Ring Ring Ring? Hello, Mr. T

About 2 weeks ago I was helping my dad with something on his car, and he decided that he needed to use an angle grinder. I'm not really familiar with them, but I initially went far away to get from the noise and put my fingers very firmly over the tragus of my ear (mine is kind of large and easily blocks my ear canal when I push on it) to block out the sounds. He needed some help while the grinder was off, so I came back and then stuck around while he continued to use it again for a few minutes. I still had my fingers hard over my ears and stood back a few feet but I'm guessing this wasn't enough because a 4 days later a feint high frequency T suddenly appeared. The sound didn't feel uncomfortable throughout the process so I thought I was fine, but apparently that was not the case. I guess this works better for low frequency and not high frequency? I just read about that part recently but it's hard to say for sure.

I didn't know we were going to use loud power tools, as it was an improvisation because something was stuck on some car part and he decided to grind it off. I was there to just help hold stuff initially. I've always worn ear protection where necessary, never listened to loud music, avoided clubs and just generally always tried to be mindful of my ears. However, this situation just sprung up on me and I was not prepared for it. I made a mistake and didn't take the proper precautions. Not to mention that my dad was sitting directly in front of it and using it without wearing anything. I can't imagine what his hearing will be like, but he was in the Navy and probably already has some hearing loss.

Regardless of what I'm saying here, I'm certainly not going to make my Dad feel bad over this--I just wanted to get what happened off my chest, as I am personally going through the entire gamut of emotions that are commonly expressed on these forums by other recent T sufferers.

The worst so far has been is at night where the complete silence makes it feel like it is screaming. It is like waking up from a dream into a nightmare. I have now been running our air purifier which helps immensely, and I just bought one of those small white noise machines. I also seem to suffer from some H in my right ear, which seems to only happen while watching TV. Something with the speakers, couch and wide range of frequencies maybe? I just found that wearing headphones and very lightly playing rain noise really alleviates it.

I was sleeping with ear plugs for the last few years, which I read was a possible cause for some people, but I think my recent exposure to noise with a loud tool really puts that as the most likely cause. I do have some mild TMJ, which got me on another research tangent, but again it's probably unlikely to be the main culprit.

I saw a doctor on Friday, who thought it could also be related to my eustachian tube due to some discharge from it into my throat and slightly uneven pressure in my middle ear. He prescribed flonase to see if that helps. I guess it couldn't hurt. I was holding out hope that ear was was irritating my ear drum, but my ears looked clean. I will see an ENT soon, but based on what people say here, they don't tend to have good news for us, especially if the primary cause was likely noise.

Anyway, credit to you if you managed to read through this whole thing. I want to say that my brief time looking through this place has been very positive and I hope to join the ranks of those living happy and fulfilling lives with this condition. I will keep a glimmer of hope alive for a few weeks that this manages to be acute instead of chronic, but I am going to try and make peace with this so I can get acclimated faster and just move on with my life. Thank you.

 

Welcome to the forum. We hope you can find some great answers and viable treatment options from the members here. You have definitely come to the right place for support. We all know your issues, concerns and fear.

Looks like you have done wonders to protect your hearing and I applaud you for that. If this was a one time loud noise exposure, you have hope. This may actually just disappear in time. Do your best to not stress about it and think the worse. Feel free to ask any one of the members here anything. So many people here have helped me immensely.

Get better and warm regards,

Mike

 

I'm also thrilled to hear your talking to your doctor and seeing an ENT. Never hurts!!

 

Thank you for your reply. For some reason I am having a flare up today. I hope this isn't the new normal

I'd take what I had before over this!

 

Yes, flare ups are normal. My T got louder when I heard loud noises for the first week of T. You should invest in some earplugs to protect your ears while they are healing.

 

Oh you at not alone. My nasty intrusive T is vile today. So loud I can't concentrate. It's nit always this bad, hopefully slightly down in volume tomorrow. Four years on, I'm still not habituated.

 

Hi cruzmisl,

Welcome to the site.

Hopefully your tinnitus will go away quickly. Anyhow, do not kick yourself over it. We live in a very noisy world and the only way to protect oneself from it is to literally never step outside!

In the event that if your T lingers, the best thing you can do for yourself is to work on your response system to limit your anxiety and stress over it. It is definitely a challenge, but as time wears on it will become easier and your brain will pay less and less attention to it. For example, as I am typing this to you now, I hear it in my left ear, but could care less. Also, you should know that millions of people in the US alone have it, so you are not alone.

From your message, you seem like a mentally resilient person so just stay strong!

 

Be careful and please............. try not to stress over this. Stress can be worse than noise once you already have T. Lots of information on here to help protect hearing etc. Relax, enjoy a cup of hot chocolate and live your life. I used to always carry a cheap pair of foam earplugs in my front pocket. Cost maybe a dollar a pair. Comes in a little package. There when you may need them.