Help Diagnose My Tinnitus

[Ilija]

Hello,my name is Ilija.
16th of August was a really bad day for me as that is the day I decided to go to only the 2nd gig in my life.
The 1st gig was quite loud,but I didn't experience any ringing only stuffiness in ears which resolved rather quickly.
The 2nd time there was this singer who screamed so hard for a second my ears hurt.
The gig was in a basement it was perhaps small,the best I can do is say it could hold 40-50 people.
After that I went a day without anything I waited for 8 hours on a cold night in a bus stop with a friend waiting for the return bus.
Only when I got home did I notice swooshing sound.
My tinnitus so far has gone like this Swoosh-Ring-Vice ring (like the kind the TV makes)-Hiss from time to time.
It decreases and increases as I think about it for now I can barely hear it.
In school the class is fairly loud not 85db maybe but loud enough that every time I'm in class I go from hiss to vice ring.
Before the gigs I used headphones almost 13-14 hours a day.
I think that the reason its taking it's sweet time to heal is the headphones.
If it helps they are quality ones. Noise cancellation,proper bass and all that.
I went to 2 ENT's so far.
They tested my hearing which was normal,and did a test where they checked my ear pressure I believe.
They both said that it will most likely heal on it's own in time.
While I would love to believe them I can't help but panic from time to time due to my internet search where I have only come across people with permanent tinnitus.
I read somewhere that it's possible that I might have hidden hearing loss,I don't know if that means I will have this permanently or not.
My hearing is quite good,I can hear up to 18 000 Hz.
The weird thing is ever since the Tinnitus I can hear things I couldn't used to,my PC cooler making a ring,my Tv making some static high pitched sound,my power supply making a hiss whenever it's on.
I don't know if I have normal hearing or if the tinnitus has ramped up the volume to the point where I can hear better than I used to.
That's pretty much it,I hope you will reply,if it means anything even during the quiet while I was writing this the Tinnitus has been the lowest it's ever been.
I can actually only barely hear it on my right side.
Also I have a pressure in my head since this started,also had some massive muscle aches whenever I would masturbate (it has stopped since then).
I also found out from going to a heart doctor that I have a neck gland problem I don't know what it's called but from what I understand it's in charge of everything in teens from hormones to blood pressure to testosterone.
I also don't know if It's in my head or not but even when I can't hear the tinnitus I can feel it in my head I don't know if It's my brain being paranoid and scared or if It's an actual symptom.
Please reply if you can.
Looking forward to hearing from you
Forgot to say when I was a baby I had eardrum trouble in my right ear I believe which might explain why my Tinnitus seems to be more dominant on the right side.

 

[Dr. Nagler]

Hi @Ilija -

Sounds to me like you are overwhelmed by the developments of the past three weeks - and who could blame you!!??

But here's the thing. The vast majority of folks in your shoes do just great. Yes, as bad as it seems, they do fine. Either their tinnitus goes away completely or it just settles down to the point where it is of no concern to them.

As compelling as your entire story is, one line in particular stands out to me:

"While I would love to believe [my ENTs] I can't help but panic from time to time due to my internet search where I have only come across people with permanent tinnitus."

So basically, you are getting most of your information from the very small subset of folks with tinnitus who have not done particularly well - or they wouldn't be posting about their difficulties with tinnitus on the Internet in the first place. Not such a great resource at this stage of the game, in my opinion. Try not to let your worries take on a life of their own and become a self-fulfilling prophesy.

Catch your breath. Stay engaged with all the wonderful things that life has to offer. Keep some soft sounds around you at all times to "take the edge off." And, if you are still having difficulties in a few weeks, I can suggest a book or two to read that might help. But right now, your job is to not let your tinnitus drive your bus.

Hope this helps.

Dr. Stephen Nagler