My Tinnitus — Week 3

It's my third week with tinnitus after loud noise exposure. Third week was spend traveling and camping out in woods. I can mostly hear my tinnitus at night when it's quite, so I couldn't hear my tinnitus at all in woods as there were plenty of other sounds.

I still have the noise in my ears. Best I can describe it is if you are listening to loud music in headphones and then music stops. Even if you don't have tinnitus your ears (or brain) will start to compensate for lack of sound with some noise for a while. I hear that noise all the time, and I also have a bit of tone in the right ear.

Clogginess in right ear still comes and goes. I can feel it in mornings, and most of the days it goes away in few hours. Occasionally, both ears feel a bit clogged.

I have ENT for Aug 29 to check my ears and hearing again. No issues were found 2 weeks ago. I am beginning to think the middle ear is to blame for some of my symptoms, because when I yawn or burp (pressure change) I get quick tinnitus in my right ear.

What I do

• Take multi-vitamin, B12, Magnesium in the evenings
• Take 1-2 long walks per day to de-stress
• Drink chamomile tea at night to clam anxiety
• Occasional 10 minute meditation

 

Just finished my 3rd week too. Hang in there!

Would you say you've improved over the three weeks?

 

If you can hear it only at night, and you are only three weeks in, it sounds like you haven't hurt your ears as much as many of us here had hurt our ears. Your outlook is probably very good.

 

great sign to hear your doing ok but keep your fingers crossed still...take no chances...protect your ears as best as possible...if your 6 months in and it is still the way you are describing that is a great sign...until then proceed with caution...invest in a pair of custom fitted musician ear plugs and continue to live your life as best as possible

 

No, I wouldn't say I improved. I am really not doing myself any favors by obsessing over it and browsing the internet for answers. I understand that this could be a multiple month ordeal before things improve, if they do.

 

Thanks, I am hopeful, and I do not expose my ears to loud noises on regular basis.

 

Problem is i still dont really know what constitutes LOUD noise. Audios say anything above 85db is damaging, but if our auditory pathways are already genetically vulnerable and have sustained neuronal damage, how can we be sure that what we are being generically fed by audios is actually correct?

 

There's many conversations both here and around the net as to what may be loud noise for those with tinnitus and and maybe added hyperacusis. I'm not an expect on this subject, but I think that everyone is different for tolerance with T and H.

I spend 95% of my time in my house, but when I have to travel on a busy fast highway, I will always use ear protection.

I will give more of a personal judgement on this: I think that it's wise to have a list of very toxic drugs in your wallet or have a cell phone available to check. Most ER doctors and many regular GP doctors will say to you; you would know more about what drugs are tinnitus toxic than I would.

 

Good attitude. Yes, it will take a long time for it to fade, many months, and improvement will be slow. Sounds like your T is mild ( I know, it still sucks) compared to many cases, so IMO you will make a 100% recovery. Protect your ears. Good luck!

 

Actually, I was thinking the same thing. I am not sure what is LOUD. Yesterday, I went to work outside and there was a speaker blasting music. Ordinarily, I would not think that it's loud - just enough to get people moving. But now I am not sure if it's damaging for me.

I was also flying on the plane and it was making regular engine noise. Is that considered too loud?

 

Good question @DebInAustralia. I wonder too if our db level would be lower since we have damaged ears? Say, above 65?