mucus, and this completely quietened my tinnitus at times. Also, if I lie with my right ear on my pillow, the right ear is quiet, the left ear has tinnitus, and if I have my left ear on my pillow, the left is quiet. All of this may stem from the same principle.

 

[Blodorn]

Hey, do you also have kind of a clicking sound inside your ears when you swallow? Because I might know what's happening then.

Had gotten sick over the weekend, with ears getting full of mucus, and this completely quietened my tinnitus at times. Also, if I lie with my right ear on my pillow, the right ear is quiet, the left ear has tinnitus and if I have my left ear on my pillow, the left is quiet. All of this may stem from the same principle.

Hi!

Well, it happens sometimes that my ears are crackling when I swallow. My right ear (I got unilateral tinnitus) always cracks when I push my jaw forward.

However, I need to plug strongly my ear to stop my tinnitus. My pillow can't stop it unfortunately!

Also, my ears are always full when I wake up, it takes a few minute before I can hear clearly.

Take care and sorry for my chaotic English!

 

[Michael Leigh]

Today I noticed that when I plug my ears with my fingers, I can only hear the sound of blood circulating.

When I unplug my ears, the tinnitus takes a few seconds to come back.

Any idea? That's kind of weird and strange but at least it gives me some rest.

HI @Blodorn

I advise you to stop doing this as you will make your brain focus on the tinnitus more and it can become permanent and more intrusive. I have already advised you to divert your attention to other things to take your mind off tinnitus. By constantly monitoring your tinnitus you are not helping yourself believe me.

Michael

PS: It is good that your tinnitus is low at the moment but if you keep doing what you are doing, then you will soon realise how annoying and distressing tinnitus can be.

 

[Bob den Hartog]

Hi!

Well, it happens sometimes that my ears are crackling when I swallow. My right ear (I got unilateral tinnitus) always cracks when I push my jaw forward.

However, I need to plug strongly my ear to stop my tinnitus. My pillow can't stop it unfortunately!

Also, my ears are always full when I wake up, it takes a few minute before I can hear clearly.

Take care and sorry for my chaotic English!

Yeah, like what Michael said. Also saw in your status you had H.

The thing is, your brain (amigdala) has gotten into fight or flight mode to protect your ears (don't know if you had an acoustic trauma, but that may have triggered it), and as a result, it's pulling some nerves in your ears in order to protect it. This results in the clicking sound, and also gives T as a symptom. The brain giving pain impulses to your ears or face is another one. Push hard on your ears, or after chewing, or whatever motion that interacts with your inner ear, might change the tone, or alleviate the T.

But as @MichaelLeigh said, do not focus on this too much. The amigdala (our 'reptile brain') is not a part of our conciousness we can acces directly, but we can influence it via our actions and emotions. If you're getting anxious around sounds, or in general, or focusing on it too much, that fight or flight mode will be triggered more often, and T/H might get worse. On the other hand! If you give it no attention, the brain will get the message that sound isn't a problem, and after a while that fight or flight response will diminish, so that pulling of the muscles/nerves will stop, and T/H will diminish as a result.

So, don't give it any attention, try to forget about it and go about your day, and it will go away in time .

 

[HeavyMantra]

HI @Blodorn

I advise you to stop doing this as you will make your brain focus on the tinnitus more and it can become permanent and more intrusive. I have already advised you to divert your attention to other things to take your mind off tinnitus. By constantly monitoring your tinnitus you are not helping yourself believe me.

Michael

PS: It is good that your tinnitus is low at the moment but if you keep doing what you are doing, then you will soon realise how annoying and distressing tinnitus can be.

Why would focusing on the tinnitus make it worse or permanent? So sitting and just listening to the tinnitus when meditating for instance can make it worse? If you're affected negatively by focusing on it, then sure. But if you simply pay attention to the sound and you just feel neutral about it, how could that make it worse?

 

[Michael Leigh]

So sitting and just listening to the tinnitus when meditating for instance can make it worse?

@HeavyMantra

Sitting and listening to tinnitus or meditating and tuning into it is one of the worst things a person can do, especially when tinnitus is moderate or intrusive as there is a risk of making it louder.

