Tinnitus Caused by Hearing Loss?

[icy002]

Hi, I'm 17 Years old and a frequent earbud user (it's kinda rare to see me without them plugged in) last month, I'm not sure when exactly it happened (January 20, maybe) I woke up and I felt my left ear was muffled, I started to panic a bit and I got myself to calm down. And I just realized that I can hear noises in my ear. It sounds like an exhaust fan or something. I can also remember hearing ringing in my ears, which i think I've had my whole life, thought it was normal when it's dead silent.

With this discovered, I feel like I'm paranoid. I constantly check my ears and I've stop using my earbuds. Sometimes I get this weird sensation, it kinda feels like my ear is full.

Honestly I don't even know. I grew up with the A/C above my head, so maybe it's been masking the tinnitus when I sleep?

I don't know if I'm going deaf, when i try to use earbuds I put the volume below 50%. Also I work at an auto repair shop part time.

Comments would be helpful, share similar experiences

edit : I can hear things normally on both ears. It's just I get this weird feeling on my left ear. It makes me unsure if I'm actually hearing fine or not.

 

[GregCA]

@icy002 - do a hearing test to get a baseline. It's not uncommon to get T after listening to a lot of music (especially at high volume).

 

[Michael B]

The best thing you can do is stop using earbuds. You've learned at an early age what took me years more to discover; that they can give you tinnitus. Your ears have been affected possibility by earbuds use. Hopefully by eliminating them now, you can protect your ears from further damage down the road. Good luck.