Ringing/humming in ears for 6 weeks

Ears, nose and throat
1

I noticed about 6 weeks ago that I had a constant humming sound in my ears. I thought it was my left side only but it's difficult to tell. I booked a doctors appt when it didn't go after a couple of days. He checked my ears for wax and said they were clear so referred me to ENT at the local hospital.

I've had my appointment and they said that I do have poor hearing and they have referred me to a consultant, however didn't know why I had this humming sound and have told me to tell the consultant.

It's really getting me down as it's constantly there and at night time it keeps me awake and is quite isolating. I'm scared I'm never going to just hear 'nothing' again and there's always going to be this constant noise. I'm also scared as to what is causing it. It's causing me quite a bit of anxiety and I'm hoping for a bit of guidance as to how to deal with this and what it might be..

2

Tinnitus often accompanies hearing loss as the brain tries to compensate for the lack of hearing.  Not to say that this is the reason in your case but the consultant will be able to advise you for sure.  Try not to fret as mostly tinnitus gets better over time as the brain habituates to it and it becomes less noticeable.  Feel for you as I know how depressing it can be, at night try putting the radio on or some music to try and mask the humming.

3

So many things can cause it. Respiratory stuff, allergies, clenching or grinding your teeth, bad bite, dehydration, tmj/tmd, medicines especially ibuprofen (motrin, advil, ) nsaids all oto toxic. You going to make yourself very anxious by focusing in it. You want to think into the future keep optomisitic. Many times it fades over time. Sometimes you have to look for different reasons around the ear that could be applying pressure to the eustatian tube. Over time worst scenario is you habituate and get used to it then your brains ignores it,

see what the dr. Says. Dont jump in thinking its doom and  gloom. Thats not good for you on any level  if you have a fan, noise machine, app for soothing sounds all good,

4

Ooh sorry i didnt mean to repeat anyone. 

5

Dehydration? I've never heard of that, can you expand on that?

6

Drink more water. Water is very important to good cicrculation and functioning in your body. If it is sinus related the water will aid to this out mucus. Its just heloful all around.  Buzzing is a form of tinnitus. I get issues to im doing acuouncture as they have blamed my tmd/tmj . Bruxism. I clench my teeth asleep and at times in the day.clenching or grinding teeth is  Very common. It does fade if you figure out the trigger ot whatever is inflamming calms down. The jaw, mouth, teeth and sinus all effect the ears. If you blast music and are around loud blaring music alot thats a different scenario. Also if you use ibuprofen a lot stop. It is ototoxic. It can cause tinnitus and it does do that. That too is usually temporary for most not all. But takes a few months to self correct, way too many abuse ibuprofen and drs push it too. But nsaid do cause tinnitus as well.  Just saying many of the common reasons.

Hopefully honestly it will resolve itself over time. Many months.  Always be sure to see a dentist and keep your mouth in good shape and they can check you for tmj issues if you have any. then theyd give you a mouth splint to sleep in. 

7

Interesting, good to know. Everything is worth a shot.

I've suspected my tinnitus could be due to bruxism, TMJ, noise exposure, ETD, allergies or wisdom teeth.

At first onset I would get buzzing, then minor screeches, seashell sounds and now I get mostly tonal sounds.

Do you think because I mostly get tonal sounds now, this discards the bruxism or TMJ possibility?

My problem ear is my left ear. My dentist said I had minor TMJ on my left side. A specialist confirmed I had minor TMJ but didn't say which side was more prevalent. 

I also have a wisdom tooth on my left side that will soon impact my other teeth based on the x-rays.

I clench my teeth and recently started wearing a mouth guard. It seems like I clench my teeth more on my left side than my right side. Each morning after I take out my mouth guard, I feel my jaw relocates itself.

Soon after getting tinnitus, I started getting ETD symptoms. Crackling left ear and eustachian tube stretching sounds, but all my ear pressure tests come back normal. I don’t remember ever having these symptoms before.

I also got recently tested for allergies. I tested positive for over 40 different things. I don’t really think I have allergy symptoms besides stuffy nose.

Also, days before my tinnitus, I loud alarm went off near my left ear, so my tinnitus is probably due to that. I was hoping it was caused by other things as I thought that by correcting those things, it would get better. I’ve had 4 audiograms done in the last 15 months. Per the audiologist, I’m within normal hearing limits, per the ENTS, I have minor hearing loss and they blame it on that without further research. My last audiologist thinks it’s possible I have sub-clinical hearing loss.

I would like your thoughts, if you have time.

Thank you.

8

Kind of tackle each thing one  by one. Removing the wisdom tooth as soon as you can makes sense. Then allowing it to fully heal. That would be my first priority. Thats obvious inflammation. So is the healing at forst as well.

then see someone who specializes in tmj. Which i think you did. But im having a hard time figuring the tmd/tmj out myself. I had it so long then all of sudden it got bad last few months. I am now doing acuounture for it. So far no success story hopefully eventually they said it takes months.

etd is awful and yes so many noises and sensatiins and aounds and aiund sensitivty involved. But the et is threadlike and tiny and easily pressed by muscles and nerves from the jaw area.or sinus..so its the same theory of inflammation. Finding the root cause. You have a few ideas.

i cant say if a loud noise did or not  i have no clue, but the crackling, popping..and etd wouldnt be from a alarm noise right? That woukd be inflammation from somewhere.

on a positive note  many of all this heals itself over time as well. The brain refocus and you forget about it. But tmj needs to be managed. And the wisdom tooth needs to be removed.

best medicine ever in the interim is no gum, a fan for background noise, keep busy, laugh and enjoy life anyway. Dont let it define you its so common. You cant live thinking or focusing on it. It is anxiety producing. Scary.You dont want it. Me neither. But right now it is what it is and stressing out is the worse thing to do. The least helpful and stress just adds to it all. All you can do is go one by one and tackle the things you can control. You need to put in your mind this will subside. 

You will learn most of the stuff that hapoens to us doesnt really have cures by science. It is not a bacteria or a virus. And you cant cast it. So you have to manage it and wait for it to fade away. I think its the minority that dont get issues with their ears in some form. Many times it fades away. Once the inflammation, if its inflammation calms down so does it, but it needs to do it itself. NOt because of  nsaids. Hopefully it is not from the loud noise. I dont know. 

9

Going back to dehydration. I've had a real bad episode last night of Tinnitus. I've also had "the runs" all day. You think the loss of so much water caused my salt levels in the blood to elevate and affect my tinnitus?

10

Yes. Any stress on the body and in general makes tinnitus worse. Its a very sensitive thing for some reason. And they out tinnitus on the list of signs of dehydration. Tinnitus is awful. I have some thump spasm thing that goes on  lately and truely it is maddening. Just when you think you got a grip on it it changes. 

slowly rehydrate. Sometimes i want to go to the go and have the, fully hydrate me to see whats what. But i have absolutely experienced having a virus too and it ansolutely worsens it. If you have gatorade, powerade drink a bottle of this then go back to water. It will take a few days 

11

Thank you... I've been taking Gatorade... and sorry for what you're going through. I hope it gets better soon. 

12

Thank you. Feel better.