It All Started When the Sudden, Temporary Burst of Tinnitus Didn't Go Away, Like It Usually Does

Hi all! Just discovered Tinnitus Talk when searching, yet again, for tinnitus relief. Mine started around 5 years ago for no apparent reason. I was sitting in a quiet room when I had that sudden ringing that always subsided after about a minute in the past, but this time... it stayed, and never left. I went to an ENT doctor and paid good money to be told the obvious. "You have tinnitus." No kidding!

About 5 or 6 months ago, I also developed pulsatile tinnitus, so I went back to the ENT. Turns out I now have some hearing loss at high frequencies. As for the pulsatile tinnitus, I had an ABR test performed to rule out acoustic neuroma. The results were normal for that. As of right now, I'm scheduled for a CT scan in about a week to check for any vascular anomalies.

I'm 58 and live a pretty quiet life. I work from home and the most noise I'm exposed to is the TV in the background at a low volume. When I was younger, I did listen to loud music pretty frequently, but this tinnitus would seem to be a very delayed reaction to that.

Anyway, that enough of an icebreaker. Happy to find this forum! Maybe we can all help each other.

 

Some household sounds can be pretty loud and could be the straw the broke the camel's back. I have significant hearing loss over 8 kHz myself - almost no hearing there. I listened to a lot of high volume music when I was younger, and I had mild tinnitus even going back 20 years+, but even in recent years, I usually never protected my ears when mowing, using a blender, using power tools, riding a motorcycle, using the snow blower, using the treadmill with the TV cranked up.

I used earbuds and headphones occasionally also, and I had noticed they would spike my tinnitus years ago when it was not much of an issue otherwise. And then, some people are affected by medications that can lead to tinnitus. Some people have gotten it after COVID-19, infections, or other illness.

Some say the COVID-19 vaccination caused it. Hearing loss just from getting older can cause it. High-frequency hearing loss as we age is normal and can cause tinnitus. Some people have no idea what caused it, but I think it was a combination of many things for me over many years. The damage is cumulative, so your past music listening could certainly have been a factor.

Good luck with the CT.

 

I should also have mentioned that I suffered a head injury and broken neck in a car crash in 2015. That would still mean a delayed onset of tinnitus by several years, but I have read that either of those can be a possible cause.

I dunno what it was exactly, but at this point, I just want some relief!

 

Welcome to the forum. When tinnitus is new and bothering you, you can try masking it with nature sounds or your favorite music. There are many apps for tinnitus masking.

It will take a while for the ears to settle down. Try not to get too worried about it as many members here either get better or habituate to it over time. Stress and anxiety can aggravate the tinnitus. So try your best to stay positive and hopeful that things will improve over time.

All the best. God bless.

 

It's definitely not a new thing for me, @billie48. The ringing/hissing has been going on for at least 5 years. Sometimes I am more conscious of it than others, mostly on those days when, for whatever reason, the noise is louder. When it disrupts my sleep, that is the worst! I use a white noise machine and have tried every sound on it, but none mask the noise in my own head. In fact, many of those sounds just amplify it.

All that is annoying enough, but what brought me here is the more recent onset of pulsatile tinnitus, which I'm told is no really tinnitus at all. Interesting that both affect my left ear only, though.

 

Just had my CT scan last week and received the results yesterday. The overall impression was "unremarkable." So, nothing really there to indicate a cause for my pulsatile tinnitus. My next step is to discuss it with my regular doctor at my appointment in a few weeks and ask for a referral to a neuro-interventional radiologist. I have read here that that is the best route to take to determine a cause for this condition.

 

I also have pulsatile tinnitus on my left ear which has lost all hearing about 2 years ago. It is mostly on and off, especially after I did a cochlear implant trying to restore hearing of the left ear. It was bothersome at first but now I am getting used to it. You may check out the pulsatile tinnitus category here on Tinnitus Talk to see if prior discussions will help you cope with it.