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Tinnitus

I seemed to have developed Tinnitus in the right ear only. It happens a lot when it's quiet, and I notice it and it sort of makes me panic. Is there a way to get rid of this sound? It's been happening since September. What could be causing it? MRI of brain showed nothing abnormal in inner ear canals back in August. Thoughts?
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Avatar universal
Thanks for the tips. I'm not sure what is the cause of it. Sleeping has not been an issue but, believe it or not, the symptom came about right when I could not sleep for a few days. Then I felt like one day the ear may have "popped" and ever since, I have had the "EEEEEE" sound in it. It's just one ear of course.

This happened in September and has not gone away. I told my doctor and he looked in my ear and said everything was normal, but my dad things I popped an ear drum and that is what is causing this.
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Avatar universal
There are small hairs on the inside of your cochlea. Those could be damaged from this "pressure" treatment you mentioned. He may also have disrupted the small bones of the inner ear if the pressure was great enough.

In either of these cases, there is nothing that can be done, really. Once they are damaged, they are damaged. There is no straightening that out or pulling the hairs back up. It's a very, very delicate balance.

Please read what I wrote to Luckyman. Perhaps some of the YouTube vids on tape run at night will help you tune it out. During the day---do you notice it that much? Or only when it's quiet?

Good Luck.
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Avatar universal
I developed tinnitus as a result of an MVA in August '13.  Directly after the accident, I got a terrible "ear infection" (pain, fluid coming out), right side only. Then started having trouble with a horrible cough--and pain in the right side main bronchus. Then the headaches right behind my right eye.

Antibiotics didn't work. Then a pulmonologist put me on an albuterol inhaler, then a steroid inhaler. Didn't work. Topomax for pain in head behind my eye. Didn't work.

About 3 weeks ago, the tinnitus started so badly, I couldn't sleep. Panic attacks because it was driving me crazy. But I noticed that there is fluid/pressure buildup in my ear.  Antihistamines didn't work to relieve that--and the tinnitus got magnitudes worse.

There is a good ending to this story.

The problem, after an ER visit and 3 days with no sleep---turns out to be laryngopharyngeal reflux---or "Silent Reflux".

Now, I'm not ruling out damage to your inner ear nerve or the hairs in your inner ear (usually from loud noises/music/construction/shooting or damage like mine in an MVA)---

but when I was diagnosed with this and did what I was told---in 3 days the tinnitus has calmed to a point that I barely notice it (I am hoping for a full recovery from it)--the fluid buildup in my ears is gone, my headache is gone, I can swallow.

Put a wedge under your mattress or blocks under the feet of the head of the bedframe. Get an incline going of at least 6".  PILLOWS DON'T WORK.  Do this, trust me.

Start taking a proton pump inhibitor--usually a 14 day regimen.

Watch the intake of acidic foods.

Silent Reflux is NOT GERD.  This does not have that typical pain behind the sternum.   Laryngopharyngeal Reflux allows the acid from your stomach---when you lie flat---to bathe your pharynx, lungs and INNER EARS through the eustachian tube and sinuses with the hydrochloric acid that resides in your stomach.

It took exactly THREE DAYS for the most horrendous symptoms to calm to the point that I am laughing at myself that I thought I had--esophageal cancer, a panic disorder, a brain tumor or a schwanomma.

The tinnitus was the worst.   The other thing that I can advise you to do, which worked for me when I was in full blown "I will never sleep again" mode....

Go to YouTube. Get the "longest video of water running from tap for baby".  What it is is a 3 hour long video of a regular air bubbler tap running into a metal bowl in a sink.  The combination of the sound of the tap hissing and the water hitting the metal---completely cancelled out my tinnitus.  Yours may be different. You may have whooshing or whatever---I had a high pitched whine/ring to it.

Put that on all night long and you will sleep. Don't mess with these stupid noise machines for money that don't work. There are a gazillion for free on YouTube (use ClipGrab to download them)---experiment with what works for your tone. I had mine on 40% volume, barely audible---and it cancelled out everything. There are also noises online for free like "jet airliner cabin" and "dishwasher".  They sound stupid, but they provided the best relief for free.

But physiologically--I am recovering from the worst of it already, just by preventing the Silent Reflux.  

Don't give up.
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Avatar universal
I have a similar problem. I had a myringotomy for pressure three weeks ago and immediately after procedure I started having tinnitus in that ear. Has this doctor damaged my inner ear somehow? Would I have known at the time if he had? What about the anesthetic that he used? Could that have damaged my ear and caused this? It's to strange that it happened immediately after procedure. I was still in the chair in the room. I need some advice. The doctor says we will have to watch it. Ha Ha. Someone please help me?
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