Parents Won’t Take Me to a Doctor: Ear Ringing for 8 Days

[weab00]

I'm 15 and have had ringing in my left ear for the past 8 days. My parents took me to the doctors where I saw a nurse practitioner, but all she did was run basic tests and said I checked out fine. OK... not really what I wanted and I was pissed throughout the whole thing. Now my parents won't take me to the hospital to see an audiologist and the tinnitus is worsening.

Is there anything I can do? They're telling me to eat well, exercise, and meditate and it'll go away. I know they mean well, but this is ripping me apart and I can't seem to convince them.

Am I just supposed to accept it??

I'm still in denial about all this since the it came on so suddenly, I don't know what plan of action to take. Some sort of doctor I can speak to over the phone?

I'm hoping it goes away because I never exposed my ears to considerably loud noises, except when I would very occasionally blast music on my headphones, so I'm hoping this fades. It's worse in the morning or after I wake up, and it's quiet enough to tune out during the day.

I'm so young to have it and scared right now, it's sucked joy out of my life.

Someone in another thread recommended B12 and magnesium vitamins, but I'm not sure about dosages and if it's safe for me to take. Thanks.

 

[Lilah]

Did the nurse practitioner check inside your ears to check for wax, fluid, etc? Did you talk about possible sinus issues? That should be enough for now. Doctors would want to run a series of tests and scans to check for tumors, etc which is unlikely given your age. I ran around seeing all the doctors and still no finding as to the cause.

 

[Bill Bauer]

I'm hoping it goes away because I never exposed my ears to considerably loud noises, except when I would very occasionally blast music on my headphones, so I'm hoping this fades.

The only thing an ENT could do, is prescribe Prednisone. However, Prednisone Might help people who got hearing loss as a result of a very loud noise. It is also most effective when administered soon after the exposure to noise (e.g., within 48 hours). A small minority of people who take it get horrible side effects. So I am really not sure whether you would benefit from seeing an ENT.

The good news is that tinnitus fades for many people. You are young, so you are more resilient than most, and so your chance of hearing silence again, or of getting to the "can hear it only in quiet rooms" stage are higher than it is for the rest of us.

If you can avoid hurting your ears again, your tinnitus might fade within the next 1-2 years. During the next 6-12 months, you might try to avoid noises like that of a vacuum cleaner, lawn mower, hair dryer and power tools. If you get louder T following being exposed to those noises, then you would definitely want to do this. Otherwise you will want to be careful around those noises. It is also not a good idea to attend concerts or movie theaters. If you decide to see a movie at a movie theater, at least make sure to wear some hearing protection. But keep in mind:

Oh go you'll be fine they said. Wear earplugs they said.

So I went to the event with ear plugs. Was there for only a few minutes. Big mistake. Gave me low drone/hum that's worst than the high pitch hiss/eeeee, tea kettle sounds. Never went away. sigh
3 1/2 years ago.

Everyone is different. Every situation is different.
You have to make a decision and live with it.

Check out
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/thread...eone-else-who-has-tinnitus.26850/#post-307822
and

I didn't read all the above comments, but did peruse a fair amount of it, and ran across many good points on both sides of the argument. What strikes me is there seems to be an underlying assumption (of course I may be wrong on this) that all brains and neurological systems are created equal. The way I see it, that's simply not the case, so everybody's way of dealing with tinnitus and/or hyperacusis is going to have to be highly individualized.

I read a book many years ago called "Adrenal Syndrome". A lot of the book touched on the residual resiliency of people's adrenal glands as they respond to life's stresses. Very low resiliency often resulted in months/years of chronic debilitating exhaustion following a stressful event(s) in their lives. Very high resiliency indicated essentially the opposite. The author broke this down into some rough numbers:

25% of people have low resiliency, meaning normal life stressors will often send them into some degree of a tailspin.
25% of people have high resiliency, meaning that no matter how severe a stressor comes into their lives, they will be able to cope without becoming debilitated to any degree.
50% of people fall somewhere inbetween.

I believe there are some kind of corresponding numbers for a person's brain and neurological resiliency as well, which can greatly affect the ability to cope with tinnitus. (I believe adrenal resiliency also plays a major role in our ability to cope). -- Based on these assumptions, it's pretty easy for me to conclude that what may be overprotection for one person will be underprotection for another, and vice versa.

