Tinnitus from Earwax

[ringinghours]

My tinnitus was caused by heavy earwax build up and using earplugs constantly which impacted the wax. I got the wax removed and immediately the ringing eased tremendously, but didn't go away completely.

Now a month later the ringing returned back to how bad it was before I had the earwax removed.

Does anyone know if I can expect this to go away again. I don't understand why the ringing got louder.

Advice is much appreciated.

 

[JohnFox]

I suggest the first thing to do next is go and get a complete hearing exam. You likely have some measurable hearing loss that is the source of the tinnitus (ringing). It seems that tinnitus can occur at any time and has a life of its own, but is almost always associated with hearing loss.

Can you expect it to go away? Nobody can answer that. Get tested.

 

[Cape crusader]

Whatever you do, DON'T HAVE MICROSUCTION EAR WAX REMOVAL.

It ruined my high frequency hearing in both ears and now I suffer with brutal tinnitus and hyperacusis. Should be outlawed.

 

[ringinghours]

I suggest the first thing to do next is go and get a complete hearing exam. You likely have some measurable hearing loss that is the source of the tinnitus (ringing). It seems that tinnitus can occur at any time and has a life of its own, but is almost always associated with hearing loss.

Can you expect it to go away? Nobody can answer that. Get tested.

I don't notice any hearing loss. I just wonder why the tinnitus got worse recently after it improved about a month ago after having the earwax removed.

 

[Contrast]

Do you have a history of going to concerts, loud music, loud cars, loud headphones?

 

[ringinghours]

Do you have a history of going to concerts, loud music, loud cars, loud headphones?

I have a history of loud music. But I do not think I have any hearing loss.

 

[Contrast]

I have a history of loud music. But I do not think I have any hearing loss.

This research says otherwise.

http://hyperacusisfocus.org/innerear/

raw research cited below
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378595516302507

 

[ringinghours]

I see what your saying that its possible to have damage even without any noticeable hearing loss. However I do not understand why my tinnitus got worse again, since a month ago when the wax was removed and the tinnitus improved.

 

[Contrast]

I see what your saying that its possible to have damage even without any noticeable hearing loss. However I do not understand why my tinnitus got worse again, since a month ago when the wax was removed and the tinnitus improved.

The forum did a podcast with a tinnitus researcher named Josef Rauschecker, he believes tinnitus is caused by hearing deficits but the brain has a way to filter out tinnitus in most people. He said that's why most people have hearing loss without tinnitus.

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/podcast/episode/searching-tinnitus-cure-josef-rauschecker/


There are also many studies that suggest that most cases of tinnitus is in the brain, not the ear.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4208401/

https://hearinghealthfoundation.org/what-is-tinnitus


Tinnitus is a still not well understood as their are many subtypes and lots of unknowns.

 

[Jerry Bianchi]

Thanks for starting this thread Ringing hours.
Hi everyone. My first post. I am here because of my wife's tinnitus. About 2 months ago her hearing was muffled. She had her ears cleaned (pressured washed as she described it) by the doctor. Hearing's back - great! Then, about 2 weeks later, low volume constant ringing starts and hasn't stopped. She's schedule for a hearing exam in a couple of weeks. So, was it the wax extraction process or is she at the forefront of hearing loss? Comments appreciated.
Ringing hours - how are things going for you now?

 

[DominicZ]

This is my first post after reading several threads regarding ear syringing. I had impacted ear wax that was muffling my hearing in both ears. Without doing much research, I found the first hearing center that was open during COVID-19 which performed ear syringing. I softened both ears with olive oil 10 days prior to the procedure. The procedure went well and my hearing improved vastly. However, 2-3 days later I woke up with loud ringing in both ears. It would subside during the day to a background high-pitch sound that I could tolerate. The ringing would appear louder at night which I could often mask with a white noise generator to fall asleep. But lately the masking has not been working. Interestingly, the ringing is worse as soon as I wake up, and even after a short nap. It has been about two months (4/28/20) since the syringing. I followed up with the hearing center for a hearing test which showed no hearing loss. I followed up with an ENT who found no obvious trauma to the external ear or eardrum. Cut a long story short, I'm concerned this will become a chronic problem. I've tried more exercise and diet changes, but with little effect. If anything my BP has increased from a normal 125/80 to 135/90, so my doctor put me on medicine to reduce it.