30 Years with Tinnitus Caused by Either Loud Music or Ear Infection

Hi all,

I used to play keyboards (amateur) in a band back in the 80s. It was generally loud and distorted and I also went to some pretty loud concerts. Young and foolish! My ears would always ring afterwards but would generally get better. In my 20s I noticed that the ringing would continue for longer but after a really bad cold and possibly an ear infection the ringing remained, particularly in my right ear. I had always tended to have sinus problems and a blocked nose a lot which had also caused migraine headaches so I put it down to this. The ringing wasn't really bad and was only noticeable in really quiet situations and at night. But it didn't bother me too much.

Around the age of 28 I had a bad marriage breakup and some serious depression. Bizarrely the tinnitus disappeared around this time. I put this down to excessive crying clearing out my sinuses and Eustachian tube behind the ear. I was mostly tinnitus free for maybe 5 or 10 years.

Then it came back at the same time as I started to notice some hearing loss in my right ear. I went to my GP and was referred to ENT where they ran some tests and confirmed that I had high frequency hearing loss in my right ear which they attributed to nerve damage. They said nothing could be done and referred me to a patient help group that they ran at the hospital. I felt that my tinnitus wasn't so bad that I couldn't cope by myself. I developed lots of coping strategies mostly consisting of having some background sound (radio etc.) around me at all times to mask the tinnitus.

Over the last 15 years or so (I'm now 57) the hearing loss has got worse (but only in the right ear) and the tinnitus has got louder to the extent that I now want to do something about it (as well as the hearing loss).

It is always a very high pitched series of tones that I hear which get worse when I think, or talk about tinnitus. If I am engrossed in something else or have music or a podcast on I can usually forget about it or zone out of it.

Occasionally I get a kind of pulsing in my right ear akin to your ear popping on an airplane. It will continue for a few minutes popping every few seconds.

I do have extreme problems hearing in crowded or noisy situations and increasingly cannot hear what my children or my wife are saying! I have to make sure I am always on their right hand side so I can hear with my left.

As soon as we are out of lockdown I am going to investigate hearing aids as a way of maybe alleviating both problems and maybe go back to my GP.

Thanks for reading,
Nick

 

@Paddywack0, welcome to Tinnitus Talk and sharing your tinnitus journey with us.

I have dual purpose hearing aids due to having Bilateral Tinnitus and Meniere's Disease for over 25 years.

My ears seem to be doing a bit better in the last few days after coming off some meds that I was on for many years, but time will tell.

I'm sure you will be a great support to newcomers needing support.

love Glynis