Another Unfortunate Case

[Casper]

Like so many unfortunate others here, I caused my own tinnitus by standing too close to a speaker at a music concert. It was at a small indoor venue and the music was much too loud. Naturally, I regret it, but I figure there's no point in dwelling on that. At this point I'm just doing my best to stay positive and hope that the ringing either goes away entirely or that I simply get used to it.

In my case, there was a loud ringing in my ears for the first three or four days after the concert. It was loud enough that it would distract me during conversations with others. At this point I wasn't too worried, because I had read that it would most likely be temporary. By the end of the third day, the ringing was almost entirely gone. In its place, however, was a faint ringing sound that hasn't gone away for the past four weeks.

I'm unsure how to measure the severity of the ringing, because I can't find the reference points that others on the forum are using for the numerical scale. Thus, I'll provide some examples 1) I can hear a distinct ringing at night when my ear is on the pillow or when I am in a quiet room, 2) I hear almost no ringing during day-to-day activities (I'm very grateful for this), but 3) I always hear the ringing when I am surrounded by a loud, drone-like noise.

I don't entirely understand this last case, and hope someone can explain this to me. For example, I don't hear any ringing when I am in the bathroom and it is relatively silent (I live on a busy street). As soon as I turn the fan on, however, I'll hear the ringing. Similarly, I'll hear the ringing very distinctly when my car's heater is on full-blast, but not so much otherwise. The same happens when I use my laptop in a quiet room. As soon as I turn the fan/heater/laptop off, the ringing will return to its usual volume immediately.

I've also made an appointment with an ENT for tomorrow. Are there any particular questions I should ask? I'd like to maximize my chance of recovery. In the meantime, I've completely stopped listening to music through headphones/earbuds, and have avoided all restaurants/bars and other noisy establishments. I already eat a fairly healthy diet and get plenty of exercise, but if there are any other things I should be doing, I'd greatly appreciate the advice.

Finally, and this is probably the question that scares me the most, is it possible that it will get worse with time?

 

[SilverSpiral]

Your symptoms sound sort of similar to mine, but somewhat less severe (by your description). No solutions, but I try to figure out more about these symptoms here (to no avail) https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/hearing-distortion-recruitment-reactive-tinnitus.19449/

And for your question at the end. Yes it can get worse of course, but it's probably best if you don't focus on that.

 

[billie48]

At this point I'm just doing my best to stay positive and hope that the ringing either goes away entirely or that I simply get used to it.

Welcome to the forum. While you can learn some insights and strategies from others to help your recovery, the quoted sentence above really touches on the essence of speeding up habituation. Staying positive will reduce your stress level and high stress is bad for T. For many members, T either fades over time or that they get used to it - habituation. If you can carry this attitude thorough your T journey, then it is only a matter of time you will get better.

On the fact that exposing to some noise seems to turn on T, you may have what some call 'reactive tinnitus', that T seems to get louder and more irritating when exposed to other sounds. I don't know if there is such a thing called 'reactive T', but it may suggest some element of hyperacusis in your T. Usually H can scare us when it first appears. But for many who have H, it just fades over time. I am one of those who had H, reactive T whatever, and that it later just faded. So don't worry too much about this.

Will T get worse over time? I guess it is a personal thing. Some people say it gets worse but also many say they get better over time. The one thing which is quite common is that our perception of T changes with time, that even with a louder T we seem to handle it in stride compared to initial stage. Watch these two famous celebrities talking about their T. They said their T was getting worse back in 1996 when the show was taped. But as of recent time, both of these guys are still functional human beings and probably enjoying their retirement now. So don't project our future based on the worst time of suffering. Things will not turn out too bad actually. Take good care. God bless.

 

[devonlee]

@Casper I can relate. My tinnitus is always there. I'd say the longest I go without noticing it is about an hour, when I'm going about day-to-day activities. When it is quiet I think it's only louder because I've taken away all background noise. The part that drives me nuts though is the stupid things that trigger me like you mentioned. In my living room there are two large ceiling fans that make virtually no noise, but when I sit in that room to watch TV my tinnitus decides that it's time to have a party. (We have to have those fans on - we heat with a wood stove so we need to move the hot air around)
It's also really bad at work, especially in the last 3 or 4 hours of my shift when I'm getting tired and I feel that my ears have been "over stimulated" by a days work. I'm currently at work (It's 1:30am here) and I've had to move my work station 3 times to try to avoid triggers. I do this to avoid having to explain to my co-workers why their cell phone alerts and music on their phone is driving me bananas. Don't really want everyone to think I'm just a big complainer.
Another bad trigger for me is driving in the car. I've set a limit for myself on music volume in the car even though having the music on doesn't bother me. I just do it in case.
I'm rambling. Avoiding paperwork while working night shift will do that to ya.

Anyways, it's nice to find someone who has very similar sounding t although mine has absolutely no clear cause at this point but it is not loud noise exposure or whiplash.

 

[fhs]

Permanent tinnitus typically stays at the same level of intensity as long as you don't expose yourself to loud sounds again.

 

[Casper]

Welcome to the forum. While you can learn some insights and strategies from others to help your recovery, the quoted sentence above really touches on the essence of speeding up habituation. Staying positive will reduce your stress level and high stress is bad for T. For many members, T either fades over time or that they get used to it - habituation. If you can carry this attitude thorough your T journey, then it is only a matter of time you will get better.

