Unilateral Tinnitus Helped by Valsalva Maneuver/Finger in Ear

Hello everyone! I’m a female in my early 20s, and last month (July 3), I woke up with a horrible ringing in my left ear that has persisted ever since. I'm having trouble pinpointing the exact frequency, but it sounds like a tea kettle around 1900 Hz. I can't identify any specific cause, but there are several contextual factors that I believe could be related:

• I’ve always been able to pop my ears on command, which I thought was normal until now. My ears often pop when I swallow. However, it always feels like my right ear fully pops, while only about half of the air comes out of my left ear. This is how my ears have always felt.
• Similarly, whenever I do the Valsalva Maneuver, my right ear feels a full pop, whereas my left ear doesn’t.
• I think I slightly clench my jaw both at night and unintentionally during the day.
• I was on an airplane about a week before the ringing started.
• I cleaned my ear with a Q-tip the night before, but I know I didn’t go deep enough to damage my eardrum or anything.
• The night before, I was also holding a stretch with my head toward the floor, causing a lot of blood flow to my head.

Luckily, the ringing is only super noticeable in quiet areas. It does go away when pressing my finger into my ear to create a vacuum and when doing the Valsalva Maneuver and holding the pressure. I found a pair of earplugs that simulate the vacuum effect pretty well, so I don’t hear it.

I had another flight last week and tried a 5-day burst of prednisone beforehand because I was worried about the pressure changes affecting possible Eustachian Tube Dysfunction (ETD). It didn’t help.

I’ve been to an audiologist and haven’t had any hearing loss. I also visited an ENT who advised me to use Flonase and saline spray. He also recommended trying some Lipoflavonoid. If nothing helps, he suggested a possible ear tube in two months.

I’ve been following his recommendations, but unfortunately, nothing has helped. I'm feeling frustrated and pessimistic, wishing I could at least identify the cause and find a solution. It feels like it came out of nowhere.

 

Please don't get an ear tube; it could worsen your tinnitus. Flonase can spike tinnitus, and so can saline rinse. You need to be careful and try it in moderation. You want to do the Valsalva as little as possible; you're popping your eardrum in and out, so it's okay to do it a few times, but you don't want to get into the habit of doing it several times a day.

The best thing to do is take 10 mg of Sudafed to dry you out. The mucus in the ETD can cause spikes.

 

Do not get ear tubes. My 10/10 tinnitus went to 100/10 after ear tube surgery last September. Every ENT I have been to refuse to remove them, too.

It sounds like you have no reason to have them inserted, and your ENT is just making stuff up like mine did.

 

Thank you both for your helpful advice. I'll stay away from the ear tubes - it sounds like there are a lot of risks. My ENT did seem disinterested in my case and symptoms since I haven't had hearing loss, so maybe a different one would provide better advice.

I actually did try 30 mg of Sudafed once a day for about a week, but there was no improvement. I'll test it out again. The only thing that helps is blocking off the outside of my ear canal with my finger or plugging my tragus.

 

Go see a TMJ therapist, maybe even before the TMJ doctor. The apparent Eustachian Tube Dysfunction could be caused by tense muscles around your jaw, and particularly tensor veli palatini muscles that controls the tubes. Make sure these jaw muscles are fine before doing anything else. It is possible to have issues there without realizing it.