Whooshing Noise in Right Ear in Response to Other Sounds: Is This Tinnitus?

I've had the usual buzzing/ringing tinnitus for a few months now, but I recently also started hearing a whooshing/wind sound in my right ear only, which I hear for a moment when I hear another sound. It's usually triggered by voices, water running, typing on a keyboard, etc., and it isn't constant. I also hear this for a split second if I shake my head really fast and while chewing.

Any ideas on what's causing this? My audiogram shows "normal" hearing, but these symptoms started after my right ear randomly felt super full, and my hearing felt a little muffled one day.

I took a course of steroids but the whooshing noise persists. It's super disorienting since it's really hard to mask and I hear it a lot. It sounds like someone is blowing into my ear.

 

This sounds like reactivity, a more intrusive type of tinnitus. Some report reactivity reducing over time.

Be careful of loud noise. Protect your ears.

 

It's diplacusis, not reactive tinnitus. It's your ears that can't completely pick up on all the frequencies being output, usually from a white noise, so your brain interprets those sounds as other noises/frequencies that ride over or with the original sound. It's mostly caused by hearing damage.

Mine was bad in the beginning but has mostly gone away over the last 2 years. And if it is there, it's not nearly loud enough for me to actively notice.

 

Interesting @Marshall! Is your theory that all reactive tinnitus is actually diplacusis? I’m 9 months into my tinnitus turning reactive, with minimal improvements,

 

Does it matter what you call it?

Your tinnitus is REACTING directly to external sounds.

Call it anything you like; it won't change what's happening.

 

I at times experience something similar in response to voices where I will hear it in my left ear. It's TTTS. I describe it as a fluttering or thumping, but someone might call that a wind sound. And keyboards are known to trigger some people with TTTS.

 

And how is your reactive tinnitus, @Jupiterman?

@RunningMan, I have been following your story and can relate to many of your struggles. May I ask your age?

 

No change from the posting I made in October 2023 when you last asked.

 

I don’t understand your passive aggressive responses of late, mate. I’ve seen them all over the place. I’m sorry you’re suffering. We’re all suffering. A little bit of patience and compassion is needed on boards like this if nothing else. I’m not talking about me directly but I just don’t see the need for the attitude. Anyway, c'est la vie.

 

I believe I do have TTTS since I can occasionally feel a thumping / clicking when I hear sudden and louder sounds. When I hear the whooshing noise though, there is no physical feeling at all - do I have to feel a physical sensation for the whooshing noise to be TTTS?

 

50's.

If it doesn't feel like it's in your ear, then it's probably not TTTS. I can easily tell the difference between the eardrum flutters & thumping compared to my low and high frequency tinnitus sounds. I have had distortions in the past when my tinnitus worsened two years ago, where some voices on TV sounded a little robotic at times, but I don't notice that happening anymore.

For clarification, the clicking/thumping are likely TTTS, but not the whooshing sound if it doesn't feel like it's internal.

My TTTS is getting worse now after 2 years since my tinnitus intensity increased in February 2022. I used to only get fluttering occasionally in my left ear in response to voices, and spontaneous thumps occasionally in my right ear. I have now started getting right eardrum thumps/flutters in response to typing on my keyboard, which I had mentioned triggers some people, and I had never experienced that before over the previous 2+ years since my tinnitus worsened.

 

No, it sounds like TTTS - and usually ease up with time (or go into complete remission).

 

In my own theory, I would say it is a form of reactive tinnitus, but the big one that is the most worrisome, imo, is the type of reactive tinnitus that permanently, or and for an extended period of time, gets wore to due to certain external noises, and levels of loudness, or certain frequencies of noises. Like for me, fans and other white noises of higher frequencies will make my tinnitus get louder and louder for the rest of the day, not resetting until the next time I wake from sleep.