Is My Tinnitus Permanent? What Do I Do? I Can't Enjoy Anything

Last Monday I was lying in bed when my left ear started ringing loudly. I went to sleep, and the next morning the high pitched ringing was still there, but much quieter, kind of like a CRT TV. The day before my ears rang loudly for 60 seconds and then stopped. I usually use over the ear headphones, and I have blasted the music a couple of times in the past few weeks, but I usually keep it at a reasonable level, so I have no idea why this came on. I'm only 15 so I can tune it out during the day at school, but it drives me insane when I'm alone or if I focus on it.

I went to the doctors yesterday and saw a nurse practitioner, who was super unhelpful and ran basic tests on me. The sound is somewhat louder in the morning and also increases when I clench my jaw. I have braces and have been doing a thing called mewing for the past 2 months if that's relevant at all.

Is this tinnitus likely permanent? I can't enjoy anything now, and I don't know what to do. My parents won't take me to an audiologist because they were already hesitant on taking me to the doctors, and when the nurse told me the same thing they told me for several hundred dollars, they just told me to eat well, get more sleep, workout, and remove stress from my life and it'd go away eventually. I honestly highly doubt that any of that will work.

What do I do? I can't go to a doctor or ENT since my parents won't take me, and this sound is making my life hell. Somebody give me any bit of help, I don't want this to be permanent. It's so unfair. Any tips at all are appreciated.

 

Stop using headphones immediately. Don't use them again until your tinnitus disappear completely and even after that I'd be hesitant to use them.

Since you're young and steroids are very controversial at your age since they can inhibit growth and you might not even have any hearing loss.

Your best bet is to take a lot of magnesium and b12. You can try HBOT if you can convince your parents.
Use earplugs everywhere outside except parks and woods and AVOID loud places for at least a month, because in early days tinnitus might easily go away. Don't do anything stupid.

 

HI @weab00

You are experiencing tinnitus and it was caused by using your headphones at too high a volume. I advise you to stop using them even at low volume for a least 6 months to a Year. Preferably, never use them again.

Please click on the links below and read my articles on tinnitus that I think will be of help to you. Don't keep going to doctors in the hope of finding a cure. For now leave your ears alone and give the tinnitus time to settle down. Try to avoid quiet rooms especially at night by using "sound enrichment". More about this is explained in the link below: New to tinnitus what to do?

All the best
Michael

PS: Your tinnitus might reduce and go away completely if you follow my advice and don't use headphones even at low volume. Also, keep away from overly loud sounds such as clubs, concerts etc. Give it time.

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/new-to-tinnitus-what-to-do.12558/

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

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

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/is-positivity-important.23150/

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/tinnitus-and-the-negative-mindset.23705/

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/acquiring-a-positive-mindset.23969/

 

I'm sorry to hear about your experience with the nurse. My only tip right now is to try to not focus on it as much as you can, and take a break from using headphones for a while and see if anything changes. I can't tell you if this will be permanent or not, depends on many factors, I do not know. Most importantly just try to relax, I know it's hard to ignore right now. I wish you the best, and hopefully you can go see a real doctor soon...

 

Can you give me guidance as to which B12 and magnesium I should use? Dosages. My parents probably wouldn’t buy them for me, so I’m willing to pay for them myself.

 

I developed tinnitus in April of 2019. I had always put it up to ear damage from headphones. I would frequently listen to my headphones at full or near full volume. However, there are a couple of other factors to consider: In summer 2018 I whiplashed my neck from martial arts. I also damaged it more by cracking it.

Additionally, I grind my teeth and was doing something at the time called "mewing" which is resting your tongue on the top of your mouth. Supposedly it's supposed to expand your palette and jawline over time through constant continuous pressure. I had severe body image issues at the time, so I was doing this and still keep my tongue that way to this day out of force of habit.

Basically, I am trying to assess if my tinnitus (which has developed into hyperacusis and visual snow) was caused by noise exposure, TMJ, or a combination of the two. Anything that can be done for TMJ-related tinnitus? My volume fluctuates depending on how I hold my jaw. And is it likely that these regenerative biotechs' products will work for me if it works for noise-induced tinnitus?

 

Dental splints can be used for TMJ, check out @threefirefour's story, his tinnitus was TMJ related and if I'm not mistaken, it is gone.

Regenerative medicine might work for you if your tinnitus's cause has cochlear elements.

Also, @Tybs has tinnitus due to an accident and has saw results doing some kind of physical therapy.