Tinnitus from Baby Screaming in Ear, Possibly Made Worse by Dental Work and Stress

Hello everyone!

I have been lurking here for awhile but decided I need support. Sorry this is so long, the issue is kind of complicated but I want to just introduce myself and tell my story. Tl;dr at the end.

My story:

I'm 27 and developed tinnitus and I believe hyperacusis about 3.5 months ago when my then 5-week old baby let out a very high-pitched scream/cry just inches from my left ear. The stars just seemed to align for this to happen as I was changing positions while he was nursing, he was fussy and my ear just happened to be turned towards his mouth when he decided to do this. My ear immediately hurt and I remember saying "Ow!" but didn't think much else of it. About 20 minutes later, I put ear plugs in (ironic) to try to get a nap and when I lay my head on the pillow, the ringing started in my left ear. I immediately freaked out when it didn't go away after a minute or so. It was a loud, pure tone similar to the tone of fleeting tinnitus. I had always had a fear of the ringing never going away when I had episodes of fleeting tinnitus for as long as I could remember as I knew I wouldn't handle it well - even though in retrospect I knew nothing of tinnitus, ear protection or noise damage. I didn't even know the "ringing" had a name! I had never experienced temporary tinnitus even once before, only fleeting tinnitus.

I noticed my left ear was clogged the next day. About 1.5 days after my acoustic trauma from the scream, while cleaning my right ear with a cotton swab, that ear also clogged up.

My husband and the rest of my family had never really heard of it and thought it was "impossible" to get that much damage from a crying baby. Even a quick Google search said that "there was never any instances where a crying baby permanently damaged hearing".

I went to Urgent Care 3 days after my tinnitus started because I thought maybe it could be wax or something since it just couldn't have been from my baby's scream and they were also clogged. They just looked in my ears and nose and said they didn't see anything, tinnitus can happen sometimes and to go to an ENT if I want. I mentioned I was nursing and the doctor said "oh ok I could prescribe you steroids but they aren't safe for breastfeeding so I won't". I wish I knew what I know now as I would have insisted on the steroids anyway as it has only been 3 days and I would have just given up nursing.

Anyway, 5 days after the trauma I went to the ENT. I have never felt so dismissed in my life. They did check my ears and I got a hearing test from an audiologist. When I came back from seeing the audiologist, the ENT's actual words were "do you want the good news or the good news?" Well, that good news was that my hearing test did not show any hearing damage (only tested up to 8 Hz, with the worst loss being 10 dB in some frequencies), and my Tympanometry, Acoustic Reflex, DPOAE and Speech/Word tests were all normal. Then he asked if I had been under recent stress, to which I mentioned I had a one-month old. Well, my mistake as then I was completely dismissed as just being under a stressful time and given samples of Lipoflavonoids. When I asked about the clogged ears he just said "maybe you clench your jaw" (I know I do and always have to some degree).

Sooo, since then I have not been handing my tinnitus well. I went through an initial period of deep depression where I was crying a lot and the worst part was I was afraid to be around my baby. I would look at him and be like "how could you have done this to me!" I wore foam earplugs around him since the incident, although I am embarrassed to say I don't think I inserted them correctly the first few weeks. I developed TTTS about 2 weeks after the initial trauma. My nose clicks when I talk and my ears just never feel like they fully pop. One positive is that the loud, pure tone faded to a high pitch white noise/static one night a week or so after the incident. With earplugs in I could hear multiple high pitch tones so I am not sure if it actually got better, but it sounded (and still sounds) more like jumbled static without earplugs in. I tried Flonase for a month but then gave it up as I felt no improvement.

Unfortunately, I had to get dental work (crown) about a month after the noise trauma which I had a week long spike from. I am not sure if it made anything permanently worse but I felt like my "in head" tinnitus has been louder since and moved somewhat into my right "good" ear now (the crown was put in on the right side). But I hadn't been monitoring my tinnitus sounds too much at that time to try my best to forget about it. So I don't know for sure.

Where I am now:

For the past week or so, I have been doing much worse as I have been obsessively thinking about it, searching this forum and the internet. I wake up to pump once a night and instantly go on my phone to this forum or to research. I spend all of my days when I am not working doing the same. I am worried since I am now past the 3 month mark and in the "chronic" stage. I know the longer it stays the more likely it is to be permanent. I feel like it is louder, but this is most noticeable with earplugs in then without. I can hear it over anything except the shower if I really want to, but can usually ignore it with enough background noise. I feel like I may have developed another, lower pitched pure tone in my original "bad" left ear and a higher pure tone that is more "in head", sometimes seems louder in my right "good" ear. Both ears definitely sound like they buzz/white noise. My left ear has an additional very high pitch "eee" that seems to have waves constantly where it is louder, then softer, then louder again. This is the only tone that I can say with 100% certainty is only in one ear and is the most intrusive without earplugs. So, I would say I have 4 tones in total 24/7: the wave in my left ear, a high pitch static noise, a high pure tone and the lower pure tone. It gets worse by the end of the day and at night, and without plugs is probably only mild/moderate, but with plugs is definitely moderate/severe.

