Anyone Developed New Tinnitus Tones from 24/7 Hearing Protection?

I recently had a really bad noxacusis setback. My sound tolerance has bottomed out and I am in hearing protection 24/7.

I’m not here to debate my choice to wear it all day. So please don’t bring that in here. I am having pain in 30ish dB environments without it.

It’s been about three weeks now and this week I have developed a new very difficult to tolerate tone in my left ear. It is a low hum like an appliance hum and anytime I move my head it feels like it’s vibrating. Perhaps pulsatile or just occlusion.

When I do take the hearing protection off I can’t hear it at all currently. Don’t know if that would change if I was able to go without the earmuffs and/or earplugs.

I have been taking Klonopin PRN for a few months since I began to worsen. Only about two times a month. Maybe three this month. I’ve never had any issues before really with it, it’s the only other thing I can think of that would have caused this tone.

I guess maybe just stress also as going from pretty high functioning daily to barely being able to drive and even run a vacuum with double protection is a huge change for me.

But mainly curious if anyone has developed a tone specifically from constant protecting or that’s what they believe caused it.

 

Not my own experience, but there is some evidence of tinnitus brought by simulated hearing loss:

Reversible Induction of Phantom Auditory Sensations through Simulated Unilateral Hearing Loss

This was unilateral deprivation though.

 

Thank you, it would be great if I could take off the protection and it would go away, if this is the cause. Unfortunately, I've tried exposing myself for limited period and I get pain after minutes without protection. Those exposures may even have made me worse since I bottomed out.

 

I am sorry to hear about your situation, I wish I could help more. I wish I was a medical doctor. It is totally plausible that the new tone was brought in by the sound deprivation, and it is very reasonable to assume that. Have you tried to get hold of medications for neuropathic pain like Gabapentin? Keppra?

 

No I haven’t tried any new meds. I took Clonazepam about a month after my tinnitus onset for a little over a year, then tapered. I may look into getting back on it full time again. It quietened my tinnitus for quite a while while I took it. Eventually it wore off, but while wearing hearing protection 24/7 it could really help me adjust since that effect currently seems to be happening again.

I hate trying new meds because of spiking. I’m pretty sensitive to meds. Almost everything I’ve ever taken since tinnitus onset has spiked me. Multiple ADs, low-dose Amitriptyline, Zopiclone, Diclofenac just off the top of my head.

At this stage I don’t know that my pain is bad enough to where I need meds to cope. I don’t think I’d stop protecting 24/7 for the time being out of fear the Type 2 afferents are being sensitized and would just continue to get worse, even if the meds reduced the pain.

Thanks for the suggestions though. I really appreciate it.