Hello everyone,

I have an appointment tomorrow but was hoping to get opinions from other people on my situation. At the end of last month (July) I made a trip with a friend for a Drum corps concert (Think loud outdoor marching band concert with amplification at a football stadium.) and it was 3 days long about 3-4 hours each night. The trip was about 10 hours each way and the car we rode in also had an aftermarket exhaust and was quite loud when the drone was present, it averaged about 75 db cruising and 85-90 with the windows down or when flooring it. (measured with an Apple Watch after the fact). Here's my dilemma, if I woke up any of those days or a day or 2 later and started hearing the ringing in my ears I would suspect hearing damage, or if I heard muffled sounds etc. I had none of that.

What makes this hard to figure out for me is that the morning we started the drive up there, I had a super bad sore throat, and through the trip progressively got a cough, mucus in the back of my head and could hardly breathe etc. Well about a week after the trip, I'm starting to feel better. No breathing issues, just a minor cough which is normal for me when I'm coming out of it. Then about a week after I'm feeling better the Tinnitus comes out of nowhere. by the time that I started obsessing over it I realized I had been hearing it for about 3 days. and after the ringing I my ears start aching, feeling full, I'm noticing my ears pop when I swallow but I can't tell if its like the normal sound that you'd hear or something Eustachian tube related. Since its onset, I went to the urgent care and they said my ear drums looked fine and It was likely due to my upper respiratory illness. Since then my left ear gradually started to feel better and has been for awhile, but my right has slowly started feeling better as well. But I still feel the fullness in both ears on occasion. The ringing has always been the same exact pitch with the occasional 2nd tone that will pop in for a moment and leave maybe once a day.

To make matters worse, I am a stomach sleeper, and have always slept in a way that can cause my neck to be tense in the mornings. I have noticed that sometimes when I look all the way left or right the pitch doesn't change, but the intensity of the sound does. Same for certain times when I move my jaw all the way down or forward. It's driven me crazy enough to where I have been using copilot to bounce ideas off with and the general consensus from there is that I either have a post viral Eustachian tube dysfunction which would fit the timeline about a week after feeling better, or that coupled with the neck/jaw movement means it is somatic tinnitus. I have taken a "hearing test" with my airpod pros and they state I have little to no measurable loss in both ears.

So my question is, how likely is the tinnitus related to an acoustic trauma where damage from all the sound caused a 2 week delayed ringing and ear discomfort, sharp and dull aches, and fullness in the ear. Ive read that delayed ringing CAN happen from hearing damage but that it is rare especially paired with it the other ear symptoms. Should I ask for a prednisone regimen even though I am outside of the "golden window" since the actual exposure at this point happened a month ago. Do any of you have any similar examples of ringing in the ears from ETD issues after getting sick and starting to feel better? Copilot seems to think I did not do any meaningful damage to my hearing that would cause tinnitus and the person that rode with me on this trip has has no ill effects to their hearing and we were exposed to practically the same thing the whole week. So in my madness I'm hoping that I have an ETD condition that will eventually clear up and once the inflammation goes away the tinnitus will subside.

Thank you all that Took the time to read this and gave me advice!

I just got prescribed Neomycin-polymyxin ear drops after cirpoflaxin ear drops didn’t help my ear infection … has anyone seen improvement using this prescription?? I’ve read some bad reviews on it so I’m scared to take them . Last Sunday I woke up with a muffled ear and it’s been 9 days now with no improvement even after 7 days of cipro ear drops… I don’t have any ear pain it just feels clogged up and it’s very frustrating and causing me stress.

Hi all, I've been following this community group for a while, since I lost my hearing due to the 2nd COVID Pfizer vaccination, and later Lupus / autoimmune / APS.

Im sharing this reflection post I made to hopefully encourage others out there who can relate to my experiences. It's positive and inspiring for most people, but please feel free to read this for some extra encouragement in life, particularly the challenges related to deafness and hearing loss.

I’ll try to keep this short. I’ve always felt a little weird about my ears. Since childhood, whenever there are multiple sounds in the background, I’ve had some difficulty understanding what a person is saying, especially at concerts or parties. Other than that, though, I’ve always been pretty happy with my hearing.

