New to Forum — Tinnitus for 6 Months from Acoustic Shock

Hello,

I've just joined the forum after suffering with tinnitus for 6 months. Here's my story, as briefly as possible...

I was photographing an old fashioned steam train at close proximity in May. It left off a loud jet of high pressured steam from behind its wheels. Instead of covering my ears I kept hold of the camera.
Shortly after I had the sensation that my left ear was blocked. This feeling was most noticeable in the evening, and less so during the day. If I walked into a loud environment - bar / restaurant I had the sensation that my hearing was dimmed. Almost like there was a bowl over my head.
A month after the steam incident I got a throat infection, lost my voice and then started noticing the tinnitus. It seemed to build up over the next 3 weeks, so I went to a GP who told me there was little she could do. A hearing test showed some mild hearing loss around the 8000 Hz mark.

On bad days it sounds like an old CRT television between 11,000 Hz and 12,000 Hz and is very noticeable. These spikes come approx every three or four days. After a spiky day the next day is always better - I never get two bad days in a row. It's almost as if my brain gets tired of producing the noise and when I wake up after a spiky day it's softened again to more of a hiss. I can't find a link between diet, stress, sleep, alcohol or anything else that could lead to a spike.

I also get a sudden ringing in one of my ears at a different tone. This drops away after 30 seconds or so, this happens about once a week and I did used to experience this before the full on tinnitus started. However I've also had a few occasions where it appears the tinnitus has gone altogether. There have been perhaps 6 of these in the last 6 months and they only last a few minutes.

For the last couple of months I've been taking magnesium supplements having read a post on here about Leicester University research into taking magnesium following an acoustic shock.

I am still in the early stages wondering if it will / won't go. Looking for advice but hoping this story helps anyone who's in a similar position.

Best wishes.

 

Welcome to the forum! it's unfortunate that you have tinnitus and it is bothering you. To be honest with you, we can usually measure our tinnitus in 6 months to 18 months to see how it will turn out. Tinnitus is a complex ordeal and no one knows just how it will act and behave.

Now that you do have tinnitus, it's important to protect your ears and try to limit stress as much as possible. Both Noise and stress/anxiety are two of the biggest culprits that can possibly annoy our ears. I suggest to possibly find someone that you trust and talk things out about your tinnitus.

Gaining support with tinnitus can be quite helpful. This forum is filled with many people that will also support you.

 

Everyone I’ve ever asked about this without tinnitus experiences these periods of transient tinnitus... it’s normal.

I had these before and after getting tinnitus.

 

Thanks for the feedback

 

How are you feeling? How did you make out with the magnesium?

 

I am still taking it... but I am not certain it really makes a difference. It certainly hasn't 'cured' the tinnitus. My tinnitus seems to follow a pattern. One bad day, followed by a reasonable day before it slowly builds over 3/4 days to another bad one. It's the same hit pitched steam kettle noise. On bad days it has more of a ring to it, on good days it becomes a hiss.

 

Does anything mask the steam kettle noise?

 

On good days most things can mask it - the wind, noise of traffic etc. Today is good and I am sitting in the kitchen, it's quiet and I can just hear it. On a bad day that noise would be there all the time and the masking sounds would have to be much louder. I've also found that the frequency on bad days is about 12,000hz and if I replicate that frequency on an app the tinnitus sound goes away for about 10 seconds before creeping up again. How about yours? What's your noise?