I Got Tinnitus More Than a Week Ago, and It’s Been Increasing Every Day

I'm a nineteen year old girl and I'm leaving for college in a week (I thought this information might help somehow).

So. Basically, my sister was having a sleepover, and I decided to put earplugs in to drown out the noise. When I put the earplugs in, I heard a faint ringing. Really quiet. But I tend to worry about my health, so I immediately went to see what it was. I found tinnitus and I freaked out. But then I remembered that I could only hear it when I had earplugs in. So I went to sleep without a problem.

But for the past week, the sound has been steadily increasing. For the first few days of me noticing this, I didn't notice it unless my ears were plugged. But then on day three, I found myself not being able to sleep, but still not noticing it at all unless the room was dead silent.

Day five I could hear it relatively loudly, even while I was watching TV. I went to the doctor, and she said that it was due to fluid being trapped behind my ear. She gave me Flonase to help the fluid drain. 7-10 days and the noise would be gone, she said.

But now it's been six days since that visit, and it hasn't improved. In fact, the noise is louder, even though I've been doing the Flonase twice a day. I don't understand why it's been increasing so rapidly, and I hate loud music so I know that couldn't have exacerbated it (I listen to earbuds when running/studying, but always at a low volume, never above 50% because I don't like loud noises). I was exposed to a very loud, sudden noise when I accidentally turned on my car radio and it had some how been turned to a very loud volume, but that was over 2 months ago and I turned it down immediately. I wasn’t affected from that incident at all. Anyway, less than a week ago, I could only hear it with earplugs in, and now I'm sitting in a room with music on and I can hear it above everything.

One thing that I think could be making it worse is my anxiety. I haven't been diagnosed with anxiety, and I'm not saying I have a real disorder, but for the past few weeks I've been very anxious and depressed, and I've had this on-edge/uneasy feeling following me around. And now with the tinnitus, I'm anxious all the time and I can never relax or feel good. I heard that stress can worsen this problem, and I feel like personal stress has been mounting on me for months. So maybe that could be making this worse.

Anyway, in summary, I noticed slight ringing when putting earplugs in, and in a short period of time it's progressed into a problem that affects me 24/7. How could my tinnitus get worse that quickly? Can someone give me some insight so I can get some sleep, or at least give me hope that I can be happy, even if this does affect me forever?

 

Did she see any evidence of that, or was your tinnitus the evidence?

 

She saw evidence and drew my a picture of what was going on.

 

I believe most people have super mild tinnitus they can only hear with there ears plugged in dead silence.

It could take weeks to months before the brain rewires itself to remove tinnitus after hearing is restored based on cochlear implant studies.



Source : https://blog.medel.com/cochlear-implants-tinnitus-cure/

 

That's great! It means that once the liquid is gone (you are doing something about that liquid, right?), in about 6 months T will be gone.

 

Hi @wonderful9235,

It appears you're going to be able to clear this up in a few months, but in the mean time... I think you would do well to stop using earbuds altogether. There's many reports on this forum that even very low level volumes can exacerbate tinnitus comming from very tender ears. Give your ears a few months to heal completely, then you can probably go back to safely using ear buds. -- All the Best!

P.S. -- Three Supplements to Treat Severe Anxiety Symptoms

 

Really? I thought the problem was the volume of the sound, not the source of the sound. I mean if low level earbuds will really harm my ears, I’ll stop using them, but I honestly can’t imagine my runs without music . Is there honestly no way to use earbuds safely with tinnitus?

 

Using earbuds is one of the biggest causes of T, even at low volume. Use at your own risk. There are tons of members here who would give anything to go back in time and not use earbuds. Don't be one of them. Protect your ears

 

I think so too, the problem is why is her tinnitus getting louder?

 

Can you imagine doing it for a few months? That's probably all you need to do. It's really a small price to pay for the best possible odds for overcoming your current tinnitus. You might be surprised by how many sounds of nature you're missing by using ear buds on your runs. Perhaps look at this as a new opportunity to take in the world of nature. -- Just a thought.

 

Hope you feel better, protect those ears. Take a small tour of this forum and see for yourself the posts by those with permanent/semi permanent T...it is not something you want to live with at so young an age. Take care, I feel you have the best possible outcome in your condition =]

 

Okay. Cool. I just tried running without headphones and it wasn't too bad. I'll do whatever I can to not have to live with this for the rest of my life.

 

Is it really that horrible for you, or have you learned to ignore it? How much do you think about it every day?

 

Everyone is different, and I have not found anyone whose T is exactly the same. I have had mine for several years, it doesn't bother me any more and I don't hear it unless I am in the car with all windows up (some days i even struggle to hear it, it really depends if i had coffee or not). In my first months of T I was like you, I was scared but that eventually passed. My T was loud in those days...then it changed it soft...then loud again..then nothing...then loud again...then after 8 months it stabilized and quietly faded until today, it's not gone completely but it is 90% quieter.

You will be ok no matter what the outcome of this is. Your T will be your own personal journey, mine got better over the years...yours will be too i am sure. The most important thing is to protect your ears now more than ever.

Edit: I don't think about my T at all until I am on these forums, when I take an extended break I forget that I have T some days/weeks/months. Habits that I've developed (like wearing ear plugs) gets to be so natural for me that I don't think twice about it, just put it on then continue minding my own business. DONT WORRY, you have nothing to be scared of, you will be fine.

 

Wow @coffee_girl, 90% improvement is amazing. Congratulations on achieving that! I'm sure your "habits" helped you accomplish what you did. I hope I (and many others on this forum) can report similar results as yours in the coming months/years. -- Your story is hopeful--keep giving people hope! -- Best!

 

i got my tinnitus using earplugs at lower volume, you want evidence, talk to me..

 

Hope things get better.