17 y/o with Tinnitus for a Little Over a Week Now

Hello, my name is Matty and I woke up with tinnitus a little over a week now.
It was SUDDEN, I went swimming the day before and woke up with tinnitus in one ear and seem to have it in both now. However, I had experience with occasionally tinnitus before that always lasted seconds. Just seconds and it was gone. I never had anything like this, I don't go into clubs, drink or smoke. I have experience with anxiety and just nonsensical dread but never with tinnitus. I'm healthy with a tendency to be lazy (I've spent my holiday in a chair playing games). But that's it. There is nothing extraordinary that should cause this.
Ever since then I have this loud whistling in my ear that never stops or even subsides. It makes me want to cry because I fear it won't disappear and will hinder my studies, and I also fear that it will completely break my mind given time.
I also have this pressure at the back (sometimes at the front) of my head and mildly in the ear where it originally started.
There were these ear drops that I tried and were supposed to clear out wax and other stuff but they did not help.
Can this be something temporary?

 

Getting water inside your ear canal while swimming can lead to infections which can in turn generate tinnitus. It is also possible for a barotrauma to occur if you have equalization problems, even in shallow water.

I would seek medical advice ASAP if you haven't done so already.

 

Hi Matty and welcome,

It absolutely can be temporary, there are others who have had something similar from swimming and had it disappear. It could be from pressure if you have dived deeply, maybe caused some temporary damage to the eardrum. Did you notice anything at the time or does your hearing maybe feel a little different?

There are a number of pieces of advice, most important is getting your ears checked out by a doctor. Have a look here at our don't panic guide, hopefully this will ease the anxiety https://www.tinnitustalk.com/panic/

I always had fleeting tinnitus when younger too, a few seconds then fading away again. It is scary as hell the first time you hear tinnitus for a prolonged time, anxiety is a big enemy here so you need to try and manage that reaction to it, distract yourself and try to forget the tinnitus sounds with games, music etc (not too loud though).

Steve

 

You are still in the beginning fase. See a doctor about prednisone asap.

 

Thanks! The thread is very helpful.

I didn't dive that deep, but on the other hand the water was pretty cold. I checked in with an ENT today and told him that I have T for over a week now so he precribed me with gentamicine ear drops in case this is in fact due to an ear infection. But I don't feel any ear pain at all. Only some pressure from the source ear coupled with occasional jaw tension, head pressure and sometimes dizziness...well in retrospect it may be some sort of ear infection, heh. Anyways, I hope the drops will help because this noise is maddening.

 

Hi Matty,

I think everyone has given you good advice, but also be careful of loud noise from things like headphones etc. if that's something you participate in.

Be well and let us know how things go, we're here for you.

 

Hopefully it is just an infection then and it will clear up soon. Did the Doctor check for any damage (guessing he did as that's pretty standard)?

In the mean time do like awbw8 says and don't listen to anything too loud, when gaming keep the volume reasonable too. I also find that getting too tense and annoyed with gaming can make mine worse so maybe avoid that - of course if I just got a little better that wouldn't be a problem, though I'm pretty sure it's server problems and not my skill level.....

 

Tinnitus is hands down one of the most obscure and frustrating ailments I have experienced in my relatively short life and I have experience with anxiety and even had chicken pox a few months back.

It's so hard to describe and even properly evaluate. I can't even tell if my Tinnitus is getting better due to the meds or if I am just getting used to it.

 

Hopefully there will be something in the future to help with this condition.
It seems there's so many ways you can get this,from acoustic trauma to medication
to spontaneous coming out of nowhere,( although it's mostly not knowing the cause).
Ear infections,certain pressure applied (i have heard people experience this in an airplane)

Don't be discouraged though,at your age recovery is more likely to happen.

 

Don't worry and despair about the future. Many young school age members get better over time. Here are some of them and their success stories. Have faith that you can get better like them. Take good care and God bless your recovery.

17 years old Zach:
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/fake-it-until-you-make-it.7590/

Jari with T since 12 years old:
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/new.7670/

College age AnneG success story:
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/came-back-to-say-it-really-does-get-better.6166/

Lena to hell & back story as a university student:
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/i-finally-get-out-of-hell.7576/\

 

Thank you all!

I think my Tinnitus is improving slowly, but it's hard to evaluate. I can't notice it in a shower or when occupied. Then again I feel there are spikes in it's volume that induce intense anxious feelings in me and the only thing that helps is reminding myself that it's just how I recieve noise, not an actual noise inside my head. Still it's very agitating, irritating and discomforting (especially at night). I can't be in my class for long because all the sound just assaults me and makes me want to just explode outwards. I wish it would just end.

Oh and I checked in with another ENT and she said that it might be stemming from my neck because it started in one ear (on the same side to which I turn my head the most). I got prescribed Vertimed which is supposed to surpress vertigo and Tinnitus (even though I don't really feel it's doing anything) and I was also told to get a sonigraph ASAP. Moreover, I also booked a massage session.

My question is: Can Tinnitus be purely psychic in nature? Cause I think it might be my anxiety causing this.

tl;dr - My T may be getting better, but the discomfort in my ears is making me jumpy and anxious. Got new meds and various contingency plans.