Water Pop / Loud Noise When I Pressed the Tragus After Ear Syringing

[SergioN]

Hi friends, I need your opinion:

I went to ENT due to my ears itching of last days. I was afraid I had an infection or similar. ENT said it is dermatitis, but there was a lot of skin and non-compacted wax so he recommended to clean with water. Microsuction was discarded and manual tools would be complex as wax was semiliquid.

I accepted to do the water cleaning. I asked the ENT to be very gentle and softly use the water. He did so. One time in left ear, two times in right. But I was unlucky and some water remained in the ear canal. I only cleaned the exterior water. Then a nurse entered the room and my head started to think how loud a door closing would be. So I involuntarily tried to protect my ears when she was leaving the room. So I pressed the tragus and POP! Bang! The water in the ear canal made a very loud noise.

Since then, tinnitus is louder in that ear. Although I have to note that I'm on Clonazepam withdrawal so I'm suffering constant spikes.

I'm trying to calculate how many decibels it was, and I don't know if it could be 80, 90 or even 100 decibels, that kind of water pop suction event. The problem is that it happened next to my naked eardrum. I tried to measure it by making water suction noises with hands, but I think it is not the same as hands has a lot more surface.

What do you think? My mood is destroyed.

Maybe I suffered a noise acoustic trauma?

Should I go to ENT and ask for prednisone?

Thanks in advance.
Regards.

 

[SergioN]

Any help? Please.

 

[Tretred]

Hi, I am by no means an expert like many others on this site. I am new to tinnitus myself but I really don't think it caused you any noise damage. Are you on the klonopin for anxiety issues? I was and had to withdraw quickly. Having anxiety and tinnitus is a really bad combo. The slightest thing can make me think I have somehow made my t worse. In reality when I calm down my t settles down as well. I hope you are feeling better.

 

[SergioN]

First of all, thanks for your response. I'm worried because I think I did not dry enough my ear after the syringing, so when I pressed the tragus quickly to protect from the external noise, I really made a loud noise. As I have hyperacusics, not sure if it was loud enough to damage inner ear, but I think it could likely be equivalent to 90-95dB.

I started to take Clonazepam due to a tinnitus spike in January. As I was not able to cope with the spike, I ended up at a psychiatrist's consult. My first big error. He prescribed Clonazepam and one antidepressant (Paxil), but when I started Paxil, I realized a new spike so I finished it a few days after. Then Clonazepam remained at night as it provided some kind of relaxation to sleep. I went to new ENTs, neurologists and psychiatrist and no one told me the potential long term side effects of Clonazepam. So I stayed on it for 3 months and started to withdraw by myself when I felt that it was doing more harm than good. Now I'm finishing my 3 months withdrawal (18 days left) and I'm suffering constant worsenings of tinnitus each week.

The conclusion is that I'm like 20 times worse than in January. I really regret it. So if I add acoustic trauma damage to this, I'm really over. I'm really hoping that water pops and sounds are not loud enough to cause damage. I pray for that. I only want to forget this season of my life, and have my tinnitus at a stable level.

I really appreciate your words in this moment.

Thanks a lot. Regards.