PSA: To Everyony Who Hears Their Tinnitus "Only in a Quiet Room"

I was there a few months ago. My tinnitus was faint enough to not notice it at all during day and night. I felt almost normal. Sometimes I had the thought of avoiding super loud noises, but I was doing great. No spikes even when accidentally exposed to some noises like cars, trucks, etc.

It took only 1 trip to the cinema, without earplugs to cause a permanent spike or at least one that has been going on for almost 3 months now.

Be careful. Your ears are not the same even if you feel kind of the same. Learn from others' mistakes.

 

I went from nothing to moderate. Coping better, but a warning would have been nice.

 

My tinnitus was caused by ototoxic drugs and slightly impaired my hearing, but I can still hear most stuff. I hope all can recover from this terrible condition.

 

@makeyourownluck, yeah, we have had tinnitus since around the same time, I can't believe how fast this is progressing. I'm so scared.

 

@ownagealan, I've heard if tinnitus is caused by ototoxic drugs, it can heal over time. You have had it just a month. How are you doing now?

 

My incident was that I took Cortisporin Otic for my ear infection on my right ear and some of the ear drops got into my eardrum which may have damaged my inner ear and caused the tinnitus, but I have not faced any substantial hearing loss since I discontinued the drops.

Also, I recently experienced a spike from taking Tylenol, even though I do not take it that often. I have no clue when I will fully recover, but as of right now, I am having a headache and should probably go rest.

I am going to have an MRI in 2 weeks and oh boy, I wonder if that is going to cause a major spike and my anxiety is beginning to skyrocket.

Edit: Next time I have an ear infection, I will ask the doctor for an antibiotic that is not ototoxic.

 

@ownagealan, I have the feeling you are going to be okay. Ear infections and ETD are soo slow to get rid of but you'll get there!

 

Mine ramped up over a 2 month period and has remained largely stable. I’m thankful because I’ve made some progress in habituation, but I still hear it outside, over the TV, in the car. Everywhere except the shower.

Some days are ok, others are a disaster (hence the very somber post earlier), but I’m getting there/will get there. It’s weird, when I’m around other noises the tinnitus isn’t necessarily loud, but since it’s right at my f**king ear nothing drowns it out! In silence it’s deafening though.

Hang in there, what has happened is in the past, and no matter how long it takes, we will see improvement! Gotta keep telling ourselves that. But for the love of god, protect those ears, they are precious. I just got myself some ACS custom moulded earplugs so am doing all I can to prevent further damage. I noticed some of the veterans on this forum use them. Apparently they have very little occlusion effect. We shall see.

Anyway, I really hope you experience some improvement going forward. Remember to give yourself a break though, mistakes happen, and you shouldn’t kick someone when there down, including yourself.

 

Have you searched Tinnitus Talk on MRIs?

Please make sure you read up on the advice here before you go. You will want to be well prepared to protect your tinnitus from getting worse.

 

I was able to hear my tinnitus only in a quiet room.

Then I got a root canal...

 

This makes me so sad.

I did the same thing (root canal) about two weeks ago. I had an increase in volume that's staying steady. Meaning I haven't returned to baseline. And I'm really terrified because I go back for more drilling in two weeks. I just started taking NAC and wish I was more optimistic about getting back to what was normal.

 

Did you feel any difference at the time, or have an idea what caused it? I've asked my dentist not to use ultrasonic instruments, but after reading this I wonder if that's even enough?

 

Stay away from heavy drilling. If you can't -- INSIST that they drill for 5 seconds, then take a 10 second break. I told the Endodontist about this idea. But I wasn't firm that it was required. I REALLY regret not being more assertive and absolutely insisting, which is what I'm planning for next time. Bring a family member for reinforcement if needed. This increase was no joke. It happened and so far has not subsided. Usually my spikes only last a day or two so I'm extremely concerned and very depressed.

 

How is the spike from the root canal @TinaRuns?

 

I’m scared to get my teeth cleaned. I guess they’ll just rot away, fuck!

 

And to everyone who still has "one good ear" left - remember the good ear has been in the same environments with you that the bad ear has. So don't take it for granted - don't protect it any less than you are now protecting your bad ear.

 

Just tell the dental hygienist not to use ultrasound. They can just use a pick. If the polisher bothers you, just tell them not to do that. I told my hygienist years ago that the ultrasound hurt my ears, so she does things the old-fashioned way before they had such stuff.

 

Ahhhh. This scares/worries me because I'm prettyyy sure I am going to have like multiple cavities... I need to go get my teeth checked and I'm just dreading it... The only thing that makes me slightly better about the drilling is that I did have a wisdom teeth surgery and it didn't seem to aggravate or change it much. I know that everything is just by chance though, and trust me I don't take that lightly. I fall on the more obsessive side of tinnitus sufferers. But I just hope for the best. I think mine may already be considered moderate I'm not sure... i can hear it lotsss of places.

 

I assume the source of my tinnitus is different than you all, which might explain the difference, but for the record and newbies who might read this, though I have severe tinnitus and am more careful with my ears than I used to be, I have never had any increase in my tinnitus due to subsequent incidental noise expose, like the fire alarm in my office building that went off yesterday right above my head, MRIs, or dentist drilling.

By all means protect your ears especially early on but this isn’t a one size fits all affliction.

 

My tinnitus was mild and stable for 5 years, then got worse from taking meds.

My tinnitus gets worse every day from low/normal sounds. I try my best to avoid loud sounds but honestly I can't avoid all sounds, like alarms, sudden traumas and all sorts. It literally gets worse from car horn/hooters. But what am I doing wrong? Normal day to day sounds do not cause hair cell death, do they?

I wish someone could explain to me why I'm constantly getting worse even with the use of hearing protection.

 

On the flip side so that people don’t totally freak out. I think we all respond differently. I only noticed my 4 kHz tinnitus in quiet rooms and it hasn’t changed in 15 years. Even with a lifetime of music. Granted I have worn ear plugs everywhere above 80 dB for those 15 years. Also most of my music a friends who are mid 30s claim to have no tinnitus. Be safe!

 

Normal ears that have not already been viciously compromised seem to be able to handle some very loud noise exposure without the person noticing any immediate effects from the damage assuming there is some.

But once that ringing starts and stays - you’re now riding on an entirely different train of consequences.

I have no idea if it’s actually all down to hair-cell loss because the progression of my hearing loss seems to be relatively mild compared to the progression of my tinnitus over the same period - granted I can no longer hear very much above 9 kHz anymore but that’s the least of my problems right now.

And many people progressively lose all of their hearing due to noise over-exposure without ever experiencing severe permanent tinnitus - so who really knows.

But I can totally relate and sincerely feel your pain with having to suffer thru an affliction non-stop and on a daily basis where it seems virtually impossible to totally avoid the things that probably caused it and continues to make it worse.

Cunning, baffling and insidious to the extreme.

You need to keep fighting for whatever you can keep of your normal life along with the rest of us and doing whatever you can to protect your ears until someone figures out how to help us from there.

Best Wishes.

 

Are you sure your protecting your ears from ALL noise over-exposure whenever possible?

Like for instance blocking them when a fire truck pulls-up right next to you at an intersection and lays on the fog horn.

The drilling and Lidocaine from a root canal can certainly permanently increase the severity of a persons tinnitus - because it does not take much at all to make it worse once you already have it.

And the fastest progression is often in the first several years for many reasons.

I just don’t want you thinking it was all because of a brutal dental procedure - when there could be other things you’re over-looking that are also still making it worse like for instance “wind noise” from driving on the highway for a prolonged time with your windows down.

Best wishes.