So Sad — Blaming Myself for Backslide — Tinnitus Worse After Going Swimming in a Pool

Hey guys! Last two weeks I was doing so well! Tinnitus was 80% gone in my right ear and 70% in my left ear. I had made so much progress and that wretched hissing sizzling sound was finally gone!

Then I went swimming in a pool at the YMCA with my daughter and all the progress I had made has been completely eradicated. Now the hissing and electrical shock is back, the head noise is back, the crickets are back, the high pitch tone is back!

Will I be able to recover again or did I do permanent damage? Just looking for support and opinions. I thought I’d be over this thing within a month now I am back to square one. What the hell happened???

I keep blaming myself and feel so sad. I was so close to the end of this and now I’m not.

If I healed so well before can I heal again? And why did going to the pool cause my ears to rage again?

 

@Michellejean
I highly doubt you caused permanent damage.
Tinnitus is a tricky beast.
I remember 4 months after onest of my tinnitus, I started getting periods of complete silence. I thought I was on the mend.
6 months in and I no longer got that silence. My tinnitus probably "stabilised" after about 1 year.
This may just be the natural fluctuation of the tinnitus, cruel as it is.
It's hard to think that we are doing so well then all of a sudden, back to square one.
I think there's definitely a chance it will go get better again.... this may just be a temporary setback.

 

It is such a weird condition, yesterday I basically heard complete silence for 2 whole hours, I was elated and started to feel really optimistic. At around 7pm last night it revved up and I would say it hit it's loudest level thus far and has stayed that way since. I'm surprised how well I'm coping to be honest.

I didn't do anything to cause the massive spike, I was quietly watching Downton Abbey. Don't blame yourself, I don't think it was anything you did xxx

 

@Michellejean ,
The pool could hardly hurt you. Quite the contrary, the pool is good for the general condition of the body and for re-relaxation of the nervous system.

Recently I experienced two high-profile events - a cry in the room, then I, unexpectedly for myself, dropped the phone in the darkness on an iron bucket with a lid in a narrow room .. It was ringing and unpleasant.

I still do not understand the nature of the spikes, most likely, our nervous, limbic system is involved in them.

 

@Holly1987
For the first 6 months or so, mine was very up and down.
I heard silence quite a few times, but now it's stabilised (though it fluctuates a little day to day, but nothing I can't cope with).
It's more predictable - quieter in the mornings then ramping up to a more tonal sound in the evenings (as opposed to the gentle hiss it is in the morning).
I think yours will settle in time, especially with the fluid issue you have.
I'm glad you are coping well, I guess we have no other way other option than to push on.

 

Thanks @Samantha, your encouragement means so much xxx I had a little cry to my fiance before, I'm just so sick of it. He got me some ice cream and now I'm watching more Downton Abbey lol. I have it much easier than some, I'm lucky to have wonderful people in my life. I need to focus on that.

 

You remained with water in the ear canals!
Even a very thin layer of water can make a huge difference.
It happened to me!
Maybe you have some cerumen that got dislodged and the little change in the cerumen plug made the huge difference.
Go to an ENT to look at your ear drums.
Maybe you remained with a little external otitis (inflammation of the ear drums) from the dirty water or the chemicals that were in the water.
You are not back to square one, what happened in the wake of swimming in a pool can be reversed.
The change took place in the outer ear canals and your ear drums, not in your auditory cortex, where tinnitus comes from.
The increase in the sounds comes from the fact that the tinnitus is not masked as before by the sounds of the environment.
It sounds like your ears are "sealed" and what you hear is the head noise, which is not mixed with the outer sounds as before. Your brain now focuses and amplifies the sounds that come from inside the head, because you do not hear the external sounds as before, although you may not realise.
Take heart!
Go to an ENT to check your ears and auditory canal and tell you what he sees and hopefully do something good about it.
When i have problems like that (tinnitus increased like hell after immersing my head in water) i go to an ENT who uses a combination of a suction machine with the tiniest tip (a large tip would do you harm, refuse those, cause they are dangerous) and a wire wrapped in cotton (yes, a wire, but he is very careful, he doesn't scratch my ear drums, he is a good doctor with very precise hands) and he cleans my ear canals. Sometimes the tiniest piece of cerumen which changed in position can make the whole difference.
Believe me, i was in your situation.
After i washed my hair and water remained inside my tinnitus increased and my hearing changed (became muffled). Lacking patience, i used a q-tip to "restore" my hearing. Things only got worse. I was saying to myself: if the ENT does not change the situation i will not be able to live with this level of tinnitus. I suffered a lot for two days until the day of my appointmemt came and with a suction machine with a tiny tip (i am lucky he has one, i had to deal with other suction machines in other ENT offices that harmed me) and a wire wrapped in cotton, he cleared my ear drums and ear canals and i left that office deliriously happy: i was saved from hell.

Or you may dry your ear drums sitting near a source of heat, like stove.
Anyway, you ear drums must be looked at.
The change took place there, and not in the auditory cortex, where you have the problem. The level of masking from the outer sounds decreased.

Ok, i think i repeated myself long enough. You got the message.
I won't even bother to proofread the post, i do not have the time.

 

Could it perhaps be small kids screaming in enclosed spaces that did it?
I noticed that when I walk in the shopping mall and small kids are screaming in more enclosed spaces it get really loud. Im now avoiding those kids. Maybe that could be it? Swimming earplugs maybe would help? I never got those plugs but am thinking about it if I go to the pool.

 

yes do buy the plugs for swimming - i use them so the water does not invade my ears i don't need another infection and i swim with my head up in the swimming pool right now (again, because of the infection for as long as i have this condition). the plugs also block noises, i use ones which block just a little, but i mostly swim when there are not many kids... i swim 2 - 3 times/week and really enjoy it, never had a problem...
but watch out for the changing rooms! many people just slam doors

 

Mine has started to fluctuate from Mild to Mod to Severe now. When I had my first acoustic trauma it decreased in two weeks and stayed like that. After doing the caloric/test and VEMP (Second acoustic trauma) it increased to severe. It has been quiet the last two days, especially yesterday, but today it is very loud again.

 

@dpdx
I think it’s good that you get some silent times! It’s such a let down though when it does come back.
Mine stopped with the silent periods, much to my disappointment, but I just had to get on with it I guess.

 

We all make mistakes in life. It's a natural thing, don't blame yourself and hold that inside. What has happened has happened and we need to move on and start a new day. I hope you are doing ok. I am thinking of you and you are in my prayers