Since I am wearing earplugs so much since I always put them on when I am around my baby I am driving myself crazy. I cannot stand the louder tinnitus when I have earplugs in - especially the pure tones.

I definitely have some sort of hyperacusis as my ears burn or hurt sometimes, and some noises bother/hurt me. Both ears are 100% clogged at all times, can hear cracking/thumping when I swallow, clicking in my nose when I talk, TTTS from random noises like my son sneezing in another room. This is all not as concerning to me as the tinnitus at this point.

I have had a bad week with noise exposure without plugs: an unexpected fire alarm at work, noisy kids at a family gathering (I did plug after a short time), and my husband accidentally breaking a large glass baking dish on the tile floor about 15 feet from me, and a large blast of air from an air lock at work blasting in the side of my head for a second (I was wearing plugs for this one). These have all made me so much more focused on my tinnitus. I feel like I am in constant fear of a spike and knowing it can happen after a day, a few days, a week, two weeks, a month... makes me extremely anxious and depressed.

I take a prenatal, fish oil, magnesium glycinate and iron supplements. I started the magnesium glycinate a short time after my tinnitus started but the rest I had been taking for a long time before. I am a bit limited by what I can take due to nursing. There is a huge formula shortage so I don't want to stop nursing at this time so I don't have to worry about feeding my son.

I really don't know what to do at this point. I am certain my tinnitus in my left ear started from the baby scream incident, but the other ear/in head tinnitus I am unsure. It all came about at such a crazy time in my life: I just gave birth and had a lot of blood loss (hence the iron supplement suggested by my doctor), stress from new baby/lack of sleep/general stress on the body (he had some health concerns but is ok now), hormones all over the place (birth and since I am still nursing). I know I clench my jaw too and sometimes lately it hurts when I wake up or at the end of the day. So, is my bilateral tinnitus from the acoustic trauma, or the stress, or my jaw, or what?

My husband doesn't understand and this has put a huge strain on our relationship. He thinks I should just suck it up or go to another doctor. He made me so sad last night when he said "Why don't you love me and [our son]? Why don't you want to be with us?" and said he is sad since he knows I have been depressed and not myself.

I struggle with knowing I need to care for my son and being scared to be around him. It is impossible for me to avoid all loud noise as babies make noise. I can't just abandon him when he cries. I am honestly starting to cry just thinking about it. The thing I wanted the most in life was to be a mom and I love my son more than I have ever loved anything in this world, but I can't help thinking that if it wasn't for him I wouldn't be in this situation. I keep trying to tell myself that the screaming incident was probably just the straw that broke the camel's back. I know I can't blame him as you can't blame a baby for crying and I should have worn earplugs, or turned him away, or never went to a concert, or never played in the school band for years, or never mowed the lawn, or never went to a movie, etc... But, I always wanted more kids and now I feel like I can never have another. I am scared for the future as he is only going to get louder. I am sad that I feel like I will never be able to go to a sports game with him, or to his first movie, or have a birthday party for him with a lot of kids. It breaks my heart and makes me spiral into bad thoughts. I have definitely been considering ending it all, but I know I can't because of my husband and my son. This almost makes me feel trapped though to just suffer in this torture until I die.

My biggest support, besides reading success stories on this forum, is my mom. The reason I am mentioning this is I drove to her house and cried a few days ago and she told me if she could she would take the tinnitus/hyperacusis and give it to herself so I wouldn't have it, even though she has health problems of her own. She is such a wonderful person and made me realize that I would do the same for my son. And if that is the case then I need to live through this torture so I can be there for him, at least that is what I am trying to convince myself. Even though I am scared to be around him, he is also the only reason I am here and I feel so much better when he smiles at me or when I hold him. It is hard to have such conflicting feelings.

I am so mad at myself for not understanding hearing damage. Even though I knew earplugs were for protection, in actuality I thought of it more as a comfort thing (like to help sleep in noisy situations) than actual protection from damage. I have relatives who have been going to rock concerts and noisy bars for years unprotected and don't have tinnitus. My grandfather worked in a noisy canning factory for 25 years and never developed tinnitus. Why oh why did I ever go to noisy parties or concerts without earplugs! Why didn't I get the stupid steroids when I had the chance! Why wasn't I more informed!

