Brand New Case of Tinnitus

[Scooby]

Hello there,

I'd heard of Tinnitus, but had no reason to believe it would impact me until I caught a mild cold a month ago. It cleared up within a week and seemed fairly mild overall, but left in its wake was — shockingly — a high-pitched whine/whooshing sound in my left ear, which has continued virtually unabated since then.

Like many of the cases I've been reading on this board, it gets better and worse. When I go to the gym, it's definitely worse. At night, it generally seems better, but I woke up in the early morning yesterday and it was as loud as it's ever been. At other times, randomly, it can go either way.

I've already been to my MD and to an ENT. The ENT had an audiologist test my hearing (which was fine) and gave me a steroid nasal spray. I've been using a Neti Pot over the past week, which has definitely cleared out my sinuses, but the sound continues. I am beginning to worry this isn't going to go away on its own.

Understanding that it's still early, does anyone have any thoughts about what I should be trying at this stage?

Thanks!

 

[billie48]

Welcome to the forum.
There are many great threads on TT which can help a new T sufferer. Here is an excellent thread started by a member on what to do when you are new with tinnitus and stressed out. I added some comments to the OP's thread, but you can scroll up to post #1 to read up on the excellent suggestions by the original poster.

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/new-and-stressed-with-tinnitus-read-this-first.3978/#post-40275


TT also has this excellent support thread which besides giving you some excellent masking sounds with an audio player, it also contains tips and step by step instructions for newer sufferers. It contains link to the Positivity Thread, a sleep thread, as well as links to ATA & BTA for more useful info. The more you learn about T, the less you will be fearful of it and the easier for the brain to stay calm. Here is the link for it: ((the icons on the left side give you step-by-step instructions what to do and the audio player is highlighted by the hypertext 'our player')

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/panic/

So, relax. There are many things one can do to get better. Instead of wasting energy on worry and panicking, perhaps follow some of these steps and suggestions to see if they can help you feel better. As the thread suggests, read up as many success stories as you can to give you hope and to learn the proven insights, strategies or approaches. Just copy success and just do it. Take good care and God bless.

 

[Scooby]

Thanks for the reply and the encouragement!

Realizing that mine might be diminishing naturally over time since it was (likely) triggered by a virus, I've been going to sleep over the past few nights listing to this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nKo4jYDO9FQ

It's not gone yet, but after 3-4 days I'd say that it's at least 50% better. For anyone reading this, it's worth a try. It helps if you're a heavy sleeper like I am, as I can fall asleep even with the beeping.