7 Years and Almost 7 Months Ago

the ringing began to appear in my left ear, and when I finally began to get used to it, then 8-9 months later, it started in my right one as well.

I knew early on that the likeable cause was because of the 15 to 20 years of listening to music wearing headphones, and while I have always tried to live by the 60/60 rule (if the volume go up to 20, I would never go above 11 or 12 and always make sure to take a break after 50-60 minutes of time).
But with the whole loudness war going in the late 90s/early 00s, having old CDs suddenly being remastered to Spinal Tap "These go to eleven" levels of painful and very overblown dimensions, listening to my favorite songs now became quite a "challenge" as some went to 11 while other was down on 6-7 (or so it felt) and my ear drums sure did get a lot of tough beatings when listening to unremastered songs (on my Minidisc) then jumping one track ahead to a remastered song and over time, and suddenly my ears began to get used to always staying at level 11, and I would often got the "full" or tired feel/sensation to them, sometimes not even having heard more than one or two songs in a row.

Anyway, I am not really good at cutting a long story short but I will try and well, be a bit more effective so I jump onwards to January 2017:

I had experienced some small, small changes in my hearing, not something I was very worried about but sometimes I kind of had the feel that some of the vocal/harmony/background music/vocal bits were not as easy to hear anymore, and for about 6-7 months ago I began taking notice that the low frequency in certain parts of a song (which I had heard a hundred times or more) now felt not the same, like somebody had muted it down, not completely gone, but enough to make me feel a bit depressed and scared that something very wrong was going on.

Months go by and in early june this year I got a hearing test at a ear/nose/throat clinic, and was met by a specialist who did not seem to be much worried but on the other hand, I felt the whole 3 minutes of time I got to try an explain my situation was very rushed and a complete waste of time.
Not before I had entered his office, I was suddenly "dragged" out to have a check up by a audiologist, then to come back and be told that "you have the hearing of a 10 year old" and "completely normal".
The next thing I knew was that another patient had already sneaked in behind me, and the doctor/specialist was behind his computer writing things down, and he was obivously through with me.
I felt like I was part of a assembly line in some factory than having been at a medical/health appointment that I waited 6 months of time for, to have a chance of telling my story and to be taken serious.

4-5 weeks go by and I ended up listening to an old favorite song of mine, when I noticed that some of the lyrics/vocal parts was suddenly not as easy to hear anymore and I got a hold of a appointment at a private ear/nose/throat clinic.
And today I went there for a new hearing test and a chat with a doctor/specialist.

I started up with a regular hearing test, inside a sound proof/tight little room (not a big fan of these tight/small places), and then I completely panicked (I am a big hypochondriac/health anixty for the past 17 years sufferer) anyway, I was sure this is it. I felt I had failed the test completely, and I just wanted to get out and home as fast as humanly possible.

30 minutes later, I get the call up from the doc, and while I was expecting the worst (as I always do), he suddenly told me that he thinks that I might suffer with hyperacusis as my hearing test showed that and he said: "You have not great hearing, you have fantastic hearing, and you are very lucky, but at the same time your ears are very sensitive".
Which I guess I have always somehow known but not really bothered with, because even as a kid I would often hold my hands over my ears in certain situations including lots of sudden/sharp/loud noises that none of the other kids in my class seemed to care much about, but for me they were almost unbearable and often hurt my ears.
Later on the doctor then said that sometimes the brain can be overactive or something like that when dealing with tinnitus/hearing, (I did not remember everything he said) and since I am a big hypochondriac and know damn well how manipulating and powerful the brain/mind can be, he said that he wanted to send me to another ear/nose/throat clinic who will measure my frequency/tinnitus etc, and also book an appointment with a (I tried to search for the english word but the only thing that came up was: teacher for the hairing impaired).

Anyway, I guess in the meantime, I just have to wait and see, and for now try and somehow relax a bit, and not do all these crazy tests to check up if there is something wrong with my hearing/ears or worse to go online and search the web for some comfort/relief, which for me is never a good thing (as I always end up with the absolute worst horror stories, and ends up putting several diagnosis upon myself, and which do little good for my health anxiety and its catastrophic way of thinking).

I have been snooping/lurking around here for a short while now, but I thought it was time to at least write a bit/introduce myself and I am sorry for this very long post, but I am not very good at keeping things short/tidy.
From what I have seen, this looks like a great place with lots of informative posts and people, and I will try to be more active in the future.

By the way I am 32 years old, male and I have no ilness/disorders or any family related history when it comes to tinnitus or other hearing problems.

Frank.N.Steen

 

Welcome @Frank.N.Steen (love the name btw). I am sorry to hear of your suffering. Tinnitus is difficult, and based on the fact that you doctor also said that you "ears are very sensitive" implies to me (I am not a doctor, so this is just a guess) that you may also have hyperacusis.

If you have not found the following posts yet, I would suggest reading them, they will provide a lot of information and hopefully some help and comfort.

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/tinnitus-a-personal-view.18668/
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/answers-to-hyperacusis-and-habituation.12058/

These were written by @Michael Leigh. I find myself posting his links often because he has both a breath and depth of knowledge on these subjects, and rather than paraphrasing, and possibly distorting his work, it is best for all involved for me to just link his articles. I would also suggest searching out others that he has posted, then will help.

I do not believe that tinnitus is hereditary (again, I am not a doctor, so I may be wrong). I base my belief on the fact that I have had this (as fas as I know) my entire life, and my identical twin brother does not. So, for me, that eliminates any genetic component (unless there is a genetic pre-disposition and mine was triggered and his was not).

Hang in there, it will get better. If you look through the success stories section you will find many people have either had their symptoms end, or have learned to habituate (learn to ignore the symptoms).

Please keep us informed on your progress.

I wish you well, and hope that you find what you need here.

 

Thanks.
My username is, well, I love the old Hammer Horror movies with Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee.
I agree that I might have some hyperacusis but as of now, it is not something which is giving me a lot of grief or problems.

I posted my first "official" topic/thread in the Tinnitus - support section:
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/hidden-hearing-loss.23944/#post-276395

I am sorry for my late reply, i thought I might wait till I had finished my next hearing test/appointment with a ear/nose/throad doc/expert and I have also been to a teacher for the hairing himpaired (audiopedagogy or something like that) and I do have another test in november this year.
Anyway, I decided to come back after being through with most of the sessions/meetings, so I had some news or information to come with.

Thanks for information and your welcome, and I will try to post and read upon others topics/posts more frequently in the future.