Did your Tinnitus start after you had a sinus infection? How long does Tinnitus last after a sinus infection? What can you do to make your sinus infection Tinnitus go away? We learn this and more below.
How can a sinus infection cause Tinnitus?
Your ears are connected to your sinus cavities. You can easily feel this yourself by pinching your nose and by gently blowing with your mouth closed, to then feel your ears pop. This happens because there is a small tube called the Eustachian Tube (ET) between the sinus cavities in your face and your ears. The role of the ET is to help the pressure in the ears normalize with the pressure in your sinuses.
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A sinus infection causes your sinuses to become inflamed. When your sinuses are inflamed, your body releases histamines that try to protect your sinus cavities, by filling it up with mucus fluid discharge. When the ET is blocked, the pressure in your ear cavities is affected. This can sometimes result in a malfunction of the ear drum. When the ear drum malfunctions, your hearing can become muffled or sound like you are under water. Another possible side effect is Tinnitus. This happens when the brain wrongly interprets that your ear drums are passing on noises that they have detected, even though there are no actual sounds. Such wrongly interpreted signals are then passed on to the brain’s auditory cortex which then registers the sound as a ringing, clicking or hissing sound.
Most types of Tinnitus are subjective in nature. What this means is that only the patient is able to hear the sound in their head. However, sometimes a sinus infection can also cause pulsatile tinnitus, where one hears a whooshing or thumping sound that coincides or syncs with their heart rate, a sound that others like your doctor can hear as well.
The bottom line however is that a sinus infection can definitely bring on a bout of Tinnitus. However, tinnitus that came on suddenly after a sinus infection will also usually go away when the sinus infection subsides or even begins to clear out.
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How long does Tinnitus last after a sinus infection?
Typically, tinnitus that comes on after a sinus infection will go away when the sinus infection clears up or even begins to clear up. As a sinus infection clears, your sinus cavities begin to drain fluids and discharge to be filled up with air again. This then allows the Eustachian tube to help your ear pressure normalize. Once ear pressure is normalized, your ear drums begin to work like normal and your brain stops misinterpreting signals put out by the ear drum. The result is that ear ringing is just shut off. In some cases, Tinnitus can taper as the sinus infection fades and then go away completely when the sinus infection has also fully gone away.
If your sinus infection caused pulsatile Tinnitus, it will almost go away as soon as your sinuses begin to clear.
How to stop ear ringing during a sinus infection?
Your focus should be to address your sinus infection and not the Tinnitus, when you have ear ringing caused by a sinus infection. Here are things you can do to help deal with a sinus infection;
Drink more water – Staying hydrated will allow your sinuses to recover faster during a sinus infection. You must also take precautions against becoming dehydrated, by avoiding coffee and alcohol. Excessive use of antihistamine medication (Nyquil, Dayquil, Flonase etc) can also cause dehydration and actually slow recovery from a sinus infection, thereby prolonging Tinnitus as well
Perform steam inhalation – Pick up a steamer or simply let your shower run hot to inhale some steam, to give yourself easy and instant relief from your sinus condition.
Use a neti-pot – A neti-pot uses a warm saline solution that you can use to gently direct into one nostril, to have it pass through and run out through the other nostril, while you have your mouth open. This will allow your sinus cavities to drain.
Use Vicks Vaporub – You can use Vicks Vaporub by dabbing a little of the balm at the entrance of your nose, to then allow its active ingredients like menthol and camphor to loosen up mucus that is blocking your sinus cavities. You must however not use Vicks Vaporub in your ears or inside your nose, to try to help your Tinnitus. Learn more about Vicks Vaporub and tinnitus here.
Consider using Flonase – Flonase is a corticosteroid nasal spray that delivers antihistamines into your sinus cavities. When used properly, it can give you instant relief. However, application technique is key to make it work. You can learn more about how to correctly use Flonase for tinnitus here.
All of these remedies will help drain your sinuses which can then allow Tinnitus to also fade away. You can also consider taking antihistamines. However, please know that antihistamines can sometimes make your Tinnitus worse as they tend to dry up your sinus cavities. If you are taking antihistamines, it is very important that you hydrate yourself very well. Learn more about tinnitus and antihistamines here.
If you are affected by a very bad case of a sinus infection, you can ask your ENT doctor if a balloon sinuplasty can give you quick relief. Chronic sinus sufferers may also consider surgery for long term relief from sinusitis as well as Tinnitus caused by sinus infections. You can learn more about Tinnitus and sinus infections here.