Over the last couple of months, I started noticing that my right ear seems to be around 10% louder than my left. I only really notice it when I focus on it, and I recently realized that I’ve apparently had the left-ear audio slider on my phone boosted slightly for years to compensate. Honestly, I can’t even remember when or why I originally set it that way, and I’ve had that phone for almost half a decade.

After buying my new headphones, this started bothering me much more. I had a small ear infection a few months ago, and ever since then I’ve been paying much closer attention to the difference, to the point where I started wondering if I was imagining it.

What’s strange is that when I adjust the audio so that both ears are completely equal, everything sounds perfectly balanced. The bass, guitars, and basically all other instruments sound exactly the same in both ears. The only thing I can consistently notice is that vocals seem slightly louder in my right ear. Even then, I only notice it when I specifically focus on it. When I’m gaming, working, or using headphones normally, I never notice it.

The strangest part is what happens when I slightly press the headphones against my ears and create a sort of seal or vacuum. As soon as I do that, the sound suddenly becomes completely balanced, almost exactly 50/50. The moment I let go and allow the headphones to sit normally again, I can notice the slight difference in the vocals.

So I’m wondering whether this could simply be related to the way the headphones are sitting or sealing against my ears, the ear canal, or if there could be an actual difference in hearing between my ears.

PS: I don't take any medications, and I've been having problems with tinnitus for almost a decade if that helps, and I had two hearing tests, and both tests were absolutely flawless

Hello, I’ve had pressure in my ear for 6 days slowly getting worse. Doctor gave me antibiotics for a bacterial ear infection. It’s been 3 days on antibiotics and it’s getting worse. Next step?

I got this video of the inside of my left ear. It hurts a lot, sometimes my hearing gets muffled and I get a bit lightheaded.

Does anyone know what it is? My gp doctor said it could be cholesteatoma. But, the pharmacist said it might not be that. I am struggling with this for 3 weeks now.

Last Sunday I woke up and my ear felt clogged and muffled … went to the doctor and she said it was an infection. She prescribed me ear drops and it’s been 5 days and I still have a muffled ear … it feels like I have an ear pod stuck in my ear and it’s very discomforting… any advice on how I can fix this , how long it might last , etc etc.

Anyone have any advice or tricks to help drain fluid from the middle ear?

I’ve been dealing with ear pain and fullness for a couple of months. I saw the doctor and am taking Flonase. After a couple of weeks it seems to get better but then became fully blocked again.

I also had one major vertigo attack and saw my doctor again after it.

I am currently in rehab for a TBI due to a car accident over a year ago. So my vestibular system is already fragile. Because of that I can barely function. I was unable to work all week and barely able to get out of bed.

My family doctor said it will just take time but I need to be well enough to go to my other medical
appointments and work. I’m not paid for time missed :(

My name is Rachel and I am a lead recruitment associate for ClariMed, a research consultancy that connects medical device manufacturers with patients and users to help design safe, effective, and easy-to-use medical devices. We are currently looking for adults with tinnitus to participate in a paid, in-person study in San Jose, California.

Please see more information on this opportunity below!

ABOUT THIS OPPORTUNITY
-ClariMed is looking for adults living with Tinnitus to help evaluate and improve a mobile health app designed to provide support for people living with the condition.

DETAILS:
-Dates: August 31st - September 4th 2026
-Location: San Jose CA

-Duration: One session. 2.5 hours long

-Participants will be compensated for their time

WHAT TO EXPECT
-Usability studies focus on how participants interact with a medical product in a simulated setting. 

-You will be asked to provide feedback on a mobile health app and its accessories.
-This is not a clinical study

-You will participate in one 2.5 hour research interview on-site at our San Jose facility

-After your study session, you will be paid electronically as a thank you for your time

To begin, please visit the link links.clarimed.com/SJ-TNTS or scan the QR code! If you may be a match. a member of the recruitment team will reach out with additional information.

Since 2023 I have had a recurring problem of dry skin and earwax building up in my ears. I've seen two different ENTs and all they do is microsuction it out, which gives me instant relief. But I have to go back again about 8 weeks later when it has built up. They have tried steroid drops and creams without success.

