Tinnitus and Positive Impact of Heat

Hello everyone,

I'm glad I've found this forum. I want to describe to you my story, because I feel that my local doctor is not helping me out, and I need some kind of advice.

My ringing / possible tinnitus started on 24/5. I was traveling by car to my holiday destination and after I was in the room, I heard this strange static noise that is similar to an old tv still being on. My first reaction was to turn off the TV, which actually turned it on, because it wasn't on. I have heard and read a lot about tinnitus, so I was pretty sure I had gotten it. I was desperate and my first reaction was to search for experimental treatments that could possibly solve it. Well anyways, here I am.

A little background on my ears' health condition: I've lost about 50% hearing in my left ear, without any specific reason. This happened over a long duration and I thought that my earphones had gone bad. I treated my ears with a lot of respect and was always wary of high volumes. I got an MRI scan for it, but it showed the eardoctor nothing. Back to the main story.

So here's what's weird: my ringing is changing volume all the time, and I thought it had no specific correlation with my surrounding, that it was part of acquiring tinnitus. After 3 days I took a sauna, and the tinnitus disappeared completely.. for 5 mins, after which it slowly returns to its sound before that. I didn't make the link between the heat and my condition. When I returned home (28/5) I did some studying on the condition, about the possible treatments (TACTT3) and tested if it can be heat related.

I take long showers in general, and I love the warmth so I like to stand about 20 mins under it. Anyways I noticed that the ringing gets severely reduced, to a level which I can't even identify if it is ringing or it's imaginary static. I tested this over a couple more showers, and each provide the same result.

Before I write down my assumptions I would love to hear what you have to say about this!

Thank you for your time reading is, and I hope I can help someone else with this story aswel.

 

It might be "residual inhibition", where some sounds can temporarily shut off tinnitus...

I am so sorry that you are experiencing tinnitus. I hope the fact that your volume changes all of the time is a good sign.

 

I understand what you're saying, and I hope for now that this is not the case. Thanks for your concern!

 

Maybe something vascular? Your MRI was fine but not sure how those detect small blood vessels or blood flow. I think their is an MRI that just looks at blood flow but that might be redundant. Ice at the head and warm at the feet helps with migraine. Maybe the hot shower/sauna is having a similar effect or even just relaxing tense muscles.