14 & Tinnitus

Hey guys. I think my excessive earphone usage got me tinnitus. It was only ever 5-6 bars in on iPhone (Is that considered very loud/damaging?) but I definitely used them very FREQUENTLY.

Four days ago, I first experienced a pulsing/whooshing sensation in my left ear when putting in my night contacts. But then it went away, so I went to sleep.
The next night, same sensation. This time however, it didn't go away, so I started to get worried and searched up tinnitus. It scared me, and I couldn't sleep for a while, but eventually I fell asleep.

Yes, I realise that I've just described PULSATILE tinnitus (I've done research.)
But the thing is, after the second night of pulsatile tinnitus, it hasn't ever come back. Instead - it's turned into a high pitched WHISTLE/static. It's frequency is similar to that of cicadas chirping in Australian summer (where I live).

I have already went to two different doctors (no ENT) - first one said I had fluid blocking the eardrum and prescribed me 'Amoxil,' FESS nasal spray (non-medicated), and ear-drops. Didn't help anything. The second said that she could see nothing wrong with my ear and the problem was likely behind my eardrum, something had swelled. She then prescribed me a medicated nasal spray. I used that yesterday; no difference.

And definitely, I have been EXTREMELY stressed about this. I realise stress makes it worse - but it's hard. I've cried, and every single time my mum starts to blame me over my earphones or says something, I feel like crying.

The worst thing? Every morning I wake up, it's getting WORSE. Louder. At first it was barely audible even when I slept, now I can hear it as I type this. Is it the stress? I honestly can't deal with this if it get's any louder. Because I hear that most (not ALL) people that get it, finds it goes down in the first week, whether they habituate or it actually gets better.

I'm definitely not going deaf - in the contrary, my hearing is rather more sensitised. If you think i should have tests done though, feel free to say so. Although no doctors have said anything about that, or tinnitus. I'm quite sure it's because I'm a child.

If it doesn't get louder, I'm not worried about sleep. Even hearing it doesn't affect me too much, and I can make sure I'm very tired. What I am worried about however, is school. Yes, I'm definitely hoping it will distract me - but what will I do during TESTS?

Sorry for long thread, thought I should describe my condition better. Support/opinions greatly appreciated.

 

Hi.
I was 14 when I got T. I'm 56. I think I have good news for you.
I slaughtered my ears with headphones while playing the drums AND playing drums live AND generally listening to loud, loud music in the headphones and car all the time then.
A couple years of T convinced me then to knock it off. At age 18 I went acoustic and turned it down. Only after some very loud music again in the 80's did my T flare up for good. Maybe since you're still growing, your T will subside, mine did.
If you still have T bothering you in the weeks to come, try this.
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/back-to-silence.7172/

 

@I who love music

Dont't know if I'm understanding this right: You had tinnitus, and it did resolved on its own, but it came back because you didn't take the warning? thank you for your answer.

 

No you aren't the cause of this in any reasonable sense. This sounds like a combination of cardiovascular and neurological irregularities, which to be honest concerns me greatly(sorry for the sense of alarm; I know you're going through some pretty intense anxiety right now). The cardiovascular part is the pulsatile tinnitus; The neurological part I believe you are suffering from now is myoclonus of the middle ear.

• Middle ear myoclonus occurs in the muscles of the middle ear. These muscles may include the tensor tympani and stapedius muscles. It can involve the muscles surrounding the Eustachian tube, which include the tensor veli palatini, levator veli palatini, and salpingopharyngeus. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myoclonus

People often discribe it as crickets. I have the condition so I know what it sounds like. For me it is fast and rhythmic swishing or scratching, or can revert back to crickets. Even if I am wrong, any other type of tinnitus you could be hearing right now is also neurological in nature.
I don't know much about pulsatile tinnitus, so take what I say with a grain of salt and listen to other people. Also there is a "doctor's corner" section of this forum.