When a person develops tinnitus although the problem is within the ear and auditory system, the actual signal is sent to the brain and lives in part known as the Limbic system. It is here that our thoughts and emotions are generated and controlled. Therefore, tinnitus is fully integrated here and cannot be separated and is affected by our thoughts and emotions to a very large degree. For this reason people are encouraged to try have a positive attitude towards tinnitus as this reduces stress and can help to make the tinnitus less intrusive. To help with distraction especially when tinnitus is intrusive or a person is in the early stages of onset, sound enrichment should be used whenever possible and especially at night. If the brain hears silence it has the ability to increase its background activity which will also increase the tinnitus.

A person that is new to tinnitus such as @Blodorn the tendency is to focus on it and this can be difficult to stop. The reason being the brain or the Limbic system, has suddenly heard this strange new noise that previously wasn't there. It latches onto the tinnitus (or focuses on it) and doesn't want to let it go. It's as if it's the brain is on constant red alert. For some people this can be distressing causing panic and sometimes fear because a person's thoughts and emotions are affected. As time passes many people learn or the brain learns not to be afraid of the tinnitus and this is called Habituation. Habituation comes in many forms and I covered this in my post: The habituation process in the link below.

@Blodorn is in a good position at the moment because his tinnitus is fairly low and manageable. With time, I believe it will improve to the point where he hardly hears it. Because he is new to tinnitus by placing his fingers into his ears and deliberately focusing on it or the sounds within his auditory system, he is allowing his brain (Limbic system) to become more aware of the tinnitus, which can affect his thoughts and emotions and cause the tinnitus to become louder and permanent if he is not careful.

Michael

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/the-habituation-process.20767/

 

[linearb]

Why would focusing on the tinnitus make it worse or permanent? So sitting and just listening to the tinnitus when meditating for instance can make it worse? If you're affected negatively by focusing on it, then sure. But if you simply pay attention to the sound and you just feel neutral about it, how could that make it worse?

Some people (including myself) have had great success by doing the opposite of this advice and focusing on the sound with awareness and compassion.

But one night, struggling to meditate, I was struck with an idea. What would happen, I wondered, if I stopped fighting to ignore the sound, and focused on it during meditation instead?

I didn't know what to expect, but I tried it, and it changed everything.

The first thing I noticed was that when my mind wandered, it wandered away from the sound. For those brief moments of distraction, I didn't notice my tinnitus at all. And when I was done, my tinnitus seemed quieter because it was bothering me a little bit less.

I didn't understand it at the time, but my brain was starting to associate the calm and relaxation of meditation with the sound of my tinnitus, replacing the old response of stress, anxiety, and frustration.

All I knew was that it was working, and with a few weeks of daily practice, my tinnitus stopped bothering me entirely.

Emphasis added is mine; I think such techniques could likely be helpful for some significant number of people, but I think you need to get to 20-30 mins/day for weeks to months to reliably see any change, and sticking to a major behavioral effort like that when you're not seeing any rapid gains is fucking hard.

Also, "meditating wrong" is, to some extent, a thing. You don't need to be as wary with this stuff as you do with, say, LSD, but anything that has the potential to radically alter perspective should be approached with respect and some healthy skepticism and caution, and simple meditation is no different.

 

[Chriscom]

Tinnitus, I have come to see in the six weeks that I've had it nonstop, is ridiculously individual. There's a guy with a site called Rewiring Tinnitus who indeed recommends mindfully focusing on it. I've found some relief, I think, playing some of his meditation MP3s, which for example provide the sound of a babbling brook and a low-frequency pulse supposed to help induce a specific type of relaxed state, all turned up to a volume where you can still hear the tinnitus. The idea is to show the brain it's not a threat. He said he first had success (which means reducing an emotional response plus somewhat reducing the presence of tinnitus) by focusing on it without any additional background audio. But I agree it could be risky because personal responses to this vary so much. Another example: Most of my tinnitus is the high tone, but I have other odd artifacts, the most recent one a lower, broader tone that disappears the instant external sound is applied. Weird.

 

[sakrt]

. Also, my ears are always full when I wake up, it takes a few minute before I can hear clearly.

