Flonase for tinnitus: Flonase’s Surprising Effects On The Ears
Flonase’s Surprising Effects On The Ears
Flonase is a commonly used nasal spray to help people struggling with ear pain, sinus congestion, and more as a result of mucus buildup caused by allergies. Although Flonase may not typically be thought of as a medicine that affects the ear, there is a connection between the two via the sinus cavities. The sinus cavities are connected to the nasal passages and ears and taking Flonase may affect the ear canal, whether it be one or both ears. That being said, is it possible for Flonase to negatively impact the ear canal or eustachian tube? We’ll take a closer look below at how fluid build up can impact tinnitus and whether or not people who use Flonase are at greater risk of making tinnitus worse.
What Is Flonase?
The nasal spray Fluticasone is often used to alleviate allergy symptoms such as sneezing, itchy nose, and runny nose. It may also be referred to as the following brand names: Flonase (common), Flonase Allergy Relief, Flonase Sensimist, ClariSpray, Veramyst, XHANCE.
Flonase is a type of nasal steroid that helps to reduce inflammation. Sold in caplets and sprays, Flonase is not designed to be sprayed in the ear canal, but some have suggested it may be able to impact hearing and the ear drum, or it may mask symptoms of an ear infection that goes undiagnosed and untreated, thereby triggering the onset of a tinnitus sound like buzzing or ringing.
While there are some questions regarding the role of Flonase as one of many ototoxic drugs, people who take Flonase to improve congestion are not linked to any increases in tinnitus risk unlike other ototoxic drugs that do. Whether you began taking the spray prior to a tinnitus diagnosis or after, rest assured that damaged hearing is not currently considered a possible side effect of Flonase and other sinus sprays.
Why Would A Doctor Recommend Nasal Spray For Ear Problems?
Nasal sprays are a common treatment when a person reports symptoms consistent with eustachian tube dysfunction.
Our eustachian tubes serve to connect the back of our noses with our middle ear spaces. When the eustachian tubes open, they allow fluid to drain out of the middle ear space to keep it clear. They also allow us to regulate pressure in our middle ears. If you’ve ever felt your ears “pop” while ascending or descending in an airplane, this was likely your eustachian tubes at work!
There are times when a person’s eustachian tube (or both tubes) may not work as expected. Tubes may become blocked, which would prevent them from opening appropriately to clear fluid and regulate pressure. This is called “eustachian tube dysfunction.” A person may experience ear pressure, pain, a “popping” sensation, or tinnitus (often described as ringing) in their ears. These symptoms can range from mild to severe. Nasal sprays can help to open up the mucous membranes and allow the spaces in the middle ear to remain clear/open. Flonase and other nasal sprays should be used according to their instructions and you should always consult with a physician before using them.
Taking Flonase in a way incongruent with manufacturer instructions is highly unlikely to lead to any life threatening consequences, as the spray is designed to improve blood flow to the sinus area and ease symptoms associated with both acute sinusitis and allergies. Nevertheless, the spray may not target the underlying cause of hearing loss, or the sounds associated with tinnitus, and may not actually help maintain the health of the ear drums. Before using Flonase as a form of tinnitus intervention or a way to target discomfort in the ears, consider speaking with your medical professional about when symptoms of tinnitus started and how they might be impacted by congestion, illness, or infection targeted by Flonase.
What Is Tinnitus?
Tinnitus is a hearing condition characterized by phantom sounds, such as ringing, buzzing, or rushing. The causes of tinnitus are varied and range from one person to another. Exposure to loud noises is considered a common culprit, and head and neck injuries leading to sensorineural hearing loss have also been pinpointed as possible instigators.
Ear infections, chronic allergies leading to sinus congestion, eustachian dysfunction, and more can cause people to hear ringing, rushing, or buzzing. Other conditions and experiences have been thought of as possible causes of tinnitus. Anxiety, depression, and other mental health conditions may put you at increased risk to hear phantom sounds, as can chronic pressure in the sinuses and congenital conditions.
Does Flonase Cause Tinnitus?
Flonase does have some known side effects. The Mayo Clinic indicates that common side effects include bloody nose, chest tightness, cough, fever, headache, muscle aches, pain or tenderness around the eyes and cheekbones, sore throat, stuffy or runny nose, trouble breathing, and unusual tiredness or weakness. Fortunately tinnitus is not on the list of common side effects for Flonase, so although it’s not impossible, it would not be an expected side effect.
While Flonase does not cause tinnitus and is not known to make tinnitus worse, people suffering from nasal congestion and other issues with the eustachian tubes, ear damage, or fluid build up may not want to immediately reach for the spray.