• Pulsatile tinnitus

Pulsatile tinnitus can be a symptom of intracranial vascular abnormalities and should be evaluated for bruits. Some people experience a sound that beats in time with their pulse (pulsatile tinnitus, or vascular tinnitus).[45] Pulsatile tinnitus is usually objective in nature, resulting from altered blood flow, increased blood turbulence near the ear (such as from atherosclerosis, venous hum,[46] but it can also arise as a subjective phenomenon from an increased awareness of blood flow in the ear.[45]Rarely, pulsatile tinnitus may be a symptom of potentially life-threatening conditions such as carotid artery aneurysm[47] or carotid artery dissection.[48] Pulsatile tinnitus may also indicate vasculitis, or more specifically, giant cell arteritis. Pulsatile tinnitus may also be an indication of idiopathic intracranial hypertension.[49]​

This last part about "potentially life-threatening condtions" is what concerns me. The switch from cardiovascular symptoms to neurological symptoms is very troubling to me(especially the part about the escalation of your symptoms!). My honest opinion is that you seek medical attention immediately at an urgent care facility and have relevant tests done on your cardiovascular system. Normally I recommend anxiety meds and sleep meds, but I am recommending something very different for you. My recommendation is that after you have made up your mind, to seek such urgent care, regardless of who listens to you(it is frusterating and very distressing when those close to us don't believe us). I believe you need tests more comprehensive than looking for fluid in your ear and giving you nasal spray; and I believe you need these tests urgently. Tell the attending physicians why you are concerned calmly and carefully. It is my humble opinion that only an insane quack would not admit and test you.

 

@AnxiousJon , why so worried ? Sounds like "regular" tinnitus at the beginning stages to me ?
@Liv , its only 4 days , this might very well just go away on its own

 

@Dr. Ancill
@Dr. Hubbard
@Dr. Gans

 

Yes, I had it very bad when I was 14-about 17 years old. I just thought my ears would ring from loud music of course then go away. And when I went to college at 18 years old it seemed to be gone. At this time though I did notice that rock concerts were really bothering me. I asked my friends if their ears were ringing a week later after these concerts and they said no. So in my teenage wisdom I figured out that my ears were different so I purposely went to fewer loud concerts and started playing my own music at VERY low levels. In fact, at this time I purposely ditched rock music to save myself. Through my life I played much softer music but dabbled in loud music every few years. I found out that my T is cumulative. It picks up right where it left off and the spikes are louder and last longer. Thank goodness for the BTS method for me, because I have bad T now but have learned to habituate with this method. I consider myself VERY lucky that I made the change to quieter, different kinds of music when I was young, but consider myself very stupid for dabbling in loud music from time to time through the years. I really miss playing drums and electric guitars, and going to concerts, but I've actually made a career of building acoustic instruments and playing acoustic music semi-pro. So something good came from T, .. or rather... avoiding T.

 

@I who love music Thanks for the positivity. I'm trying to stay positive and hope that even if it doesn't go away in the near future, I can habituate to the sound and maybe one day when I'm lying in bed, realise that it's faded - or perhaps even gone.

I am holding onto the fact that I'm young and still have room for growth and that my ears are stronger so that maybe if I stay away from my earphones, play my Youtube and anime videos much lower (even though that means I'll be able to hear my tinnitus), lower the volume of my Skype calls and League of Legends games, it will help.

I am hoping that if this is something to do with my ears, they will heal/habituate better.
Noisy situations however, I cannot avoid. Whether for recreation, or simply going to the city, or even SCHOOL, I am young and it is inevitable.
I'm considering earplugs, but my mum isn't really set on the idea and I've heard that it has no effect/can make things even worse.

I'll see how it goes for the next week (even though I know I should be trying to forget about it and focus on other things).

 

@RaZaH thank you I really don't feel this will go away in the near future, and I'll probably agonise over it until I'm sufficiently distracted (when high school starts).
I really just have bad luck. Haha.

 

@AnxiousJon I probably should set up/look around for a thread about pulsatile tinnitus leading to regular tinnitus. I must mention that I made a huge mistake saying that the FREQUENCY of my tinnitus is similar to that of cicadas chirping, I meant the PITCH. I hear no ringing or chirping, only a STEADY whistling/static sound.

I'm hoping that it isn't anything as severe to do with the cardiovascular system - but you're right. Even if I haven't heard pulsatile tinnitus since, it is worrying that it transitioned into tinnitus. I don't believe that I've made this crystal clear to all the doctor's I've talked to so far, but I did tell one about it and she went on about my something behind my eardrum being inflamed.

