Long Time Lurker Newly Joined

Hi guys I'm a 25 year old male from UK.

I've been aware of Tinnitus Talk for a while and come on here often to check on the progress of treatments or get a little positivity and perspective and I've finally decided to make an account.

I first got tinnitus at around 17/18 for unknown reasons, though I had ear wax problems a few weeks before so I suspect some kind of ear infection.

It started off awful as most of us are aware and over the course of a gear became mild, somewhere over the next 8 years it got to the point where I could barely hear it and even went camping again at one point with no masking.

Then about 1 year ago it came back as I started getting an ear infection, over the next few weeks it got louder than it had done before and has more or less stayed this way, it took me a while to habituate again but then this last week its become louder and more piercing meaning I've been struggling to sleep again.
Possibly due to another infection but I have a doctors appointment Tuesday to figure that out!

Also I find that if I try mask with a fan/masking videos, if they're too loud my ears create a higher pitched tinnitus I can hear very loudly over the top, anyone had any experience with this?

Decided it's time for me to join so I can hopefully participate more in threads, learn better how to manage this, and keep myself hype for a decent treatment coming soon™

Thanks for reading, felt I needed to get this out there as I feel I'm in for a rough couple of weeks.

*Sorry for any bad formatting, posting this from my phone.

 

welcome, keep looking forward to cochlear hair cell regeneration trial at Frequency Therapeutics.

 

HI @GamesB2

Welcome to Tinnitus Talk.

Something usually causes tinnitus and the most common reasons are exposure to loud noise, headphone and headset use, due to sound levels that are too high for your ears. This type of tinnitus can arrive suddenly or slowly over time.

I suspect your tinnitus was caused by headphone, headset use or a combination of both since your user name is "Games" although I could be wrong. If you are a frequent user of headset to play computer games or use headphones regularly almost certainly this is the cause of your tinnitus.

If the above is true then I advise you to stop using headset/headphones immediately and don't even use them at low volume as your tinnitus is likely to get worse. Please click on the links below and read my posts that you might find helpful.

All the best
Michael


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/

 

Thanks for the reponse, I appreciate the help and yes the Games does refer to games as I make them for a living!

I do not use headphones as much as possible and if I have to for work I turn them as quiet as I can, though it is rare I have to do this.

I only use speakers and my hearing has been fine for all tests I've been to, though I'm sure they'll do me another one soon so maybe somethings changed!

 

One can have perfectly good hearing and still have tinnitus. It is my belief that the onset of your tinnitus is due to listening to audio: whether music or games at too high a volume, through speakers or headphones or both.

If you were a frequent user of headset/headphones for your computer games in the past, it is likely your tinnitus was there but wasn't significant enough to cause you problems as it would be easily masked by sounds during the day. However, continued listening even through speakers close to you (known as near-field monitoring) is enough to make your tinnitus become more noticeable. I feel certain your tinnitus was brought on by exposure to "high" sound levels. If you don't want it to get worse, then I advise you to give your ears as much rest as possible from listening to audio in close proximity and reduce sound levels through your speakers as much as possible.

All the best
Michael

 

This is what I'm trying at the moment, isn't my first rodeo just my worst one so far! Thank you for all the advice

 

Please keep in mind the following: This is not a quick fix. I strongly advise you to follow my advice in my article: Tinnitus, A Personal View in the above link and pay particular attention to my post: Hyperacusis, As I see it. Failure to take action now and reduce the sound levels that your ears and auditory system have been subjected to, your tinnitus will most certainly get worse.

I am sorry to sound so sobering but these are the facts I'm afraid.
I wish you well

Michael