Thanks for the encouraging words. I have to admit that there have been a few bad days. A few nights ago I let my mind wander and explore the possibilities of what would happen if it never improved, and as a result I was on the verge of an anxiety attack. I've been a lot more positive since then, however, especially after reading some of the success stories on the forum. At this point I reason that, even if it never goes away, I will eventually learn to live with it. Based on some of the stories by other users, it sounds like people who have it much, much, worse than I do also eventually learn to habituate.

On the fact that exposing to some noise seems to turn on T, you may have what some call 'reactive tinnitus', that T seems to get louder and more irritating when exposed to other sounds. I don't know if there is such a thing called 'reactive T', but it may suggest some element of hyperacusis in your T. Usually H can scare us when it first appears. But for many who have H, it just fades over time. I am one of those who had H, reactive T whatever, and that it later just faded. So don't worry too much about this.

What do you mean when you say that you don't know if there is such a thing as "reactive T"? I have seen it mentioned elsewhere, but the descriptions all vary somewhat. Would you mind sharing how long it took for your H to fade? At this point the H is probably worse than the T for me.

@Casper I can relate. My tinnitus is always there. I'd say the longest I go without noticing it is about an hour, when I'm going about day-to-day activities. When it is quiet I think it's only louder because I've taken away all background noise. The part that drives me nuts though is the stupid things that trigger me like you mentioned. In my living room there are two large ceiling fans that make virtually no noise, but when I sit in that room to watch TV my tinnitus decides that it's time to have a party. (We have to have those fans on - we heat with a wood stove so we need to move the hot air around)
It's also really bad at work, especially in the last 3 or 4 hours of my shift when I'm getting tired and I feel that my ears have been "over stimulated" by a days work.

I completely agree with you about the annoyance of the T responding to ambient noise. In my case, the T itself is fairly mild and doesn't bother me as much, it's when these external sounds trigger an increase in volume that it bothers me. I can sympathize with the overstimulation of your ears at work. My office building has a loud ventilation pipe running right over my desk, and after eight hours it can really become unbearable. At this point I don't know if I should use ear plugs to block it out. I'm sure this would provide some relief, but I have also read that others say we need to expose our ears to (safe) ambient noise to accelerate recovery.

Permanent tinnitus typically stays at the same level of intensity as long as you don't expose yourself to loud sounds again.

I hope this is true. I've definitely learned my lesson and will be much more careful with my ears from now on.

 

[billie48]

What do you mean when you say that you don't know if there is such a thing as "reactive T"? I have seen it mentioned elsewhere, but the descriptions all vary somewhat. Would you mind sharing how long it took for your H to fade? At this point the H is probably worse than the T for me.

The term reactive T was used quite a bit to describe the symptoms, but long ago when my T was new and it reacted with sounds, I asked a doctor who anchored a former support forum about that. His reply implies what I posted, that even T seems to react with sound, it may not truly because of T, but that there is hyperacusis condition such that every sound seems louder and T also seems louder, making it like T reacts with sound but it can be mild hyperacusis playing tricks. My H faded within the year it started. Yes, H makes life miserable as it can limit where you can go and you become neurotic of every noise around you. Wearing earplugs all the time is no fun either. I had to cut off all social life initially because of H. Glad that it didn't stay long.

 

[Casper]

My H faded within the year it started. Yes, H makes life miserable as it can limit where you can go and you become neurotic of every noise around you. Wearing earplugs all the time is no fun either. I had to cut off all social life initially because of H. Glad that it didn't stay long.

It's good to hear that your H eventually faded. Do you have any advice on how to accelerate the healing process? I've seen posts on the forum where users recommend that you do not use headphones at all, but then I have also seen others suggest that it's beneficial to listen to white noise through headphones. Similarly, I've seen posts suggesting that it's best to avoid noise while recovering from H, but then also not to use ear plugs because it can make H worse. At this point I really don't know what I'm supposed to do but wait.

To explain my H, I'd say that I'm mostly fine throughout the day, except for this ventilation pipe that runs above my desk that can be annoying after a few hours. Similarly, the nature of my job means that I hear my computer fan all day. This also leads to some sensitivity after a few hours. I don't actually experience any pain from daily noises (traffic, conversations, shower), but I do experience mild discomfort when I have to listen to any of the sounds that trigger my T for an extended period of time. Do you think I should be blocking these noises that cause me discomfort? Or is it important to acclimatize to them for recovery? To clarify, I never had any problems with listening to the ventilation pipe or my computer fan before T started.

 

[billie48]

I think H is a highly individual thing. You are the best judge how much noise you can take before it hurts. Others can only give you general caution. Generally, you should wear earplugs for loud places but for normal ambient sounds, you don't need to use earplugs if you can handle the ambient sounds. If you block off every ambient sounds all day for extended of time, then you can develop sound sensitivity. But only you know how much noise level you can take. So use your judgement. About headphones, I think it is different from earplugs. Headphones emits sounds while earplugs block off sounds. I think there is a balance between quality of life and no life. If you are a music lover and you can't listen to music on headphone, that may dent your quality of life. But if your ears are already very sensitive to sounds, it may not be advisable to use headphone unless you can securely control the volume to be lower than the T. That is how TRT maskers are set, not to overpower the T sound so there is a chance to habituate to T. Again use your wisdom as general advice is just general advise. People's experience can be different. Good luck. God bless.