I Haven't Been to a Doctor Yet, I Think I Have Tinnitus (Maybe from Using Earphones)

[dreemurr412]

I'm new here so yeah.

Hi, I've noticed continuous ringing in my ears the last week and I'm pretty sure it's tinnitus. I don't listen to a lot of loud music, but I had earphones in which relied on air pressure to keep them in the ear. Last Tuesday, I noticed a ringing in my ears. But not just that, the middle of my skull feels kind of heavy. I recently came out of a stressful time in my life and the day after this started. I'd like to get to a doctor, but I don't want to catch the coronavirus and I also don't want my family to worry about me. But I feel like I'm going crazy: when I notice it I start to panic and think it will never go away but there are periods when I almost can't hear it and don't even notice it. It's not loud, in fact listening to music on about 20% is just enough to allow me to ignore it, but I'm a person who takes solace in silence so these last week has been annoying. It seems to change in intensity during the day.

Every night there would be some low level high pitch noise that I assumed was just my ears de-stressing from all the noise of the day, I thought it was just normal.

I also have a birth defect in my left ear, the middle bone that connects the eardrum to the actually sensory part is missing. I'm starting to think now there may be other issues - I have been to the doctor about the hearing loss in my left ear before but I had to fight with them for 14 years to look at me, so take that as you will. Starting to think now there might be other issues that have been activated by the de-stress.

I just wanted to post here in case someone else has experienced this. I've always had a low level anxiety and this has not helped my mental health. Coming here for some support to try and de-stress and breath. I don't want to jump the gun but loss of hearing and vision are some of my biggest fears (with is funny, I have a problem with both - apart from the aforementioned defect I'm also severally near sighted so I have to wear glasses all day! )

 

[T_Almost_Gone]

don't listen to a lot of loud music, but I had earphones in which relied on air pressure to keep them in the ear.

Welcome. It sounds like you've had a rough time of it. Can you please share the name and model of the earbuds? Will be helpful.

Is the sound intermittent? Or is it easier for you to ignore it sometimes?

Every night there would be some low level high pitch noise that I assumed was just my ears de-stressing from all the noise of the day - how long has this been happening for?

I'm not an expert but I'd advice to quit earbuds & headphones. I gave them up myself even tho my cause was medication.

Just know the first few weeks are by far the worst. You can experiment with tinnitus maskers on YouTube may help.

 

[Michael Leigh]

Hi, I've noticed continuous ringing in my ears the last week and I'm pretty sure it's tinnitus. I don't listen to a lot of loud music, but I had earphones in which relied on air pressure to keep them in the ear. Last Tuesday, I noticed a ringing in my ears

@dreemurr412

You are probably right. Although many things can cause tinnitus, typically it is listening to audio through headphones, earbuds or headset, at too high a volume without realizing it and for long durations. My advice is to stop using earbuds and don't even use them at low volume. Please click on the links below and read my posts, that you might find helpful.

All the best
Michael

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/new-to-tinnitus-what-to-do.12558/
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/hyperacusis-as-i-see-it.19174/
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/tinnitus-a-personal-view.18668/

 

[dreemurr412]

@T_Almost_Gone
Sorry it took so long to get back, I had forgotten about this post.

Is the sound intermittent? Or is it easier for you to ignore it sometimes?

It's constant but it is easy to ignore mostly, unless there is pretty much total silence (which is mostly at night)

Every night there would be some low level high pitch noise that I assumed was just my ears de-stressing from all the noise of the day - how long has this been happening for?

Since I could remember, it's more of a hum than a noise. It's like the hum of a hard drive spin, not the high pitch ones but the low RPM vibrations noise.

I'm not an expert but I'd advice to quit earbuds & headphones. I gave them up myself even tho my cause was medication.

I gave up the headphone and in ear phones and it's gotten less, I think I have gotten off lucky. It's still there but it's pretty much at a level I can handle and while I can still hear it at night it's barely invasive. I think I listened to the wrong YouTube video and had it up a bit too loud (it was an hour long video about computers) and there was a lot of background noise that I didn't notice.

As I say it seems to have died down and I've gotten off lucky. I'm an audiophile, so I'm going to see if I can invest in some nice speakers and only use the earphones when I'm outside (which granted is not a lot with this whole lockdown). I've learned my lesson and I will not go above 60% on the audio levels!