In normal amounts, Flonase is not known to cause severe issues, but consistently using a spray to target bad allergies may not get to the root of the issue, and there may be more effective interventions to target sinus symptoms and allergies.
Can A Nasal Spray Help Tinnitus?
Nasal sprays are designed to help with issues regarding the sinuses, which can include parts of the ear. Nasal spray can help with mild tinnitus symptoms, because these sprays are used to ease congestion in the ear and sinuses. Fluid in the eustachian tube caused by sinus infections and other sinus-based illnesses can lead to symptoms of tinnitus. The ear has a delicate ecosystem that a spray can help temporarily correct, though these interventions are not considered front-line treatments to cure these issues, and are typically intended for short-term use.
Do Some Nasal Sprays Make Tinnitus Worse?
At present, there is little to no evidence that sprays make tinnitus worse.
Although the exact mechanics of and reasons behind the development of tinnitus remain in question and a source of research, sprays for the nose are not currently linked to higher frequencies of tinnitus diagnosis. A doctor may even recommend that a patient use Flonase to soothe allergies and ease sinus pressure, thereby lessening pressure in the ears and possibly improving tinnitus short-term.
Links Between Sinus Symptoms And Tinnitus
Tinnitus is a condition that can involve issues of the outer, middle, and/or inner ear and there are many instigators of the condition. Because parts of the ear and sinus cavities are linked, illness and injury in one area can inform the other. Other causes of tinnitus are not uncommon, but basic sinus infections, ear infections, and similar illnesses can all be linked to ringing in the ear. Drugs to target these issues are common and useful, and may act as something of a preventive measure, but they can also help relieve some of the pressure that leads to phantom sound, and ease pressure in the head enough to lessen anxiety and discomfort and improve tinnitus patients’ ability to hear.
Standard Tinnitus Treatment
Tinnitus is often addressed with a combination of treatments, including sound therapy, hearing aids, cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), and tinnitus retraining therapy (TRT). By using a multi-pronged approach, many patients are able to experience relief from symptoms, or relief from the negative reactions many people have in response to the onset of tinnitus.
Additional changes, such as limiting noise exposure, can help ease some of the damage sustained by the tiny bones of the ear and small hair cells found in the inner ear, both of which are linked to tinnitus symptoms. From preventative actions and interventions to a more reactive approach, standard treatment options are typically delivered in partnership with an ENT specialist or audiologist, in order to ensure that all bases are covered the most likely root causes of tinnitus and fluid build up are successfully being addressed.
At present, there is no definitive cure for tinnitus.
Injuries to the head and neck can be addressed to limit tinnitus symptoms, and drugs can be either added or removed (in the case of ototoxic drugs) to help ease the signs of the condition. Pressure in the sinuses can be treated using Flonase or another spray designed to relieve pressure in the sinuses, and drugs targeting ear infections can help treat any infection-based causes. When all areas relating to the condition are addressed, tinnitus treatment is most effective.
Conclusion
Although some anecdotes may suggest that sprays and other sinus interventions make tinnitus worse, even a few drops of a decongestant can help soothe symptoms of this particular condition and the hearing loss that can accompany an infection. Although a hearing aid and various forms of therapy are considered the frontline treatments for tinnitus symptoms, a nose spray can also prove itself to be a useful aid when tinnitus symptoms have grown worse as a result of nasal pressure or congestion caused by illness or allergies.
Flonase for Tinnitus? Cure or Cause?
If you did a search for Flonase and Tinnitus on the internet, you are in for a lot of confusion. The internet is almost divided when it comes to whether Flonase helps or makes Tinnitus worse. This post will attempt to help you clear up this confusion and decide whether you should take or avoid Flonase for your Tinnitus.
How does Flonase affect your ears?
To understand if Flonase can help or make your Tinnitus worse, you first need to understand how Flonase can affect your ears. Flonase is a prescription corticosteroid nasal spray. It’s prescribed for allergies. So, we’ve got to learn a bit about allergies work now.
What is Your Tinnitus Handicap Score?
Calculate your THI Score in about 2-3 Minutes
How allergies affect your ears?
When allergies like pollen or dust enter your sinus cavities, your body begins to fight it. It releases histamines and other allergy fighting chemicals.
When histamine production is in overdrive, there’s mucus buildup in your sinus cavities. Sinus cavities are usually filled by air. With mucus in them, you feel stuffy and miserable.
What you must importantly know about your sinus cavities is that the back of your nose is connected to your ears., through a tube. This tube is called a Eustachian Tube. Close your mouth, pinch your nostrils and gently blow a bubble. You will instantly feel pressure build up in your ears. That’s pressure being sent from your sinus cavity to your ears, through the Eustachian tube.