I think the main point to understand for someone new to tinnitus is that their path forward is going to be a lot of "testing the waters". Generally, IMHO, it's going to take a few weeks or months to get important insights that will help us achieve a healthy balance. In all likelihood, most people are going to learn from experience when their over-protecting or under-protecting.

I've come to believe however, that in those early months, if one is going to err in either direction, it should be toward overprotection. It just seems to me the consequences of underprotection (which could result in permanent injury) in those early times are much more dire than the consequences of overprotection--which as I understand, generally results in temporary setbacks.

Doing a number of things to better support the brain and neurological system and the body's stress response (adrenal glands) is quite high on my list of recommendations I would make to anybody with tinnitus. Doing so might even prevent phonophobia or OCD, etc., as we go through our learning curves -- Just my 2 cents worth.

Relative newbies to tinnitus are likely to find all the information/opinions above quite confusing. So here are a few common-sense rules to follow:

1. The best protection of all is avoidance. Even the best earplugs can't guarantee complete hearing protection so those relatively new to tinnitus are best advised to avoid prolonged loud noise exposure - especially amplified sound at for example live concerts and sports events. This may involve lifestyle changes.

2. When in doubt, use hearing protection. In the many tasks we all do through the week, some will inevitably involve exposure to noise - which may be at higher levels than we at first realise - so using hearing protection for many of these is only sensible.

3. Build quiet into your day. It's not a good idea to be wearing hearing protection all the time - so you need to give your ears a break by ensuring that there will be quieter times during your day when hearing protection isn't necessary.This may involve changing your routine. Use soft masking noise and light music (not using headphones) to avoid "silence" where tinnitus is most noticeable.

4. Don't stress about stress. Tinnitus newbies are forever being told that the thing which makes tinnitus worse is stress. But while it's true that how you are feeling at a particular moment can make tinnitus temporarily louder, it won't have a lasting effect. But prolonged loud noise exposure can make tinnitus permanently louder. So don't stress about stress - but do be concerned about noise.

 

[Karl28]

Why don't you find an example of a loud high pitched noise like on YouTube and play it your phone while waving it in front of your parents faces and refuse to turn it off so they know what it's like.

 

[Willysolman]

Hey, you can go to the doctors yourself, in my country at least, your parents don't have to know because doctors can't tell your parents if you ask them not to tell them.

 

[rtlewis88]

Why don't you find an example of a loud high pitched noise like on YouTube and play it your phone while waving it in front of your parents faces and refuse to turn it off so they know what it's like.

This is good advice; I have certainly had to do it. This link, below, is also on our site - and it is short and to the point. Show this 1 min 16 sec video to anyone who may play a role in the concepts @Bill Bauer is talking to you about.

You are incredibly sharp, @weab00 , and you are doing precisely as you you should be, at this stage. This is the most important point in your tinnitus situation; because this is where you can choose to not make it worse - or even help it to disappear in time

Best of Luck!

 

[Agatha]

You should contact the social services if your parents don't take care of you.

 

[Tex]

I hate to say this, but your headphones may have caused the problem. If you will take care of your ears from here on out hopefully it will get quieter, or even better go away.

In the years I've had this I've discovered a lot of others that have it to, but to a lesser degree. And about everyone attributes it to loud music, whether concerts, boom boom car stereos, headphones, ear buds, etc.

 

[coffee_girl]

You should contact the social services if your parents don't take care of you.

That doesn't even make sense, where is the OP from? Does he have insurance? There could be many reasons why his parents couldn't take him to the doctor, they might not be able to afford it... medical care in the USA is very expensive without insurance. Calling social services won't help him either as it would only exacerbate his problems.

OP, is there a way for you to search for a community hospital near by that would have some kind of free clinic area that is funded by the state? In SF we have free clinics for the homeless, I'm thinking there is a similar thing near a big city by you (assuming you are from the US).

 

[Michael Leigh]

I'm so young to have it and scared right now, it's sucked joy out of my life.