I guess I am just looking for some words of hope that things will get better. I haven't really seen any stories of people getting tinnitus the way I did. I don't know how I am going to get through this every day, much less the next 50-60 years of my life. I am terrified of it getting worse anytime in the future as I don't think I can handle it. I really really hope it goes away to nothing like some of the success stories I see on here, but I have also read that with an acoustic trauma it is more unlikely. I am someone who used to love silence - I could only sleep in complete silence and relax in silence. The thought of never having that again crushes my soul. I feel like this has taken my life from me and I just don't know how to move forward. I don't know how I will be able to be a good mom or wife. I don't know anyone else in my life who has had even temporary tinnitus. I can't believe it has only been 3.5 months as I feel like it has been much much longer that I have been suffering.

Thank you for your support and reading my story.

Tl;dr: Tinnitus and hyperacusis 24/7, multiple tones after acoustic trauma incident from new baby screaming very close to ear, possibly made worse by dental work and stress. Has moved to both ears/head. Having a hard time coping and being around my son, and unsure how to keep going.

 

Sorry your going through this @Ngo13. I developed a health condition while pregnant with my daughter, and then another after I stopped breast feeding. So I know what it’s like to link a health ailment to your child.

I remember thinking that if I didn’t have her I wouldn’t have any health issues, and I felt so unbelievably guilty about it. But the reality is you are just stating a fact, it does not make you a bad person.

For me personally (and I think I’m a little odd here), the intense feeling of love for my daughter did not come instantly, it took time to build, just like any other relationship. My daughter is now 5, and while I am aware that my pregnancy triggered this s**t show, I never find myself thinking about what it would have been like to not have her. I literally don’t want to imagine that, I’d take all my ailments, and then some. So for me those thoughts have passed, I’d say they stopped around the time my daughter was 1-1.5ish, basically when her individual personality started to come out.

I can’t really comment on the rest of it, as tinnitus is such a different beast from any other health ailment I’ve encountered. I can’t imagine what it is like to be scared around your baby, I really feel for you. It’s difficult enough transitioning into parenthood.

The only advice I would offer is to get a good pair of ear defenders for the house, they are much easier to put on quickly. Also, maybe speak to your partner, show him this forum, let him see that there are others out there who struggle.

Try not worry too much though, if you look around the forum, the general consensus is that things tend to improve as time goes on. My dad has gone 25 years without further worsening, and a friend of mine had it disappear completely after 4-5 months.

Chances are things will improve, and you will have many happy years with your son (and other children if you choose to have them).

 

Thank you so much for your kind words. I am sorry for your health problems, but glad you were able to make peace with them and your daughter. I am such a hormonal, emotional mess right now so you have no idea how much your encouragement means to me

I hope things do get better, for me and for you as well!

 

If it's any consolation, steroids normally help restore some hearing with sudden hearing loss, and sometimes with noise-induced hearing loss. If some hair cells died after the acoustic trauma, they're not going to grow back by getting steroids.

 

I am so sorry you’re going through this, especially at a time that should be filled with so much joy.

I can tell you that I had bilateral tinnitus as a result of an acoustic trauma. It went away after two years. Don’t focus on the whole chronic versus acute versus temporary versus permanent thing. It literally went away after two years. The good news is you don’t have any hearing loss so you can recover. It takes time. I then developed some slight hearing loss in my left ear and it came back. Once my hearing loss resolved the tinnitus resolved as well. There is hope. Hold onto that. If it doesn’t resolve, I am sure that it will lessen in time. My ENT has tinnitus. She has had it for years. Got it in her 20s and has hearing loss. She experiences a bilateral high-pitched whine. She got engaged, got married, had two kids with tinnitus.

Hang in there.

 

I’d advise using double protection around your son. Many of us here use Peltor X4A and the X5A for maximum protection.

 

Thank you! I hope I am as lucky as you with recovering from this. That's great news! Patience is not one of my virtues unfortunately but I will try.

I'm sorry you dealt with it twice though! Are you recovered from the second time as well? I thought you couldn't recover from hearing loss, like once it happened there was no going back.

 

Just ordered the X5A, thank you! I hope they don't drive me nuts with the increased tinnitus volumes

 

I thought that too but I guess you can. My ENT said you can. I guess it all depends on whether the hair cells are really dead or if they’re just broken and healing. I have taken steroids in the past which I think have helped my hearing loss.

Yes, I did recover from the second event which was unilateral by the way, not bilateral.

What I have now is bilateral high-pitched tinnitus that fluctuates, disappears sometimes, comes back other times. Can be really quiet and really loud all within an hour. It can get worse with movement of my jaw or my neck. I’ve had it on and off for two years now. Seems to cycle with allergies, although I have year-round- allergies. Also I have neck and jaw issues and like you, I am a huge clencher. Right now I’m on a heavy regimen of various allergy medications and physical therapy for my neck and jaw. Seems to be helping.

 

You’ve been given a lot of helpful advice already, but just wanted to say that we’ve all been there... blaming ourselves for our own actions and wishing we would do things differently. Try not to get fixated on what if scenarios, what’s done is done. Look ahead now. Time will heal you eventually.