Hi Blodorn, the good thing is your T seems sporadic. Do you see a frequent pattern of this problem after lying down? This causes your passages to swell, especially if you have congestion from something. Possibility of sleep apnea? Try elevate your upper torso/head up while sleeping. Some use a foam wedge for more comfort. Just a thought.

 

[HeavyMantra]

@HeavyMantra

Sitting and listening to tinnitus or meditating and tuning into it is one of the worst things a person can do, especially when tinnitus is moderate or intrusive as there is a risk of making it louder.

When a person develops tinnitus although the problem is within the ear and auditory system, the actual signal is sent to the brain and lives in part known as the Limbic system. It is here that our thoughts and emotions are generated and controlled. Therefore, tinnitus is fully integrated here and cannot be separated and is affected by our thoughts and emotions to a very large degree. For this reason people are encouraged to try have a positive attitude towards tinnitus as this reduces stress and can help to make the tinnitus less intrusive. To help with distraction especially when tinnitus is intrusive or a person is in the early stages of onset, sound enrichment should be used whenever possible and especially at night. If the brain hears silence it has the ability to increase its background activity which will also increase the tinnitus.

A person that is new to tinnitus such as @Blodorn the tendency is to focus on it and this can be difficult to stop. The reason being the brain or the Limbic system, has suddenly heard this strange new noise that previously wasn't there. It latches onto the tinnitus (or focuses on it) and doesn't want to let it go. It's as if it's the brain is on constant red alert. For some people this can be distressing causing panic and sometimes fear because a person's thoughts and emotions are affected. As time passes many people learn or the brain learns not to be afraid of the tinnitus and this is called Habituation. Habituation comes in many forms and I covered this in my post: The habituation process in the link below.

@Blodorn is in a good position at the moment because his tinnitus is fairly low and manageable. With time, I believe it will improve to the point where he hardly hears it. Because he is new to tinnitus by placing his fingers into his ears and deliberately focusing on it or the sounds within his auditory system, he is allowing his brain (Limbic system) to become more aware of the tinnitus, which can affect his thoughts and emotions and cause the tinnitus to become louder and permanent if he is not careful.

Michael

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/the-habituation-process.20767/

So basically, if listening to or monitoring T makes a person focus on it and feel negative emotions over their T, then that's bad obviously. For the reasons you outlined in your post and more.

But if sitting and listening to T doesn't cause a negative emotional reaction, why would it make T worse? If that's the case people with T are forced to live life constantly distracted, never being able to meditate and many other things. That could be true, but I certainly hope not. And as always, people are different and find various solutions to the same problems. I'm more curious if there's some kind of process in the brain that makes it so that T becomes louder if you give it neutral attention. That stress, anxiety and so on can worsen tinnitus seems pretty straightforward, but that's a separate thing from my point of view

Sitting and listening to the sound until you finally realize it's not hurting you seems like a fast-track to habituation for me personally, but I haven't tried this approach yet. I feel I'm ready to try that soon though. For me it seems to be the only way to find peace with my tinnitus. I don't think people new to T should try that approach. But for those of us who are ready to accept that it's here to stay and make the best of it, I suspect it could be a good way to deal with T

What makes you say that T can become permanent if you focus on it?

 

[HeavyMantra]

Some people (including myself) have had great success by doing the opposite of this advice and focusing on the sound with awareness and compassion.


Emphasis added is mine; I think such techniques could likely be helpful for some significant number of people, but I think you need to get to 20-30 mins/day for weeks to months to reliably see any change, and sticking to a major behavioral effort like that when you're not seeing any rapid gains is fucking hard.

Also, "meditating wrong" is, to some extent, a thing. You don't need to be as wary with this stuff as you do with, say, LSD, but anything that has the potential to radically alter perspective should be approached with respect and some healthy skepticism and caution, and simple meditation is no different.

Thanks for the input. I was inspired to maybe start meditating again after hearing you say you do it.

Wait, I didn't write that second quote did I?

 

[Michael Leigh]

What makes you say that T can become permanent if you focus on it?

