Stress-Induced Tinnitus for Almost a Month

Hi there,

I’m a 22 year old uni student and developed tinnitus almost a month ago. It’s hard to explain what the sound is, it’s not really a constant high pitched noise, more of a ringing. I feel that it mainly comes from my right year, but I can’t say for sure if it’s also in my left or not. I otherwise have a static noise in both ears, this I’ve had for a couple of months now and experienced on and off a year or two before.

As like anyone suffering tinnitus, it irritates me to no end and increased my anxiety. I’m not sure what the cause could be…

I have been suffering under stress and anxiety these past few years, and especially this year has led to a spike.

I noticed my tinnitus almost a month ago after I traveled (2 flights, both around 2 hours). Was it the pressure? I don’t think it could have been noise induced, I’ve flown many times in my life – often much longer – and never experienced tinnitus because of it.

I’m also not a heavy user of earphones/headphones – usually only using them when calling and, as of the past couple months, rarely for music (even then I set them on a very low volume).

I feel that it may be stress induced – the past few years have not been great to my mental health, and I am suffering from a few issues there, but this academic year seemed to have been the trigger for a very strong anxiety and overall exhaustion. Back in December I had a high pitched sound in my left ear, and experienced that a bit over a month. I study abroad, and when visiting my family during winter break, I noticed that the sound was gone (I was also under A LOT of stress and anxiety back then – my studies were not the main issue but definitely did not help the situation).

Now that I’m home again, I’m thinking maybe the stress of everything – which I managed to bottle in for the last few months – just broke down once I got home which is why the tinnitus was triggered (probably the day of traveling did not aid the situation). I also think that from my stress I developed a form of hyperacusis as this was a big problem I had to deal with this academic year – whenever trying to go to sleep I would be bothered by small noises others would not even notice. I feel like I developed some form of anxiety for the night and anything sleep related since this whole year I’ve barely been able to go to bed without being anxious.

I did go to an ENT doctor back in January who checked the inner hairs of my ears and he told me everything was fine. Of course, I don’t know if anything changed since then but I was not exposed to loud noises/music at all. My hearing was also checked and everything was fine with that (very minor point, my right ear hears slightly better than my left). I guess my stress has made the muscles around my shoulders/neck/jaw very tense. The whole year I felt my shoulders were stiff as stone, only now do I feel they are loosening up a bit (did not have much time for exercise, but am trying to go on walks now – tried biking but noticed my tinnitus got louder afterwards??).

I know I can’t get a diagnosis here, but maybe someone else is experiencing something similar which could help me understand where this is coming from.

 

There has to be third part to the equation per stress and tense muscles (shoulders neck and jaw) and it may be forward head bending.

Working on a computer with arms forward over a keyboard or notepad with neck bend forward and maybe more to your left side is similar to riding a bike. Those who favor one side are most always the ones to get tinnitus with upper back and C spine muscle pressure. So you probably had severe muscle pressure being placed to your C spine and that pressure can go to your jaw as well.

Every case of this is a little different, therefore treatment needs to tailored to your bio mechanics. One thing that I would consider is getting some neck X Rays. X rays will also tell if you have any older injuries and that is important.

In the meantime, before a therapy plan can be established with X Ray notes, consider using moist warm compresses on neck and shoulders for a few minutes - at least 2 or 3 times a day. A cool compress afterwards may also help. A little magnesium for a couple of weeks may help your ears and help loosen neck muscles. Before using magnesium check side effects. Magnesium use should be 1/3 - one third of a tablet - 3 times a day. If you seek therapy, go to a physical therapist and I would not get a neck adjustment, just muscle therapy.

Here is just an introduction article, but it contains several simple sentences that are very valid.
sentenceshttps://www.modernheal.com/tinnitus-neck-problems/