Hello! New to This Annoying Problem (Plus My Story)

Hello everybody! Hope you're all doing good.

First of all, I feel sorry for anyone suffering through this annoying piece-of-shit problem known as Tinnitus. For those who have it for a long time have my utmost respect.
Sadly, I've joined the unfortunate rank of those who are suffering through Tinnitus, the only difference is that I'm new to it. As such, I'd greatly appreciate any kind of help/tips/tricks you guys have to offer that can help me (and hopefully others) deal with it.

I've had Tinnitus for 4 days now. Before telling you how it all started, please hear a bit of my "back story" so that you can better understand my problem. So around 2-3 months ago, my right ear got blocked while showering due to water. I tried to get the water out of my ear but it was still completely blocked, I knew it was due to Ear-Wax so I decided that I’ll get my ears cleaned when I get some free time (at that time I was busy with University exams), time passed and I never did actually got them cleaned though my right ear was still blocked the hearing got better, so I left it like that. Fast forward to September 10th, I was taking shower when my right ear got fully blocked once again (due to the same reason), this time I decided that I'll get it cleaned no matter what, so I made an appointment of 20 Sept with my doctor because I was free that day. Anyway, it started around 4 days ago on 18/9/2015 to be exact, I was working on my laptop when all of a sudden I started to hear a very low high-pitched sound, at first I ignored it but when it didn't went away I checked my T.V but it was closed, I shrugged it off and continued with my work and went to sleep. The next day I woke up I heard the same sound again although it was very faint and the reason I could listen to it was because it was very quiet at that time, once again I ignored it and started my day, as the time passed it started to get louder to the point where it actually started to bother me, I found it strange because it had never happened before. I decided to a quick Google search only to find out that this problem is known as "Tinnitus" and that there was no cure of it, at this point the sound was so loud that it was audible even when I was listening to the music at full volume, I was scared, I didn't wanted to spend my rest of my life with this horrible sound, however, thankfully, I was able to maintain my composure (I'm quite calm person) and decided to do bit more Googling, specifically Googled Ear-Wax related Tinnitus problem, I saw that a bunch of people reported that their Tinnitus went away after getting their ears cleaned but for some it didn't.

Naturally, I was confused and scared at the same time. I'm a very reserved person I hate noisy /crowded places, I don't go to bars, clubs or concerts and prefer places that are quite and where I can be alone (I like to read btw). For me this sound truly was hell, it was really irritating and it wasn't letting me concentrate on anything. Even though, I tried to keep calm as much as possible, it was still driving me nuts. I couldn't go to a doctor because it was already too late (it was 12:40 iirc) and because I already had the appointment that I made with my doc later that day anyway, so i decided to distract myself by reading a book. Obviously, it didn't worked because the sound was too damn loud. Interestingly, I already had an app that had background sounds (The name is Relax Melodies Premium, I use to listen to it whenever I was star gazing or was just relaxing). I used that to mask the Tinnitus, although I could still hear the sound I felt much more clam & relaxed, I drifted of too sleep like that. The next day when I woke up the Tinnitus was still there although much less intense than last night, I went to the doc & told him the whole story and he checked my ear, he said it was terribly chocked & gave me some Glycerin Drops to soften the wax and advised me to come back after 4-5 days. Now I've been using the drops 4 times a day, I'm not sure whether the ear-wax has soften or not, but my ear feel completely blocked & full. The tinnitus is still there, it has actually gotten a bit worse probably due to the fact that my ear is completely blocked. I don't hear it when noisy/crowded places like shops/traffic etc. I can, however, listen to it when I'm home with my T.V on or even when I'm listening to music. If I have to describe the intensity the I'd say it's around 7-8/10, it’s probably feels louder because my right ear is still fully chocked. If I had to describe the sound then I'd say that it sounds like when you get hit by a Flash bang in Call Of Duty or when you turn on the T.V (those old fat ones, probably a bit more high pitched). It is giving me a headache and I'm not sure what to do to make it go away.
I'm not panicking or having suicidal thoughts, although I'm very scared that I might never experience "silence" again. I dunno how will I ever get used to this horrible sound, but for now I have no choice but to put up with it.

I'm putting all my hopes in the ear-wax cleaning, I hope -- No I want the Tinnitus to go away once my ear is cleaned. Although I'm prepared for the worst (I do hope it never happens).

What do you guys do to deal with it? Also do you guys think that the Tinnitus will go away if my ear is cleaned? Anyone with similar experience? I really can't put up with this sound anymore.

 

Welcome. You have been doing quite well attitude-wise so far with your increasing tinnitus ringing, which is a positive. You already possess the natural calmness that the brain needs to help it habituate to T. The brain takes our response to gauge the seriousness of the new threat - the ringing sound. If we don't freak out and stay calm, it will then slowly learn to accept that sound without processing it as a threat and the Amygdala will not be alerted to take on this new threat and without that, you won't function in fight or flight response which makes things looks worse off.

If your T is caused by wax blockage, most likely when the problem is fixed, T should subside or fade. But T is also known to be caused by many factors, such as stress, drug reaction, TMJ, acoustic trauma etc. So the best way is to take care of the things you can control, which is to stay as calm and positive as possible. Give it some time and let the doctors do their job to fix the ear problems first. Try more positive affirmation of your ability to handle this sound (by reading the success stories, for example). Negative affirmation like your last sentence won't help the brain to stay calm. People will take different time frames to heal. So don't rush it. Try masking to help you cope with the ringing first. Drugs should be the last resort.

TT has this excellent support thread which besides giving you some excellent masking sounds with an audio player, it also contains tips and step by step instructions for newer sufferers. It contains link to the Positivity Thread, a sleep thread, as well as links to ATA & BTA for more useful info. The more you learn about T, the less you will be fearful of it and the easier for the brain to stay calm. Here is the link for it: ((the icons on the left side give you step-by-step instructions what to do and the audio player is highlighted by the hypertext ‘our player’)

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/panic/

So, relax. There are many things one can do to get better. Instead of wasting energy on worry and panicking, perhaps follow some of these steps and suggestions to see if they can help you feel better.