Hello doctor, Two months ago, I developed tinnitus which is not yet corrected. At that time, I had water trapped in my right ear but now my ear blockage problem is resolved but my tinnitus problem is not resolved. After this, I went to an ENT and he told me I have a swelling in my left ear. Now he checked my left ear and he told me my left ear is cleaned and fine. But my tinnitus is not going. I have high pitched sound in my left ear. I think I had two to three times water trapped in my both ear within one year. I have normal blood pressure and currently, I do not have any cough and cold. I do not have any problem with hearing loss and I hear low and high sound easily. I do not have any vertigo or numbness on face. After checking my ears, my doctor told me my ear is clean. I do not have any discharge in my both ear and do not have any pain in my ear. I have a fear that tinnitus is due to an acoustic neuroma. But, I do not have any neurological symptoms. I read online. After reading this, I am fearful. I can even manage tinnitus but now I am worried it is a tumor. Is my problem a big one?
Hello. First of all, do not worry and do not go to some conclusion after an internet search. Now coming to your problem, Tinnitus is not a disease in itself but a mere symptom that is associated with varying number of diseases. By definition, it is a sound perceived for more than five minutes at a time in the absence of any external acoustical or electrical stimulus to ear. It may be subjective, when audible to patient only or objective when audible to both patient and examiner. Now exclude the objective tinnitus because if it was the case your doctor must have diagnosed it. Now come to subjective tinnitus. The causes may be as simple as impacted wax, middle ear fluid and eustachian tube dysfunction to more severe ones like Meniere's disease, otosclerosis, noise trauma or acoustic neuroma. Now let us try to exclude them first. Acoustic neuroma mostly is seen between 40 to 60 years, first symptoms to arise is progressive unilateral hearing loss associated with tinnitus after that comes other signs and symptoms like numbness of face, dysphagia and hoarseness in the later stage when the tumor becomes more than 2.5 cm. But you do not have a hearing impairment or other symptoms. For confirmation at least you can get a PTA (pure tone audiometry) and SISI (short increment sensitivity index). Now coming to otosclerosis which starts in the twenties but more common in females and presenting symptoms progressive bilateral (sometimes unilateral) hearing loss with tinnitus. Again for confirmation, you need a PTA. Now Meniere's disease, it presents with tinnitus, episodic vertigo, aural fullness and again fluctuating hearing loss, which is not present in your case. We have excluded the sever ones till now assuming you have written about all signs and symptoms and you don't have hearing loss, vertigo, aural fullness etc. If you have missed something contact me in my email. Sometimes, tinnitus is caused by very simple causes like impacted wax (which is not the obvious cause as your previous doctor must have diagnosed it) or eustachian tube dysfunction which many times gets unnoticed by the doctor. To rule out this at least you need to do Valsalva maneuver 30 to 40 times a day. If it is the cause, tinnitus gradually will decrease in severity. So, why not give it a try for two days minimum. If tinnitus is not subsiding after two days better to do some test like a PTA, tympanometry and a SISI. Hope this will help you and wishing you a faster recovery. For more information consult an ENT otolaryngologist online -->