Comment by michaelteter | Hacker News Reader

Comment by michaelteter | Hacker News Reader

Mine started in one ear after a problem while ascending during a scuba dive. Something remained different in the region around my ear afterward.

Then COVID did some sh*t to my sinuses which left them changed.

Now I have relatively low tinnitus in one ear and very noticeable tinnitus in the other ear. The pitch is high... reminiscent to the squeal that an old CRT or tube TV would make if it had no signal.

The tinnitus is some function of my blood circulation, because I can clearly hear my pulse in the worst ear... just this constant pulsing squeal. On occasion it is so loud that I wonder if my head is about to blow open. Blood pressure is good when tested though.

Who knows... that's all so complex and interconnected, and then there's the possibility that some of it is imagined or phantom.

I have vertigo issues and have wondered whether scuba might have contributed to the inner ear damage that causes it. It was either that or, also like you, sinus issues.

During the diagnosis phase of my vertigo I learned a few things about how primitive medicine still is when it comes to inner ear issues. If the problem isn't BPPV, some large growth they can cut out (e.g. a fistula) or something that can be "solved" by just destroying your inner ear (gentamicin therapy) there is almost nothing they can do -- and in fact they can't even really diagnose the issue, just test out different therapies to try to find anything resulting in some mild improvement. Most doctors have no idea what the possible diagnoses even are; the specialist who eventually helped me was a neuro-otologist, which already seems unreasonably specialized, and he said he only really had an idea because his son had the same issue as me.

If it's pulsing, get it checked out. Pulsatile tinnitus is often a symptom of a bigger underlying issue.

Well that sucks. But thank you. I will.

im familiar with this kind of tinnitus (and many others), what happens if you try a good sinus decongestant?

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