Hello, Tinnitus for a Couple of Months — Maybe All the 1980s Heavy Metal Days Finally Got Me?

I'm a 56 year old guy that first noticed a ringing in my ear back in July/August timeframe. It was barely noticeable at that time. But now it is very noticeable at all times. I went to an ENT a couple weeks ago and was basically told that currently there is almost nothing at all that can be done for it. That was reassuring! She scheduled me for a hearing test in mid-November.

The cause of my tinnitus is anybody's guess. I'm assuming the 1980s heavy metal days finally got me? I have been reading up on tinnitus and there seems to be multiple types of tinnitus.... will the hearing test let me know which type I have?

 

Mine started about the same time as yours. Although my hearing is pretty good for my age (65) it did show some high frequency hearing loss which is what the ENT is attributing it to. He showed a masking app, said no meds for it and that was pretty much it. I can manage it during the day but having sleepless nights so often I was desperate and finally went to my primary care. I’ve never taken anything for sleep in my life so it was hard for me to ask as I’ve always been good at self managing but this is kicking butt. He gave me something to help me sleep and ordered an MRI just to be sure there was nothing going on there. I’m doing most of the typical measures, masking, meditation and relaxation breathing. I’ve tried the ear drops—did nothing. Trying not to go overboard on anything that comes along because given reviews, nothing really works. If the MRI doesn’t show anything then I’ll just have to learn to live with it. Good luck on finding “anything” that helps. I’m considering acupuncture or massage therapy if need be.

 

An audiogram generally does not reveal the cause of tinnitus, just if there is hearing loss, or not. It is a limited test they don't test above 8 kHz, but human hearing goes up to 20 kHz or so.

Noise induced hearing loss is most common, and noise induced tinnitus are more common than the other causes. Do you have work related noise exposure? When was the last rock concert as those are often dangerously loud.

@nonna9 Be careful with the MRI, as some are ridiculously loud. The tech is supposed to provide both earplugs and ear muffs, but there are horror stories on this board and elsewhere with worsening of tinnitus when the tech plunged ahead, and there was way too much noise exposure.

 

What normally happens after a hearing test? Do they send you for a MRI? The ENT didn’t lay out the steps...she said I would probably go thru a lot of testing and still not really know much more than I do now...which is very little. I brought up the FX-322 drug that the FDA is looking at...and she stated that it was something to look out for but didn’t talk much about it.