Just Made an Account, Need Your Advice, Hopefully Positive Info

Hey guys , i just made my account and hopefully you can offer me some advice . Forgive me if this is a long winded post but I guess for claritys sake i should include the full story !

So I am healthy 34yr old male , i donot drink alcohol , but i do "vaporize" cannabis. I have enjoyed this for about 10 years and have never had any issues with it. I work as a musician and audio engineer , ( never exposed to high sound levels always super careful)and recently i spent an entire night dismantling my speakers and mixer , PC , looking for this high pitched sound i could hear. I eventually turned off all electrics in the room and had the stark realisation it was coming from inside my head/ear , totally brutal.

Leading upto this point i noticed i had been feeling stiff in my neck and shoulders , which is unusual for me. Then i also developed swollen nodes under my jaw , that sometimes gave off a weird saliva gland sensation , like if you squirted lemon juice into your mouth - that sour reaction under your tongue. I then stopped vaporizing cannabis all together and it all quietened down. I have not went back near it since

Now , back to the night i realised i had a ringing sound ... Few days after this i felt very anxious and sick with heavy pressure in my right ear, went to A&E and they told me i had middle ear infection ottitis media. I particularly remember them saying the eardrum was not a healthy pink reflecting their otoscope light back to them , because of fluid behind it. I took a weeks worth of amoxicillin antibiotics and felts better on day 5, but kept taking them to finish the course as advised. Ear pressure was feeling better and no sickness but my ear was making a very high pitched sound which varied to a white noise sound. It was not louder than conversation, nor did it raise over the sound of music , but it does seem to get bad when im driving , and its the first thing i hear in mornings and before i goto bed , it is a total B*stard i cannot emphasise my hate for it... I was also referred on to ENT as ear issue interfered with my career .

ENT appointment 1 , i did the hearing test with "full marks" and no hearling loss. Ironically my ringing ear was better than my good ear , so they had a look and said it had lots of wax, and they sucked it out. Second appointment upcoming in a weeks time ...

Well thats the story , my questions are - Do you think it will go away with time ? Its been about 8 weeks and it does seem lower in volume and i notice the tinnitus sound changes a lot, sometimes like a high pitched sound if you went into a TV shop and theyre all turned on but on mute, that electronic sound. Other times its like a distant wind or white noise. I find it i hit my head around my ear i can change the tone. If i move my neck or chew particularly hard it sometimes changes too. I tried the "finger drumming method" (check it out if any of you havent, it worked for me) and it dulls the sound quite a bit. My good ear has no tinnitus but sometimes i feel this weird electrical fog in my brain and as it moves towards my good ear i panic incase i get it on that side too. Thankfully that hasnt happened yet. Overall it isnt very loud in volume compared to what ive read others describe on here , but its still a total annoyance and has this weird depressing affect like it kills your spirit somewhat. I recently wore headphones at the gym and it "spiked" for almost 3 days , nightmarish. Now i wear them with no music on just to block out the gyms own loud music.

It is really driving me crazy , i would actually rather have broken bones or cut wounds as a suffering comparison , atleast then they would heal and there would be perceivable progress , but this just seems to go up and down and torture me , it feels pretty cruel being a musician and getting this !! Any help welcome !!

 

Hello @I_Detest_Ringing,

No one can answer that with certainly, but your tinnitus is new, so there is still a chance. There are studies that show a fairly high recover rate. @Bill Bauer wrote the following post discussing these studies ( https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/spontaneous-recovery-stats-over-70-recover-3-studies.21441/ )

I am not a doctor, but the fact that you can cause the tones to change would indicate to my untrained mind that there may be some physical component to your tinnitus; and if there is a physical component, there is a chance that it can be fixed.

That is probably for the best. YOU should be careful with headphones. @Michael Leigh wrote the following post on headphone use and tinnitus:
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/headphones-and-tinnitus.12062/

I would suggest reading this, he has a wealth of knowledge regarding tinnitus, and his advice always seems sound.

As you are new to this forum, I would suggest reading the following, again from Micheal Leigh, https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/tinnitus-a-personal-view.18668/

And, although already you seem to have a fairly positive attitude, staying positive can help.

Michael Leigh wrote the following, excellent post on the importance of positivity: https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/is-positivity-important.23150/ and the following on negativity and tinnitus
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/tinnitus-and-the-negative-mindset.23705/

And, @billie48 wrote his success story demonstrating how positivity helped him habituate.
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/thread...w-i-recovered-from-tinnitus-hyperacusis.3148/

I wish you the best; I hope the above helps, and please keep us updated on your progress.

 

Hi I_Detest_Ringing,

You are very lucky that you are only experiencing a ringing in your ears!! I can hear my heart beat, experience inner ear spasms, AND have the ringing you describe. I suggest that you take a break from headphones for at least a month. Trust me, giving your ears a break for a while will help. My right ear was very sensitive to sound before I took a break from all loud sounds (drums, guitar amps, headphones, loud music in car, putting phone against ear while talking on the phone <------ this especially!!!!) It has been found that long-term use of a cell phone may cause inner ear damage and can lead to high frequency sounds. After about a month of no headphones, I am no longer sensitive in in that ear.

I have also read that low vitamin B2, vitamin A, and magnesium can be linked to ringing in the ears.
Try this as well:

People with Tinnitus try the "Reddit...

. It helps give temporary relief. Hope you feel better!

-Mike