Ringing in one ear only mid squat

About one month ago while squatting my right ear starting ringing suddenly and noticeably when I hit the hole of my third rep of my first set of 5x5. I shrugged it off as not performing the Valsalva properly and completed my training for the day. After a week ringing did not subside. Went to a walk in clinic to have them check to see if there was any excessive ear wax or any perforation to the ear drum or damage to the ear bones before scheduling an appointment with ENT. Clinic found nothing unusual and recommended I see ENT ASAP. Also gave me a tapering dose of Prednisone to see if inflammation could be to blame. No noticeable improvement. On first visit to ENT again nothing found during the ear exam or physical exam. Gave me some Flonase to see if that has any impact while scheduling me for a hearing exam. No improvement with nasal spray. Had hearing exam and some hearing lose was noted at two higher pitches in problem ear. Diagnoses was ringing is due to the hearing lose in that ear. I was skeptical and pushed to treat this as a sudden hearing loss case just to make sure there are no other underlying causes here that we don’t check. Doc agreed to treat it that way for now. Prescribed a higher dose / longer Prednisone taper starting at 60 mg and scheduled an MRI which will be done in about a week. Just wanted to see if anyone has dealt with this or heard of this happening. If all comes back clean and this is just the new normal than so be it but I would rather have the sinuses, jaw, etc. checked to be sure instead of just walking away with what feels like a get me out of the office fast diagnoses.

Additional notes: no pain at all. No cold Or flu like symptoms leading in or afterwards. No sudden pop or anything when it started maybe just a little pressure. I chew gum frequently. I quit tobacco use over a year and half ago and this helps me cope and stay sane.

Some stats on me:
Male
41
5’6”
175 lbs
Squat: 465
Bench: 390
Press: 210
Deadlift: 525
Sumo deadlift (for powerlifting) 610

Thanks!

Rob, did they do any balance or vertigo assessments?

Good luck with prednisone. It's been a life saver when I've had to take it but it's not something I'll take unless I have to. Ugh.

I have a mild tinnitus and some high-end hearing loss. It’s pretty much the same in both ears. Sometimes when I squat heavy I hear a distortion in ambient sound (like a “flange” effect if you know what that is) and my tinnitus seems a bit works. It resolves immediately after the squat.

If you have asymmetric hearing impairment, you may notice asymmetric weird auditory symptoms during heavy lifts. I believe it is due to transient increased intrathoracic pressure (Valsalva) that has a downstream effect on intracranial pressure. If it’s that, nothing to worry about.

Because yours is unilateral or at least asymmetric, good idea to get it checked to rule out local structural causes like an acoustic neuroma. Unlikely, but you want to know about it if you have one.

Tinnitus can just happen. I have it. One day in my early 50s my ear started to whine and it never stopped. It's pretty scary when this happens for no good reason and takes time to adjust. Sometimes it gets worse during heavy lifts, not certain why that is ? 40/50s seems to be about the time when for no good reason the things we took for granted start to play up. Doc said it might go away, thought it was something to do with vestibular something-or-other and gave me tablets for it-didn't help. I have migraines and its closely associated with aura, but there are lots of other causes.

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Originally Posted by Matt James

Rob, did they do any balance or vertigo assessments?

Good luck with prednisone. It's been a life saver when I've had to take it but it's not something I'll take unless I have to. Ugh.

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Hi Matt,
No balance or vertigo assessments besides just asking if I had any issues with balance or dizziness which I do not. Thanks for the well wishes! I have taken prednisone on a few occasions and have had no negative side effects to deal with so fingers crossed the high dose taper goes the same way

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Originally Posted by jfsully

I have a mild tinnitus and some high-end hearing loss. It’s pretty much the same in both ears. Sometimes when I squat heavy I hear a distortion in ambient sound (like a “flange” effect if you know what that is) and my tinnitus seems a bit works. It resolves immediately after the squat.

If you have asymmetric hearing impairment, you may notice asymmetric weird auditory symptoms during heavy lifts. I believe it is due to transient increased intrathoracic pressure (Valsalva) that has a downstream effect on intracranial pressure. If it’s that, nothing to worry about.

Because yours is unilateral or at least asymmetric, good idea to get it checked to rule out local structural causes like an acoustic neuroma. Unlikely, but you want to know about it if you have one.

