First Week's Experience, and as yet, Undiagnosed

I treasure my ears. Sound, sound design, music, music making, speaker design, sound art, everything. I've never experienced proper tinnitus before, until just about a week ago. It's in one ear only, at around 4900 Hz (self-tested) or an octave thereof. Underlying potential causes? I've been borderline hypothyroid for years. Loud noise? Very little, though as a teen there would have been more. I carry ear protection though since my 30s (I'm 43 now).

I live in Taipei though hail from Los Angeles. The constant drone of scooter traffic certainly constitutes noise pollution here in the city, one of the densest in the world. I don't think the decibel level and my limit exposure at close range are enough to pose a risk.

My mother, a professional vocalist all her life, has suffered from tinnitus more severely in recent years, and I was beginning to look into the research on notched therapies, or intending to, and now this hits me - my own case.

At present, wearing an ear plug in the affected ear reduces the ringing (it's not pulsating). Well....looking forward to learning more soon.

 

Welcome, Silas. Taipei and Hong Kong are some of the busiest and loudest cities in the world. You are so right about the noise level but it shouldn't contribute to tinnitus, otherwise every one in those cities would have tinnitus to deal with. Saying that, I must say the loud road noise all around you in those cities sure can mask the T to a large degree. I remember the last time I was in Hong Kong, I kind of enjoyed the road noises as I walked around the busy streets, because the noises really helped masking off my ultra high pitch T, even if just partially. LOL. How do people get used to that kind of noise day in and day out?

 

I'm new to this too. Praying daily that it fades. Mine was an acute onset after a horrible ear infection 2 weeks ago. I self-diagnosed on the Internet using audinotch.com at around 14700 hz. I have an audio test on Wednesday and hope it's good news as I don't feel I've lost hearing. Sometimes it is hypersensitive.
I'll pray for you as well.

 

Welcome @silas what do you mean by "borderline" hypertyroidism ?

 

Physicians do term it as borderline when one is just barely in the range of hypothyroidism but perhaps not showing symptoms (a not uncommon state). The thyroid condition at this stage might not be treated with medication, but rather observed more closely and tested more often, on guard for any changes, rather than starting medication immediately when one is asymptomatic.

I've noticed, btw, that using a earplug in the affected ear calms the ringing somewhat, even after removed (but then it slowly rises in level again, eventually). Anyone experience this?