Noise-Induced Tinnitus, Reactive, Intermittent, "Normal"?

Dear all,

first of all, I will tell my story "in short":

I got tinnitus from a loud concert 3 months ago. The tinnitus I got from that was a 24/7 constant, very high pitched ringing in the middle of my head. I was traumatised and depressed first but somehow, I habituated very quick within 2 months. The noise was still the same, but I did not care anymore. It was accompanied with a slight Hyperacusis which also faded away at that point.

Because I was feeling so much better, I decided to try to go to noisy environments again - of course with earplugs. But when I went to a club with my friends, it seems like I felt too safe. We were in a small room where the bass was extremely loud. Due to the earplugs, I felt okay, but my body was shaking. Seems like most of the noise went through my skull ... I was just staying in there for a few minutes, because I became uncomfortable. Of course I am now beating myself up now for going there, but this is now an unchangeable thing of the past and I have to deal with what is left.

After that, I did not feel like after the concert 3 months ago (so no deafness), I just noticed my tinnitus was back at the old level and that my ears felt a bit stuffed and with pressure, and the hyperacusis also was back.

I went to several ENT's to make sure I am not missing any treatment in the early stages again. The audiogram only showed a very slight hearing loss, which the ENT's said would be of normal fluctuation since every audiogram varies. At least that calmed me down a little. I went to 6 HBO sessions and took some cortisone pills, just in case it actually was another noise trauma or acute hearing loss.

Some days later (and that is what is actually making me freak out the most), an additional ringing appeared in my right ear. (The reason I am starting this thread)
It is an irregular cricket type of sound. I can only hear it when it is pretty quiet. In some rooms it gets louder and more hysteric, in some rooms it is more quiet and "smooth". When I am transitioning from loud to quiet places or from moving around to sitting and coming to test, it takes a few seconds and then the sound appears. If I am distracted or on the move, I do not hear it at all. White, pink, brown noise etc. seem to trigger it. If I listen to this, then another high pitch ringing appears alongside the crickets. When I pause the track, both sounds also immediately stops. Then it takes a few seconds in silence and it comes back, but just the crickets.

Now I do not know if this is psychosomatic, because if it gets quiet, my brain automatically starts to search for the noise and sometimes it seems like it is triggered by that.

On the other hand, it is clearly detectable that the crickets react to sound. As if hair cells are damaged and are sending distorted signals to the brain.

This confuses me A LOT and drives me crazy. I do not hear the sound when I am active and it is not very loud, yet it is torturing me a lot more than my constant high pitch ringing. There, at least I know what I'm dealing with (I suppose ... ^^)

I am concerned that my ears were still damaged from the concert and I now did serious damage to the cells that where still regenerating. But the doctors here just do not want to examine me any further since my audiograms are OK ....

So maybe some of you know such a "reactive/intermittent" tinnitus and have some advice for me, if I should go to get any medical treatment for it or if I could just accept it as a "normal tinnitus" sound so I can work on habituation again...

Thank you all for your time.

 

Well you can try House of Ear Clinic in Los Angeles, they specialize in ears, world class clinic, they can inject steroids directly into your ear drums or do further examinations to find the best solution to your case.

Not guaranteed it will get better though, as everything has a 50/50 chance.

For the mean time I hope you habituated, it settles back down to a comfortable level (time is your best friend, give it time and it will lower or hopefully habituate)

I hope you feel better distract your mind, cheers

 

Sorry for your problems.

Unfortunately, ENTs do not know much about tinnitus or hyperacusis. That is why they probably only tested your hearing up to 8 kHz. You say your tinnitus is high pitched. You should get referred to a "tinnitus clinic" where they can test your hearing from 8-20kHz. Then at least you will know better if your problems are a result of hearing loss and be better advised of what to do.

 

HI @chaLLas

Try to stop worrying and speak to your doctor about how you feel. In the early stages of tinnitus it is not unusual to feel stressed. Something may be prescribed to help you calm down and I advise that you consider taking it. Earplugs will not stop sound reaching your inner ear if it is loud enough as you have found out. Sound will pass through your skull and be transferred to your inner ear by bone conduction. I advise that you do not use headphones even at low volume and keep away from clubs and concerts for now. Click on the links below and read my posts which you might find helpful.

All the best
Michael

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/new-to-tinnitus-what-to-do.12558/

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

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/hyperacusis-as-i-see-it.19174/

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/is-positivity-important.23150/

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/tinnitus-and-the-negative-mindset.23705/

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/acquiring-a-positive-mindset.23969/

 

One thing I'd like to know is how long are headphones to be avoided? Any ETA on when they're safe to use again?

 

You need to know that once your ears are damaged...they are damaged, just because you no longer hear T doesn't mean it isn't there. You are more susceptible to damage now more than ever, protect those ears because you have something that most of us do not: silence. The next time you get T could be permanent or even much louder. I know you have a thing for audio and music...but be careful!

 

I fully agree with @coffee_girl in everything that she has said. If your tinnitus was originally caused by exposure to loud noise, then I advise you to never use any type of headphones again even at low volume.

I am an Audiophile and before I got tinnitus, used to listen to music a lot through high-end headphones that eventually gave me tinnitus because I was listening at too high a volume and didn't realize it. That was 22 years ago and haven't used them since. I now enjoy my music listening through speakers.

