Tinnitus for 8 Weeks and It's Fading, Can Only Notice It in Quiet Rooms — Will It Go for Good?

Hi there,

Firstly thank you very much for being available and answering some of our questions for us it is much appreciated.

So, 8 weeks ago today I woke up with very blocked ears - I didn’t freak out as figured it had something to do with the cold that I had a month before. I left it a few days and went to the docs to see if it was a wax build up - the confirmed it was indeed and to put olive oil in my ears to loosen it and assured me that it would fall out on its own accord. So, I took their advice and put olive oil in to both ears and I then noticed that my left ear was humming which is of course seriously stressed me out. I spent the next week and half stressing and eventually took the decision to go and get my ears microsuctioned - a huge piece of wax came out of my right ear and a moderate amount in my left. Left ear was still humming afterwards and at this point I got really upset. I then had a hearing test and all was fine - didn’t have a high frequency test but going for that on Friday but am wondering if it is pointless? Two days after microsuction the right ear then started to make a funny noise.

I went to see an ENT and he is convinced that this tinnitus is stress induced as from the moment I woke up with blocked ears I was worrying. He said that if I can calm down then it should subside and eventually go. Who knows?

Since I moved away from London I barely play headphones. I did go out at Christmas and had ears ringing the next day but then totally stopped (I haven’t been out to bars / clubs) for a good few years now. I played a song pretty loud twice for about 6 min the day before the microsuction but ears weren’t ringing.

I do think my tinnitus has improved but so hard to tell as I am utterly obsessed with it and monitoring it day by day.

The sound in my left ear is kind of like a bathroom fan but in the very distant and then the right ear I don’t really hear unless it is going over things like the radiator etc. Another thing to note is that it feels like something is vibrating in my left ear and when I talk or someone else talks to me it vibrates?

My question really is, do you think this temporary? A good sign that I am now only noticing it in quiet rooms? Can tinnitus really just go?!

Sorry for the very LONG post!

 

Hello @monkey124 -

I can well-understand your concern.

As I see it, tinnitus loudness as one perceives it is a multifactorial phenomenon (see, for instance, the attachment below) - so I tend not to use it as some sort of predictor of the future but rather as a statement about the present. And right now it sounds like you are doing great!

Besides, in a quiet enough room (i.e., in the experimental dead silence of an audiology booth), most everybody can detect at least a little tinnitus upon listening hard enough for long enough, so in that regard it's all a matter of degree!

All the best to you. Stay well, stay safe, and stay socially distant!

Stephen M. Nagler, M.D.