Another Newbie Looking for Advice/Support

Hi guys,
New to the forum but I've been lurking for the past month or so. Hoping to get some advice and support.

A bit of background - 33 years of age, male, work in an office environment, rarely get exposed to loud noises/concerts, I use headphones, sometimes on a higher setting than I probably should but not that often.

About 4 weeks ago, I was out with a group of friends at a BBQ, there was music coming from a speaker (not that loud as we were far away from it) but I went over to it to turn it down towards the end of the night, might have been loud in my ears for perhaps 2 or 3 seconds max.
I went to bed as I normal and noticed that I had a ringing in my right ear. I didn't think much of it and went to sleep, woke up the next day and ever since then, I have this low pitched ringing in my right ear. It doesn't really affect me during the day as I work in an office and I'm surrounded by other ambient noises, it's only when I go to bed or sit in a very quiet room that I notice it.

It's really started to get me down. I've been to two regular GP's, the first prescribed me Avamys nasal spray, the second prescribed me Vibramycin. Both said my ears look a bit dull when they inspected me, I haven't had any illness or infection or anything like that. Work has been quite stressful as of late though if that matters.

Both GP's have just told me to wait it out for a month but I'm at that stage now with no improvement or change.

I've been using the spray each day for the past 3 weeks and finished the 10 day course of Vibramycin but the ringing has been the same with no change.

I was away on vacation for 8 days and with the noisier environment, I didn't hear it as much - fans and ac in the background when sleeping.

We got home last night and I thought that the T had subsided a bit but woke up this morning to the same awful ringing. It really is driving me down.

I'm not sure what else to do, should I go see an ear specialist and if I do? What exactly will they do other than what the GP's have done?

Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated

 

Hey and welcome. I'd say lay off the headphones for a while-6 months. Try to stay away from anything escessively loud or bring plugs if you do. You should see improvement soon and hopefully never return to this forum! I mean that in a good way. People here are great but a lot of us started with mild T and got complancent. Annecdotely my close friend had t for like 6 months after he attended my show it went away completely for him! Best of luck and try not to overthink it

 

Try to relax! Reduce all your stress, ask for a leave if necessary. Stress can deteriorate thinks.

 

Hi both, thanks for the replies.

I will definitely stay away from the headphones for a while. I'm really struggling here at the moment with the Tinnitus. The past few days have been torture and I think it's really started to affect my mood. If I wake in the middle of the night, all I hear is the ringing in my right ear. I am not coping well at the moment.. Every time I wake, the fact that I hear the noise just sends me into a horrible feeling. I'm not sure what I can do about this, if anything.

I've been to two GP's/doctors, I've finished one course of antibiotics and still using a nasal spray. I feel it's having a big negative impact on me.

Sometimes my right ear feels a bit blocked up or stuffed, not fully but maybe it's my imagination too, I'm not sure. The doctors GP's that examined me say I don't have a build up of wax either. I've started to do this thing with my lower jaw where I try to stretch it forward and it makes a few clicks on the right side beneath my ear. I'm not sure why I do it, it doesn't give me any comfort but it's strange that it clicks on that side on not the other.

Any words of encouragement or any advice on coping with this would be appreciated. I know Rogerde said to reduce all stress but the T is the main cause of my stress right now. Help.

 

Have you had a hearing test done? If not, I found that there's a great little free app for your iPhone that exactly matched the professional hearing test I had done in the Dr. office. I don't know if it's available to android but I use an iphone with Apple earpods and the test is very accurate. The app is called "mimi hearing test" and is 100% free.

 

Headphone use is one of the most common causes of tinnitus so I advise that you stop using them. Please click on the links below and read my posts.

Michael

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/new-to-tinnitus-what-to-do.12558/

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/tinnitus-a-personal-view.18668/

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/hyperacusis-as-i-see-it.19174/

 

Do you know how many people I saw today using earbuds? From young to old age. Its NUTS....earbuds should not be used at all. Not high nor low volume.....the damage builds. I used to listen to my ipod for 10 years on 80%...now I am dealing with H and T as a result ….educate the people....we will see more of T

 

I agree with everything you have said @dpdx

I see many people daily using earbuds and headphones who are totally immersed into what they are listening to and often unaware their music is set too loud. Trying to educate these people about risks of developing tinnitus, using these dangerous devices for extended periods and at high a volume levels, I think would be futile because they wouldn’t believe it.

Please look closer to home and in particular to this forum. I have been a member here for four years. As far as I can recall, I was the first person to regularly advise about the dangers of using headphones for anyone with “noise induced” tinnitus. The response to my comments over the years have often been met with a foray of contempt at times abuse for saying such a thing and I am asked to produce medical data and to show proof, where headphones use can make tinnitus worse even at low volume for some people with noise induced tinnitus.

A lot of people put their faith in the advice ENT doctors, Audiologists and Hearing Therapists tell them, that using headphones is perfectly fine as long as the volume is kept low. This advice is coming from medical professionals that mostly likely have never experienced tinnitus in their life let alone long term. The sad truth can come to light when a person habituates to tinnitus, returns to using headphones and finds after a while the tinnitus increases and will not return to its previous manageable level. There are many posts in this forum from distressed members to support this.

All the best
Michael