Michael.

PS: if you use headphones there is always the risk of the tinnitus returning and usually it will be a lot louder. Someone recently contacted me that originally got tinnitus using headphones. She hadn't used them for 6 years and her tinnitus was very low and at times hardly noticeable. She decided to start using headphones and listened at low volume. Within a week, the tinnitus returned with a vengeance and now it will not reduce to its previous level and she's unable to return to work.

 

No more headphones at all for the next five or six decades of my natural life seems a stretch since they're fundamental to the work I do.

 

At the end of the day you are free to do what you want, quite frankly nobody can know your t better than you do. I stopped with the headphones not because of spikes but because of paranoia, I haven't worn them in 2 years. I was toying with the idea of wearing ear plugs then wear head phones over them lol....so lame. I looked ridiculous and the idea of having to do this every time i wanted to listen to a little jazz was just too much. =P

 

Yeah. I'm a bit wary of the "nocebo" effect that permeates this forum. Some really damaged people here, which is a bit scary.

I'm a person that routinely deals with strict deadlines and ETAs, so being able to return to fully normal duties and activities within a certain period of time is of vital importance to me. Gotta get with the go-go 90s!

 

All my tinnitus tones are intermittent or morse code-type sounds. They used to be quite reactive as well (to white noises such as a running tap or a blowing fan), but this has improved significantly, my perception tells me. While the morse code-tones themselves have not gone away, mine do tend to fluctuate a lot and also in a good direction. I can say that you can habituate to these to a certain extent, just as well as you would to a regular continuous pure tone. Take care.

 

I initially got mild low tinnitus 10 years ago. It was stable. Barely heard it. Went to movies, concerts (punk hardcore genre) with plugs and it was still stable. Then I started using head phones 3 years ago for cycling and it spiraled my tinnitus out of control into reactive tinnitus and now I can barely leave my house. So what ever deadlines or ETA's you think you need to be making, you're won't be go-going anywhere if you f*** up your ears further. Tinnitus will f you back more than you realize. Don't f with tinnitus and just use speakers. It ain't worth it.

 

I was never much of an earphones kind of guy anyway (you know, the ones you stick in), but I do own a fine collection of high-end, over-ear Sennheiser headphones, which I use to listen to film scores, ASMR videos, and to transcribe interviews.

 

I used to love ear phones, but now I see them as torture devices

 

I used to have a Sennheiser pair about seven years ago but was never impressed by the sound quality of those in-ear things anyway. Over-ear or death!

Plus I work in radio too, where using a headset is sort of a job requirement or else you have no idea what's airing from the panel.

 

ENTs are pure garbage. You need to do DPOAE and an Audiogram up to 20khz.
DPOAE look at how the outer hair cells are working, Speech in Noise Test looks at the Inner hair cells.

 

I originally got tinnitus from Sennheiser HD 650 open back professional headphones at low volume transcribing and timing subtitle work for feature films. WB, Disney, Pixar, you name it. It wasn't the loudness, it was the duration. Headphones constrain the sound pressure in the ear. Thats why they are in a totally different ballpark.

 

Well I'll always now appreciate those subtitles on my DVDs and blu-rays as being created through hazardous labour.

 

I don't think you have any idea how destructive severe intrusive tinnitus can be to a person's emotional and mental wellbeing. If you did you wouldn't be saying the things you are at this moment. I wish I had somebody to advise me back in the day, of the harm that headphones can do when used at too high a volume. People in this thread are trying to help you and it seems you're feeling quite sorry for yourself when you should be relieved and thankful for the advice that you have been given. Headphones are dangerous plain and simple for anyone that developed tinnitus by "exposure to loud noise"

It is true some people with noise induced tinnitus use headphones without any problems. However, things can change fast. Peruse some to the many posts in this forum by members that successfully habituated to "noise induced" tinnitus and it was low. After a while they thought things were safe and they began using headphones or going to places where loud music is played, thinking earplugs would prevent their tinnitus getting worse. Many are now full with regret as their tinnitus will not return to its previous manageable level.

It is perfectly fine when some people in this forum tell you what you want to hear: "I use headphones without any problems. Keep the volume low and you will be fine". Some ENT doctors that have never experienced tinnitus so haven't a clue about it, will tell you the same. Just remember, if your tinnitus gets worse because of headphone use or clubbing, then you will be the one in the suffering.

All those people telling you headphones will do no harm will be safely tucked up in bed sleeping peacefully while you're climbing the walls late at night and can't sleep or work because of the distress this crippling condition can do to a person that doesn't respect it.

You have been warned and I wish you well.
Michael

 

Mike, you and Bill are two sides of the same coin really. You post this wall of text without actually answering the question.

Now, I'm 33-years-old, I expect to live a full life well into my 80s or 90s, and headphones, like it or not, are a fundamental requirement to the work I do in media. It's not quite easy telling the boss I need a couple of loudspeakers at my desk in the office. Will I at some point be able to return to headphone use within the next five or six decades (take a moment to absorb how long that really is)?

This is tinnitus, not a lifespan-reducing HIV infection or cystic fibrosis.

 

With respect @Emperor-Drax you have the wrong attitude. I wish that I had known this before I wasted my time trying to help you.

I wish you well and goodbye
Michael