How can Flonase help allergies that can then help your ears?
Now, when you have allergies, it’s not just your sinuses that are clogged. Your Eustachian tube is clogged as well. This means that fluid in the form of mucus can enter your ear fluid, from the sinus cavity. This can then cause your ears to malfunction. When your ears malfunction, your brain invents a Tinnitus sound. Why does it do that? Because it thinks your ears should be hearing something but aren’t.
So, when trying to be helpful, it leaves you with an annoying ringing in your ears.
How Severe is Your Tinnitus?
Find out by using this THI (Tinnitus Handicap Inventory) Scoring Calculator
Now, when you use Flonase, it can clear up your sinus cavities. First, mucus production is stopped. Then, your sinuses have a chance to finally drain out all that snot. Your Eustachian tube dysfunction stops. Your ear fluids drain as well. When your ears begin to work normally, your brain can shut off the Tinnitus sound, because it has no reason to keep it on if your ears are working fine. If Flonase can give you Tinnitus relief, it will happen instantly, after the first application, and you will start seeing signs that Tinnitus is going away.
Why Does Flonase Help Tinnitus for some but make it worse for others?
When Flonase can Help with Tinnitus relief?
When you have Eustachian tube dysfunction caused by allergies
Like mentioned earlier, Flonase can relieve Eustachian tube dysfunction by stopping mucus production.
If your Tinnitus is being caused by Eustachian tube dysfunction, you can try taking Flonase to see if it will help. When it can help, it should be able to do it anywhere from immediately to in a few days. If it doesn’t help in this time period, it is best you stop Flonase use after about a week of no improvement.
If Flonase makes your Tinnitus worse, you must STOP use immediately.
You can try Flonase for Tinnitus relief when your allergies.
- Make your ears feel full
- Leave you with muffled hearing
- Make you hear a pop or click in your ear
- Give you ear pain
How to use Flonase for Tinnitus relief?
Using the Flonase applicator vertically will only give you sinus relief. You might feel less clogged, but it won’t do much to clear up your eustachian tube. When you use the applicator horizontally, like shown on the right of the above picture, the spray can go into your Eustachian tube to then unclog it.
It might help to spray and gently close your nostrils and mouth to blow air.
This will help the spray move along into the Eustachian tube. But you must blow GENTLY! The last thing you want to do is make your Eustachian Tube dysfunction worse by blowing too hard.
It also helps to stay upright for at least an hour to give Flonase the best chance to give you Tinnitus relief.
When Can Flonase make Your Tinnitus Worse?
When you have a Patulous Eustachian Tube
Your eustachian tube generally remains closed. But, when you have a patulous eustachian tube, it means that your eustachian tube opens up intermittently and more often than it should.
You might have a patulous eustachian tube if you experience some of the following symptoms, even when you don’t have allergies;
- A feeling that your ears are full or blocked
- When ear fullness subsides as you lie down
- You can hear your own voice at abnormal volumes (Autophony)
- Your breathing sounds amplified even when you are breathing normally
- You can feel your ear drums move when you breathe
- It feels like there’s a barrel over your head
It is not known why Flonase can make Tinnitus worse when you have a patulous Eustachian tube.
But there’s strong and uniform anecdotal evidence that it does.
Is Flonase Safe to Take for Tinnitus Relief?
Above, you learned that Flonase should not be taken if you have a patulous Eustachian Tube. You must also immediately discontinue use if Flonase makes your Tinnitus worse. But otherwise, Flonase is generally safe to try for Tinnitus relief. Don’t expect miracles though.
But ensure that you follow the dosage recommendations provided by Flonase. Flonase is also a prescription spray. This means that you must use it after your doctor prescribes it for you. Self-prescribed use is not recommended.
Safe Flonase Dosage for Adults
First week = 2 sprays per nostril, per day
2nd week to up to 6 months = 1-2 sprays per nostril, per day
6 months + = Consult with a doctor
Pregnant and breastfeeding women should not use Flonase. Chronic use, i.e over 6 months is not recommended, unless Ok’d by a doctor. One must also take care not to exceed the recommended number of sprays in a day.
Safe Flonase Dosage for Children (4-11)
First week = 1 spray per nostril
Second week to 2 months (max recommended use) = 1 spray per nostril
Flonase in children should be stopped the moment symptoms have been relieved. Since it is a corticosteroid, it can interfere with a child’s growth rate. If possible, Flonase is best avoided in children.
