New to the World of Tinnitus

Hi everyone, I am 19 years old and I recently developed tinnitus a month ago and it's been really hard to deal with.

I have 2 types of tinnitus, the first on most obvious one is one mostly resembling ringing and the other one is a pulsing sensation in my right ear that only seems to occur sometimes when I move my head into certain positions.

The fact that I don't know what caused it is what worries me the most out of anything.

I have gone to doctors during this past month, including a GP, an ENT, Audiologist, and a Dentist that specializes in oral rehab to see what would be that cause of my tinnitus and so far everything has come out perfectly fine.

I'm frustrated that I can't find the reason for this and it only makes my anxiety even worse. I can't resist the urge to look up things on the internet regarding tinnitus and it only gives me worse health anxiety. I worry that I might lose my hearing due to some sort of disorder or that both sounds may be caused by some sort of tumor.

The former is the one that worries me that most since I'm a musician and I don't want to imagine life without music. I fear that one day I may start losing my balance and become dizzy if it is cause by something serious. I'm stuck as to what I'm supposed to since in my current situation I don't have access to health insurance so I have been crossing the border to provide for my medical services.

I feel so alone because my family doesn't seem to understand what I'm going through. My sister and dad think I'm being absurd because they just believe I'm fine. My mom is the only one helping me during this time but it's really hard on her since she is the bread winner in the house (my parents are separated).

After just getting out of high school my life is just at a complete halt because of this. I can't move on with trying to obtain my driver's license or getting a job or enjoy the things that I used to like doing because I don't what I have. I don't know how I should cope with this situation.

Sorry for this being so long btw. I've also never used a forum website before so I apologize if I make a mistake.

 

Hey Luis, Welcome to Tinnitus Talk. Im sorry to hear you developed tinnitus. I completely understand how difficult it can be. Generally speaking, your anxiety from the ringing will improve with time. Its called habituation. Right now your brain is in freak out mode (fight or flight) and its totally normal. But it will eventually change on its own and not react negatively as much as it is now. It can take a few months.

Did you get a MRI to rule out a neuroma?
Have you taken antibiotics recently?
Do you have any symptoms that point to TMJ?
Have you gotten a hearing test up 16khz? Common ones only go up to 8khz and are pretty useless for diagnosing high frequency hearing loss that is usually associated with tinnitus. You need to request a 16khz test.

If your dad and sister think tinnitus is absurd then have them watch this 15 minute documentary. There are subtitles at the bottom.

"I have tinnitus and I want to die"

Here is Huey Lewis the musician (your dad should know who he is) recently talking about his tinnitus.

Huey Lewis Opens Up About His Sudden Hearing...

 

If you have been to concerts, clubs and/or listened to loud music you might have hearing loss which might be causing your tinnitus. Even if a person's audiogram looks perfect, they could still have hearing loss.
However, you're only one month in, so I'd say protect your ears, give them a break and your tinnitus might still improve.

Some things you could try

• give your ears a break, protect them from loud noises
• don't listen to anything through ear plugs or headphones for some time
  
• use a mouthguard if you grind your teeth at night
• see a physical/massage therapist if you have issues with your neck, jaw or cervical spine
• listen to white noise or natural sounds during the day and at night so that your brain can focus on something else

Supplements you could try

• Magnesium or Magnesium Citrate
• N-Acetylcysteine (NAC)
• Nicotinamide Riboside
• Vitamin D, Vitamin B12

That could be pulsatile, somatic tinnitus.

"Somatic tinnitus is a condition where the sensory system in the body can cause, worsen, or influence tinnitus in some way. The word somatic is from the Greek meaning “of the body.” Somatic signals are sensory signals and are generated from muscle position sensors in the face, neck, head, trunk, arms, tongue, and the temporomandibular joint (TMJ)."

 

Thank you so much for replying @another sean, @Autumnly.

I haven't gotten an MRI, when I went to both the ENT and audiologist, the conclusion was that my tinnitus might be cause by TMJ dysfunction but the dentist said that I don't seem to have that(although all he did was feel my jaw and push inside my mouth, not sure how much he can tell by just doing that). So I haven't been back to visit either yet. The hearing test only went up to 8khz. My hearing isn't any different from usual but I'm not sure if it would be noticable to have hearing loss at 16khz. For more than 2 months now the right side of my mouth doesn't open as smoothly as it used to. It started off a bit bad but after somehow cracking it, it doesn't bother too much. My mouth sometimes makes cracking noises too. The dentist also mentioned my wisdom teeth are showing up but didn't order me to get a radiography taken.

I don't expose myself to loud situations, I've never been to a concert in my life ever. I did wear earphones a lot in high school but it's been a couple of months since I got out of it so I don't use them that often anymore. I only use them while practicing piano but not too loud and not for too long either. My mom did mention that when I was a kid I would grind my teeth while I slept but I can't tell if I do it anymore. At the moment my back neck feels tense most of the time. I haven't tried the supplements tbat you mentioned yet, are they to help moderate the sound?

 

The old-guard shills strikes again.

Don't know if anytime is a good time to develop tinnitus, but you got it pretty much at the right time. A treatment is being released next January (Easier to get if you live in Europe). I wish I was in your situation when I had tinnitus

 

these two conditions are not related despite the name tinnitus

it looks like you may have both pusatile and normal tinnitus, which is rare to have both.

the normal tinnitus was probably caused by a mild degree of hearing loss considering you are a musician, pusatile tinnitus is an unrelated vascular condition

 

Don't know if anytime is a good time to develop tinnitus, but you got it pretty much at the right time. A treatment is being released next January (Easier to get if you live in Europe). I wish I was in your situation when I had tinnitus [/QUOTE]
What sort of treatment is it?

What would be a way for me to find out if I have a vascular problem? Since it only affects one ear I thought it might be related to the other sound that I have.

 

Have an ENT check for pusatile tinnitus?
they usually can determine that.

 

Very good information in this thread. Take a look into curcumin too if your looking to take supplements.

 

I believe MRI's can also detect vascular problems. I had a mass removed one time and they were using the MRI to determine the blood source of the mass. But I think starting with a high frequency hearing test and confirming TMJ or not first is a good start.

 

I wish I was in your situation when I had tinnitus [/QUOTE]

So you no longer have it?

 

What treatment are you referring to? I am from Germany. It's this released here, too?