My tinnitus scare

[AwakenTheSkies]

So around 1 week ago I started hearing ringing in one of my ears. One tone around 600 Hz and the other one around 800 Hz. It's like an electrical appliance is working somewhere in the room. When I'm recording my amp always has been on my right side so I thought I'd fucked up my hearing. But it's weird since everyone says their tinnitus is a lot more high pitched than mine, and I hadn't played in days when the ringing started.

So when I saw this wasn't stopping I went to the emergency room. They checked my ears and said there was no blockages and that my "good" ear actually looked worse than my ringing ear, which scared the crap out of me. But they weren't ENT doctors and they told me where I could see an emergency ENT. It was far away but I'd go anyway.

Yesterday I saw the emergency ENT, he checked my ears and said my ringing ear was more inflamed. "Hyperemia" as the wrote on the paper. He gave me some antibiotic drops for my ear and some vertigo pills to sleep. He said it should get better or go away eventually.

Anyway I really hope this will go away with the infection. So far I haven't dealt with the ringing very well. When I hear it at night I panic and my heart goes crazy and I can't sleep all night. I've only been able to sleep with the help of drugs these days. Even with the hope that this might go away it still terrifies me that there's a possibility that it might not. I'm definitely taking better care of my ears after this...

 

[ShredmasterD]

Having had a concussion and tinnitus being a long term after affect , I completely get what you are saying. It comes and goes in intensity but is always there. Mine sounds high pitched , like an older TV set or CRT monitor when first turned on, if you know what I mean. Sleep seems to help it, if it doesn’t keep me up. Good luck.

 

[Crungy]

I hope it clears up soon, ear stuff like that is the worst.

I've had two instances of temporary hearing loss in different ears and thankfully it came back in both. After the first incident I always wore earplugs for band rehearsals, shows, other shows I'd go see or any other loud situation.

 

[RevDrucifer]

This is actually why I’m glad I’ve had it as long as I can remember, if it were introduced at a later point it’d probably drive me nuts. The pulsatile tinnitus (feeling my heartbeat in my ear canal) was really getting to me for a while because it’s a physical sensation, so I can see how regular tinnitus could effect others having it come out on out the blue.

I had a nasty sinus clog without feeling like I had a head cold, for about 2 weeks, my ear has been popping when I swallow so I know it’s still clogged up. I just ordered an ear wax removal kit that I’m anxious as hell to try out!

 

[AwakenTheSkies]

So far it's still here, but at least I'm sleeping and getting more things done. The doctor said it could take some time to get better. I've read on the Internet that it could take a few weeks after an infection, other sites say it could take months.. and there's always the possibility that it's here to stay.

The frequencies are around 704Hz and 833Hz, the last one is sort of intermittent. They make a chord together. Sounds like some kind of instrument..

The pulsatile tinnitus (feeling my heartbeat in my ear canal) was really getting to me for a while because it’s a physical sensation

I have that sometimes, I thought that was just a nervous thing. I used to get it very frequently when I lifted weights 6/7 days a week. It always meant that that night was going to be bullshit and I wouldn't get any sleep. I would also hear something which I imagine to be my blood circulating. But thankfully it rarely happens now and I don't lift weights that much anymore. I've read that running could be good for tinnitus, since it widens the blood vessels...

 

[Asdrael]

I have tinnitus. The "classical" one, resulting from simply damaging one of my ear. I am lucky enough that it's rather high pitched (outside of a normal voice range) and pretty quiet. I have to admit I had a very hard time accepting it for the first year. Then I realized my brain was much better than me - it simply blocks it out 90% of the time. When it doesn't, I just put some relaxing music or background noise for a bit. At least now I protect my earring at all times, and since the tinnitus came with hearing damage on that particular ear, I can sleep on the other one and get noise reduction. Yay me.

Something that may help you if it keeps you up at night is background noise. Nature sounds, a tiny water fountain running in your room, something that is a calming noise.

 

[STRHelvete]

I have tinnitus, but luckily it's not super loud. I have to be in a quiet room and make a mental note to stop and listen to hear it. I think I've had it for so long that I've gotten used to it, so it's always there but it's just mixed into the noises around me.
Once I remember it went away, freaked me the fuck out. The silence was frightening and it bothered the living fuck out of me while I was trying to sleep. It came back and I was honestly relieved.

 

[feilong29]

I've recently started experiencing ringing in my ears and went to the ENT doc and had a test done. Ears were fine, but was informed that tinnitus actually isn't "in" your ears, but it's a thing the brain does--which I never knew! I had a massive concussion as a child and several within the past 7 years...gotta love group sports! Hope it gets better for you.

 

[Soya]

Fresh tinnitus can be real scary. Fortunately I've had mine for what seems like forever so it's just another thing to accept, along with chronic fatigue and joint pain heh. Fingers crossed for a cure someday, I enjoy good sound and trying to be an "audiophile" but I've pretty much reached my max with my hearing damage.

 

[Lorcan Ward]

I'll add my success story since tinnitus is scary when you first get it. It's been so long since I thought about it that I've forgotten most of the medical lingo.

I've always looked after my ears and have no hearing loss. I always wear protection in any noisy environments but tinnitus from hearing damage is only one of the many ways you can get it. I got prescribed pain medication for chronic pain after an accident but I didn't know it was ototoxic, after 2 weeks I suddenly got really bad ringing. I stopped taking it which lessened the ringing but it wouldn't go away. I went to an ENT who was useless, they have little to no education when it comes to tinnitus but they are of course experts in their fields for dealing with physical ear problems. I know many people who's tinnitus went away from treatments for ear infections, wax build ups, fluid not draining, eustachian tube disfunction so I'm not saying avoid ENTs, just be prepared to walk out disappointed in some cases.

I'm relentless when I have my mind on something and I eventually found a study paper about the medication saying how it works by stopping your body producing nitric oxide, a side effect of that is your blood doesn't flow as well. One mechanism of tinnitus is reduced blood flow to your ears. Realising the ringing would flare up from sugar, salt, stress etc I went on a really strict diet. There are many supplements claimed to help tinnitus and from asking people I settled on a combination of NAC, B-Complex and Zinc which brought the ringing way down. It would flare up occasionally over the next year but nothing that would bother me and supplements would bring it back down.

What eventually "cured" it was when I had surgery for skin cancer about 2 years ago. The surgeon recommended mega dosing niacinamide(A form of Vitamin B3) can stop a recurrence. Soon as I took that it was 99% reduced at all times. After a few months the effect was a permanent reduction. I've habituated now and can sit reading or sleeping in a quiet room without hearing it. If I stick my head into the pillow and concentrate I can hear it but with habituation you can just tell your brain to stop hearing it and go back to sleep.

Tinnitus is still poorly understood and research funding is low despite it being a universal problem. There are so many potential tinnitus treatments that are sitting on a shelf waiting for more funding. Recently there has been big investments into noise devices to "rewire" the brain but last I heard the public trials did not show the improvements they had first claimed. They estimate in 20 years time we will have treatments to restore hearing and with that will come proven tinnitus treatments.

 

[BMFan30]

I have tinnitus, but luckily it's not super loud. I have to be in a quiet room and make a mental note to stop and listen to hear it. I think I've had it for so long that I've gotten used to it, so it's always there but it's just mixed into the noises around me.
Once I remember it went away, freaked me the fuck out. The silence was frightening and it bothered the living fuck out of me while I was trying to sleep. It came back and I was honestly relieved.

LOL I feel like I'm on the way to seeing my tinnitis as my buddy as well. There's no other way because fighting with it causes mental skits- unfriendly, y'all.