u/Then_Donut_8606

I’ve had tinnitus for about 10 years, but I have a really bad and kind of crazy habit. I constantly block my ears to check whether the sound has changed or not. I usually do it with my index fingers. I try to be careful not to apply too much pressure, but I keep blocking my ears and listening to myself over and over again.
And since I don’t use Q-tips usually, sometimes I also try to remove a lil earwax by putting my finger inside my ear. But I’m generally very careful when I do it.
The problem is that I just can’t stop this constant blocking-and-listening habit. It’s like I feel the need to constantly check my tinnitus and hear the “spike” when I block my ears.
Do you think this could actually cause some kind of damage? Nothing has happened so far, but I do this quite a lot and I’m really scared that I might be damaging my ears.
I’m careful and I try not to create too much pressure. Think of it more like simply plugging your ears with your fingers.
Could this potentially cause any damage over time?

I’d like to hear about the experiences of those who have had impacted wisdom teeth extracted. I just pressed on one of my wisdom teeth, and my ear got blocked and I experienced a spike. How did your procedures go? The sound of the tools, the recovery process, etc.—did it negatively affect your tinnitus?

The spike that has been ruining my life since October 2025 had almost cleared up (Well, not completely, but I had gotten used to it). However, for the past 3–4 days, I’ve been constantly hearing various tones, tones I’ve never heard before. I haven’t done anything differently. It’s just that my jaw has been a bit worse lately; could that be related? Also, I’ve been taking a supplement containing Magnesium, B6, and Vitamin D for the last few days. I’ve been on Prozac for 7 months; it didn’t affect my Tinnitus and really helped my mental state. But now, I’m afraid that Prozac might be causing these new tones to appear. (Could it suddenly do this after 7 months? I haven’t increased the dosage or anything; I’m stable on 20mg.) I have no one to talk to about this. Please help