Pulsatile Tinnitus Spike After Hairdryer Exposure at Hairdresser

[Morcroft]

Hi, I'm 74 years old and have had pulsatile tinnitus for 10 months now. I was given a hearing aid by the NHS, which helped me a lot. I felt I had come to terms with the tinnitus and had even begun to forget about it.

I always wore headphones at the hairdresser and at home when drying my hair. This last time, though, I just used wax earplugs. As soon as I left, the tinnitus started up much louder than usual, and I've been very upset and panicky since. I feel it will never return to its usual state.

It's been four days now, but it feels like a lifetime, and I really don't know how to cope anymore. Has anyone had a similar experience?

 

[alwaysmasking]

Spikes can last for quite a while. When you are in the middle of one, it is hard to believe that relief is possible, but very often it is. It just takes time. Please protect your hearing moving forward, and try to live your life as fully as you can, while staying mindful of possible triggers.

 

[henkess]

Yes, I think it's just a spike. I also have pulsating tinnitus and TTS. After something like that, it usually gets better for me within a few weeks, at least.

 

[Duffy]

Hi, I'm 74 years old and have had pulsatile tinnitus for 10 months now. I was given a hearing aid by the NHS, which helped me a lot. I felt I had come to terms with the tinnitus and had even begun to forget about it.

I always wore headphones at the hairdresser and at home when drying my hair. This last time, though, I just used wax earplugs. As soon as I left, the tinnitus started up much louder than usual, and I've been very upset and panicky since. I feel it will never return to its usual state.

It's been four days now, but it feels like a lifetime, and I really don't know how to cope anymore. Has anyone had a similar experience?

OK, I'm 73 and have had it for about 15 months. It might have something to do with that COVID shot! Oh well.

Just before starting this post, my tinnitus was really, really loud. Last night's sleep was pretty bad. I just found this forum today.

But as I write this post, my tinnitus has stopped! OMG! So, we're talking maybe a five-minute span from really bad to nothing. As I continue typing, I do hear it again, but it's about a "1" compared to the "10" it was a few minutes ago.

What on earth did I just do in those few minutes? I got up from the computer, walked to the other side of the room, found some foam earplugs, and put them in my ears. It did sound different; there was an immediate change, but the sound was still there. Then I took them out after about a minute, sat back at the computer, and here we are.

Now the tinnitus is a "3." Acceptable, yes.

It seems that when we think about tinnitus, it rears its ugly head! By the way, it's a "5" now.

I plan on ignoring it. If I have to hear it, fine, I'll just have to go on. But I will not make it the center of my existence. As far as coping goes, at night I usually play a monotone radio station and have now moved on to using headphones. I find that not lying down to sleep helps a lot, since for me, it gets louder when I lie down.

During the day, I try to ignore it. Keep busy, and you will not hear it as much, and that "something" should not be the computer.

Good luck.

 

[Duffy]

So now I have been sleeping much better. I still have the whooshing, pulsating sound, which I would rate as a 6 or 7 these days.

I changed the time of day that I take my supplements and high blood pressure medicine. I used to take everything in the morning, but now I take them at dinner time, always with food. I take Magnesium in the morning and the rest at dinner.

I found that ZZ Top songs, with their great beat, seem to work well. On YouTube, I often look for videos of someone playing drums in sync with one of their songs. That way, the drum sound is in the foreground while the music stays in the background.

In summary, my sleep is very good now. Yes, I still have the pulsating whoosh, but I no longer worry about it. It is just there. I keep trying different things and will report back if I find anything else that helps.

 

[Duffy]

And now, after a few days, I'm back with a slightly different whooshing sound. This seems to be an unending process.

I thought I was doing better. Nope. Good luck to the rest of you.

 

[Duffy]

I was so tired of all the doctors saying there was nothing that could be done. I needed to know if something was clogged.

Two days ago, I went to the emergency room because the pulsing sound was terrible. They ended up giving me a scan from my head down to the bottom of my neck. I figured, I'm paying for the insurance, so why not?

No luck. Nothing out of the ordinary. No clogged veins or anything else unusual. Just a normal 73-year-old, or so they say.

 

[Duffy]

OK… on Nov 29, I went to the ER once again. That was just over a month after my first visit. This time, the whooshing was far worse, and my BP climbed to 200/107, up from my normal 130/75.

Again, they ran a scan and found nothing. And as I lay in the ER bed, my BP dropped back down to 135/72. I also noticed that I wasn't hearing the whoosh in the ER. I first thought the noise was just being drowned out by the machines and background sound.

The ER doctor told me to stop the water pill that my primary care doctor had recently prescribed. I now take Amlodipine, which is a vascular dilator. They also told me to stop checking my BP so frequently, saying that it just drives the numbers upward. I disagree, but fine.

Right now, 2 days later, I am much better. The whoosh is still present, but it comes and goes, and when it does appear, it is far less intense than before. It seems that the dilator is the right approach.

So if you have pulsatile tinnitus and are going out of your mind, check your BP. Also, if you are taking a water pill, you may need to stop. Long-term use can damage the kidneys, and the kidneys influence systems that cause the heart to pump faster, among other things.

Final note: the ER doctor told me that the brain becomes accustomed to a certain blood pressure, whether high or low. When BP changes, the brain does not adjust immediately. So imagine you eat a big salty meal. The kidneys work aggressively to get rid of the salt and signal the heart to pump faster. The brain does not adapt right away, and meanwhile, your arteries are being expanded by the excess pressure. Hence, the whooshing. I don't know how long the brain takes to adjust, but it's important to keep this in mind. If it takes 3 or 4 days, you may not correlate the whooshing with what you ate or drank. You might assume today's symptoms are caused by today's intake, when in fact they may not be.

Good luck.