I'm Only 14 Years Old, Please Help

Hi my name is Andy and I’ve had tinnitus for about maybe 3 or 4 years. I’ve been thinking it’s getting worse for the last couple of months but also it’s calmed down a bit at night but also gotten worse at night.

I need to know if there is a cure being worked on or anything Ive been praying for a miracle to happen cause I’ve heard stories of tinnitus disappearing out of no where. I can’t sleep at night and I’ve been stressed with High School I honestly need some help and I already went to the doctors a very long time ago they couldn’t find what was wrong.

Before I had tinnitus I had just bought a new headset for gaming and so I didn’t know how to turn down the volume and so I woke up and I couldn’t hear from my right ear and so I tried putting ear drops but nothing had worked. Has this happened to anyone else ?

 

The good news is that you are young and your body is more resilient than that of most people. The bad news is that you've had your tinnitus for many years now.

Have you been wearing headphones or listening to loud music?

Perhaps your T might fade if you protect your ears from even moderate noises like that of a vacuum cleaner, lawn mower, blender, and hair dryer.

Also, if a cure is found, you might be only in your 20s, 30s, or 40s, and would be able to benefit from it, and live to hear silence again. (A cure 25 years from now might be too little too late for many people here.)

I found that amitriptyline had helped me sleep. It is non-addictive and it didn't make me feel drowsy the next morning.

Make sure to also try sound enrichment to let you listen to something else besides your T.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...ence-referendum-spain/?utm_term=.11254af9bbe9
https://www.amazon.com/Sound-Oasis-S-5000-Deluxe-Therapy/dp/B018KUVEOM/
http://mynoise.net/

 

Do you mean you couldn't hear anything at all?

I'm 17 and I got my tinnitus at 16. I understand you.

Stress in high school is usually related to school work, least it was in my case. I was in the Cambridge program in my school and they gave 2x more homework than AP. Made me go crazy . Then on top of that, I had competitions and volunteering. It just caused too much stress. The best solution to this is good time management and discipline. It is possible to get 8 hours of sleep, get homework done, have down time and get everything else done. But it takes a lot of discipline.

If you want help reducing stress and anxiety related to tinnitus, don't be afraid to send me a private message here on TTalk. This includes managing Tinnitus.

 

Hi @Andy Vu

The most common cause of tinnitus is loud noise and this could have originally started it. Have you had your hearing tested at ENT. You have had tinnitus for quite a while. If your tinnitus was caused by loud noise. I advise you not to listen to music through headphones even at low volume. I suggest that you don't use headphone for playing computer games either. Try not to sleep in a quiet room at night as this can make you focus more on the tinnitus and it will appear louder. I recommend using a sound machine by your bedside. Please click on the links below and read my posts that you might find helpful. Try to read them in full and not skim through them.

If you haven't been seen at ENT recently, then I suggest doing this but first see your family doctor/GP
Michael

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/tinnitus-a-personal-view.18668/

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/hyperacusis-as-i-see-it.19174/

 

Andy,
Make sure the head of your year knows you have tinnitus and get the extra support from them.
For now I would give the head set gaming a miss and let your auditory system time to settle.
Have a word with your doctor about taking Melatonin to help you drift into a natural sleep and there are stronger meds if that doesn't help you.
Try to relax as much as you can and keep off phones and computers towards the time you go bed to relax and wind down for the night.

We are here around the clock to support you so your never alone .
Love glynis

 

I had gotten my ENT but they couldn’t find anything. But I’ve been trying to not worry about it but it’s gotten louder at night and is it even possible to even “cure” it anymore ?

 

I suspect that your tinnitus was caused by loud noise. Either listening to music through headphones or going to places where loud music is played. Since ENT cannot find anything medically wrong that is causing your tinnitus, then "loud noise/sounds" is the usual cause. This type of tinnitus doesn't usually get worse on it's on. Either you have been listening audio/music through headphones or going places where loud music is played? So you need to stop doing one or both of these things, then hopefully your tinnitus will start to reduce.

Read my articles in the links I sent you and start using "sound enrichment" at night. More about this is explained in the links.

Hope you start to feel better soon.
Michael

 

I just noticed on your Avatar, that your tinnitus was caused by using "Headset for computer gaming". If you are still using a headset then I advise you to stop now and never use them again even at low volume. If you continue to use them it is likely that your tinnitus will get worse..

Take care
Michael

 

People will perceive their tinnitus as worse/stronger when under stress.

I'm afraid you have to make a hard choice if you want it to go away - stay away from the gaming. Your ears need recovery time.

In addition, the harder we try "not" to think about something, the more we think about it. Stressing and worrying constantly about tinnitus is not going to help. Try and focus your mind elsewhere and do other things to relax - e.g. go out and exercise, explore the world outside your bedroom.

 

Okay i would I know if the ringing in the ears start to reduce ? How long would it take for my ears to heal ? Cause it’s been years and i would say some days I wouldn’t wear headphones when gaming and sometimes I sleep while listening to music . I’ll stop using my headsets but thank you so much for helping I’ll discontinue listening to music at night . I also am very stressed lately Due to grades and I’m a very good student but i can’t focus anymore Andy I’m afriad to tell my teachers about it .