Thank you for your advice too @Michael Leigh.

If the thread isn't locked, I'll come back and update. I think I had made this post as an almost reaction to the 3 days of constant ringing I had before that, and just recently I noticed that it's calmed down. Thank you all

 

[T_Almost_Gone]

Hi @dreemurr412 so glad it's faded. Definitely be careful with live music, ear phones etc. There are lots of stories here about people who relapsed with noise induced tinnitus.
All the best!

 

[dreemurr412]

My tinnitus started in September. I was hoping that it would go away since I thought it was caused by pushed in earwax. I've come up with other possible diagnosis' - wisdom tooth movement (they have been quite sore as of late) or possibly ear infection (I get random sharp pains in my ear around once a week).

Thing is, I'm rather adverse about seeing someone. I don't know why, I can't tell if it's some kind of 'toxic' masculinity, where I want to be ignorant of my situation and tough it through, or a fear of catching COVID-19 because my area has a high R rate. It may be time, however, as I'm someone susceptible to having feeling of depression and other dark thoughts and the tinnitus isn't exactly helping. At the very least I could get CBT for it, it would be a start. I just don't want to have my family worry about me is the main thing - that and constantly be asked "how it's getting on".

I should note that I am 19 and if memory serves me right your skull doesn't stop moving until 25 or thereabouts, so that would explain the wisdom teeth I think - if not that then something may have changed in my skull and shifted the delicate balance that is the inner workings of the ear.

What I am experiencing: a high pitched ringing noise in my right ear (think of that horcrux thing from the Harry Potter movie, where they are in the mountains and Harry is slowly going mad from the sound of it) - this also occasionally for 30 minutes at a time in my left ear as well. Below the ringing there is a whooshing sound (blood rushing I guess) on beside this I can occasionally detect a pulsing ringing in my right (though only at night when it is dead silent). Hope that gives you a since of the sensations I have, in order of how annoying/noticeable they are.

Day to day, hour to hour, the ringing is of various intensities. Some days it get to the point where I am so anxious about it all my muscles are tensed up and I'm a complete a-hole to my friends and family and other days I can barely hear it. Generally the differences in intensity are not different during the day, more differences are noticed day to day.

Since living with it from September, I told my family about it (since my mum had something similar) and she bought me ear drops. I've used them and have not been effective, so perhaps it is time to talk to an expert or at the very least a GP (I live in the UK so I should be ok to at least see a general doctor).

I don't know, I would like to get the opinion of people in a similar situation. Right now as I type this, I originally had my headset on and it was annoying and when I took it off the tinnitus was less noticeable - perhaps a sign that my ear pressure has gone weird? Not very knowledgeable about the inner workings of the ear, software engineer by trade.

As a quick side note, I didn't not have perfect hearing before this. The very highest sounds (we're talking the edge of human hearing) where hard for my right ear to pick up and my left ear has the incus missing (birth defect). I don't have noticeable hearing loss since September but I'll have to see a doctor of course to tell.

If you are still reading, thanks for hearing me out. When I post here, which is very occasionally, I find it somewhat therapeutic as it reduces the anxiety about it for a while.

 

[aimlesshiker]

You will best be able to determine this, and please do what you think is safest, but my experience with going to clinics during COVID-19 has been fine (I'm in the US). If it's any reassurance, COVID-19 patients aren't likely to be at the ENT since ear problems aren't usually a COVID-19 symptom. Based on your background with anxiety and depression, I think seeing someone to at least help start answering some of your questions could give you some peace of mind.

That being said, it sounds like it's probably noise-induced tinnitus, like mine. Lots of years of concerts plus a few days of listening to music with headphones and blasting music in the car. I wanted so bad for it to be something else, some stupid earwax they could remove, but alas I think my habits just caught up to me. I say this because if you start thinking it's "something else," then you'll get hopeful that you can fix it.

But I am not here to crush hopes! You're on the right track by taking care of your ears and seeking out support through here. And I again suggest going to the doctor to investigate if there's something anatomically going on, as you have indicated.

I don't live near any of my friends anymore, so I've had to deal with this alone, and I understand coming here to find support. Like yours, mine is only in the right ear and easily masked with background noise, though I worry every day about it getting worse. But I'm trying hard to just be grateful that it's not worse right now. Please keep us updated, and I hope you can find some answers soon.