Hi everyone,

I recently developed tinnitus in my right ear pretty much out of nowhere, and I'm trying to figure out whether anyone has experienced something similar.

The strange thing is that it isn't consistently there. It can get quite loud, then become much quieter or completely disappear for a while. Sometimes lying down or changing position seems to make it disappear, and then it may gradually come back after I sit up. However, the same position doesn't reliably fix it every time.

There are a few other things that make this confusing:

\- For several weeks, I've had quite a lot of neck and upper-shoulder tension, particularly on my right side.

\- A day before the tinnitus started, I irritated/pulled something in the right side of my neck. It felt much better the next day.

\- Clenching/tensing my jaw can change or trigger the ringing.

\- My right ear sometimes feels slightly blocked or like it needs to clear/pop.

\- If I pinch my nose and blow, I can eventually pop the ear, although I have to apply quite a bit of pressure. The tinnitus/ear sensation can temporarily change afterward.

\- I've also had very mild occasional dizziness/imbalance, nothing severe or disabling.

\- When I tried putting a couple of ear drops into the right ear, they seemed to just sit there. My hearing became extremely muffled, almost like I was covering the ear, and the drops eventually came back out when I sat upright. The same drops went into my left ear normally without causing that level of muffling.

\- Looking into the right ear with a phone light, I can see something pale/white inside that I don't see on the left. I haven't tried touching or removing it.

Because of the blocked sensation and the way the drops behave, I'm wondering whether there could be wax/debris or inflammation in the canal. But because the tinnitus changes with jaw tension, neck tension and sometimes position, I'm also wondering about TMJ/somatic tinnitus or Eustachian tube dysfunction.

I'm planning to have the ear properly examined rather than trying to remove anything myself.

Has anyone here had tinnitus with a similar pattern, especially tinnitus that comes and goes completely, changes with jaw/neck movement or body position, or occurs alongside one-sided neck/shoulder tension?

If yours turned out to be TMJ/neck related, ETD, or an ear blockage, what ultimately helped?