I'm a 75-Year-Old US Navy Veteran: My Tinnitus Started When I Turned in Bed While Sleeping

Hello

I'm aged 75, male. I was around a lot of noise from age 16 up until present. US Navy Veteran (noise), retired US Merchant Marine (noise), retired navigation lock operator (noise from VHF radio over 20 years).

Tinnitus hit me a few weeks ago as I turned in the bed as I slept. It is constant and buzzing.

I had a hearing test; I only have slight hearing loss at very high frequencies.

I visited the U.S. Veterans Hospital today. I could not get any appointment. I have a claim in and have to wait until they call me to test.

So far the only time it really bothers me is when I'm trying to go to sleep. And if I wake up during the night, it's not easy to get back to sleep.

My neighbor claims she managed her tinnitus with a hearing aid. I'm planning to visit her hearing center to see what they can offer to me.

I read about CBT. I read about Lenire and thought that was going to be the fix.

Any advice you folks can share with me will be much appreciated. Thank you in advance.

Signed,
James

 

Welcome to the forum.

From your description it seems that your tinnitus is mild, that it only bothers you when you are going to sleep. The simplest way without taking any pills is to try masking it with some sounds that can mask your tinnitus. You can download tinnitus masking apps to your phone and play the sounds out with a Bluetooth speaker. These apps often offer many types of sounds, high or low pitch, and some you can even mix the sounds to your desire. I used to mask my high pitched tinnitus with sounds of heavy rain, wind, waves, shower, even cicadas. Try this approach and see if you can sleep better.

Take care. God bless your recovery.

 

Thanks for the reply.

I did not mention, but I fell and messed up my left shoulder (rotator cuff, complete tear) a few months ago.

In lieu of surgery I've been doing physical therapy for a while now. My neck on the right side has felt like there's a pulled muscle for many weeks. It's slowly getting better. I've bent forward on the computer for several years.

Am I correct in assuming all of these things may have contributed to my current problem?

Should I see a chiropractic, a neurologist, or an orthopedist about the possible neck vertibrae?

Thanks again,
James

 

Sorry to hear that. Consider yourself lucky it hit you only at 75 years old, and not decades earlier.

Seeing it is not as a direct response to a noise trauma, it may have something to do with your neck or jaw muscles. Could be potentially treatable. I doubt your history of noise exposure is all that relevant here.

 

Thanks for the reply.

So my next order of business should be to see an orthopedic doctor or would it be a spine doctor, to see if my neck is out of wack...

A while back I did get an MRI for my rotator cuff problem. Is it correct that an MRI can often cause tinnitus?

 

MRI is loud as f***, so yes.

 

In theory, yes, but you've already stated that you've been around loud noise almost your whole life (since you were 16), so it is reasonable to assume that your hearing apparatus has been insulted throughout the years. In addition to this, aging does its thing and causes presbycusis, which attacks your high frequencies first (matches your audiogram too).

Sometimes other events are "straws that break the camel's back", but you already have a few smoking guns that seem to be known and heavy contributors to consider. I suggest you look into hearing aids, as they may help you.

All things considered, you seem to have kept tinnitus at bay for quite a long time. Loud noise exposure could have hit you many many years ago. I put you in the "lucky" bucket, even though I can understand it is not pleasant to get hit with it now.

Good luck!

 

Thank you to all.