New to This, Need Advice

[mikeinaz]

I had a week of vacation time I needed to use up, so I took a staycation the week of Labor Day(Sept. 2017). I had no real plans, so I watched/caught up on a ton of blu-rays, Netflix, other streaming, and video games. I wore my surround sound headsets thru all of it, the entire week, albeit at low volume(I've never used them at loud volume).

However, I think because of the uninterrupted duration(binging several hours a day), I've noticed a slight, constant, high pitched ringing that hasn't gone in away.

New Year's is tomorrow, so it's been almost 3mos now. I can't hear it at all w/ ambient noise of any kind, no problem sleeping/hearing at all, but...when it's pitch quiet, i can hear it non-stop. I also think that when I watch TV(not at what you would consider loud volume, about 12 foot away) it seems to exacerbate it/get slightly louder. I do have a 75" flat screen, maybe it just doesn't seem as loud to me cuz I'm used to it. I haven't used the headphones for over 2mos since i realized the slight ringing was there. Any suggestions/advice would be most welcome

 

[Kolisar]

Hi @mikeinaz . Welcome to the forum.

There is some good news. For most people, tinnitus clears up by itself with in year or so.

@Bill Bauer wrote the following post discussing studies that show a fairly high recovery rate from tinnitus ( https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/spontaneous-recovery-stats-over-70-recover-3-studies.21441/ )


The fact that you can only hear it when it is quiet is a good sign. Have you considered a sound machine to use for masking when it is quiet?

You are wise to not use headphones. @Michael Leigh wrote the following post on headphone use and tinnitus:
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/headphones-and-tinnitus.12062/

And, speaking of Mr. Leigh, he has a number of great posts. I would recommend searching out his posts, but I'll give you one to start with.

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

That post will be very helpful.

I wish you luck, and please keep us updated on your progress.

 

[billie48]

I can't hear it at all w/ ambient noise of any kind, no problem sleeping/hearing at all

Happy New Year! Welcome to the forum.
Living with tinnitus, it is very important to keep positive and calm and not let T stir up lots of negative emotions. Anxiety and stress are known to trigger or aggravate T. Your T seems to be mild right now. It may just fade over time especially if you remain positive and calm to keep the negative emotions away. Try focus on other aspects of life that is not tinnitus. Getting busy with distractions will help the brain realize that T is not a mortal threat and so it won't monitor it and can fade it out of consciousness. Take care. God bless.

 

[mikeinaz]

Thanks guys for the replies, very helpful. I may go see an ear doctor to be sure, and ask him if I keep the headphones low, etc.

 

[Bill Bauer]

Any suggestions/advice would be most welcome

Check out the thread below where I summarize everything (24 tips spread over three posts) I learned about managing tinnitus after reading the posts on this forum for the past 11 months
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/thread...itus-recently-this-info-will-be-useful.25741/

 

[Michael Leigh]

Thanks guys for the replies, very helpful. I may go see an ear doctor to be sure, and ask him if I keep the headphones low, etc.

With respect to ENT doctors @mikeinaz most of them know very little about tinnitus. They are physicians not tinnitus experts. They treat the ear medically or surgically. Your Dr will probably tell you it's fine to use headphones at low volume. He or she doesn't know for sure. There is always a risk for someone using them whose tinnitus was caused by "loud noise exposure". Some people with NIT (noise induced tinnitus) are not affected by headphone use at low volume. However, there are many posts in this forum written by people that have "NIT" and used headphones at low volume and their tinnitus increased and won't return to baseline. The choice is yours but it is the people like myself and others in this forum that have "NIT" and have experience with tinnitus will tell you differently. Most ENT doctors have never experienced tinnitus in their life and therefore know nothing about it.

All the best
Michael