My hearing is muffled on one side and I can feel the debris move against my eardrum which is uncomfortable and annoying. My next microsuction is September 3rd which feels so long to wait 😭 I'm tired of this problem. What can I do? Anyone have a similar experience to share and commiserate?

For the last several months. I have had two issues with phantom sounds. I went for complete hearing tests at Bangkok Hospital in Thailand, and was diagnosed with mild to moderate hearing loss, tinnitus and musical ear syndrome.

But what bothers me more is that I am hearing short bursts of sound, generally when I get up to move, turn my head, usually 2 or 3 in short succession. About the same timbre, pitch envelope of a duck quack, staccato.

The doctor who evaluated me said my ear structure was all normal and maybe it was my jaw making this sound.

My musical ear syndrome started presenting about a year ago as tones that sounds like trumpets playing in unison lines in the same pitch range. Not songs, just short repeating motifs. For a while they seemed louder than they are now, but they are still faint in the background most of the time .

Both are annoying but it's the weird quacking sound that I don't understand why and if there's any possible way to get it to stop.

I am 61, the last several years of my career was managing an indoor and outdoor music venue, where sound levels were sometimes really loud. I was also a musician my whole life playing bass through amplifiers with loud guitar players. So my exposure was quite a lot to high decibel sound over many years.

I can't seem to find any information on the quacking symptoms, has anyone heard of this or have ideas on what to do to make it stop?

So two days ago something was slammed next to me and my left ear has been feeling full since, there was no ringing on the day it occurred i thought it would go away on it's own. But a light ringing started yesterday and I'm still having trouble hearing people talk, should i be concerned about this?

Ok so about 4 days ago i threw up and almost passed out from all the pressure into my head from it. Since then, ive had crazy bad ringing deep in my head and have been having headaches theoughout the days too. I checked my blood pressure and blood sugar, both are normal. Whats going on?

I had microsuction in both ears a few days back as my right ear was fully blocked. I’ve had a constant high pitch ringing that started a couple days after using oil drops. It’s now day 4 and it’s not subsided, is this normal it’s driving me crazy.

Kinda want to ask for help on this.

After work yesterday (at 4:00ish) the hearing on my right ear just kinda got pretty muffled slowly (not deaf, I can still hear but it’s just muffled) bit by bit out of nowhere and now it’s kinda muffled. There’s no pain at all, no ringing, and I have no ear wax but it still feels this way.

Does anyone have an idea of what’s going on with me? I plan to go to the doctor this coming week early it if keeps bothering me these next three days.

I went to a hearing aid fitting center today, and holy crap the prices are straight up ridiculous.Gosh!Literally, any basic model with even half decent noise cancellation runs 5 to 6 grand, and the nicer ones jump straight to 10k+... I picked it up to take a look, the build quality was nothing to write home about, and the chipset was a model released last year.

Got home and did some digging, and it just made me more pissed!Turns out the actual hardware cost is a tiny fraction of the sticker price. Most of the cash goes to distribution, brick and mortar stores, and marketing.On top of that, a ton of brands force you into bundled packages. You have to pay for their in person fitting services when you buy the device, even if you only have mild hearing loss and don’t need constant tweaks.

For my personal situation, I have mild to moderate sensorineural hearing loss, with significant drop offs mainly above 2 kHz. I can hold face to face conversations without issues in quiet settings. However in noisy places like restaurants or cars, I have to read lips just to follow what people are saying. When watching TV, news anchors are fine. Yet I end up turning on subtitles for drama shows with softer spoken dialogue. My sister has teased me about this countless times.

My requirements are actually pretty simple. I do not need heavy amplification since I hear well enough in quiet rooms. Fancy features like music modes or direct phone streaming are unnecessary for me. What I truly want is for speech to stand out against background noise in busy environments, plus some high frequency compensation. At the same time it should not amplify steady low frequency sounds such as air conditioners or fan noise too much.

Do I really need prescription‑grade hearing aids for my needs? Would OTC ones work instead? I saw Elehear goes for around $400. The price is really attractive, but I’m not sure if they actually perform well. Has anyone used them?

If I don’t get any replies here I’m just going to pull the trigger anyway. They have a 45 days free return policy with no strings attached. I’ll update everyone how it goes！

Fr, some industries just straight up prey on people not knowing any better, making bank off information asymmetry. It’s wild.