HI @weab00

Your tinnitus was caused by using your headphones at too high a volume. The tinnitus will improve but it takes time. I posted information to you on another thread and will paste it below. Please take your time and read the articles as it will help give you a peace of mind. Tinnitus can be very scary in the early stages but as time passes you will start to feel better. Feeling stressed and anxious is not unusual, so having a talk with your family doctor might be helpful as he or she may suggest something to relax you.

Take care
Michael

New to tinnitus what to do?

The onset of loud intrusive tinnitus can be very traumatic for most people. I use the words loud and intrusive, because tinnitus comes in many forms and intensities. When it is mild, moderate or occasionally heard in quiet surroundings it is usually not too bothersome and a person can go about their daily affairs quite happily and unperturbed by this anomaly. This type of tinnitus usually comes on gradually and in some cases it's associated with hearing loss, as we get older and the usual treatment is the wearing of hearing aid/s.

Tinnitus can be caused by other things: an underlining medical problem, build up of ear wax (cerumen). Jaw problems. Some medications and even irregular blood flow through the body causing Pulsatile tinnitus. There are a plethora of other conditions that can be responsible. However, the most common cause is exposure to loud noise or music that has been played at high levels causing some damage to the cochlear in the inner ear.

This type of tinnitus can be loud, intrusive and very debilitating. Often leaving a person at a loss and not knowing which way to turn to escape the nightmare that has suddenly come upon them. Your Dr has probably told you, it's tinnitus and nothing can be done, you'll just have to learn to live with it. I remember those words as if it were yesterday resonating through my mind and thinking, live with this for the rest of my life, impossible. So I fully understand how difficult it can be for someone new to this condition to take this in and believe it to be factual.

If you are having difficulty sleeping you might have been advised to try a night time sedation or an ant-depressant to help cope with the stress and anxiety that often accompanies tinnitus. These medications can be helpful especially in the early stages and they don't have to be taken long term, so it's something to consider. They can act as a safety net so you don't become too down.

A referral to ENT will usually be recommended. In the mean time try to keep occupied with something you like doing, as it helps to distract the brain from focusing on the tinnitus. Avoiding quiet rooms during the day by playing low level non intrusive music such as classical in the background can be helpful.

At night a sound machine placed by the bedside playing nature sounds or listening to favourite mp3 tracks or Cds are good. Keeping the volume just below the tinnitus is ideal and set to play throughout the night until morning. It takes time to get used to sound therapy so please stay with it. Whilst in a deep sleep it supplies the brain and auditory system with sound enrichment. Over time the tinnitus is pushed further into the background helping to make its perception less noticeable during waking hours.

In the early stages of tinnitus, if one chooses not to use sound enrichment sleeping can sometimes be difficult and there's also the chance of the tinnitus becoming more intrusive as sleeping in a quiet room can allow the brain to increase it's own background activity. In doing so it will also increase the tinnitus making it more intrusive during waking hours.

There is a tendency for newbies to try and cure their tinnitus which is quite understandable. There are many remedies, treatments and concoctions out there. Some affordable others quite expensive. I am not adverse to trying to help myself but want to say, there are charlatans and con artists eager to relieve someone in distress of their money so please be careful. Even tried and tested treatments I wouldn't recommend a person try until they have been seen at ENT. Often a person after been seen at ENT is advised to wait a while.

The reason being. Many people habituate to tinnitus within six months sometimes a little longer and it has been known to go away. The ear is a very delicate organ and many Drs prefer to wait before investigating further and then suggesting a treatment. If other problems are experienced such as: pain in the ears, deafness, dizziness or balance problems this is of more concern and a person will usually been seen quicker.

It is best to have a word with your GP if you're feeling stressed or depressed in any way, as previously mentioned there are treatments available. Leaving things alone until ENT advise you of the next step is the best thing to do in my opinion. Don't try to fix anything or throw large sums of money at treatments that you have no way of knowing whether you'll get any relief.

It is not advisable to listen to audio through headphones even at low volume and keep away from loud sounds. By all means go out but anywhere that plays loud music then wear noise reducing earplugs.
Take things slowly and one day at a time. Read some of the positivity threads and ask other members for advice. Many people eventually habituate to their tinnitus and go on to lead a happy and fulfilling life even though it may take a little time.

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/