HELP! Ear Ringing / Tinnitus!?

[John C. Ratliff]

I am on the Noise Committee for the American Industrial Hygiene Association. Tinnitus is mostly associated with high noise exposure, such as a high frequency from helicopters with two jet engines overhead (source of my tinnitus). From diving, I think it is possible to get tinnitus from a low-grade decompression sickness situation too, but I"d check with DAN (the Diver's Alert Network) for that. Dive boats may have high noise levels too from their engines. Head injuries could also be a source of tinnitus.

This comes from the inner ear, where the cochlea resides. If you look at a diagram of the ear (from a presentation I made on noise and it's affects on a person), it is the inner ear, where the cochlea resides, that is the site of tinnitus (ringing of the ears). An infection in the middle or outer ear is unlikely to cause tinnitus (but doesn't mean it cannot happen). So if the round and oval windows are intact, and the ear drum is intact, the likelihood of tinnitus is small. But if high noise has been experienced, it can happen.

Where do we get noise exposure? Well, noise is pretty endemic in our modern world. I mentioned motor noises (from helicopters and boats), but the Dangerous Decibels Program has really focused on environmental noise, and also noise from our various devices that we use daily. We now have earphones that we use for a long time, and if those are set too high, you can get hearing damage and tinnitus. Take a look at the link, and see whether you have inadvertently been overexposed to noise.

SeaRat

 

[captain]

Just a suggestion,
but my sister who is a nurse, had similar problems a week or two after she got her vaccine, she had not dived for a year, was young and healthy, It is a side effect of the vaccine,
don't know if it applies in your case..

I know someone who said his tinnitus disappeared after the receiving the vaccine.

As most said just ignore it. After years of riding motorcycles with open exhaust, flying as crew in reciprocating engine aircraft in the Navy, shooting and 33 years working in a noisy environment I have it. It seems to vary from day to day but never goes away.

 

[agilis]

It can go away. My tinnitus came on suddenly, no connection with diving, though I had been subject to very loud noise during my time in service. I woke up one morning thinking cicadas had occupied my window sill. It was distressingly loud, so much so that I had to wear ear noise maskers on some days, and slept with a TV going all night. It affected my every waking moment for 4 years. One morning I woke up and it was completely gone. Blessed silence! I get an occasional rare visitation from the demon, very mild, when I'm not feeling well, sleep deprived, that sort of thing, but it quickly vanishes and is not really that annoying. I think mindfulness training, Zen related, helped first to push it into the back of my consciousness, and ultimately cause it to vanish like Linda Blair's exorcist.

 

[pasley]

Not a Doctor, medical professional, or intelligent or sane. The following is not medical advice. I never listened to loud music in my life. This gift of tinnitus can come from many sources, infection, long exposure to loud music and other noises, long drives in loud vehicles, weapons firing, things going boom, and the odd slap upside the ear, to name a few.

My ears started ringing sometime in 2006/2007 in Iraq. When it is really quiet it is really annoying and can keep you awake. I have it in both ears as demonstrated when my ears change pitch and volume and get out of synchronization with each other. Each singing at a different pitch and volume. Now that is REALLY annoying. Then you know it is both ears.

As far as SCUBA diving is concerned, I don't notice it underwater.

If you find a way to make it stop be happy to hear it.

 

[DanBMW]

I have had tinnitus since the mid 80's and I'm pretty sure it started with a diving injury. I had been diving for a few days in the Cayman Islands and mid week, surfaced from about an 80' dive. It felt like there was cotton in my left ear and sound was muffled. Gradually over several weeks the muffled sound went away and I was left with a hissing sound in my left ear. I saw an ENT specialist a few weeks later when we got home who said I probably suffered from a mild barotrauma. It was never painful and I've had tinnitus ever since. I have found that I generally got used to it and now wear hearing aids that seem to help to reduce the noise.

 

[Eastwest]

I had a co2 cartridge explode in my face and lost most of my left hearing . When you do not protect your hearing at your job , home and hobbies a serious case like mine can happen . Vertigo is a concern , no off the merry go round when she is spinning . Stop diving , hell no , and back with a vengeance to keep healthy and have fun

 

[Jersey1971]

First, it's not necessarily permanent.
Second, as someone who used to suffer from it, I'll offer some reassurance.
I developed hearing loss related tinnutis in my mid 20s. I was so distraught that it led to a major depression. I thought my life was over. I couldn't imagine living with that sound for the rest of my life.
After a few years passed, it gradually faded from consciousness. I'm not sure how much of it is an actual resolution and how much of it is my brain adjusting to it, but I can say that it's a zero issue for me right now. If anything, maybe it's an overall life positive, as it's taught me to be much more careful with my hearing than I might have otherwise been.
Hang in there. You will be fine.

 

[AnnoyedSpelunker]

Do you use in-ear headphones a lot?
In that case, I guess it's caused by pus formation stuck in your middle ear. Get it drained by an ENT.

 

[Duke Dive Medicine]

Do you use in-ear headphones a lot?
In that case, I guess it's caused by pus formation stuck in your middle ear. Get it drained by an ENT.

I'm curious where this information came from. Pus in the middle ear would indicate otitis media, which would not likely be caused by earbuds and for which first-line treatment is antibiotics.

Best regards,
DDM