Starting to Doubt My Tinnitus Was Caused by Acoustic Trauma

Hello, everyone!

I joined these boards about a month ago and made an introductory post about a week after an event that I had believed to cause my tinnitus. I had initially believed my tinnitus to have been caused by an acoustic trauma. To sum it up, I went to see the movie Dunkirk in standard non-IMAX format on August 26th. I noticed it seemed pretty loud and started to cover my ears part way through. Once I got out, I looked up to see if anyone else felt it was loud and found some posts on Tinnitus Talk about it that kind of freaked me out. I noticed a feeling of fullness in only my left ear at this time. I carried on about my weekend and even mowed the lawn. I felt a little "off" and kind of ill (I sometimes have bad allergies), but carried on and went to work on Monday. I decided to see my doctor Monday afternoon just in case. He prescribed me a 9-day course of Prednisone per standard procedure. I started this on Tuesday, August 29th.

Unfortunately, I had a near psychotic reaction to the Prednisone. It started off making me feel kind of jittery, but on Thursday (2 days in), I became extremely depressed and obsessed with a fear of tinnitus (I hadn't noticed any ringing at this point). I went home early with a bad headache, then started hearing a high-pitched ringing in my left ear (similar to the back of an old CRT TV). I didn't freak out too much about this because I used to have ringing like this before with bad headaches. Only this one didn't go away when the headache ended. I spiraled big time and feared the worse. I continued the Prednisone, but it didn't seem to do anything other than make me more depressed.

Once I got off of the Prednisone, my mood improved dramatically. I began to feel that I could handle it and felt that it might go away. I started to go for minutes at a time without noticing it. That is until a co-worker sneezed extremely loud at his desk facing me (my right side). My right ear felt full and I again went into a panic. I got another course of Prednisone after this as a safe measure (probably a bad idea after the first time). This again sent me into deep anxiety. A few days after this second exposure (a few days into this dose), I noticed a different pitch of ringing on my right side as well. The ringing in my left ear also got much more noticable during this second dose. I am now 3 days off of the second dose. The ringing in my right ear is still there, but the left ear noises seem to be changing.

My question is, does this actually sound like two acoustic traumas? I asked my ENT about Prednisone and he says that it can (ironically) cause ringing in the ears.

I've read about the effects of Prednisone lingering for up to 3 weeks, so I was wondering if anyone else has had this experience with Prednisone.

I think that the thing that I can't get my head around is how an acoustic trauma could be caused by a movie?

I've attended several concerts in the past and played drums in a band, listened to music fairly loudly in my car with no issues. Something as simple as a movies doesn't seem like it would be enough to do this to me by comparison.

Also, I had a hearing test (up to 8000 Hz) following both exposures with no hearing loss on either.

Thank you for the help and sorry for the extremely long post!

 

Perhaps it's the straw that broke the camel's back...

Unfortunately those aren't very reliable (there is such thing as "hidden hearing loss").

What tests have you done (other than hearing test)?

 

I have a feeling that you didn't get acoustic trauma solely from the movie theater, although that may have been, as the other member said, the straw that broke the camel's back. Another possibility is that the tinnitus is being caused by a clogged/blocked Eustachian tube(s), since you said that you've had "fullness" and allergies. Eustachian tube problems can also include dizziness and vertigo, in addition to T and other symptoms, which may be why you feel "off" at times. I've had the fullness, and T, since July 2017, and am perusing a path of unblocking the tubes myself, because I believe my T is related to this, if not entirely caused by it. If it turns to be related to ETD (Eustachian Tube Disorder), and my efforts to unblock the Eustachian tubes are successful, the tinnitus will, hopefully, eventually lessen and/or cease.

 

Yes, I had thought that Eustachian tubes might be to blame, as well. My left ear seems to frequently get a clogged feeling and I can hear my own breathing through it. I tried a neti pot and seemed to get some results the first time. Not sure if it was placebo or not, but I plan to try a few more times to check.

On the other hand, my ENT preformed a tympanogram on me at my appointment last with with good results. He said that this rules out any Eustachian tube issues.

 

Sorry to hear the Tinnitus horse has left the gate.

Your story is almost identical to mine. If you're trying to find an exact cause, you problem won't. It's probably due to extended periods of noise exposure (not the steroid) but it's happened now so what can you do? Protect your ears (within reason) and try to live the rich and fulfilling life you deserve.

