First Time Ringing in Ears

[Andrew2018]

Hello everyone. I ended up here today while researching possible causes of tinnitus. I woke up at 6AM this morning with a loud ringing in my left ear. This has never happened to me before. Before I realized what it was I thought it might be a distant alarm going off, and I almost asked my wife if she could hear it, too. But then it became clear to me that the noise was in my ear. I put my head to my pillow and it got louder. I put my hand over my ear and it got louder. I stayed awake for a few minutes thinking things like, "This is REALLY loud" and "Great. Now I get to deal with ringing in my ear" and "Is this my body trying to tell me something/get me out of bed and moving for some reason." I also tried to stay relaxed and calm and I eventually did go back to sleep for a little while. When I woke up again about an hour-and-a-half later the tinnitus was completely gone and hasn't reoccurred.

So I'm here wondering what could have caused that to happen. I have not been subjected to loud noises. I don't listen to loud music. I'm most concerned about this temporary tinnitus being some sort of symptom of another health problem, although in general I'm in good health: 45, physically fit, no smoking, no alcohol, no drugs (prescription or otherwise), relatively low stress levels. Never a health problem in my life. Of course, I'm also concerned that it's going to happen again, because even if it's not a symptom of some sort of serious underlying health condition, it clearly could become a significant problem all on its own even if the only problem is the ringing itself. I can't even imagine what it would be like to live with that ringing all the time.

Anyway, that's my story and why I'm here looking for info. If you have any insights I would very much like to hear them.

Thank you! --Andrew

 

[Samantha R]

@Andrew2018
It's very scary to experience tinnitus for the first time.
All I can say is try not to worry as it has gone away. Even those without permanent tinnitus do experience episodes of "Fleeting tinnitus", it's normal.
Hopefully this was just that for you.
The unfortunate reality is that you probably won't know why you woke up with that sound, but it does seem like a random, hopefully one-off occurrence.
People live with ringing like that all day every day, 24/7. Count your lucky stars that is not you.

 

[Bill Bauer]

So I'm here wondering what could have caused that to happen.

It might be a symptom of a sudden deafness. If that's the case, it is a medical emergency - you will need to take steroids/Prednisone

https://www.masseyeandear.org/for-p...ation/diseases-and-conditions/sudden-deafness

 

[Bill Bauer]

Hearing loss assessment is accomplished differently if it is conducted by telephone interview (e.g. by a clinic nurse) or if it is a face-to-face assessment. By phone, the simplest method is to ask the patient if their hearing is reduced. The patient can move the phone from ear to ear to check for hearing asymmetry. Alternatively they can be asked to crinkle a few hairs next to the ear on each side to see if there is a difference. If the hearing is determined to be asymmetric, the next critical determination is whether the loss is conductive or sensorineural. Acute conductive hearing loss is generally not an emergency, but acute SNHL absolutely is. A simple test can often make this distinction. The patient who reports acute unilateral hearing loss is instructed to hum out loud and is then asked which side hears the voice better. Conductive hearing loss will lateralize sound (seem louder) to the blocked ear, while a sensorineural loss will lateralize sound to the good ear. Thus, one can remember that "hearing the humming in the bad ear is good and hearing it in the good ear is bad." In a face-to-face interview, hearing can also be assessed with whispered speech testing by very softly whispering simple words or numbers in each ear and asking the patient to repeat them out loud.

In all cases of suspected hearing loss examination by an Otolaryngologist is essential.
...

Since there is only a two to four week window of opportunity for treating SSNHL, it is essential to initiate therapy as soon as possible, even if a complete diagnostic work-up has not been completed. Ideally, an audiogram should be performed before starting treatment, but if it is performed within 24 - 48 hours, this an acceptable alternative. One should never postpone treatment for days or weeks to await results of imaging studies.

 

[Bill Bauer]

You might also consider HBOT treatments. The sooner you start treatment, the more effective the treatment is supposed to be.

Check out the thread below where I summarize everything (27 tips) I learned about managing tinnitus after reading the posts on this forum for the past year.
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/thread...eone-else-who-has-tinnitus.26850/#post-307822

 

[1MW]

You should take immediately high doses of methylprednisolone or dexamethasone.
It is an emergency.

 

[Jason37]

@Andrew2018 The first thing you need to do is see your doctor and explain this to him if you are worried about it. No matter the advice you get on here no one knows the proper course of treatment for you except a medical professional. If you could get an appointment to check for hearing loss it would be a good start. Please do not listen to people in here and run seeking "massive doses of prednisone" on the street corner or anything. They themselves can cause serious problems. I would just remain calm and seek to follow a course treatment from a medical professional. If it's gone then good for you!