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Thanks for the reply Jfsully! Yeah, I just want to be 100% before it gets chalked up to turning 40 😆

I’ll be sure to update with MRI results if they show anything of interest.

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Originally Posted by Nockian

Tinnitus can just happen. I have it. One day in my early 50s my ear started to whine and it never stopped. It's pretty scary when this happens for no good reason and takes time to adjust. Sometimes it gets worse during heavy lifts, not certain why that is ? 40/50s seems to be about the time when for no good reason the things we took for granted start to play up. Doc said it might go away, thought it was something to do with vestibular something-or-other and gave me tablets for it-didn't help. I have migraines and its closely associated with aura, but there are lots of other causes.

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Thanks Nockian! Yeah, that’s what the ENT said. I was a little skeptical given that it went from nothing to ringing just out of the blue at the bottom of a heavy squat. But after seeing that this is more common than I thought I can live with it if it’s the new normal from here on out. Might as well have the deep look at the sinuses and jaw just to be sure because of the asymmetrical nature of the issue. If all come back clean than oh well. If that’s all I got wrong then I’m doing alright

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Originally Posted by Rob Crutchley

Thanks Nockian! Yeah, that’s what the ENT said. I was a little skeptical given that it went from nothing to ringing just out of the blue at the bottom of a heavy squat. But after seeing that this is more common than I thought I can live with it if it’s the new normal from here on out. Might as well have the deep look at the sinuses and jaw just to be sure because of the asymmetrical nature of the issue. If all come back clean than oh well. If that’s all I got wrong then I’m doing alright

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Yep, that it suddenly happens makes it a worry. Part of getting old unfortunately, just like the worsening eyesight and lapsing memory.

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Originally Posted by Nockian

Yep, that it suddenly happens makes it a worry. Part of getting old unfortunately, just like the worsening eyesight and lapsing memory.

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Follow up question Nockian,, Dr JFSullly or anyone else that has mild hearing loss or Tinnitus: Do you notice any specific pitches are distorted like a blown speaker kind of distortion? Since my issue stated, in the ringing ear when I listen to music or when I talk I notice some pitches of voice or notes sound distorted like it’s coming from a blown speaker.

I experienced some hearing loss as a teen due to a partially perforated eardrum (pressure wave from a hunting rifle that I was too close to without any ear protection). I experienced what you describe for several years. In fact I suspect that my auditory centers eventually filtered it out, although I still notice it once in a while in certain settings if I'm paying attention. Mostly in a large orchestra setting (although I don't find myself in that situation as much as I used to).

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Originally Posted by Rob Crutchley

Follow up question Nockian,, Dr JFSullly or anyone else that has mild hearing loss or Tinnitus: Do you notice any specific pitches are distorted like a blown speaker kind of distortion? Since my issue stated, in the ringing ear when I listen to music or when I talk I notice some pitches of voice or notes sound distorted like it’s coming from a blown speaker.

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I occasionally get that during a heavy squat, but it resolves immediately. I mostly don’t notice it anymore, as during a heavy squat I am focused on hitting depth, keeping back straight, and re-evaluating every decision in my life that led to me trying to do a heavy squat.

So are you saying that this happens at other times, not just during lifts? Do you have a feeling of fullness in one or both ears? Might be a variant of Ménière’s disease, I haven’t heard of Menieres without vertigo, but maybe that happens. Your ENT should know.

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Originally Posted by Rob Crutchley

Follow up question Nockian,, Dr JFSullly or anyone else that has mild hearing loss or Tinnitus: Do you notice any specific pitches are distorted like a blown speaker kind of distortion? Since my issue stated, in the ringing ear when I listen to music or when I talk I notice some pitches of voice or notes sound distorted like it’s coming from a blown speaker.

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Not that I'm aware of. It just bands out the frequencies where the ringing is. Distortion happens when I get a wax build up, but I think you had that checked. The only other time I had distortions was when I blew out an eardrum during a dive. I've been treated for Meniers disease and that doesn't have that distortions component. Curious.

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Originally Posted by Nockian

Not that I'm aware of. It just bands out the frequencies where the ringing is. Distortion happens when I get a wax build up, but I think you had that checked. The only other time I had distortions was when I blew out an eardrum during a dive. I've been treated for Meniers disease and that doesn't have that distortions component. Curious.

