Tinnitus without Hearing Loss

I'm wondering if you all would know what has been causing my tinnitus, as the ENT and audiologist I've seen have been less than helpful.

I saw the audiologist a couple of months ago for near-constant tinnitus that has been going on since this February. It was then when I noticed short bursts of a low buzzing sound in my left ear. I thought that it may have been caused by listening to loud music too much, so I cut back on that, and it seemed to go away- for about a month, that is.

In mid-March, my tinnitus returned with a vengeance. Now, it was ringing 24/7 in my left ear and on-and-off in my right, too. It was also much louder, to the point where it sometimes drowned out other sounds. I scheduled an ENT appointment then (I also have bad allergies, so I had that checked out too).

The doctor said that my allergies were causing a build-up of fluid in my inner ears (more fluid was in my left ear) which led to a pressure imbalance and thus the ringing. He prescribed me Zyrtec and a saline spray and told me that once my allergies cleared up the tinnitus should go away with it.

A couple of months went by, and my allergies greatly improved, but my tinnitus only slightly. It was still mostly confined to my left ear, but it also seemed to migrate into my right, which I previously rarely noticed ringing in. However, my left ear was no longer ringing 24/7 (maybe 75% of the time?), and it was a lot softer, to the point where I only noticed it when I was wearing earbuds.

At that point, I began to worry that I had genuinely given myself hearing loss. So I scheduled an audiologist appointment, and she said that the fluid in my ears was almost completely gone, and the screening she did came back normal. However, she scheduled a full hearing test in two months just to be safe.

Since that appointment, I've noticed no changes as far as the tinnitus goes. I did begin to notice a soreness deep inside my ears like the feeling you'd get with a sore throat. My ears feel itchy sometimes, too, and I sometimes feel dizzy and off-balance when I stand up.

I had the proper hearing test done earlier this week, and as I suspected it would, it came back normal as well. I was never convinced that I had hearing loss, but I don't know what else could have been causing my tinnitus. The audiologist said that sometimes tinnitus just happens, but she did say that I should work on reducing my stress. I have GAD, and I know that tinnitus can be associated with that, but I do think that I have to have something wrong with my ears to have all of these other symptoms.

I've noticed that the tinnitus is at its worse when I get out of the shower or when I listen to white noise. I figure that it's also important to note that I wear earbuds basically all the time because I have severe misophonia and autism. I've heard that wearing earbuds too often can cause tinnitus because it also messes with the pressure inside of your ears, but I don't know if that's actually true or not.

Sorry for the long paragraphs, but any insight or advice into this problem I have would be greatly appreciated; thank you!

 

Hi @whyareuringing.

Many things can cause tinnitus so you were right to see your ENT and audiologist. Exposure to loud noise is one of the most common causes of tinnitus. Since you regularly listen to audio through earbuds, it is my belief that your tinnitus is probably noise induced. Therefore, I suggest that you stop listening to audio through your earbuds and this includes listening to white noise. Hopefully the tinnitus will reduce with time and could even go completely away.

However, my advice is not to listen to audio again through your earbuds or any type of headphones, even at a low volume. There is a good reason for this which I have written about in posts on my started threads. Please go there and read the articles mentioned below:

• New to Tinnitus, What to Do?
• Tinnitus, a Personal View
• Will My Tinnitus Get Worse?
• Can I Habituate to Variable Tinnitus?
• The Habituation Process
• How to Habituate to Tinnitus
• Hyperacusis, As I See It
• Keeping Things Simple with Tinnitus
• The Complexities of Tinnitus and Hyperacusis

I advise that you print the articles and take your time and read them without skimming. This way you will absorb and retrain the information better. Try and avoid quiet rooms and surroundings especially at night by using a sound machine by your bedside. More about using low level sound enrichment is mentioned in my posts.

Try not to worry too much, as tinnitus usually reduces with time. For this to happen, my advice again is not to listen to audio through your earbuds, even at a low volume, nor to use any type of headphones including noise cancelling, AirPods and headsets.

Hope you start to feel better soon,
Michael