Tinnitus That Disappears When I Talk

[AnnaF]

Dear members - I wonder if I could ask if anyone had the same experience.

I started to have humming tinnitus that I notice in September this year. That first time it was in one ear and pulsatile and disappeared in a few hours after I had some Ibuprofen, it was just as I felt I was getting a cold. I actually had a consult with an ENT a couple of days later, he thought there was a bit of congestion in the ear, but no fluid or anything, and he suspected I was to get a cold.

A little later, as I was suffering from that cold, I had humming tinnitus in both ears - it didn't seem pulsatile, it lasted a bit longer and it disappeared overnight. And I noticed that when I talked or just said AAA, it disappeared, but then reappeared. Anyway, it disappeared quickly too.

And this time, I am now having this humming tinnitus, and it didn't disappear overnight, so I think I am having it for 24 hours now. I had the second cold (I had two back-to-back colds), but I thought that it passed. There is a complication - I have a Chiari malformation, although I had surgery for it recently.

I wonder if any of you had this experience with tinnitus disappearing when you open your mouth and you say or hum something? And it has to be low or mid range notes, it does not go away with higher pitched voice. I am hoping that because of this symptom, it has to do with the cold and sinuses and it will hopefully go away soon. Thank you very much!

P.S.
I have to clarify that the second and third time, the tinnitus seemed to be in both ears.

 

[Kriszti]

I'm sorry that you're having ear issues.

I have something similar and some of us on the forum do so. If you search for low frequency tinnitus or low frequency hum, you can find some experience.

Mine can be stopped by covering the ear with my palm, putting my finger in it, humming, talking, being talked to, yawning, swallowing and so on. I do not have answers what's the reason for it, because mine is only in the left ear, and it's not constant, comes and goes for a period of time every year and doctors are pretty much clueless about it.

I suspect middle ear issues or Eustachian Tube Dysfunction. Maybe that's what's going on with you. A cold can very well mess up with your ET which could cause low frequency sounds. Ears take a long time to heal, you might still have lingering problems from your colds, I think you have good chance that with time your issues will resolve themselves, but if you can, visit an ENT for a check-up.

 

[Ben Winders]

Yeah - like @Kriszti says - this is typical behavior of low frequency tinnitus. It seemingly disappears when being talked to, or when you talk or hum. But it has to be in the right tone.

These days I m using these YouTube videos because they seem to have the right tones that hit the right notes to mask it.

 

[AnnaF]

Thank you. It did not disappear overnight last night either, but I started to take Amoxicillin (from my stash hehe) and I think the noise is reduced. Being talked to can reduce it too, but I don't think yawning helps that much. It also disappears when I tilt my head back (and is stronger when I bow my head) and also when lying down on my back which makes me wonder if it is partly Chiarian in nature, but I hope its more to do with colds, the middle ear or ET. It will probably take some time to explain about Chiari - all these things have to do with the flow of spinal fluid and blood to my head, which I am told I can expect more following the surgery from time to time.

Does the position of your head or lying down help in your case at all? And may I ask if in your case, it didn't seem to do with the middle ear or ET?

Thank you very much again!