Just this morning, I checked out a third time at my regular and trusted doctor. My ears DO HURT, and he said there was inflammation, likely caused by too much water entering the ears. He proceeded to say not to get my ears wet, and that it should go in a couple of days. If not, he prescribed eardrops. So I'll see how I feel by next week.

He actually promised me that it will go away and that a lot of people get whistling in their ears. But rest assured, if it doesn't clear up in the near future, I will push my mum to take me back to him for the verdict or to an ENT.

 

Hi Liv

Just so you know, in this context, "pitch" and "frequency" mean the same thing... frequency literally means "how many pulses per second does a sound contain". If you make a recording of a sound and then represent that visually, it looks like this:


very low pitched sounds vibrate less times per second. In the picture on the left, there are 4 cycles per second. "Hertz" is a unit of measure that means cycles per second. 4 cycles, or 4hz, is very, very low - way too low to be heard by the human ear. I think our hearing starts around 20-30hz, and then goes all the way up to about 20,000hz (at least, your hearing does, because you're young. I have relatively good hearing for a 30 year old in America, and I can hear almost that high -- but in my left ear, I don't hear as well in the range of 12,000 - 15,000).

So, what you said was actually correct. I just thought you might think this was interesting; it sucks that you have to deal with this problem, but you may as well learn something from it

There is every reason to be optimistic that this is just an annoying temporary problem for you, and not the beginning of a long term one. Assuming it all clears up, definitely take it as a lesson that your ears can be hurt and you don't want to do that! Wearing earplugs all the time isn't a good idea, but on the other hand, some common city sounds can actually be loud enough to do damage, and that does add up over time. I don't wear earplugs very often in the normal day-to-day, but I carry them with me, and I do wear them if I'm around construction or really loud trains/trucks/etc.

 

@linearb Oh alright. I got mixed up haha.
I don't go to the city that much, but I will consider earplugs. It isn't even construction - it's everyones' voices accumulating, the busses, trains, the general bustle. I don't want to take any chances.

I actually went to do Laser Skirmish today, which I think I'm regretting. It is quite loud, but since my friend already paid for my ticket I resolved to play just two games. I spent both squatting on the floor, doing all I could to cover and block my ears to keep the noise out. It reduced, but there were still short periods of about 6 seconds where I let loud noise in.
My bad - but what can I do? I'm a child, it's recreation. I had a really good time even though I was still thinking about tinnitus. It was much preferable to staying alone at home and constantly agonising.

My mum was immediately comforted when she heard that from the doctor, but I'm still very unsure. Since I immediately started off with him checking my ears, I forgot to mention how for two nights in a row I experienced pulsatile tinnitus. I'm quite sure I could hear my heartbeat. And now it's gone but it's regular tinnitus. I don't believe it's so simple that it can be cleared up. In fact, I'm positive that I'll be back because my tinnitus won't have resolved. I will make sure to explain to him thoroughly about the pulsing, and hopefully be checked.

I really hope anything cardiovascular related isn't the case because I'm goddamn FOURTEEn and have never had a history of anything serious medically, but what else can I think? Like the person above said, it is very worrying how it started out as pulsatile and then changed to regular. I hope the doctor and my mum will take me seriously and perhaps perform some tests.

It's depressing. I actually can't wait for SCHOOL to start because then I'll be distracted. I've also got subclinical acne on my forehead and a few pimples scattered around my back, neck, chest... and I developed a minor case of whiteheads around my nose and under my chin because of all the recent stress. Jesus, I have so many problems :/

 

One more thing guys... sometimes when I clench my fists they feel weak, and I get an uncomfortable feeling, but I find when I exercise my hands a bit, move around, swing my arms, the feeling subsides. Also when I stand up extremely quickly after having sat for a long time I get dizzy and blurred vision for a few seconds. Could this in any way be related? Or am I seriously just stressing myself out and grappling for anything.

 

Dear Liv,
I have a daughter your age and my heart breaks to hear that you have to deal with tinnitus.
It's so not fair.
Fingers crossed that it goes away for you, or at least reduces down.
Maybe get your mum familiar with the condition so she can understand what you're going through.
Big hug from Adelaide!

 

@valeri thank you so much. Haha. I'm only fourteen, and I feel like I have so many issues. Yes, I know many other kids have it much worse, but I can't help but look around at all the completely unaffected and unknowing teens simply enjoying themselves, and especially my friends.

