Recent content by EddieL.

3 years into tinnitus, and it's been a rollercoaster, but now I'm in a strange place where the intensity of my tinnitus seems to be on a very specific schedule. Right now, I'd say my baseline is at a 3 or 4 out of 10, to which I've habituated, but now, every 5th day upon waking it's up to 8 to...

The reason why your tinnitus seems louder when you cover your ears is because there's no outside noise to mask it at all, and the ringing is more noticeably trapped in your head.

So, I went to New York City this past Saturday for the first time in 2 years, and here's a rundown of how it went. I took the Metro-North train from Connecticut, which was a 110-minute ride, without hearing protection. Upon arriving, I left Grand Central Terminal, and proceeded to walk for...

Fingers in the ears is the most effective, but least sanitary. I go with the tragus.

I'm just here to give an update on my situation, 15 months after my original post. Ever since I stopped protecting my ears, my life has continued to get better. No earplugs and no earmuffs in over a year. I'll still push on my tragi to cover my ear canal every so often when I encounter a...

Like I said, other medications can potentially affect tinnitus, but ARE NOT ototoxic. I see a lot of medication paranoia on the board, and I like to chime in every so often with some facts, since the doom and gloom on here can be counterproductive. Anxiety over taking/not taking a certain...

People on here have different definitions of "ototoxic," but the list of truly ototoxic medications is short. Many medications have the potential to temporarily negatively impact tinnitus, but do not damage the cochlea or auditory nerve. By definition, ototoxic drugs include: Salicylates –...

An addendum to my vaccine experience: The day after I received my second Pfizer dose three weeks ago, my tinnitus was very bad, so I started to think about the correlation between inflammation and tinnitus levels. As a result, I've been focusing on trying to control inflammation naturally since...

I received my first Pfizer dose on 3/26. No side effects other than a sore arm for a day, and no change to my tinnitus. This past Friday, 4/16, I received my second dose. On Saturday, I was very tired all day, and just felt out of sorts. No fever, but my temperature was about 1/2 degree higher...

FYI, the CDC just updated their guidelines, showing that face masks CAN also protect the wearer from COVID-19 infection: "Studies demonstrate that cloth mask materials can also reduce wearers’ exposure to infectious droplets through filtration, including filtration of fine droplets and...

I'm glad you experienced some relief, but the point I was trying to make is that, once someone starts taking prednisone and it appears to help, the more likely they'll be to seek it out in the future, whether or not it's actually needed. I did 3 rounds of steroids (dexsamethasone, prednisone...

I'm only speculating about why they might not want to publish, not about the focus of the study: "It involved as many as 6,000 Danes, half of whom had to wear face masks in public over a long period of time. The other half was selected as the control group. A large proportion of the test...

Isn't that study referring to whether or not masks prevent someone from getting COVID-19? That question was answered a long time ago. They don't, really. However, it doesn't appear to address how they prevent an infected person from spreading it, which is the main reason the public is advised to...

You have no idea what my situation is. My words are based on research and personal experience, and I stand by my post. Also, for the record, the OP said nothing about hyperacusis, and, on another thread, he said that he was only exposed to one pulse of the alarm before covering his ears.

In my opinion, the chances of hearing damage from momentary exposure to an ambulance while wearing earplugs are slim to none. If you're having a spike, I think it could be from anxiety over the event, rather than from the sound itself.