Ringing Comes and Goes

Hi! I'm so happy I found this forum. I have mild case of ringing on my right ear that's been going on for about 4 weeks now. Here is my story.

As a child I had an ear infection and had to get a operation on both years. Hearing was never my issue but I've always been very sensitive to sound.

For the past few months I've been dealing with a very stressful situation involving finances and employment. It also doesn't help that as I started working from home, they started construction next door and I hear the constant beep beep of the truck backing out (every 5 min!)

On July 8th the lady next door had her TV on all night and it started a ringing in my ear. But that went away the same day and I slept like a baby. On July 10th she again had the TV on and it really hit my right ear and I started having ringing all night. Drove me insane. With the construction site sound starting at 7 am and ending at 5 pm I was really not in a good shape. What was strange was that I old hear the ringing in my right ear and only if I move. If I sit still, I don't hear anything.

To get a sense of relief from it all, I traveled to another city for a week and meet old friend for some TLC. When I returned back home, the ringing stopped. I also went to the ENT and he said my ear was in perfect form and my hearing was A+. So on the physical level, my ears are good.But alas, the ringing came back once the damn construction sound started! So I rented a shared office space and stayed away from home. I was able to put my ringing under control, since it only happens when I move I can actually sleep as well.

I started looking into eating the right food (bananas, pineapples) and saying good bye to my beloved coffee and even started taking zinc supplements. I even got back to doing my yoga every night. On July 31st I kid you not, the ringing completely vanished during the morning hours. I couldn't believe it. But then during the afternoon I was involved in a pretty labor intense work for hours and when I came back home in the evening the usual ringing (when I move) came back. I shrugged and said "oh well~"

This morning I was using my hair dryer and BAM now I have a constant low ringing in my right ear. I freaked out and called my friend who's an internal doctor. From the beginning she thought it's stress related and advised me to try to ignore the sound and control the stress. Indeed cuz of my activities yesterday my body was aching and I didn't sleep well. Luckily the ringing is so low that unless I'm in completely silent environment I don't notice it. I'm hoping this was a temp spike because if stress and the hair dryer and I will see its progress throughout the day. I even canceled my upcoming hair appt in the next few days. I also read in this forum that a lot of people had the same experience when using a hair dryer.

About 10+ years ago I remember visiting the ENT for some reason I can't completely remember. I think it was either inner pain or ringing in my ear. Back than the doctor told me I was ok physically and again I aced the hearing test. Whatever symptom I had back then, it eventually went away.

So here is my journey so far. I'm taking it one day at a time. Because mine comes and goes (sometimes completely disappearing) I strongly believe its related to episodes of extreme stress. Don't even ignore how powerful stress can be.

I will keep everyone updated and please do share if you have similar experiences.

 

I'm in your boat. The cochlea has a circadian clock and can slip in and out of disfunction when there is nerve/synaptic damage.

 

Amen to that...I'm sure it played a major role in my new "life challenge".