Not Sure If This Is Tinnitus: High-Pitched Squeak Sensation — Sometimes It Goes Away

Hi all,

Firstly, apologies if this type of post is not allowed on this forum. Please feel free to remove if it breaks any rules.

9 days ago, I was doing some DIY that required using a circular saw. The saw usually isn't that noisy but for some reason in this instance it was catching on the wood and causing this very loud and uncomfortable noise.

In total, the cut I was making lasted about 10 seconds. I didn't use any ear protection as I've never given it any thought and foolishly assumed this type of infrequent DIY didn't require it.

I had no immediate tinnitus after this, and for about 3 days I didn't have any symptoms at all.

Skip to about 6 days ago, and I developed this weird sensation in my head which isn't really a noise more like a very very high pitched squeak sensation - although even then I don't think that describes it very well. It's nothing like any of the sounds I can find on YouTube that are meant to mimic what tinnitus sounds like. If it was a sound, it would be higher pitched than anything I have heard before & wouldn't be able to find anything that is similar to explain it.

Then started the insomnia and panic. My sleep has been terrible and I've been completely pre-occupied by this sensation.

The strange thing is, sometimes it completely goes away and I have silence. For example, the other night I had a few hours before bed in which there was no noise at all and I went to sleep just fine and woke up with it not there for a couple of hours - even if I really tried to focus on it and 'find' it again.

Then last night, it was completely gone before I went to bed having been 'there' for most of the day but then I woke up in the middle of the night with it back again in my head somewhere. I managed to drift back off to sleep and woke up to silence, only for it to come back again after a few minutes of being awake. On my drive to work today I couldn't really sense it, but then sitting at my desk in the quiet I feel like I am aware of it again although still not sure exactly what I am hearing.

Does anyone know what this could be? It doesn't really seem to be what most people on this forum describe as tinnitus but I'm struggling to figure out what else it going on in my mind.

Part of me thinks I might just be imagining it and have latched onto the negative thoughts about it. I'm really not sure as it isn't a sound I could ever explain and it's not that 'EEEE' sound a lot of people describe. Or it's just so high pitched it seems different.

From reading this forum, I appreciate 9 days is nothing in terms of ears healing and that the time frames for these sorts of things are in months, rather than days or weeks.

Has anyone else experienced anything like this? I feel like I am totally losing my mind. Sorry if the above is poorly written - I've only managed a few hours sleep the past few days.

 

Hi everyone, I'm just looking for some indication of what I might expect moving forward.

The noise seems to have become a bit more permanent. It's there all the time, and is in my head, rather than in my ears.

It's a very very high pitched ringing noise / vibration - it's hard to explain in words what it 'sounds' like. I wouldn't say it is particularly loud compared to what other people on Tinnitus Talk seem to experience, probably in the mild/moderate end of the spectrum.

One of the issues is that, because it is 'in my head' rather than my ears, it's very difficult to ignore it or mask it with external noise.

I'm managing to tune it out from time to time, like if I am driving and there is the radio on, but 90% of the time it is right there in my head and no level of noise will stop me experiencing it.

Given that this was caused by a one off very loud noise exposure (circular saw catching on a big wooden sheet making it vibrate like a speaker), is there any chance that this will begin to fade away?

I find it odd that I didn't immediately get this ringing afterwards, rather it came on about 3 days afterwards and was extremely mild at first and slowly over the course of a few days turned into what it is now.

Any help or advice greatly appreciated.

 

You said you had acoustic trauma? Have you been to ER or even the doctor? I believe this is when steroids are prescribed.

 

I went to the doctor but he said that he hadn't come across steroids being prescribed for acoustic trauma.

I've booked to see a private audiologist tomorrow who I am hoping will make the prescription.

It had already been over 2 weeks since the trauma by the time I managed to see a GP so I don't know if they would have done much by that point anyway.

Do you think it's worth going to A&E to try and get them?

 

I have experienced what you're describing for a few months. This weird thing that is more like a sensation than a sound and a bit vibrating too. Something like a zap that old TV's were making when being turned on.

I started having that last summer when I was a few months in (already had a few more standard tinnitus sounds), especially when I was waking up in the middle of the night. It was like the other sounds I had (a few mid-ranged eee's and some white noise) were turning into that.

It was mild, I guess, as I could mask it or tune it out quite easily and it lasted a few months. However, my tinnitus has transformed many times and is multi-tonal, very weird to describe. Still mild, but definitely worse after a year in...

In my case, I didn't have an obvious noise exposure though like what you mention here, it all sort of came on its own. I'd suggest visiting some ENTs to check your hearing. Also, it's still the early days for you, so nothing is certain yet.

 

Your doctor is an idiot. I would 100% go to ER and tell them it's bad, you have had it for a couple of days and need something for it. You can then discuss merits and chances of it working with those on here who have taken it.

 

A symphonic 7 months of middle head noises, a new one" back up beeping", luckily it's very quiet.

 

Update: I now have 7 days worth of Prednisolone at 60 mg per day.

