My 7-Year Tinnitus Story + A Few Questions

Hi everyone

I'm a 26-year-old man living in France. I apologize if i make some mistakes, English is not my native language.
I'm glad I found Tinnitus Talk, there are so many resources available which don't exist in French.

Where do I begin?
I've had tinnitus in 2012 when I was 19 years old, it started with an intrusive ringing in both ears which completely freaked me out. I consulted an ENT, had an audiogram and it was catastrophic: at only 19 years old I already had very high frequencies hearing loss for no apparent reasons as I had never used headphones or attended concerts/nightclubs. I had never exposed myself to loud noise. I also don't have a history of repeated ear infections.
I have attached my audiogram, the hearing loss seem to be fairly isometrically, I will have some questions later.

When the ENT told me that there was no cure and I had to deal with it, I felt miserable, I couldn't live with it the tinnitus was really high and intrusive, I could hear it over pretty much anything else.

The first year was very hard for me, it was difficult to concentrate in class, sleeping was also difficult. I failed some university exams and was eventually excluded.

However things got gradually better, I paid less and less attention to my tinnitus and I finally got back to a normal life the third year after my tinnitus had happened and I resumed my studies in an engineering school.

The last 3 years, I completely forgot I had tinnitus, I never thought about it, from morning to night I never heard it. It's hard to tell if my tinnitus was gone as I never tried to check if it was still there.

I forgot I had tinnitus until now. Last month, my tinnitus came back for no apparent reason. The only thing I can tell is that I was under a lot of stress this summer.
At first I thought it would go away, but it didn't, and now I'm still struggling with tinnitus. It seems to be as intrusive as it was 7 years ago.

I'm really scared since I'm in my last year of engineering school, I just have 4 months of courses left and I don't want to fail a second time. I don't know if my tinnitus is louder that it used to be, and I don't know if I will *habituate* again.

My questions:
-What type of hearing loss do I have?
-I also would like to know if tinnitus gets worse when hearing loss gets worse?

 

These are your current audiometric results?
If so, they are not bad.

 

HI @ThomasC

You have done very well coping with tinnitus and being able to carry on with your studies. This is no easy feat and I congratulate you for your positivity, determination and zest for life to not give up. If you everything has stayed the same, meaning you haven't been using headphones and haven't subjected yourself to loud sounds? Then, the increase in your tinnitus could be linked to hearing loss.

Hearing loss can cause tinnitus and if your hearing has got worse, this could be the reason your tinnitus has increased. When a person has habituated to tinnitus for some time as you have, and there's an increase in the tinnitus there is usually a reason for it. Stress can cause this too. However, to find out the cause I advise you to return to ENT so your hearing can be checked. If you have significant hearing loss in one or both ears which is causing the increase in the tinnitus. Once you are fitted with one or two hearing aids, this should reduce the tinnitus back to its previous level with time.

When the brain struggles to hear sound from the outside environment because of impaired hearing, it will increase its background activity. In doing so it will also increase the tinnitus. By not using a hearing aid/s (if required) your tinnitus could increase further.

Please get seen at ENT for tests and your doctor will decide whether you require a hearing aid/s. It may also be necessary to be referred to a Hearing Therapist or Audilogist for fitting of a hearing aid/s and for advice on tinnitus management and treatment if required.

Please click on the link below and read my article: Tinnitus, A Personal View.

I wish you well.
Michael

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

 

@hurtingdream