Hello TT! Intro and Some Questions

Hello everyone 26yo here from PA, USA. I've had tinnitus since about since about 08/09. There isn't a moment it just occurred I just kind noticed my ears had a high pitch background sound to them. Went to the ENS at around 18, gave me an MRI(nothing), hearing test which came back perfect, than figuring its noise induced gave me liboflavonoid (take this for little while and come and see me.) Haven't been back to a ENS since lol. I used to listen to alot of loud headphone music in HS and into my early twenties so I can't say with certainty any one event contributed to causing it. I'm a shooter but always wore hearing protection up until then being young and still do actually doubling up with plugs and electronic phones, one or two unprotected gunshot events came later in life though. Went to the ENS at around 18, gave me an MRI(nothing), hearing test which came back perfect, than figuring its noise induced gave me liboflavonoid (take this for little while and come and see me.) Haven't been back to a ENS since lol. My tinnitus up until a few days ago has been for the most part almost totally habituated. It's been very mild I can hear it total science but it has been pretty well masked for the part by most things.

THE PROBLEM, Last friday I was riding with a friend who was blaring dance music at crazy levels widows open and being mostly habituated I didn't think anything of it. Well, turns out it hurt my ears, nothing urgently bad but it was like being at a loud bar the night before, but I felt like tinnitus had gotten a little louder like slightly above my regular mask level, I was hoping that my ears were just strained and that the tinnitus just seemed louder and not actually louder so I've felt like complete sh** for the last few days, anxiety, depression, "why didn't I tell him to just turn it down", etc. Browsing this board kept me down to earth. My hearing seems fine except some minor ache but I have the next two days off from work in a nice quiet house so we'll see if anything improves. Sorry for the life story lol.

FIRST QUESTION is for the younger guys and gals like me with active lifestyles like clubs, bars, sporting events. How do you all protect yourselves and deal with the "embarrassment" of inserting earplugs before heading into a social scene, I was going to try to get some discreet earplugs but have never actually looked at anything hearing protection besides shooting level gear.

SECOND QUESTION. Has alcohol ever affected anybodys T? I was just curious if anyone has ever had negative problems with it. I know it can be a problem for high pressure induced tinnitus raising up the pressure and such. Just wanted to hear if anyone with sound damage T has ever had any adverse effects. It's never been a problem for me in the past but if mines gotten slightly worse....

Thanks to everyone on this forum and thanks for reading. Any questions feel free to ask.

 

Welcome to Tinnitus Talk.
Alcohol can spike tinnitus for some people.
It can help you relax at the and of a hard day so I would say in moderation it's ok
Lots of love glynis

 

Thank you!

 

yo mafk who stealin my Snake Plissken avatar up in here

 

...

This may come across as slightly more annoyed than I really am but, what's embarrassing about protecting your hearing? Don't get the massive earfoams, get some decent party earplugs, nobody will notice them, putting them in is like scratching your ear. Like a pair of these: https://www.alpinehearingprotection.com/

Next time you're at a club pay attention to the barkeepers and DJ, they are; either wearing hearing protection, or retards. Really, look here's the graph to prove it. The left graph is number of people with tinnitus per age 10-20 years ago, and the right is this past decade.
See that epic relative rise in young people with tinnitus this past decade? That's you and me buddy, with our iPod's, club music, and dismissal of hearing protection because we feel stupid wearing it.

 

Lets not forget the most guilty.... FESTIVALS
festivals are the biggest business in the world right now.
most successful in the last 10 years,
it is completely aimed to young people and
there is no culture about the use of earplugs ,
festivals are all about expose your ears to high decibels for hours,
making big bucks out of alcohol and sponsors.

 

there is no embarrasment in putting in earplugs.

 

I Bet than in less than 10 years, that two first bars are gonna be the highest.
mark my words.

 

I had to group all the smaller intervals because they weren't equidistant but I could further subdivide the last decade into two groups of 5 years. Pretty sure that will show an increase toward more recent times as well, and I agree it will only get worse.
I'm also really worried about what happens to our T as we age, because it doesn't look like it's going to get better with age, and I think that there is a decrease after 64 for a totally different reason

 

Thanks for the info and support guys!

 

Yo, another thing about doing something that you perceive as "embarrassing" but which is the right thing to do: it builds character. <<--Holy moly, Batman, she said "character"!!!

Seriously, though, and humorously too, isn't it fun to be on a personal adventure in life? To become more of who YOU are and less and less indoctrinated into what the collective "culture/"society"/mass media dictates? (This is not an indictment of culture, trends, good stuff, etc.).

But it's cool and unique and fun (even when it's hard) to push your own boundaries a little bit, here and there, until they are no longer "boundaries." It's great to set your spirit free. To re-learn the positive purity of who you were as a child before you became all worried about "the crowd." (Again, not bashing the crowd. And it's well known that it's a normal teenage lifestage to conform to peers, etc. That said, afterwards, as you venture into your 20s and beyond, it's good to grab your own sails again. It's YOUR boat. It's YOUR ONE LIFE and PERSONHOOD.).

So, maybe have some fun with this earplug experiment.

Several years ago, in my early 30s, I joined a hiking group. Now, at my day job, it was an elementary school and my job with children allowed me to be me: I sang out loud and danced around and etc. all day long. And, that's who I really am at heart too.

While walking the trails with these new people, after a couple of hikes, one day I just felt so happy out in the woods that I felt like launching out into a great big happy song.

And ... I didn't. It stuck in my throat, from the social fear.

I was disturbed about this. VERY disturbed. Because, I am on my journey and I am all about that ONE GREAT LIFE.

So the next time I was on a hike, I decided to MAKE MYSELF sing. And I did. And it felt odd and unusual and I kept it to one song and you know what? Two or three people smiled and enjoyed and on we went.

The next hike, I did it again. Felt a little less constricted. And there were the same smilers.

The hike after that ... they joined in.

These days, years later, I am one of those happy free spirits who you may encounter from time to time who is strolling along in a busy place, singing to my heart's content. (Not disruptive, and I know when not to. But when it's okay, and just to express happiness, well, la la la la la ... check out me and my greatest hits on the grocery line some day!!! ).

So go for that earplug experiment. Maybe you'll feel the gazes. Maybe you'll feel weird. Maybe ... you'll adapt. And then, maybe ... you'll discover how cool you really are, for building your character, for becoming more of you, for taking a stance of mini-bravery, and for just doing what is right for YOU.