I believe I have answered your question in full @HeavyMantra as to why I believe it's not a good idea to deliberately tune in or listen to tinnitus if one's purpose is to learn to habituate and prevent it from becoming louder. Furthermore, silent rooms and surroundings are advised to be avoided, by using sound enrichment whenever possible especially at night. Many Hearing Therapists and Audiologists trained in Tinnitus and hyperacusis management and treatment, advise their patients of this.

All the best
Michael

 

[david c]

My view on the whole "focusing on the sound versus not focusing on the sound" debate is that there isn't one "right" answer. I can see why some people argue focusing on it isn't a good idea and particularly for newbies trying to habituate to it with background sound is best. But I don't think that approach is necessarily right for everyone and some people clearly find meditation and focusing on the sound (and accepting it) helps them. Really it's whatever works best for you - I don't think we should be too didactic about this.

 

[HeavyMantra]

My view on the whole "focusing on the sound versus not focusing on the sound" debate is that there isn't one "right" answer. I can see why some people argue focusing on it isn't a good idea and particularly for newbies trying to habituate to it with background sound is best. But I don't think that approach is necessarily right for everyone and some people clearly find meditation and focusing on the sound (and accepting it) helps them. Really it's whatever works best for you - I don't think we should be too didactic about this.

That's what I think too. As with everything tinnitus, a hard and fast answer probably isn't available. To believe otherwise I would have to see a convincing theory outlining why listening to the sound in a neutral way would make it worse. For example if there is some kind of process in the brain or nervous system that changes with neutral focus on the T sound. I don't see any answers to my questions coming from Michael Leigh, or maybe I'm too dense to understand that he has in fact answered them. "This is how it is, because I said so" never convinces me though. I need to understand things myself before I believe it, since in my experience it is true that for every possible topic, there's a bunch of people with conflicting viewpoints that are sure their view is the right one. Especially when it comes to the human body (I say that as someone with several chronic health problems without known cause or remedy). Every theory has an expiration date, and what was accepted as truth 10 years ago is usually considered outdated today. And what is considered true today, will be outdated in 10 years.

Sam Harris is a neuroscientist, long time meditator and a late-onset tinnitus sufferer. Come to think of it, he would be the perfect person to ask about this since he has deep knowledge about everything relevant to the question at hand. I know that when he meditates with T he does it outside in nature or with sound enrichment. Perhaps this means that he knows that it is in fact bad to focus on the T sound? Or maybe it's just more comfortable for him to meditate this way. I'm going to shoot Sam an email and hope he has time to answer.

 

[Michael Leigh]

. I don't see any answers to my questions coming from Michael Leigh, or maybe I'm too dense to understand that he has in fact answered them.

On the contrary I do not think you are dense @HeavyMantra

I believe you are one of these people (and there are many in this forum) that pay too much attention to tinnitus research and science and believe it to be sacrosanct. Spend copious amounts of time reading reams of data from medical professionals that largely haven't a clue about "noise induced tinnitus" because the majority of them have never experienced it. This is the crux of your problem and others in this forum that find "noise induced" tinnitus so problematic. I have previously explained to you on Tinnitus Talk Chat, at great length I might add, the reason why you are experiencing a delayed "spike" after listening to music at below 60 decibels. Yes, I read your recent message on your profile which goes on to say, you can't understand it.

You refuse to believe what I have told you and also what @Luman has advised. People like myself, Luman and @fishbone, there are others in this forum, have many years experience with "noise induced tinnitus". We have been there and come out the other side and know what we are talking about.


I wish you well.
Michael

 

[HeavyMantra]

On the contrary I do not think you are dense @HeavyMantra

I believe you are one of these people (and there are many in this forum) that pay too much attention to tinnitus research and science and believe it to be sacrosanct. Spend copious amounts of time reading reams of data from medical professionals that largely haven't a clue about "noise induced tinnitus" because the majority of them have never experienced it. This is the crux of your problem and others in this forum that find "noise induced" tinnitus so problematic. I have previously explained to you on Tinnitus Talk Chat, at great length I might add, the reason why you are experiencing a delayed "spike" after listening to music at below 60 decibels. Yes, I read your recent message on your profile which goes on to say, you can't understand it.

You refuse to believe what I have told you and also what @Luman has advised. People like myself, Luman and @fishbone, there are others in this forum, have many years experience with "noise induced tinnitus". We have been there and come out the other side and know what we are talking about.


