ENT Visit — On My Way Out I Got a Leaflet "How to Live with Tinnitus"

I just recently left my ENT appointment and on my way out they gave me a how to live with tinnitus sheet.

Based on the size of that stack of sheets I assume they hand out a lot. I hope we find relief soon

 

What do you think caused your tinnitus, were you around loud noise, ototoxic drugs, loud mp3 players, head trauma, TMD, cervical spine issues?

Finding the problem could fix it or give you some hope for future research

 

Hello!

It started as a very faint ringing that I could barely hear 8 years ago which was likely caused by stress/anxiety/medications. I have been suffering from anxiety for many years. Fast forward to feb 2018 after a very stressful week I woke up with a very high pitch ringing in my ears. I visited my GP and started taking Zoloft which I believe has helped. Also, been using Ativan to help with panic attacks. I don’t use headphones, but have been to loud venues with hearing protection. Recently, I have been sick and my ears have been very crackly and popping a lot. Now my T has been getting worst. I am coping the best I can right now. Hearing test shows mild hearing loss. I guess it could be a combination of things that caused it. Thank you @Contrast

 

hearing loss is a confirmed trigger of tinnitus, and hearing loss with stress can trigger tinnitus but not stress alone I don't believe.

You may have more hearing loss, there are higher frequencies about 8k + speech in background noise ENT"s do not test when they should.

How loud is your tinnitus?

Was your original 2010 tinnitus high mid low pitch before it worsened?

I am asking questions to find similarities or common themes with tinnitus

 

Wild guess: it's those loud venues (with hearing protection) that have an important responsibility in your hearing loss. Notice how the low frequencies are affected more that highs? Hearing protection doesn't do as good a job with low frequencies (see http://www.hearnet.com/at_risk/risk_at_risk.shtml ), so you may have been exposed to "more than you bargained for" in the low frequencies, without noticing it.

Just speculation of course...

 

My T is what I would consider mild/moderate. Indoors i use sound enrichment and masking especially at night when I’m trying to sleep. Most of the time outdoors I can barely hear it unless I listen for it. I can hear it in my car though so I use music at a comfortable volume. I get fleeting T often which passes after a minute or so. Certain sounds do cause my T to get much louder but it usually settles to baseline. In 2010 it was a very low pitch nothing that bothered me. Maybe i can ask for a hearing test above 8k? @GregCA thank you for the link. I never even considered this as a possibility. Only been to a couple loud events. Maybe they are not good enough? They are custom made ones. I’m not uncomfortable while there, but it could be a contributing factor. Appreciate the help.

 

The only way to live with tinnitus is to not die.