Hello All — First Experience of Tinnitus

Hello Everybody,

first of all.. allow me to introduce myself. My name is Robert Nugent & I'm from Liverpool, UK.

Just last week I gained my first experience on Tinnitus due to an unknown cause (so I thought) I was going about my daily business in work and what not when I stopped for a moment and realised I was hearing a very high pitched noise.. I initially thought it was my mind playing tricks (as you would think) until later that same night. I finished up with work and went home, everything still seemed ok just with a slight noise in the background which I couldn't quite put my finger on.

When I got into bed and the environment around me suddenly quietened I realised that this sound wasn't my imagination, it was most defiantly a noise I could hear. I started to worry a little as it wasn't shifting at all.. I eventually managed to mask it and fall asleep. The next day I woke and immediately was greeted by this almighty loud whistle/screech. I knew something was up and decided to book an appointment at my local GP.

Cutting a long story somewhat short.. I visited the GP and they realised that I had a tremendous amount of wax blocking my ear, they couldn't see my ear drum. I then knew something was wrong.. because I'm no professional in the field I suddenly worried thinking that I'd be stuck with it for good. She suggested that I put olive oil in my ears to soften the wax to then have water irrigation (syringing) to clear the way so that didn't cause many further problems.

I managed to complete this task for the next 4 days, to which the noise was prominent.. It wasn't leaving, it kept getting louder and quieter.. after multiple days of trying to arrange a new appointment with my local clinic I become really down, upset and not me.. I took it upon myself to research a private clinic that offers the same service, though a price would be involved. (I could go on about the NHS but I won't. I'm grateful for all they do, my own sister works within the NHS and they are amazing, just some of their policies and procedures just are not up to scratch.)

To conclude this post, I paid £90 (yes you heard right ha. Bank Holiday sadly) to have both ears cleared with micro suction which is AMAZING, the lady who dealt with me was the most amazing private audiologist I've come across. It turned out that the wax in my ear was pressurising my ear drum forcing it to stop vibrating therefore creating a small case of Tinitus.

I wanted to share my story with you all as I've now first hand encountered this terrible issue that many people have. I thankfully was so very fortunate it wasn't a permanent problem. It affected me that much inside that I wanted to share this with you and hopefully communicate with more people as much as I can to help the community, I can share any tips etc I found useful.

Thank you for your time.

- Robert.