Tinnitus

[J21x]

Hey everyone

has anyone suffered with tinnitus whilst being pregnant? I understand there’s no cure, however if you have experienced this, was there anything you did to help ease the constant ringing? The doctor reckons it could be pregnancy related & will more than likely go away after birth. I’m currently 20 weeks so the thought of having ringing in my ears for another 20 weeks or so is making me lose my mind.

any advice welcome :)

I don't have advice but I have had it in both pregnancies and it didn't just go away in between unfortunately. I also have the constant ear popping like being on a plane and needing to swallow or suck a sweet! I had to learn ways of dealing with it all and trying to focus on something else really helped.

I know this doesn’t help but I’ve had tinnitus for as long as I can remember due to lots of ear infections as a child. As you say you can’t make it stop but not being in a silent room helps. Some people use white noise but that annoys me lol. I’m used to it as can’t remember any different but I imagine if it’s a new thing then it’s very annoying

As far as I know, there are two main causes of tinnitus. The first being because of a physiological damage to a part of the ear or the inner ear. The second one is because of post traumatic stress disorder and can be treated by re-engaging with the cause of emotional trauma.

Hey - how have you been getting on?

Tinnitus can be caused by changes to your ear or hearing, but can also be unexplained and linked to stress/worry etc.
There is one particular condition called otosclerosis which is where the three bones in your middle ear become more stiff, and it is thought to sometimes be related to hormone changes (e.g like in pregnancy), this can cause tinnitus and changes to your hearing. This may be why you have developed tinnitus during pregnancy, or it may be because of the emotional changes as well - or unexplained.

If it's a pulsing noise this is different - but you've described it as ringing so I'm assuming it's not a pulsing noise.

One of the most important things I will say is that if it is bothering you, whether it goes away again or never goes away - it will get better and there are things you can do to help manage it so it isn't as bothersome. The main thing I would recommend you do is ask your GP for a referral to Audiology (GPs are RUBBISH at managing tinnitus, they tend to know very little about it). If you see Audiology they can also look at your hearing to see if this is linked, but they should have a tinnitus service as well which can offer explanations and discuss ways to manage it.

Also if you want to you can go to https://tinnitus.org.uk/ which is a really good website for learning more about it and it's all based on evidence as well

(I'm an Audiologist !)

@J21x how are you doing? Did it ever go away? I developed tinnitus during pregnancy, they have no idea if it's related or not but it never went away x

@RuBaby It didn’t go away no, I got diagnosed with a benign tumour in my ear which was the cause of the tinnitus, will be with me for life now - apparently it’s always been there pregnancy hormones just set it off. Hope you get sorted with yours! X

@J21x oh wow!! I had an MRI scan and it didn't show anything. Have they said they can remove it? They said to me the changes in hormones can cause tinnitus but it's just never gone. I do really struggle sometimes but have to try and carry on and not let it bother me x

@RuBaby it was a ct scan that showed it! And it can be removed however I will go deaf in that ear - hey ho! Tinnitus is annoying and frustrating at times but I’ve just learnt to live with it now I think, it’s been a year since it first started and I barely notice unless I’m in a quiet room x