My mum isn't that sympathetic. She says that if it doesn't go away it's because I ruined my own ears and didn't listen to her, and that I should stop crying to her.

I just wish I could go back a year when everything was alright, perhaps listen to my mum more, be completely ignorant of all my issues. Just a year ago, I used to think: what even is stress? anxiety? depression? I'll probably get stressed from schoolwork, but I'll never feel that bad for anything else.
How naive. I feel like crying just writing this.

In a few weeks, school will start. In fact, I can't wait for it to - just for the distraction. This whole six week period of break has gone to absolute waste, and I start a new year feeling horrible.

Right now, I'm trying to get back into my old habits. Sit on bed, watch some anime and Youtube. Play some video games. Read some manga/books, check social media.
I'm trying to de-stress and stop being paranoid. Because I'm constantly discovering new breakouts on my skin, and I'm sure it's from my anxiety and morose feelings.

I might be moving house in following months, and might get a pet such as a dog. I sincerely hope it cheers me up, and I hope hope HOPE that things get better and I'll feel happy again.

Fingers crossed too - but the worst thing is, it goes up in volume by the day.

 

Hey Liv,

I don't care what your mum says, get some earplugs (musician's earplugs are awesome. you can still hear things just at a lower level. mine lower the sound level by -25db). They can make the difference when it comes to preventing your T from getting worse.

Also don't let your mum get you down by telling you it is your fault. That's just mean.

 

Derpina. You are his Mom now. You will be a good Mom.

 

@I who love music

Hmm interesting... so since this is my first long tinnitus warning I should have good chances of getting rid of it, right?

 

Absolutely lay off the ear buds. These things are no good. They do not block external sound so you are always tempted to turn it up.

 

The part with the weak-when-clenching-fists or when-holding-a-pencil-thing is something I've had my whole life; it comes and goes. Standing up after sitting down for a long time has also made me so light-headed that I instantly fall to the floor on my hands and knees: another perennial issue of mine, though much more so when I was younger. I have been diagnosed with hoshimoto's autoimmune thyroiditis, and have had life-life anxiety that has only recently been dealt with.
If these are new symptoms for you, then I don't like that. Anxiety is a possible cuase for these symptoms, however, I believe that if you were suffering from a heart or other cardiovascular condition, diziness and blurred vision would make sense too.
I still don't like this one bit:
1. Pulsatile tinnitus
2. Tinnitus
3. Weakness in hands
4. Light-headedness and blurred vision when standing
A tumor or something could be limiting blood-flow to your brain, and from what you have reported, it sounds like no physician knows about these symptoms(except the tinnitus) which could all stem from a serious cardiovascular condition--only your mother knows who has some axe to gride with headphones. I still stick to my original advice; if you are still unwilling to follow it as of yet, then please promise you'll seek emergency medical attention if you develop new or worsening symptom that indicate serious cardiovascular/neurological failure/malfunction.

 

Ya. But I think you'll have to live a little cautiously when it comes to loud noise.

 

@AnxiousJon
I feel that it is very dodgy too, but I just can't know.

Since that day, I haven't experience pulsatile tinnitus again, ever. Which is weird. I do unfortunately still have tinnitus, but luckily I have gotten over it. I don't hear it at all until I'm about to sleep at night, and it in no way does it effect my sleep.

Weakness in hands, I think I can safely say, was caused by anxiety. I haven't experienced it since. So is the light-headedness. I panicked way too much. There is no dizziness ever, by the way. Phew.

However, I do get blurred vision occasionally. My vision goes kinda dark and fuzzy until I blink my eyes and they clear. It's very rarely, and now that I think of it, not caused by standing up. It's more like when I move into a different room and the lighting changes. I'm not sure though, and I'll have to monitor how it happened the next time it happens.

So at least some bad symptoms have been mitigated, but yes, really, there is no changing the fact I could hear pulsing in my ear. My mum doesn't listen, though, and considering I'm really not experiencing anything out-of-the-ordinary right now I highly doubt she'd take me to a professional.

 

If something crazy does happen and no one believes you and thus won't take you to an ER, step outside, and in private(someone who doesn't believe you might try to stop you; don't let them know if they don't), dial 911. Or if you have no cell with you, pound on a neighbor's door and use their phone to dial 911. I'm glad you're doing fine for now.