I wish you well.
Michael

You write as if you know exactly what I believe, what things I try, how I think and feel. You are consistenly wrong about that, I have noticed. Something isn't right there. You seem almost defensive and I don't see why, since I have followed pretty much all advice you give on this site. r

You make statements and expect people to believe them without knowing the reasoning behind it. I'm a bit scientifically minded yes, since I come from an academic background that's just the way I have been taught to approach things I don't blindly believe anything unless I have a great amount of respect for a person vouching for it. You seem to think that just because I try to understand tinnitus and search for info, I don't believe anything YOU write. On the contrary you are one of the main sources of info about tinnitus on this forum, but that doesn't mean that I won't continue to think for myself and take other perspectives into account.

Also, the discussion at hand here was about meditation. I don't know whether or not you have any experience or knowledge about that, so forgive me for not considering you an authority on the subject as it related to tinnitus.

I've abstained from music for some time, then tried introducing some music on a very low level. I noted that every time I did, I had a spike the day after. This tells me that you may in fact be right about my ears not being ready for this. I didn't expect you to be wrong, but a stranger telling me something on the internet isn't evidence enough for me. Nor should it be for anyone in my opinion. If you ARE in fact right about every little detail in my specific case, I understand it must be frustrating for you.

It's also possible that it's not related to the low music at all, since I get "spikes" or fluctuations of my tinnitus even when I don't expose my ears to anything. However, now that I have noticed at least 5 times that my tinnitus has spiked after music the last 2 months, there seems like there could be a connection. Now I'm going to abstain from music again, see how my tinnitus reacts, and if my tinnitus still spikes from music a few more times when I try it again, then I'll know that it's a problem. If so I will be able to let my dreams die I guess, but that's going to take a lot

I wish you well too,
Martin

 

[Michael Leigh]

@HeavyMantra

I do not claim to be an authority on "noise induced" tinnitus but do claim to know quite a bit about it spanning 23 years. Through personal experience and counselling people with it for some considerable amount of time. I respect the fact that you don't want to take anything that I say at face value. If I didn't know what I was talking about then my many articles on my "started threads" that I spent a lot of time writing, which many people have told me they have found helpful would be total nonsense.

I do not have a string of medical qualifications or a Phd in Audivestibular medicine. However, my ENT consultant does and I have much respect for her. We have a very good rapport and I was taken aback when she once said to me: "Michael, you know much more about tinnitus than me". I asked her to please explain. She smiled and said: " I have never experienced it"

This is my point which I have mentioned many times in this forum. I respect ENT doctors for their medical knowledge but they are physicians not "tinnitus experts". They know about the anatomy of the ear and are able to treat underlying medical problems within the auditory system that is causing the tinnitus. Noise induced tinnitus is a totally different kettle of fish. One can only learn about this through personal experience and corresponding with people that are affected by it and also hyperacusis.

I will not be discussing this matter further but will say, if you truly want to help yourself, then you need to stop listening to music for some considerable amount of time which I have already discussed with you on TT chat. If necessary, you may need professional help at some point.

All the best to you.

Michael

 

[fishbone]

@HeavyMantra

I do not claim to be an authority on "noise induced" tinnitus but do claim to know quite a bit about it spanning 23 years. Through personal experience and counselling people with it for some considerable amount of time. I respect the fact that you don't want to take anything that I say at face value. If I didn't know what I was talking about then my many articles on my "started threads" that I spent a lot of time writing, which many people have told me they have found helpful would be total nonsense.

I do not have a string of medical qualifications or a Phd in Audivestibular medicine. However, my ENT consultant does and I have much respect for her. We have a very good rapport and I was taken aback when she once said to me: "Michael, you know much more about tinnitus than me". I asked her to please explain. She smiled and said: " I have never experienced it"

This is my point which I have mentioned many times in this forum. I respect ENT doctors for their medical knowledge but they are physicians not "tinnitus experts". They know about the anatomy of the ear and are able to treat underlying medical problems within the auditory system that is causing the tinnitus. Noise induced tinnitus is a totally different kettle of fish. One can only learn about this through personal experience and corresponding with people that are affected by it and also hyperacusis.