 

I've also had a tympanometry performed. The results from this were also normal. Do you know of any other ways to detect this hidden hearing loss that I could do at home? Just seems odd that a movie would do any additional damage.

 

Thank you for your suggestions. I felt like I was making real progress until that setback with the sneeze (sounds kinda rediculous to put it like that). Trying to stay positive and focus on how I can appreciate my wife for sticking with me through all of this and trying to focus on success stories to get through. How long have you had your T?

 

Oh, yes, also want to mention, I also have bouts of bad muscular soreness in my jaw from clenching. I've been having bad stress headaches in the weeks leading up to onset as well with some bad neck tension. Trying to relax some more in hopes that it helps.

Good luck with trying to fix your Eustachian tubes!

 

I don't think that you should abandon the theory that you may have ETD, based on this test - too many people have been told their Eustachian tubes were fine, and it turned out that this was not the case. I was told I was fine also, by the ENT, but I have fullness and related symptoms, so I'm going to try to pop my ears, safely, and clean them out. If this isn't the cause of the T, then at least I will know it and my ETD symptoms of fullness and hearing dips will be relieved or eliminated, so it won't be a wasted effort before perusing other ways of treating the tinnitus. Good luck.

 

Only my 3rd ENT correctly identified my ETD. I got my tubes cleared, and bye bye tinnitus.

 

That is fantastic news, Rick, not that you had two doctors who were wrong, but that you finally found one that got it right. Kudos for sticking to your guns. I have a suspicion that ETD, as a cause for tinnitus, is much more prevalent than we are led to believe. I have a non ear-related condition that was undiagnosed and misdiagnosed by several NYC specialist MD's, and I finally managed to figure it out myself, with the help of my wife. This has led me to be very cautious about medical issues and, although I am not in the least anti-doctor, we must realize that they are human and subject to error.

 

Hi Luman,

You are right. We can not simply put blame on ENTs. I specially don't agree with some members calling them useless.
ENTs are not trained to treat tinnitus as there is not known cure available to date. In that case, it is pretty normal for them to ask patients to live with it. As we all know tinnitus itself is a highly complicated condition, and in most cases it is very difficult to find the exact cause. My first ENT actually did a great job by removing the heavy wax build. The second one prescribed me Xanax which helped me a lot during the disastrous stage. The second ENT did perform a hearing test but did not detect the tube issues. The third one, an ENT specialist did a tympanometry and found out the pressure issues in the middle ear. BTW, hope you will have success.

 

Hi Rick, my ear specialist (consultant) has identified me as almost definitely having ETD.
I also have Hyperacusis but it affects me less than the ETD which varies from somewhat debilitating to very debilitating depedning on how fullness, pain, and clicking I have, particularly in my left ear.
Can you clarify what you mean by getting your tubes cleared?
My consultant has indicated a procedure whereby a balloon can be inserted into your ET via your nostril, inflated a little when up there, and retracted, and then the hope is that you ET will operate better afterwards, or hopefully be fully resolved.
Are you referring to something else?

 

Hi Irish,

Nope. It wasn't the balloon procedure. It was the Nasonex nasal spray that did the trick for me. Did you read my tinnitus story in the success stories section? If not, please read as I have written down my battle from start to finish with answers to many questions raised by fellow members here in the forum. What I had was a huge wax build up in my left ear which completely shut off functioning of my Eustachian tube causing tinnitus to kick in. My third ENT saw negative pressure very clearly in the Tympanometry results. He prescribed me the nasal spray which I used daily for little more than 3 months. That is how I got my tubes cleared. How did your ENT identify your ETD? Did he perform a Tympanometry?

 

Hi Rick,

Thanks for the reply. I will check your success story now. The nasal spray did nothing for me unfortunately. I have another appointment with my ENT next month to hopefully arrange to do the balloon procedure on my left ear.
Yes all of the various tests were done on me, my responses were all pretty healthy aside from the hearing in my right ear being a bit less than normal for my age, but not drastically so. Glad to hear you got your problem sorted anyway!

 

Acoustic trauma tends to be cumulative. It can be a bit like a dam bursting. You don't much notice the steady drip-drip over the years, then one day.....

Micro changes eventually = macro effects.