Dr. Hive, should I worry or is this normal? (Sorry, LONG)

[Hunter's Moon]

In October of 2009, I got a sinus infection. The infection lasted 6 months. Before I knew I had the sinus infection (because I also have allergies), I realized my hearing was bad. We went and got a test and he said everything was fine, asked if I was sick (I said no, because I didn't feel any different than usual) and sent us on our way.

 

When we finally found out about my infection, it took us four rounds of antibiotics to knock it out. At one point, it was thought that I had Mono, but was ruled out with a blood test. I was sent to an ENT to see if I had sinusitis and he said no, I just had a severely deviated septum from birth that you can see just by looking at my nose, and my sinus walls were permanently inflamed and there was a lot of thick mucus on the walls (sorry, TMI).

 

He said he wouldn't fix the deviated septum until I went to an allergist. I am now on my 6th month of allergy shots and will be returning to the ENT soon.

 

Recently, I've been having a ringing in my ears. It isn't constant, and it switches ears (it is never both at once) but when I get the ringing, I can't hear out of that ear at all. It lasts for maybe 5 minutes at the most. It happens at least three times a week.

 

Should I be alarmed by the ringing and loss of hearing like that? Is that kind of thing common with all my sinus issues? I take Zyrtec, Flonase, and Flovent daily and they have always helped, but I just now, about a month ago started experiencing this ringing and loss of hearing so it isn't because my allergies aren't controlled at least a bit.

 

My head and sinuses always feel heavy and blocked and it always sounds like I have a cold, so that stuff isn't new, I just don't understand why if this is a side effect of my sinus issues why it would take so long to show up.

 

Any advice or similar situations would be appreciated.

 

I do have a physical exam coming up on Wednesday, so I will be talking to them about it, but I don't think my primary care physician could do anything about it anyways.

[Ravin]

I'd bring it up at the physical and definitely with the ENT.

[Kebo]

Have you had any vertigo? It's always risky to try to diagnose someone else's symptoms, but you may want to ask your doctor about the possibility of Meniere's syndrome.

 

Allergies, I believe, can cause ringing. At least I've read reports of it. I am currently undergoing allergy shots and have ringing in my ears as well, but it sounds like yours are more severe.

 

I hope you get some answers soon. Or, better yet, I hope it resolves.

[Mom0012]

My husband has terrible allergies and one of the things he complains about the most is the ringing in his ears when his allergies are at their worst.

 

Lisa

[Quiver0f10]

I have ringing (tinnitus) in one ear constantly and the other off and on. The off/on ear is worse when my sinuses are acting up. I definitely recommend talking to your doctor and ENT.

[ChristusG]

It's not normal, but I think it does go along with allergies/sinuses sometimes. I have lots of allergies. Occasionally, I get major wax build up in my ears. One time that happened and I got the ringing in my ears. I went to an ENT and he used a vacuum type thingy to suck the wax out. The ringing went away.

[Hunter's Moon]

Have you had any vertigo? It's always risky to try to diagnose someone else's symptoms, but you may want to ask your doctor about the possibility of Meniere's syndrome.

Thankfully, my issues are not that severe. I get dizzy and lightheaded, but nowhere near as what Vertigo is described as.

 

When an area I am in is completely silent, I hear a kind of buzz, though. It sounds like a running fridge, but is not. I've heard that since I was a child. Not sure if that is normal or not, but otherwise, I don't think it is anything like Meniere's.

 

I assume it is my allergies as well.

 

Will definitely bring it up at the doctors.

Edited October 11, 2010 by BeatleMania