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Classic Meniere's symptoms would be a "rushing" sound, feeling of fullness, and vertigo. That "rushing" sound could manifest as a distortion, maybe, hard to know based on a forum post what the OP is experiencing exactly, but what OP describes is definitely not classic Meniere's. The good thing about Meniere's, as compared to garden variety tinnitus, is that it is usually treatable.

Bottom line, if the MRI and other evals clear you of major structural problems, and training only exacerbates the symptoms transiently, it is probably safe to train. If the symptoms are happening outside of training, and somehow training is worsening them over time (this would be hard to prove, and also would be very uncommon), you have to make a decision about the tolerability of the symptoms and your priorities.

I have occasional tinnitus in the right ear, but I haven't associated it with any trigger event. I've found that a finger massage/stretching outside the ear canal makes it go away.

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Originally Posted by jfsully

I occasionally get that during a heavy squat, but it resolves immediately. I mostly don’t notice it anymore, as during a heavy squat I am focused on hitting depth, keeping back straight, and re-evaluating every decision in my life that led to me trying to do a heavy squat.

So are you saying that this happens at other times, not just during lifts? Do you have a feeling of fullness in one or both ears? Might be a variant of Ménière’s disease, I haven’t heard of Menieres without vertigo, but maybe that happens. Your ENT should know.

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Since the ringing started in that one ear I have noticed the slight distortion with high pitches consistently. Does not get worse with training but hasn’t improved either. No vertigo or balance issues at all. Maybe occasionally that ear feels like there is more pressure in there but it passes pretty quickly. Talking to the ENT tomorrow still waiting on MRI. Probably gonna be a couple weeks with everything going on right now.

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Originally Posted by Nockian

Not that I'm aware of. It just bands out the frequencies where the ringing is. Distortion happens when I get a wax build up, but I think you had that checked. The only other time I had distortions was when I blew out an eardrum during a dive. I've been treated for Meniers disease and that doesn't have that distortions component. Curious.

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Yep they checked for wax build up and all good there. Eardrum was fine too. The distortion is the most annoying part. I can deal with the ringing but having a song sound weird in one ear is a bummer.

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Originally Posted by jfsully

Classic Meniere's symptoms would be a "rushing" sound, feeling of fullness, and vertigo. That "rushing" sound could manifest as a distortion, maybe, hard to know based on a forum post what the OP is experiencing exactly, but what OP describes is definitely not classic Meniere's. The good thing about Meniere's, as compared to garden variety tinnitus, is that it is usually treatable.

Bottom line, if the MRI and other evals clear you of major structural problems, and training only exacerbates the symptoms transiently, it is probably safe to train. If the symptoms are happening outside of training, and somehow training is worsening them over time (this would be hard to prove, and also would be very uncommon), you have to make a decision about the tolerability of the symptoms and your priorities.

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Thanks Doc! Training has not made the issue any worse since it appeared so I’ve continued training as programmed. Will keep you posted with any updates on condition or diagnosis.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by jfsully

Classic Meniere's symptoms would be a "rushing" sound, feeling of fullness, and vertigo. That "rushing" sound could manifest as a distortion, maybe, hard to know based on a forum post what the OP is experiencing exactly, but what OP describes is definitely not classic Meniere's. The good thing about Meniere's, as compared to garden variety tinnitus, is that it is usually treatable.

Bottom line, if the MRI and other evals clear you of major structural problems, and training only exacerbates the symptoms transiently, it is probably safe to train. If the symptoms are happening outside of training, and somehow training is worsening them over time (this would be hard to prove, and also would be very uncommon), you have to make a decision about the tolerability of the symptoms and your priorities.

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I just can't remember Meniers causing distortion at any point-that was the doctors diagnosis. I definitely had vertigo and still get the rushing sound on occasions - I would describe it more as wooshing than rushing. I was given tablets for it, but after taking a packet, I stopped.

So did that tinitis resolve itself? I've also developed it in one ear, but it wasn't suddenly while working out. Had it three weeks now.

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Originally Posted by Ericgunner198

So did that tinitis resolve itself? I've also developed it in one ear, but it wasn't suddenly while working out. Had it three weeks now.

