I got tinnitus it seems outta nowhere

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Let's start with what happened. Back at the end of March, I went diving on 2 consecutive days. 4 dives total with max depth of 70ft. These were my first dives in 2 years. Speaking in terms of pain, injury, discomfort, etc, the dives were uneventful. Nothing of that sorts happened, not even the slightest. Nothing I could point to later and be like, 'ahhhhh, it must have been that moment'. I've always had trouble clearing my left ear (I believe I have a narrow/dysfunctional Eustachian tube), but these dives were wonderful due to this not being an issue. I left the dive site around noon thinking excited for my next dive the next day. The tinnitus (low frequency buzz) manifested later in the afternoon only in my left ear — the ear I've had problems with clearing in the past. It has been persistent since. Plus I have this feeling of my ear feeling 'full' or having cotton in there. The only thing I could attribute to causing any sort of dive injury would be that the road back to my hotel and the hotel itself has an elevation of 1500-2000ft (600m).

In April, May, and first week of June, I spent going to my doctor, hearing test, ENT visit, and a head MRI. All the while after a couple weeks being back, the tinnitus started to fluctuate. Still to this day I still don't understand what makes it worse or better. I had a week in mid-June where it just vanished, but that all came to an end when I listened to music in my car.

So back to medical stuff. My primary dr's visit resulted with him telling me that there is fluid in my middle-ear and he thinks a decongestant would clear the fluid and probably the tinnitus. That didn't work. So off to the specialist I went. The hearing test was pointless in my opinion. The ENT found nothing wrong with my ear, in the exam or MRI. The thing that had me searching for more was that the ENT didn't seem to take any interest in the coincidence of my issue and my diving activity being within hours of each other. She even flat out said she doesn't think they are related. I thought then and now, this is f'ing ridiculous. I even had to press for obvious post appointment advice, 'uhhhh, well....can I ever go diving again?' I guess having a follow-up question contrary to her opinion, with attitude, she said I can still dive. But should I trust her advice since it seems she has no clue about dive physiology? Since then I've been trying to schedule an appointment with a dive physician (dive dr, dive medicine, whatever it is), but still haven't secured an appointment.

I wanted to wait until I had dive physician's visit before I came posting on here. But you know what, what's the harm. I'm sick of dealing with the medical system right now. So I'd like to hear other's anecdotes, stories, advice, etc in the meantime. I've read so many stories about how things like this just clear up and heal on their own. Like I said, we're coming up on 4 months now and I'm starting to feel like that's not the case for me. Am I even too far out to even seek a medical cure? What are my only options anyways? Wait it out for it to heal itself or surgery? Just going off the cuff here, but could there still be a saturated gas stuck in my inner ear fluids and just need to get pure O2 or go under pressure to clear it out?

Just a couple more misc. questions. Could barotrauma occur and one could have no sensation that it even did? Can a conventional ENT miss something that is dive related? Has anyone have anything to say about inner-ear decompression sickness? Or even Eustachian tube dysfunction (which i just found out existed 20 min ago and honestly would make for a perfect diagnosis for me)?

Thanks for anything you have to say. I dislike writing long rambling posts but I tried to be as concise as possible.

I think it would be pretty coincidental to have this come out of nowhere given your dives and your history in that ear. You may aggravated an existing condition that has nothing to do with diving in and of itself; that's up to the ENT to determine.

Do you equalize using a Valsalva maneuver? If so, how do you perform it? A forceful or vigorous Valsalva can cause inner ear barotrauma. You could also have developed a mild case of inner ear DCS as @Ucarkus suggested; I think that was one of the factors in the tinnitus that I have. In either case, unfortunately there's very little that can be done medically. This is not an endorsement and I do not receive compensation from the developer, but: there's an app called Neuromonics that you can get. I have it on my iPhone. It plays relaxing music plus a noise to mask the tinnitus. You have to have top-quality earbuds with a wide frequency range to take full advantage of it; it also allows you to tailor the masking noise to your own audiogram results.

Best regards,
DDM
 
I have had tinnitus for a long time. When I finally had a proper hearing test, I found out a large portion of my hearing was gone. The cause? Absolutely could have been diving related or not at all. I would suggest getting a proper hearing test to find out what the status of your hearing is. My biggest regret was listening to my doctor when he said I didn’t have a problem and did the most BS test to check my hearing. I waited another 3 years before getting properly tested. Get a proper hearing test, tinnitus can be symptom of a real hearing problem.

Edit: he is no longer my doctor
 
I have a friend/co-worker with severe tinnitus from many rock concerts when he was younger. He just got some kind of hearing aid, and says for the first time in years it's gone. He explained that technically it's still there but the hearing aid does something to completely eliminate the symptoms. @TonyBottomTime I don't see your location in your profile but if going to a doctor in the Tampa, Florida area is reasonable for you then I'll ask him and PM you the doctor's info.

Obviously you aren't going to dive with the hearing aid. It must be an amazing thing because he's such a different and more active person in general now that he's got the problem licked. The relief is written all over him.
 
Accept the tinnitus. Let it become a part of your reality. You can even amuse yourself listening for the overlay of different tones. :) but yes, that only works if you accept the situation as part of your life. Ask me how I know these things.[/QUOTE]

Second that! I use it as my personal white noise machine!
 
Accept the tinnitus. Let it become a part of your reality. You can even amuse yourself listening for the overlay of different tones. :) but yes, that only works if you accept the situation as part of your life. Ask me how I know these things.

Second that! I use it as my personal white noise machine![/QUOTE]
That “white noise” is called hearing loss. I watch TV with the closed captioning on. I fake parts of conversations. I changed careers because of it. Get a professional to test you.
 
I didn't read every post but given the recent date, I wonder if you had gotten vaccinated? I didn't really notice having tinnitus until after my moderna shots.
 
I didn't read every post but given the recent date, I wonder if you had gotten vaccinated? I didn't really notice having tinnitus until after my moderna shots.
There have been about 2,250 reports of tinnitus. Assume they have been underreported by a factor of 100!
so 225,000 people have had the onset of tinnitus out of 3.8 BILLION vaccine doses administered.
Does it seem in any way likely that there is a connection here, compared with the incidence of natural onset of ANY medical problem that "appears out of nowhere" in a population of 3.8 BILLION?

I'm sorry. That does not pass muster. Anyone who is concerned about their hearing enough to think about forgoing the vaccine should never go to a casino. Don't mean to jump on you personally. We see these sorts of false associations all the time. People just naturally need a reason when they find out they have a problem, when the actual explanation is "stuff happens, and there are a hundred reasons why."

Diving Doc
 
Sorry, didn't mean to stir things up. It was the only thing I could think of that occurred around the time the tinnitus became noticeable. I'm not saying the vaccine caused it, as I'm 50, but maybe? Sometimes it's really noticeable, sometimes not as much. Regardless, I'd rather have the vaccine versus not. It was frustrating to learn that there isn't much to be done about tinnitus. :(

I agree Diving Doc that it might have just started happening, kinda like my inability to read a book without reading glasses :/
 
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