Increased Tinnitus After Noise Exposure. What to Do?

Hi all.
I'm not sure if I've posted on this forum before, but I've been mostly a lurker until now. I've had tinnitus since around 2012 which started in my Left ear after I was given Gentamicin ear drops.

I got the wax in my ears cleaned, and the ENT said I had an infection so he gave me the drops. Me, that always researches medications before taking them didn't look up possible ototoxic effects.

Tinnitus started days later in my Left ear as I got a cold at the same time. Still not sure if it was the drops or the cold, but tinnitus was loud for a few months. I finally habituated and the T settled down to a mild level that didn't really bother me.

Oddly enough, I also developed a sound in my Right ear later on which right now at the moment is worse. I've always had issues with impacted ear wax because I have really narrow ear canals. I used to go to an ENT in Miami when I lived there which I trusted to get the wax out every few months. I loved him because he was gentle and never overdid it.

I moved 4 hours away and it's been over a year of not going to another ENT because the last one I tried up here was rough and I just didn't like her much. I'm worried about another ENT messing up my ears again.

My T had stayed relatively stable up until a few months ago when I took Meloxicam for back pain. I had a spike and stopped taking it immediately. It took a few weeks to subside down to normal level. Thank God. Never taking that again!

As you can imagine, now I'm also scared of taking any medications that may permanently make the T worse.

Let's fast forward a few months down until a few weeks ago, March 17th. My husband and kids were driving on a 4 hour road trip. My husband was listening to music. I usually keep the music low when I drive, but he had it a bit loud. I should have worn ear plugs or turned it down, but didn't take them with me. There was an outdoor dinner/house party at his parents. They did have the music a bit loud at one point, but I wasn't standing next to a speaker or anything.

I also, sometime that weekend, got my hair done, so I had the hair dryer noise. I have never been that paranoid about noise since I habituated because I just tried to live my life as normal as possible, granted I wasn't going to concerts or loud music events anymore. Fast forward to Sunday night (March 18), and my ears were screaming - especially my right ear. I figured it was a spike from the loud noises I experienced that weekend, so I've been waiting patiently to see if it dies down.

A couple of days later I started taking NAC 600mg twice a day since I heard that could help with noise exposure and was taking it for a couple of weeks. I'm down to 600mg a day right now. T is still the same, worse at night, worse in my right ear.

I used to be able to fall asleep with the TV on, now I hear it over the TV and it sucks. I have noticed significant wax buildup in my ear, especially my Right (which is the loudest right now), so I've been trying to put ear oil drops the past week to soften up the wax.

I also, have always had crackling in my ears/eustachian tubes whenever I swallow since I first got tinnitus - that's another issue that ENT's always told me not to worry about - that this was "my" normal - I always wondered whether this is related to my tinnitus as well.

Now I'm not sure if I should just go to an ENT or not. Reading stuff about people getting worse tinnitus from ear wax removal/microsuction at the ENT and the fact that I don't have my preferred ENT nearby worries me.

Also, if this increased tinnitus is due to noise exposure, would anything help like steroids weeks in?

Also worried about any possible medication making it worse.

I'm still hoping this is just a spike and it will get better in time.

 

Hey, how is your tinnitus?

 

Hey, my T has gotten better. It still fluctuates but I posted a reply/update here: https://www.tinnitustalk.com/thread...nd-supplements-to-try.6514/page-9#post-332231