Hello all, that’s right I’m 26 and still have ear tubes. Here lately I’ve been getting horrible ear infections and I’m concerned about it because it seems to be happening more often and with worse severity. I had an infection about a month ago, got checked out and was prescribed ear drops. It appeared to clear up within a week but now I have the same thing again and I’ve gently swabbed out pus and blood. I just started seeing a new ENT and have an appointment Friday. Does anyone else have this happen?

Hey everyone, around 10 weeks ago I put an earplug in while working. After I finished the job and removed it, my right ear suddenly felt blocked. A couple of days later, I started using earwax-softening drops, and about four weeks after that I had the wax removed via microsuction.

The day my ear became blocked, I started feeling strange — almost like I was off-balance, wavy, or just generally “not quite right.” My ear has now been completely unblocked for several weeks, but I’m still experiencing this weird off-balance/floaty feeling.

Has anyone experienced something similar after having a blocked ear or earwax removed? I’m wondering if it could be related to my ear or something else.

Hi everyone,
I had an ear infection about two weeks ago. Initially, I was prescribed Terracortril ear drops, but they didn’t really help because my ear canal was extremely swollen and narrow. I could barely get the drops in.
I was then given a one week course of oral flucloxacillin and also had an ear wick/packing placed in the ear. After starting the antibiotics, things improved significantly and the pain completely went away.
Once I finished the antibiotics, I went back to the doctor. They removed the packing and cleaned out some dried blood and debris from the ear.
Since then, I have had reduced hearing and a constant feeling of fullness/blockage in the ear. I also have quite noticeable tinnitus. There is no pain anymore.
I can’t really equalize the pressure in the ear. When I try, nothing seems to happen and I don’t want to force it because it feels uncomfortable.
Has anyone experienced something similar after a severe ear infection or ear canal infection?
Is it normal for hearing to remain reduced and for the ear to feel blocked for a couple of weeks after the infection has cleared? Could this be fluid behind the eardrum or swelling that is still healing?
I’m mainly wondering how long it took for other people’s hearing to return to normal and whether I should get it checked again.
Thanks!

TL;DR: Had a severe ear infection 2 weeks ago with a very swollen ear canal. Terracortril drops didn’t work, so I was given oral flucloxacillin and an ear wick. The infection and pain are now gone, but I still have reduced hearing, a blocked/full feeling and tinnitus. Equalizing pressure doesn’t do anything. Is this normal, and how long can it take for hearing to return?

So I just had a 3 hour flight and I have a euschation tube dysfunction, I was told my ears would be back to normal within a couple of hours of landing. One ear has, but the other one popped and is even more muffled, any advice?

Ear tubes

My little boy is 22 months old. Has had at least 10+ ear infections since he has been born. Got ear tubes with ENT 3 weeks ago. Yesterday we noticed he was getting a runny nose (usually means a nasty ear infection is to follow). Sure enough my husband texts me today saying our toddler has a low grade fever. But no drainage from either ears that we can see??
I got home from work (I’m a nurse, didn’t get home until 8pm) took my toddlers temp and it’s 102. Hes not wanting to eat or take a sippy cup.
I’m so beside myself. I thought tubes were supposed to reduce ear infections?? I don’t even know what to do. I gave him Tylenol and used the antibiotic ear drops the ENT gave us after surgery.
My LO has developed a pretty severe speech delay due to the ear infections. He really only says about 3 words. And that’s only sometimes.
I can’t get into see the ENT for 3 days. Should I go ahead and take my LO to see the regular pediatrician?

i flew last weekend and stayed in london a week and have found that both of my ears are blocked (once going to the doctor i found both have fluid in them) and can’t hear well.. i’ve tried steroid nose spray, steroid spray, nasal rinse, and even bought the device that shoots air in your nose to open your ear tubes and NOTHING helps

now i’ve flown before with a minor cold and had EXCRUCIATING pain when descending and i’m terrified that my eardrums would actually rupture this time since the dr said my ears had no inflammation i simply had fluid in my ears and it would take time to go away with nose steroids, decongestants etc

anyways i got to the airport had a mental breakdown and decided to miss my flight and now im taking 3 trains to get to another country (over a day traveling) am i being dramatic asf???