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Unfortunately it seems to be the new normal for me at least. MRI came back clean so the ENT feels that it is due to the slight hearing loss in that ear.

Did you see an ENT regarding yours?

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Originally Posted by Rob Crutchley

Unfortunately it seems to be the new normal for me at least. MRI came back clean so the ENT feels that it is due to the slight hearing loss in that ear.

Did you see an ENT regarding yours?

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I'm dealing with something similar. In my case, it's on the side where my jaw has been popping since I've been having orthodontia work and recently as my bite is being adjusted. I have had mild tinnitus for years after doing live sound in my 20s, even with hearing protection, but recently it's flared up noticeably. The jaw popping is aggravating and can make my face ache if I hit it in the right/wrong way. I need to talk to my dentist about it after reminding him that my jaw is still popping. Just spitballing here. Do you grind your teeth/have TMJ?

Since this initial post, my tinnitus has gotten worse (initially it was due to a misspent youth at rock concerts plus normal aging, recently worsened by a necessary medication).

I have therefore paid more attention to it, and have noticed the following: my tinnitus (ringing) waxes and wanes mostly unpredictably, sometimes after heavy lifts. During the lift itself I generally don’t notice it. There is a second phenomenon of sound distortion (sounds kind of like a flange effect pedal) that happens during some heavy squats or deadlifts. I attribute that to changes in intracranial pressure. It goes away quickly after the lift.

I don’t worry about either of them. If they were worsening, painful, or were accompanied by other symptoms, I’d try to chase them down and rule out the bad stuff with MRI etc. But that’s not the case for me so far.

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Originally Posted by jfsully

Since this initial post, my tinnitus has gotten worse (initially it was due to a misspent youth at rock concerts plus normal aging, recently worsened by a necessary medication).

I have therefore paid more attention to it, and have noticed the following: my tinnitus (ringing) waxes and wanes mostly unpredictably, sometimes after heavy lifts. During the lift itself I generally don’t notice it. There is a second phenomenon of sound distortion (sounds kind of like a flange effect pedal) that happens during some heavy squats or deadlifts. I attribute that to changes in intracranial pressure. It goes away quickly after the lift.

I don’t worry about either of them. If they were worsening, painful, or were accompanied by other symptoms, I’d try to chase them down and rule out the bad stuff with MRI etc. But that’s not the case for me so far.

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I’ve noticed the almost the exact same thing. Waxes wanes from almost not noticeable to a fairly loud ring and the sound distortion. Sometimes after heavy lifts other times after caffeine or alcohol ingestion and other times it’s while listening to music in the car. I’m taking the same approach where if it gets worse or becomes painful I’ll seek out a second opinion from another ENT. Out of cursorily, did you get a hearing test?

Yes I have. Slight hearing loss in that ear. Going for an MRI due to it being on one side. Sometimes I feel like it goes in my right, normally immediately after waking up. It is annoying, just don't want to make it worse if its from the lifting. Thanks for the reply. Hope all is well.

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Originally Posted by Ericgunner198

Yes I have. Slight hearing loss in that ear. Going for an MRI due to it being on one side. Sometimes I feel like it goes in my right, normally immediately after waking up. It is annoying, just don't want to make it worse if its from the lifting. Thanks for the reply. Hope all is well.

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You’re welcome. Keep us posted on how it goes.

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Originally Posted by Rob Crutchley

I’ve noticed the almost the exact same thing. Waxes wanes from almost not noticeable to a fairly loud ring and the sound distortion. Sometimes after heavy lifts other times after caffeine or alcohol ingestion and other times it’s while listening to music in the car. I’m taking the same approach where if it gets worse or becomes painful I’ll seek out a second opinion from another ENT. Out of cursorily, did you get a hearing test?

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I had a hearing test when I had mild tinnitus, it showed some high-frequency hearing loss, mild-moderate if I recall correctly. I have not had it retested since my tinnitus has worsened. My hearing is currently only a problem in conversation when in noisy places. I don't expect it to worsen, but if it does I'll probably go back for a followup test. Unless I'm convinced that hearing aids would be helpful, I will put off re-testing. I don't think it's that bad yet. I'm sure my wife will let me know when it is.

Well all came back well on MRI. They just said its high frequency hearing loss on my left side. Hopefully getting back into lifting doesn't make it worse. I'm starting to get use to it.