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What Causes Severe Tinnitus And Headache?
Question: I had a headache last Tuesday the 9th. After my headache went away, my ears started ringing a high pitch sound. It has been constant. No more headaches and no high blood pressure. I am not on any prescription medication. Because of my insurance and the fact that I travel with work, I can't get a referral to see an ENT. Is there anything that I can take to help with the ringing. The volume varies and if I push my finger against my ear to make a change in pressure, the volume does decrease temporarily. It is in both ears.
Brief Answer:
Most of the times goes in a couple of weeks- some advises also
Detailed Answer:
Hello,
Thank you for asking at healthcaremagic.
I carefully read your question and understand your concern.
The drugs you are using to help with the headache (ibuprofen) is one of the most common drugs that is accused often as a cause of noise in ears in many patients. It is difficult to know if this is the cause of it or not but it is advisable for you to stop using it at the moment.
Another cause and very likely in your case is tinnitus (noise in ears) due to a viral infection that the middle ear or the inner ear that might be causing the noise in both ears. In those cases the patient might also feel like the head is under water or blocked ears. These are generally self limiting and improve in a couple of weeks.
Rarely other diseases might be the cause like Meniere, which is a disease with tinnitus, hearing loss and feeling of blockage, and vertigo (dizziness), it most of the times affects one ear and comes and goes in episodes of a few days. If this is your first time you have this very likely this is not Meniere.
Recommendations are that whenever a patient develops tinnitus (noise in ears) should be examined with audiograme (a simple, non invasive test) to try to give some clues that what might be the possible cause of it.
To conclude i would say:
1. stop ibuprofen, if you have already stopped it give a couple of weeks to see for an improvement
2. most of the time tinnitus goes with time and if not longer than 3 weeks no need for intervention.
3. it is good you had your ears checked and they were normal. Having an audiograme as a routine test might also be a good and easy test to be done in patients with tinnitus. There are other examinations that your doctor might ask also but the auiograme is a good first step.
4. there are few drugs that might be tried but treatment directed to the cause is most effective. Alprazolam might be taken for a few days to quiet the sensation of tinnitus but it is a controlled drug and you will need a prescription for it and also might cause you to be a little drowsy. Zinc supplements, Ginko and Vit B are used as supplement to help by some patients.
I hope this is helpful and answers to your question but please feel free to write in case anymore clarification is needed on this.
Kind regards
Antoneta Zotaj, MD
Most of the times goes in a couple of weeks- some advises also
Detailed Answer:
Hello,
Thank you for asking at healthcaremagic.
I carefully read your question and understand your concern.
The drugs you are using to help with the headache (ibuprofen) is one of the most common drugs that is accused often as a cause of noise in ears in many patients. It is difficult to know if this is the cause of it or not but it is advisable for you to stop using it at the moment.
Another cause and very likely in your case is tinnitus (noise in ears) due to a viral infection that the middle ear or the inner ear that might be causing the noise in both ears. In those cases the patient might also feel like the head is under water or blocked ears. These are generally self limiting and improve in a couple of weeks.
Rarely other diseases might be the cause like Meniere, which is a disease with tinnitus, hearing loss and feeling of blockage, and vertigo (dizziness), it most of the times affects one ear and comes and goes in episodes of a few days. If this is your first time you have this very likely this is not Meniere.
Recommendations are that whenever a patient develops tinnitus (noise in ears) should be examined with audiograme (a simple, non invasive test) to try to give some clues that what might be the possible cause of it.
To conclude i would say:
1. stop ibuprofen, if you have already stopped it give a couple of weeks to see for an improvement
2. most of the time tinnitus goes with time and if not longer than 3 weeks no need for intervention.
3. it is good you had your ears checked and they were normal. Having an audiograme as a routine test might also be a good and easy test to be done in patients with tinnitus. There are other examinations that your doctor might ask also but the auiograme is a good first step.
4. there are few drugs that might be tried but treatment directed to the cause is most effective. Alprazolam might be taken for a few days to quiet the sensation of tinnitus but it is a controlled drug and you will need a prescription for it and also might cause you to be a little drowsy. Zinc supplements, Ginko and Vit B are used as supplement to help by some patients.
I hope this is helpful and answers to your question but please feel free to write in case anymore clarification is needed on this.
Kind regards
Antoneta Zotaj, MD
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Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Raju A.T
Answered by
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