Poll: Have You Experienced a Permanent Worsening of Your Tinnitus?

If yes, I'm interested in knowing what caused your T in first place and what caused a worsening of it.

Mine was caused by noise after years with music, but later on I experienced a worsening after an ear infection and pressure in the ears from flights and colds. No worsening from sound as far as I am aware of.

 

Initially caused by ototoxic medication.

Severe worsening after acoustic trauma, I went to a bar without ear protection. That was in December, things improved a bit since then.

 

Mine was first caused by noise and then worsened by antibiotics and then worsened even further by more noise.

 

Mine was caused by a concert in December 2011.Extremely mild T with extremely mild sound sensitivity(loud places were uncomfortable)


In January 2014 I experienced my first true worsening, it started with ear suctioning in my ENT that caused an enormous spike in my right ear accompanied by hearing distortion.
As I sat at home recovering I was exposed to an extremely loud high pitch noise that damaged my ears even further resulting in loud T and now H.

I recovered about 90% from that episode in January, my T amazingly returned to baseline but I still had H albeit somewhat mild.

My severe worsening came in January 2016, my girlfriend kissed me beside my ear which stabbed it in pain(first time I experienced pain from sound)which was diagnosed as an ear muscle spasm from specialists and nothing to worry about, that it would settle in a week or so.

I continued on as normal and more sounds just worsened the ear further and further to where the pain just became too much, another visit to the audiologist and a speech in noise test was conducted which was loud! Upon returning home my T and H increased to astronomical levels and as such has just progressed from there from more noise.

 

If you had experienced a permanent worsening, please share your story.

 

The poll results are very depressing

 

If exposure to "loud noise" is the cause of the tinnitus. It is unlikely that the tinnitus will get worse unless a person subjects themselves to further loud noise or risks using headphones on a regular basis which can make tinnitus worse in some people.

Michael

 

Noise exposure at 17. Very mild tinnitus.
Jaw surgery at 28. Loud tinnitus that went away.
One rehearsal with earplugs 2 months later. Permanent loud tinnitus.
One relatively quiet rehearsal with earplugs at 30. Slight increase in tinnitus.

I think @Michael Leigh is correct and I could have prevented the increase by completely avoiding any loud environment.

 

And you were not exposed to loud noise between your 17 and 28?

 

I think the reason why the results are so depressing is because people that had their T. go away are no longer on this forum.

 

I was, quite a bit actually. I studied music full-time, tons of practicing, rehearsals, recording, gigs, concerts... I've worn earplugs more often than any other musician I've seen during that time. At the same time, you cannot avoid all noise exposure. Yet, I've never experienced the slightest hint of an increase during that time. All the musicians I know from that time are still playing too, most don't even own earplugs.

Then came that surgery, which involved quite a bit of drilling, followed one week later by one week of loud tinnitus. Then one rehearsal, and now I have a tea kettle in my brain. I understand that hearing damage is cumulative, but I strongly suspect that the surgery negatively impacted my ears.

 

I have not had permanent worsening of my T, but maybe this time it finally happens.

 

But I am not so sure of that. I know that if mine went away or got more silent then I absolutely would still stay here to help and support all the new members who are in despair.

The only reason I would ever leave this board (going by how I feel right now) is if I were to take that awful step and rid myself of this world.

Because I have gotten such great support from all you guys here,l I feel very obliged to do my part and help others if I can.

 

That's very nice of you and i know that there are a few that stay here to support others but the majority don't come back here again.
I have scrolled through alot of people's profiles that wrote succes stories and never came back.

 

Maybe I am wrong.... I hope I am on this matter

 

Yep. Mine was caused from a neck injury. Which apparently popped my jaw out of place, but I put it back in. It was pretty mild and I could ignore it and it really didn't change much. It was just one tone in my right ear, and two tones in my left. They were almost all gone and I only heard them when I went to sleep.

Then by month 4 I popped my jaw totally out of place. Giving me tons of new sounds and ear pressurization issues. It's been six months since it got worse going on 7 and it really hasn't gotten quieter. In fact when it goes "quieter" it's not even near what it used to be when I first got T at its loudest. Despite getting my jaw put back in place 3 months after it popped out again. (Took a long while to get it put back in place.) The pressurization/elevation issues are slowly getting better. But it still likes to be loud and proud. Tones coming and going all the time. I'm hoping that it's not permanent and more time will prove it isn't.

 

I agree. I think it's important to share the success stories whether it does or doesn't go away. Just to help others.

 

You're far sweeter than me! I wouldn't return because I'd be too nervous that I'd jinx myself. Editing to add: and because of that, I always take it as a good sign when I see an old post or thread, click the poster's name, and see that they haven't been here in a year. They've moved on. If their tinnitus was still truly bothering them, I think they'd be on TT more often asking questions or needing support.

 

What might be happening is that people who had experienced a permanent worsening are more likely to click on this thread and to answer this poll. The people who haven't experienced a permanent worsening might be less likely to click on this thread.

Having said this, the results of this poll are certainly consistent with the idea that there is a real risk of it getting permanently worse. There is not much we can do about it, except to protect our ears.

