Hello, Immediate Advice Needed — Tinnitus Started After Listening to My iPhone Headphones

Hi guys,

I'm new to this nightmare of tinnitus. About a week ago I was listening to my iPhone headphones all day and when I had stopped listening I noticed a horrible ringing in one of my ears and decided that I would just sleep it off. Well, it never went away and here I am a week into the nightmare and I'm grateful, or horrified, that there are others that are dealing with it.

Some quick advice: Should I wear ear plugs to help block out loud noises until I can see what the doctors say, or should I avoid the ear plugs? Are there any products that can help with this?

Thanks for the help.

 

@louis86 ,
Welcome to Tinnitus Talk.
I would leave plugs alone unless it's extra loud that is not a normal daily sound.
Have your ears checked for wax and hearing test .
For now try not to worry as stress will cause tinnitus.
When the sound is troublesome keep sound on around you to help your brain from focusing on your tinnitus.

love glynis

 

Thanks, I went to the emergency room and was checked for wax. i will avoid the earplugs unless it is a loud situation. I'm pretty distraught about this but know I have to remain strong. thanks for responding, I appreciate it.

 

I have been protecting my ears from all of the noises that felt uncomfortable to me. I would also protect my ears against all of the moderately loud noises like that of a vacuum cleaner. The best protection is avoidance. So ask someone else to do the vacuuming or to use the blender. Don't use a hair dryer. Things like slamming doors, balloons popping, and loud restaurants have caused tinnitus to spike for some users here. So if you absolutely have to be in an environment where a noise like that might happen, I would recommend that you use your earplugs. I did so, and I am happy about it.

Check out
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/thread...eone-else-who-has-tinnitus.26850/#post-307822

 

OK, I appreciate this. I've read conflicting things online... Use earplugs, don't use earplugs... I just don't want to make the problem worse... It's as if to say, should I let the noise blend in with other noises or put those earplugs in?

 

Theres all kinds of conflicting stuff online, even on this forum, but if you talk to people here enough you'll get a really good idea of what's going on. You're still new to this and people have been known to recover within days to a couple months of initial onset, sometimes even longer. There are a million online scams that claim to cure tinnitus so watch out for those. Some things use vague language to make you think their product can lower the sound, other people will try and sell you books with catch phrases like,"how I got better from tinnitus," or "how I defeated tinnitus" and when you drill down into it they really mean they allegedly got to a point where it was still there but just didn't bother them anymore.

There's also something called tinnitus retraining therapy and it is fairly controversial. Ask around on this forum for advice on that as well.

 

Finding this forum was a breath of fresh air. I finally didn't feel so isolated. I really like concrete facts and was wondering if anyone here wears ear plugs all day, sometimes, or never.. thanks for saying hi.

 

I had been traveling earlier this year, and I wore earplugs all day long for over two weeks as I would spend a lot of the day in a car driving.

 

Wearing plugs to long can make your ears super sensitive and Hyperacusis can become a problem.

love glynis

 

Hmm, anymore ideas about the earplugs would be helpful..thanks for the advice so far.

 

I used foam earplugs when going to the store or restaurant for the first year, I still wear them at the gym or when using any power equipment. It did not cause me any lingering Hyperacusis problems.

Because you know what caused your tinnitus, I would advise NOT going to an ENT and having any procedures done. Sometimes they cause more issues.

Give your ears a rest, no more earbuds at all, and let your ears sort themselves out. It may take 12 months or more, but your tinnitus will probably fade away

 

You may give steroids a try, they may help to reduce T if it's due to acustic trauma which seems to be the case, but the sooner the better So you would urgently need to go to ENT for prescription

 

thank you. Sorry, don't mean to sound dumb but what is a ENT. and your advice directly contradicts the advice of the friendly person below... You think its just best to leave sound trauma alone?

 

the man above you says not go to ENT> haha i'm just trying to figure out the best option but the opposite advice is a little nerve wracking. I appreciate the help either way.

 

ENT is an Ear Nose and Throat doctor, he is a specialist in such cases. You can visit an Audiologist as well. Get a simple hearing test done to find if there is any damage to the inner year.
Precaution: Don't use headphones strictly and don't go to loud places such as Pub or concerts until it is healed. it might take a few days/weeks/months. But until it's gone, make sure to abide by the above rule of no headphones and no loud places.
I know it might be a difficult to enjoy life, but better miss the fun for a little time than to have this problem.

Cheers!

 

oh yeah..i can't even listen to music on quiet through speakers..i can't talk on the phone...so, i will probably never use ear buds ever again.. I think i will check in with the doc but some people are saying that ENT's can cause more problems... but thanks. I'm taking all of the advice and will make my own decision. I appreciate people reaching out to me because it makes me feel not as isolated as I have been feeling.

 

Everyone's ears are different, you will never find another person with all symptoms exactly like yours, what spikes one person...won't for another. What is unbearable for one, won't affect another etc.

There are some universal rules but nothing is concrete as it might not affect you. I have no problems with banging cabinets and hair dryers, others do. It takes time to figure out what you can or cannot handle, tinnitus is a reset button on behavior and habits...you will figure it out through trial and error. Take all advice on these forums with a grain of salt, there have been people here who have followed the directions of various members and have their tinnitus increase permanently.

 

Yes, you will want to do something like watch TV at the loudest volume that you can listen to, without getting a spike.

ENTs normally don't cause problems. But they can do tests that end up causing problems for a small fraction of their tinnitus patients. Just follow the advice in
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/tests-procedures-to-avoid.26681/
and it ought to be ok. Another thing to keep in mind is that the vast majority of ENTs will tell T patients to just get used to the T. They will not be helpful. However, they Can prescribe steroids (Prednisone) which Might be helpful (search this forum). The earlier one takes it, the better chance that the steroid will work. Some say that there is only a 48 hour window following the acoustic trauma to take steroids. Others think that one can take them after longer time and still benefit.

A lot of this information is summarized on
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/tests-procedures-to-avoid.26681/

The directions that @coffee_girl is referring to is "to live your life", where one is advised that it is ok to go to loud events as long as one wears earplugs. Turns out that for some of us earplugs can provide a false sense of security, and the noise can do permanent damage despite the earplugs.

 

great..all this advice put together is starting to help... its definitely been a week and I went to the ER it was so bad, i wish he would have just given me steroids..the doctor thought it was my sinuses.. all the advice has been really helpful and reassuring in a strange way. I had no idea that everyone suffered from it differently.

 

Lots of members have had different experiences with their tinnitus and what they did that helped/hurt.
The truth is nobody has all the answers, they only have their personal experience.
My advice on not going to an ENT is because there are lots of stories here about ENT's doing tests and procedures that made the tinnitus worse
@Bill Bauer gives out good advice and has done much research on tinnitus & hyperacusis.
IMO The best thing you can do is protect your ears from loud noise for a while and let them heal, most likely your tinnitus is temporary if you protect them from now on

PS..I had really bad screaming loud tinnitus 13 years ago from acoustic trauma, and it faded to zero in about 2 years.

 

THanks for all the help and immediate responses. I've stuck with the earplugs in loud areas and taken them out in quieter areas. I seem to forget my tinnitus when I exercise and it has decreased about 15 percent. I will keep people updated.

 

What was the volume?