Just Foor for Thought About Everyone's Tinnitus and Hyperacusis

I'm speaking strictly about T from hearing damage.

I first noticed my T back in 03, it showed up in my left ear, I have hearing loss in my left ear around the 3800-4300 range, it's just slightly outside of normal, it's very minor. My right ear also has a slight dip around 4200 however it is still in the normal range. My T has filled in those areas nicely

I believe I've had T way before 2003, however that's when I noticed it. Leading up until that point I always had a big fish tank in my room so that IMO masked the ringing.

After finding out about T, I ended up stocking up on ear plugs, I tried every brand/type I could so I could find the best ones. I also had custom plugs made for anytime I'm in a loud place like a bar, concert, wedding (why must weddings be so loud?) After about 8-9 months the ringing tapered off and as everyone knows it just kind of comes back and forth, I also started noticing it in my right ear but very very minor.

11 years goes by and I'm just dealing with it, rather well, it's pretty easy to set it aside and ignore it, some nights I would only notice it if I went looking for it, or in other words I ended up habituating.

Last year, I was helping a friend out with his bicycle and while installing a street tire (which is very high on PSI) the tire blew up in my face, I'm talking inches away from my face. It was loud and to add salt to the injury it happened in my small garage, it was loud enough to cause my hearing to get muffled, I knew without a doubt I did damage.

After that my ringing was much much louder, both ears screaming, loud enough I can no longer mask it with the normal masking things like a fan, I started using masking apps, I bought a small dehumidifier which worked wonderfully for masking! I also started becoming super protective of sounds, to the point that I had to wear ear plugs when changing my son or bathing him because if he laughed really loud or screamed it would be painful, it truly hurt my ears. I couldn't take it. If I rode my motorcycles even with doubled up ear plugs, I had a massive spike as soon as I got off. After about 6 months I started to notice more tones and different sounds so I went back to an ENT. After explaining what had happened they had me do a hearing test, they came back to me with my last hearing test from 6 years ago which matched my hearing test from 12 years ago and said, your hearing hasn't changed since the first hearing test, over all that it was quite well... Honestly this blew my mind. How could my T have spiked so much and my ears become so painful at times?

Maybe the fact that once I experienced that loud noise, my mind went into over drive mode with T and what its going to be like and the damage I had and the new pain I hear with noise and and and...

The ENT asked me about ear plugs and how often I use them, I explained I only used them when in noises above 85db i didn't say anything about my son since at this point he grew out of being really loud less crying an such. She explained that even sounds up to 90-95-100db unless I'm exposed to them for enough time to cause damage to NOT WORRY ABOUT IT. 85db = 8 hours, 88db = 4 hours 91 db = 2 hours 94db = 1 hour 97db = 1/2 hour...

It was so hard for me to not plug my ears when around stuff like my loud car, or short term noises like my son hammering away at his toy set or plates hitting a glass table. It was NOT EASY.

After about a month, I no longer had any pains with loud noises, I can easily deal with loud noises with zero problems. On top of that my ringing has tapered off in my right ear, it's still there but it was there before, the random tones have pretty much all gone away, my left ear still rages on which was always the problem ear, however, now I'm wondering. Is my left ear any louder than it was 5 years, 8 years, or even 10 years ago? I honestly don't know anymore. If I asked myself that question before my last hearing test I would have said WITHOUT A DOUBT!!!!!!!! now, I really don't know.

T works so deep in the mind and the mind is a powerful thing. My ringing in my left ear is loud, loud enough to not easily be masked by a fan anymore, but did it ever change? Is it louder now or do I just *notice* it more? I truly have no idea anymore.

I still wear ear plugs but for much less things.

Cutting grass, using power tools, motorcycling...

 

Hey Jeffie,
Hope things work out for you.. Tinnitus is such a B**** I've had it for a bit more than 2 months now. You were saying that you still went to concerts with ear plugs? I'm 19 and it's kind of hard getting used to the fact that going partying and clubbing is over ( even though I haven't been to a concert in me life and I've gone clubbing maybe 5 times... Did you ever have neck pain or head aches due to the T?
Cheers man, hope you get better

 

Don't stop doing stuff. It will just piss you off and make you stress about all the things you can't do and in the end will make you focus on it more causing it to become even louder.

Just be safe. Ear plugs at a concert/club is a must. With ear plugs there is no reason you should have any hearing damage.

2 months is still fresh and I bet it's always on your mind. Around the 6-8 month mark it should taper off some of a lot because you'll get use to it. Takes awhile but it does settle a bet. Again I think it's mind related. Once you reach the point where you stop caring you'll stop focusing on it and at that point it should settle down.

 

No pain from T however, I've always dealt with neck and back pain as with headaches and migraines for as long as I can remember.