I will not be discussing this matter further but will say, if you truly want to help yourself, then you need to stop listening to music for some considerable amount of time which I have already discussed with you on TT chat. If necessary, you may need professional help at some point.

All the best to you.

Michael

I think academia to some degree is pretty ok. I take my lessons in life, from those that have DONE things to see how it improves their lives. I'd take my 31 years of trials , tribulations and growth over research any day.

 

[JohnFox]

is ridiculously individual.

Yup.

 

[Michael Leigh]

I think academia to some degree is pretty ok. I take my lessons in life, from those that have DONE things to see how it improves their lives. I'd take my 31 years of trials , tribulations and growth over research any day.

I agree with you @fishbone Academia is important because without it I wouldn't have been able to write many of my posts and articles on tinnitus. I have learnt a lot from others and reading about the anatomy of the ear, auditory system and brain. Without first hand experience of tinnitus I don't think my posts would come across convincingly to anyone that suffers from the condition, as they would see through it immediately that I had no "personal experience" and therefore I could never fully understand what someone has to endure with tinnitus especially when it is loud and intrusive. Some people may not think this is important but I think it is essential, if one is going to try help people cope better with it.

All the best
Michael

 

[fishbone]

I agree with you @fishbone Academia is important because without it I wouldn't have been able to write many of my posts and articles on tinnitus. I have learnt a lot from others and reading about the anatomy of the ear, auditory system and brain. Without first hand experience of tinnitus I don't think my posts would come across convincingly to anyone that suffers from the condition, as they would see through it immediately that I had no "personal experience" and therefore I could never fully understand what someone has to endure with tinnitus especially when it is loud and intrusive. Some people may not think this is important but I think it is essential, if one is going to try help people cope better with it.

All the best
Michael

Your posts are filled with over 23 years of experience with tinnitus. That is worth gold and people are lucky that you come here and help out. I did not have access to people like you or a place like this 31 years ago. Keep doing your good deeds! You are like a walking treasure trove with tinnitus knowledge....

 

[Michael Leigh]

Your posts are filled with over 23 years of experience with tinnitus. That is worth gold and people are lucky that you come here and help out. I did not have access to people like you or a place like this 31 years ago. Keep doing your good deeds! You are like a walking treasure trove with tinnitus knowledge....

Thank you @fishbone I would like to return the compliment to you.

Michael

 

[Tom Cnyc]

if your ears are quiet when you plug your ears, I see absolutely no reason why not to take advantage of that and throw in earplugs every so often for some relief.

The over-protectiont thing is BS. I wear earplugs in a lot of scenarios where it is unnecessary. Mainly because I enjoy less stimulus in my life having lived in a noisy city for 37 years.

 

[L.ina]

Hi guys,

Today I noticed that when I plug my ears with my fingers, I can only hear the sound of blood circulating.

When I unplug my ears, the tinnitus takes a few seconds to come back.

Any idea? That's kind of weird and strange but at least it gives me some rest.

Hi! Did you ever find out the reason or origin of your tinnitus? I'm experiencing similar symptoms as you.

 

[Adam2345]

My tinnitus weirdly stops when I put my finger in my ear or tightly push an ear plug in, has anyone heard of this or have an explanation? Thank you.

 

[AliasM]

I listen to my tinnitus by plugging my ears non stop. I'm obsessed and do it many multiple times an hour. I didn't know it was harmful so I will make an effort to stop monitoring it.

Sometimes when I plug my ears I hear it less. That is because the tinnitus is in my brain only those days, and when I block my ears I hear it more in the distance if at all. Most days it is in brain and ears.

 

[Kriszti]

My tinnitus weirdly stops when I put my finger in my ear or tightly push an ear plug in, has anyone heard of this or have an explanation? Thank you.

I have this too with one of my sounds, the low frequency buzzing. Weirdly plugs don't make mine stop, but covering my ear, putting my finger in it do. Also, mine comes and goes. I have it for weeks/months and then it goes away or lately it's just gone quiet with some bad days. I have no explanation for it, maybe ETD or some atypical MEM. Unfortunately not one of the many ENTs I visited could give me an explanation.