Unsure of whether it's even worth taking it now since it's been 2 weeks and 4 days since the acoustic trauma that started this entire nightmare.

I would also add that the tinnitus is fairly manageable - I seem to be managing to zone it out of my mind from time to time for a few minutes and hope that this continues to get better over the next few months.

Any thoughts from the Prednisolone veterans?

 

If your doctor prescribed it, they must think it's worth the try.

And if you don't try it, you will forever think if it might have made your tinnitus better. If I were you, I would take it, now.

 

Good point but I'm reading of people whose tinnitus was made worse by the drug which would be a total catastrophe!

 

Hi everyone,

I've been suffering from tinnitus for about 6 weeks now. I'm 30 years old.

It was likely caused by me doing some excessively noisy house DIY without the use of hearing protection. I've been renovating my house for the past 3 months during the weekends and about 6 weeks ago I did some extremely noisy woodwork using power tools.

3 days later, I noticed a sort of static 'feeling' in my head but tried to ignore it.

1 week later, this static feeling wasn't going anywhere and I was waking up in the night with it being much more intrusive.

3 weeks later, it turned into more of a noise (sort of a hiss) but was still in my head.

4 weeks later, the noise transitioned overnight from my head to my ears, with each being the same in terms of hiss.

5 weeks later and my right ear begins to buzz a bit like a bee was trapped in there. The noise in my left ear disappears.

6 weeks later (now), things have totally changed. I now have a chirping sound in my left ear which changes pitch all the time and a low level hum (a bit like a computer fan). My right ear is going from an intermittent buzz to an 'eeee' sound.

Sometimes, the sounds from the left ear and right ear merge to form a single horrible tone, whereas other times they are separate.

For me, each step gets worse. The initial 'head static' was bliss compared to what I have now.

It's hard for me to pinpoint how loud it is. At the moment, it's easily audible in a quiet room and I can hear it when I'm walking about outside or watching TV.

Also, my ears seem to be getting more reactive to sounds in that even me typing this seems to be generating chirps in my ear and causing my ears to feel a bit tender.

Is there anything I should be doing to try and stop this getting worse and give it a chance to level out and hopefully start to calm down?

I have started wearing ear protection in my car as I drive a lot for work and generally it's fairly noisy in the cabin. I've done the usual stuff of taking NAC and Magnesium.

My sleep is poor even with sleeping pills - am getting about 4 hours a night at best and keep getting woken up by the noises.

Any help or advice would be so gratefully received as I'm really struggling to keep myself together at the moment. Is there any hope in this stabilising or getting a bit better?

 

Oh boy... buckle up buddy! I will say this, the first months are going to be nuts. First year too. Sounds like you have hyperacusis, some of us with noise induced have that.

Protect your ears. They need healing especially in the beginning. If you know you will be safe from loud noises like inside a room, then don’t protect. Allow maybe listen to soft nature sounds on a low volume if you can tolerate.

Do your best to try and relax some. Find ways to get sleep in. Easier said than done I know. You eventually will come to terms with it. Not saying it will get easier, but you shouldn’t panic once time has passed.

Distract yourself. Read positive stories here. Don’t let yourself fall in a pit of despair. Try not to make too much sense of your tones and changes, it’s going to be haywire most likely since it’s early. Some of us are still haywire later on but still, it gets better.

 

Earplugs in the car is likely a good idea. Often just normal but continuous noises that don't bother in the moment still can make the tinnitus worse, a lot worse, though typically it would return to baseline after a day or so.

Are things any better after being away from work for a day or two? Are you still doing your home renovation? If so, you need to be using the best earplugs and the best earmuff combined while doing so.

Sleep is important. I often find myself waking up after 4 or 6 hours. So, I'll take a nap when I can, trying to add up to a full 8 hours of sleep per day. This works because for me it is easier to fall asleep than stay asleep.

 

From what I read you are probably doing pretty good. The changing noises might be the hair cells coming back to life or you becoming accustomed to it all. Sorry this is happening to you.

One thing I learned is there is some really extreme cases out there, reading about them seems to help you take it as a serious matter, but after that it can really mess you up, and consider lots of tinnitus is about not focusing it, you got to watch out what stuff gets in your head.

Tinnitus is very common, people deal with it and tune it out, and it can go away over time.

 

Be careful with those words lol, you’re mainly right though.

 

Are you any better Tom?

 

He seems to have vanished. I like to think when this happens - the tinnitus cleared and he had no use of the forum.

His last post was in July in which he said things are not going so good. Hope he found some relief.

 

I really wish people would post updates. I'm hopeful that, due to the fact I have days where it's lower and days where it's louder and fluctuates, mine will go away. As part of staying positive, I wish I saw more positive updates. I have been keeping a log of my good days and what I have been doing daily to treat my symptoms. If I heal, and I hope I do, I hope my experience can help others like some of the stories I've read have helped me. So yeah, I won't be just disappearing without an update.

 

According to his profile, he last logged on eleven days ago.

@Tom_Tom, would you let us know how you are doing now?