Hi,
I've had tinnitus for a year and for most of the time i have been unable to hear it.Just recently the volume has increased dramatically.Its turned into a constant hiss, which is a constant annoyance. I went to the doctors the other day and she told me i had a lot of wax in one ear and the other, although not as bad, still had wax.

My question is does wax cause tinnitus?

I was told to go home and put warm olive oil in my ears to soften it.
Ive done this now for 2 days with little improvement.

How long should i use the olive oil?

The other thing is that i wear earplugs to ride my motorbike, so im worried that as im softening the wax i'll be pushing it further into my ears with the plugs.

I was also wondering, can sound aggitate tinnitus and make it temporarily worse?

Sorry for the number of questions im just really scared at the moment.
Thanks for your time,
Shaun.

Shaun,
Yes, wax can cause tinnitus, but read my post about therapies that may help your tinnitus. I am so sorry that you are suffering with this. I really feel for you and understand your worry and anxiety, because I have gone through the same thing, but may have finally found some things that will help the tinnitus. Read my post with the title: "to everyone here suffering with tinnitus and vertigo" that I just posted a moment ago. If you need to email me directly, I can share my email address if you ask me for it... and I can give you more in depth info about what may help your tinnitus, if my other post doesn't give you enough info. I have a lot of hope that you can get some relief, knowing what I know. God Bless.
Lisa



[ please carefully review the posting rules - no emails ]

[ Please read the posting rules which explain that offering or asking off board contact is not permitted. The boards are to be used for on board sharing, only. The email and private message features are turned off so that use of the message boards remain anonymous. The only contact you may make with members is to post on the board. ]