 

This seems highly likely, I agree.

 

Hi @TheDanishGirl
I am in a much better place than when my T started about 3 years ago. Especially grateful to all the experienced members on here who kindly pass on their help, coping strategies, and advice freely. Too many to mention. Not to forget the guys who make the site. I thought it would never be better, and didn't believe members who had been through it, but I'd say I'm back to 90% life pre T except very careful around loud noise, use ear defenders when using power tools, don't use head phones now. Even applying for p/t job, which I never thought I could do again. Hope this helps others for all the help I've had. Best wishes Phil

 

I was looking at getting jaw surgery before I got tinnitus, now I'm not sure if it's a good idea.

For the most part I agree, but there are a few long term sufferers with severe tinnitus that have disappeared that I fear the worst for.

 

I actually had jaw surgery again, after I got tinnitus from it the first time. Here's the full story:

I was born with a complete set of primary teeth, but without two permanent teeth molars. This should've been taken care of in my childhood, but wasn't. As a result, everything in my mouth had grown into an odd position, trying to compensate. I couldn't chew properly, teeth were hard to clean, risk of increased wear and stress on muscles and joints when older, lower jaw was misaligned and I had a slightly asymmetrical face because of that.

The first surgery consisted mainly of removing the two primary teeth, which by then had grown attached to the jawbone. I also got two `bone anchors': little screws in the upper jaw to which my braces were attached. And the bone structure (I believe) in my lower jaw was purposely scratched/damaged, which makes the body go into `healing mode' for that part. The latter two procedures were done to allow for more teeth movements using the braces.
I was under a general anesthetic, so I can't tell exactly how much noise there was. The surgeon said that it wasn't easy and that it involved quite a bit of drilling. When I went back after I had this week-long tinnitus spike, the surgeon said that it couldn't have had any effect on my ears, but I have an uneasy feeling about that conversation. They suggested it could have been the prolonged bending of the neck during surgery or the medication used. Their conclusion felt a bit like, "whatever it is, we didn't cause it and there's nothing we can do for you".

The second time I had surgery, it was the traditional jaw surgery in that my jaw was broken into four parts, some parts lengthened/shortened and then put back together again with titanium plates. I had a much better feeling with this different surgeon. He said beforehand that this procedure is performed many, many times, and that they never see any effect on a patients ears. It also hardly involves any drilling, and the drilling that is there is short and l0w-frequency.
This surgery went extremely well. I didn't notice any change in tinnitus, not right after surgery, during the weeks of recovery or afterwards. My lower jaw in now in a perfect position and my face is symmetrical. I've gotten implants and crowns to replace the missing teeth a couple of weeks ago. I can finally chew my food properly and my teeth look like those model teeth sitting on a dentists shelf.


<-- This is me showing my teeth.


As you might expect, I'd be hesitant to have the first surgery, but the second one should be fine. If you have any further questions, please let me know.

 

Yes, think positive

I had the exact same surgery, didn't do any harm to my ears, i had the surgery 10 years ago and my T. started a few months ago

 

Which one of the two? The remove-primary-teeth-surgery or the break-jaw-and-put-it-back-together one?

 

This site is great at supporting, but trust me, when/if you get rid of your T, this is the last place you would ever wan to come back to. I too would support people even if I got cured, but I fully understand people who leaves this dark place without looking back, even if this forum works great as a support. I encourage everyone to leave this place if you feel better. Cured, habituated or whatever.

 

breaking both jaws and put them back together. I now have TMJ, not sure if i have it because of the surgery
But i stil had a small overbite after the surgery and i got into the bad habit of pushing my lower jaw forward. i did this for 10 years and recently stopped doing it, and not long after i got T.

 

Yeah, that type of surgery seems safe
Strangely enough, I thought that that surgery was used to treat TMJ. I'm sorry to hear that
My surgeon said that there's always a little bit of guesswork involved when realigning everything, but an overbite should not be part of that. Was the surgery not successful?

 

It was quite succesful, everything is alligned perfectly just a small overbite, which is not very noticable. I just wanted it to be perfect and started pushing my lower jaw forward. stupid idea because now im paying for it. The surgery itself is horrible, i was in so much pain for a week, i couldnt eat and talk for months afterwards, and my face was so swollen i resembled a hamster. I would only advice people to do this if it's really neccessary and not for cosmetic reasons (which i did)

 

Antibiotics related severe tinnitus onset 13 years ago. I thought my life was over and I wanted to die. Fortunately, with time (4 years) tinnitus got a lot better and absolutely tolerable. Despite I was going deft due to otosclerosis, my tinnitus remained low, stable and not intrusive during all these years.


Very severe worsening 4 months ago, three days after a gastroscopy procedure in a major hospital. I can’t prove it, but I’m quite sure the anaesthetic Diprivan (propofol) is what triggered it. My tinnitus is now unbearable most of the time. A debilitating feeling of despair gets into my body every time that a recall that ototoxic medication given to me by doctors has ruined my life once more. I feel absolutely unprotected concerning medications.