 

Yes I’ve been listening to music with headphones and also gaming headsets I use but I also don’t take any pills for the noise at night because I feel like it’s not gonna work

 

I believe this explains why you still have tinnitus. I think that if your continue doing this, your T will eventually get louder. If you stop exposing yourself to noise and stop using headphones for at least several years, there is a chance that your T will begin fading.

 

It might take years. Then again, you are young, so perhaps it will take less time for you to heal.

 

Yes, there are drugs being researched, developed and tested out there. So the short answer of your question is YES. There are new drugs aiming to cure or reduce T. Drugs like OTO-311, RL-81, SF0034 are all either being tested or researched. So the medical/pharmaceutical world is catching up on tinnitus with these new drugs on the horizon. At least it is comforting that efforts are there to develop something for us. There is no guarantee that any new drugs will work for all T sufferers in the near future but the hope is there someday they will find something more effective for T treatment than what is available now. Check out the Treatment section on TT for more detail.

But don't put all your hope in new drugs. Those may come but they take time and lot of $$$ to make it happen. So in the meantime, it is best we learn how to cope with T. The best way is to learn from the success stories, especially those written by young folks like you. Here are some samples. Take care. God bless.

success story of 17 years old Zach:
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/fake-it-until-you-make-it.7590/

success story of Jari with T since 12 years old:
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/new.7670/

lana got T at 15 and getting better:
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/positivity.13050/

 

Hi Andy,
I'm 14 too with tinnitus too. I had mine since I was 7 so it's been almost 8 years. the ringing in my ears are quiet enough that I could only hear it in an almost silent room. but being the anxious person I am, I am constantly monitoring it and worrying about it. I went to the doctors and apparently it's caused by earwax buildup and they took care of it. however the ringing is still there but the sound decreased in volume. What I do now is turn on the fan thing in my bathroom (which is right next to my room) when I sleep so it could help mask the ringing. I also sometimes listen to rain noises on Spotify and it works pretty well.
I really hope a cure for tinnitus would come out soon. I hope you take care

 

So temporary ear wax gave you permanent tinnitus?

out of curiosity are you sure you never exposed your ears to loud noise, mp3 players, concert, or have TMD or a head trauma? I am doubtful a total reversible cause like ear wax can cause permanent tinnitus.

 

Auris Medical did the exact same thing as and it was an acute treatment. It won't help long term tinnitus.

OTO-311 is a NMDA antagonist which works by preventing further hair cell damage by blocking NMDA.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5255535/


I don't believe it will help anyone with permanent tinnitus, however it will help new acoustic trauma sufferers from having permanent tinnitus and saving more hearing.

University of Michigan's Signal timing, eplilepsy drugs, and hearing loss restoration may help tinnitus in the near future 5-15 years cap.

 

Andy, when I was your age I used to blast my ears with a Walkman. I do recall having ringing and buzzing at the time, knew why, and continued listening to the Walkman. This was because at first the ringing didn't hang around. However with time, I noticed the ringing did not go away so easily anymore.

Back then, the dark ages, there were no computers to look anything up. So I never knew what the condition was called and never went to a doctor for it. However I eventually stopped using the Walkman completely, since I understood that the ringing was coming from its use.

I recall being able to find the ringing at night when going to bed. This worried me. But as the days went by I stopped caring about it. I lived my life without noticing it. And if I listened to the Walkman I did not turn it up anymore, I turned it as low as it would go while still being able to hear it. Eventually I realized that music was best listened to from a regular stereo. The novelty of headphones, though very seductive, didn't work and lost its appeal for me due to the stress of hearing the ringing. With time the ringing dissipated completely.

Since you are young you probably stand a good chance of lowering your ringing level or having it disappear on its own. However, you may need to focus on limiting your exposure to anything headphone related for now and in the future...

And as far as current movies go they are far too loud. Get some earplugs and use them at movies and any music shows. Your ears will thank you for it. And forget video games. Good grief! Go on a hike, see the world! Real life is better.

 

Did you the T that you got when you were a teenager fade? Did you hear silence again at any time between your teens and June of this year when you got your last acoustic trauma?

 

I got my issues at 33--thought that was young//Now I am 55-getting old sucks ass----hang tough--at least you are young man--got the rest of your life ahead of you

 

@Bill Bauer:

Yes, I heard silence until June of this year. Occasionally I would hear T camping, but after the truck horn blast in June I had T fairly bad for over a month and a half. Now it is 3 days good, then 3 days bad, so it is improving, but...when it's bad it is horrible. It is whizzing away right now. God forgot to put an ear on/off switch.

 

I have no idea. Maybe they didn’t get all the earwax out? And I’m not sure if my tinnitus is permanent. I hope it isn’t. I was in 3rd grade when I first got it andbut I don’t remember being exposed to any of those things. I went to the doctors again a few days ago and they said the problem is still earwax. They told me to put drops of oil in my ear for a few days and come back and they’ll flush the earwax out. And if my tinnitus still continues after that, then I’ll go to an ear doctor (I’m not sure what they’re called)