Flonase Alternatives for Tinnitus Relief
Other brand nasal sprays
Afrin and Nasacort are popular alternatives to Flonase. They are also corticosteroid sprays meant to give you relief from sinus and eustachian tube congestion.
Steam inhalation
Steam inhalation is a brilliant way to relieve sinus and also eustachian tube congestion. It is 100% natural as well, unlike Flonase. Adding a few drops of eucalyptus or peppermint oil can greatly improve steam’s sinus draining efficiency. To be sure that your eustachian tubes are also steamed, slowly open and close your jaw as much as possible, a few times, while steaming.
Valsalva maneuver
The name might sound complicated, but the maneuver is not! To do this, simply close your mouth and pinch your nostrils. Then, gently blow air as if you are slowly filling up a balloon. You will instantly feel your Eustachian tube clearing up.
It is important to use gentle pressure. Your ears must feel the same kind of pressure you feel when you yawn. Anything more than that and you are overdoing it. You can do this maneuver up to 4 times in a day, preferably spread out through the entire day.
Like Flonase, there’s a debate about Benadryl and Tinnitus as well! We’ve tried to clear up that confusion too.
Preparations for the treatment of noise in the head
31 Oct 2017 Meditations/exercises/tips to combat tinnitus, Causes Dizziness, Treatment, hearing loss, Tinnitus
The modern age brings with it many diseases that are the result of nervous tension.
If earlier people got sick due to the imperfection of medicine, now the reason lies in the lack of inner harmony, peace and quiet around.
Tension, workload, lack of days off, excessive use of music on headphones – all this leads to the fact that you have to take special drugs to treat head noise . All this can be resolved by eliminating causes and contacting a specialist.
Contents of the article:
- 1 Causes of tinnitus, after which pills are needed
- 2 Etiology of the disease
- 2.1 Symptoms
- 2.2 Diagnosis
- 2.3 Treatment
- 2.4 List of drugs
- 2.4.1 Effective treatment in a specialized center
required tablets Not always when discomfort occurs in the form of a hum or ringing in the ears you need to go to the doctor. First you need to determine whether there are direct causes-events that preceded their occurrence: All of these can result in discomfort in the hearing aid. The phenomenon passes as soon as there is an opportunity to be in silence, relax, sleep. In some cases, the cause may be a normal physiological noise. It is caused by blood flow in the vessels located in the inner ear. The liquid hits the walls, there is a resonance that we hear – this is possible in complete silence, before going to bed, when we can concentrate on sensations. If noisy manifestations bother you for several days, interfere with sleep and daily activities, you need to consult a doctor to find out the causes and eliminate them. Ringing and humming can be clinical signs of a number of diseases. For example: According to studies, only fifteen percent of cases with tinnitus are associated with pathological phenomena in the auditory region. Most often, the etiological factor refers to diseases of a general type, relating to vital organs. A common cold or being in cold windy weather without a hat can easily lead to the formation of otitis media, an inflammatory process in the inner parts of the ears. In addition to sound symptoms, this disease is accompanied by sensations of heaviness, pain, congestion. Pain sensations are different – aching, shooting. Otitis media is a serious condition that can lead to pus. Inflammation destroys the auditory ossicles, the tympanic membrane, passes to the mastoid process of the temporal bone. Meniere’s disease is characterized by the fact that here the noise effect appears due to a sharp spasm of the small arteries that feed the auditory region. Blood circulation and reabsorption are disturbed, which leads to serious consequences. Meniere’s disease is accompanied by dizziness, gradual hearing loss and occasional loss of balance. A pronounced feeling of congestion is associated with the appearance of tubo-otitis, on the right, on the left, or inflammation of the Eustachian tube. Antibiotics in the aminoglycoside category sometimes show ototoxic effects. If noise discomfort occurs while taking them, you should immediately replace the drug with another one, since the damage to the auditory nerve is irreversible. Depending on the results of the preliminary examination, specialists will be engaged in determining the disease that caused tinnitus. In any case, the first thing to do when warning symptoms appear is to consult a qualified doctor. The patient can be referred for an instrumental examination, which will provide a more accurate result: Blood and urine tests are obligatory – they will help to recognize inflammatory processes in the body, give a picture of the state of the body in terms of the level of important bio-indicators. The logical consequence of visiting the hospital will be the appointment of therapeutic measures – depending on the identified disease. They are divided into three main types: List of drugs The patient can be prescribed effective drugs of different groups:
Etiology of the disease
Symptoms
Diagnosis
He will conduct an initial examination and, if necessary, refer you to other doctors – a neurologist, a cardiologist, a surgeon. Treatment
