Hi All
I've had tinnitus and hearing of "internal body noises" in my left ear for nearing on a year and half or so now. It all came to a head late last year with equilibrium and general balance issues. What really became annoying was over the course of a few minutes, my hearing on my left side would get louder and louder (in comparison to my right) then I'd start hearing internal body noises (things like my eyeballs moving, my heartbeat etc). To "fix" this, I'd do a valsalva manoeuvre which blows out both my ears. My left would become substantially louder than my rigjt, making my my balance and perception inner body noises much louder. I'd then do a "reverse" valsalva manoeuvre in which I'd hold my nostrils shut and breathe in sharply - would cause my ears to "un-pop" and I'd repeat the popping and un-popping procedure until I got a relatively equal hearing volume in both ears with minimal internal body noises.
So I thought enough is enough and went to an ENT and explained my symptoms. She took took one look at my ears and said there was fluid in both sides in the middle ear. Additionally, she scoped my nostrils and said she didn't see anything out of the ordinary. She explained fluid in my ear is caused by non-functional eustacian tubes, and that's based on my symptoms I had "long term eustacian tube dysfunction". She prescribed me a steroid nasal spray in an attempt to see if that will resolve the issues. Failing that, the fix would be a short suegery to install ventilation tubes (grommets) in both ears on the eardrum to allow the inner ear to equalize without needing the eustacian tubes.
Unfortunately the spray didn't make any improvements and I've just undergone surgery late last week to insert the ventilation tubes in both eardrums.
Recovery was rather uneventful for the first day or two until the issues with dizziness started. I woke in the morning to find I could hear my inner-body noises like heartbeat. I could also hear a grinding sound in my left ear as my eyes moved in their sockets and whenever I took a step (hardwood floor) I would hear a corresponding BANG BANG BANG in my head.
Normally I'd just do my valsalva trick to provide some relief but I can't do this now since I have these tubes in. They keep my ears equalized no matter what.
The loud noises I hear from "within" my body are annoying in themselves but what really screws up my day is my vision distorts every time my heart beats or if I talk loudly. Humming certain frequency also makes my vision distort fairly severely.
In terms of relief for these dizziness spells, it seems it goes away after 30-45 minutes. To get immediate relief, if I can press down on my neck on he same side as I'm hearing my heartbeat it makes the symptoms almost completely go away.
This is seriously debilitating me to the point where I can't function normally anymore.
In addition to the debilitating dizziness spells - I've completely lost my low frequency hearing. Anything below 100hz seems like it tapers off and anything below 60hz is virtually imperceptible.
Are these symptoms normal? They werent really emphasized to me after my surgery so I'm guessing potentially? It's Saturday evening now so not much chance of being able to reach my Doctor (which I will do monday AM). My post op appointment is supposed to be in 2 weeks but I have no choice but to get it moved up.
I'd like to hear (ha ha) from others who've had this done. I hope all the above makes sense!!
I've had tinnitus and hearing of "internal body noises" in my left ear for nearing on a year and half or so now. It all came to a head late last year with equilibrium and general balance issues. What really became annoying was over the course of a few minutes, my hearing on my left side would get louder and louder (in comparison to my right) then I'd start hearing internal body noises (things like my eyeballs moving, my heartbeat etc). To "fix" this, I'd do a valsalva manoeuvre which blows out both my ears. My left would become substantially louder than my rigjt, making my my balance and perception inner body noises much louder. I'd then do a "reverse" valsalva manoeuvre in which I'd hold my nostrils shut and breathe in sharply - would cause my ears to "un-pop" and I'd repeat the popping and un-popping procedure until I got a relatively equal hearing volume in both ears with minimal internal body noises.
So I thought enough is enough and went to an ENT and explained my symptoms. She took took one look at my ears and said there was fluid in both sides in the middle ear. Additionally, she scoped my nostrils and said she didn't see anything out of the ordinary. She explained fluid in my ear is caused by non-functional eustacian tubes, and that's based on my symptoms I had "long term eustacian tube dysfunction". She prescribed me a steroid nasal spray in an attempt to see if that will resolve the issues. Failing that, the fix would be a short suegery to install ventilation tubes (grommets) in both ears on the eardrum to allow the inner ear to equalize without needing the eustacian tubes.
Unfortunately the spray didn't make any improvements and I've just undergone surgery late last week to insert the ventilation tubes in both eardrums.
Recovery was rather uneventful for the first day or two until the issues with dizziness started. I woke in the morning to find I could hear my inner-body noises like heartbeat. I could also hear a grinding sound in my left ear as my eyes moved in their sockets and whenever I took a step (hardwood floor) I would hear a corresponding BANG BANG BANG in my head.
Normally I'd just do my valsalva trick to provide some relief but I can't do this now since I have these tubes in. They keep my ears equalized no matter what.
The loud noises I hear from "within" my body are annoying in themselves but what really screws up my day is my vision distorts every time my heart beats or if I talk loudly. Humming certain frequency also makes my vision distort fairly severely.
In terms of relief for these dizziness spells, it seems it goes away after 30-45 minutes. To get immediate relief, if I can press down on my neck on he same side as I'm hearing my heartbeat it makes the symptoms almost completely go away.
This is seriously debilitating me to the point where I can't function normally anymore.
In addition to the debilitating dizziness spells - I've completely lost my low frequency hearing. Anything below 100hz seems like it tapers off and anything below 60hz is virtually imperceptible.
Are these symptoms normal? They werent really emphasized to me after my surgery so I'm guessing potentially? It's Saturday evening now so not much chance of being able to reach my Doctor (which I will do monday AM). My post op appointment is supposed to be in 2 weeks but I have no choice but to get it moved up.
I'd like to hear (ha ha) from others who've had this done. I hope all the above makes sense!!
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