 

@Ngo13, sorry to hear about your struggles.

We’re a similar age, and have been suffering for a similar length of time.

Firstly, tinnitus is only really something people understand once they have it. Whilst you can expect some sympathy from family and your partner, unless they have intrusive tinnitus then there is no way they will really ‘get’ just how debilitating and claustrophobic it is - unfortunately. I know plenty of people with mild tinnitus (the kind you can only hear going to sleep or in a quiet room) and even they don’t understand how crippling it is to have a constant loud noise in your mind.

The topic of wearing earplugs and making your tinnitus seem worse is a tricky one and something I’ve been grappling with. On the one hand, you want to protect your ears and stop it getting worse but, on the other hand, when you have earplugs in, all you can hear is the screaming noises in your head which is utterly horrible. Personally, I religiously wore earplugs the first couple of months every time I left the house and even around my family inside. However, I realised that the level of noise I was being exposed to was much less than that which triggered the tinnitus in the first place and therefore might have been overkill. The flip side is that my tinnitus is reactive to noise and spikes basically as soon as I get out of bed and start my day. Getting the balance right between protecting your ears and living a somewhat normal life is a nightmare - let me know if you figure it out!

Maybe the happy medium for now is to plug the ear which is facing your child when you have him close to you but leave the other ear alone so it has some natural noise entering it.

I can also totally relate to your worries about the future. My partner and I are looking to start a family and I’m full of worry about the future and what it will be like with noisy children around me. Will it get worse? Will I have to avoid all social gatherings? How can I be a good dad? Will I be able to financially support my family if my tinnitus gets worse? Will I ever feel happy again?! All of these thoughts are normal and will hopefully fade over time (fingers crossed).

Finally, try not to beat yourself up about the past. I gave myself this horrible condition and I could have easily prevented it if I’d thought to protect my ears. Unfortunately things happen in life that means we stray from our blueprint of how things were meant to be, and sometimes catastrophic things happen to people.

I know this might not bring much comfort but sometimes I think of a chap here in the UK who recently died of brain cancer at the age of 33, leaving behind 2 children and a wife. He would have almost certainly traded his condition for ours without any hesitation so he could see his children grow up. Who knows, perhaps in 10, 15, 20 years time there will be a cure or treatment for this awful condition - we just need to hang in there and hold onto that hope. It certainly helps me a little when I’m in my darkest hours and don’t feel I can go on anymore.

 

I'm glad you found something that may help. I think I'm going to try a cheap mouthguard first to see if it will help. I'm sorry you are dealing with this horror once again! You seem like a very strong person and I hope you heal soon.

 

I'm so sorry you are dealing with this too. I'm trying my best to be optimistic.

As for your future, I will say that my son is my reason for living and it's stressful but super fulfilling for me and does lift me out of my despair lately. So if you do decide to have children I think it can be a real blessing.

True, it could always be worse. I do try to remind myself of that. Doesn't always help but usually it puts things into perspective. I hope you recover and this is just a bad memory soon!

 

Well I am not always that strong. Have had my moments, days and months.

 

When ears feel clogged and there’s no wax in them, it could very well be due to hearing loss, whatever frequency. I would advise against earplugs in quiet surroundings as it would aggravate tinnitus. Around loud noises, such as child’s screaming, definitely, not earplugs but earmuffs.

Furthermore, you can use hearing aids for the purpose of restoring some hearing. Or at least bringing the tinnitus volume down. In some cases it works wonders, so if you do it at the early stage after the noise trauma, it could help. Worth a try at least. I recommend in-ear hearing aids because they act like plugs filtering out harmful noises. So if you are outside and a loud car passes by, you are at least protected to some degree. They are also comfortable to wear, once you’re used to wearing them, you won’t feel them.

 

What disease did you develop while pregnant?

And what did you develop after you stopped breast feeding?

Omg this is terrible. I am more hesitant having a child now because I don’t want to get sick and raise a child using so much time and energy.

Sorry you are suffering so much!

 

You are only 27, quite young. It will get much better in the future but it will take time, maybe a few years, Also, future improvements also depends on the ear injuries you had before your baby's scream. Did you often go to loud clubs and concerts? Were you part of the military etc? As injuries are cumulative.

Like mentioned above, I would use earmuffs around the baby for sure, faster and better than earplugs as they don't restrict earwax and don't risk ear infections, but I also do use solid silicone plugs - the type also used for swimming - dipped in ethanol or rubbing alcohol to prevent infections and make it easier to insert, much easier than foam earplugs.

I also have a stock of steroids at home - Prednisone - just in case I get exposed to another acoustic trauma so that I don't waste precious time with doctors.

 

I developed CVI when pregnant. Surprisingly, I have barely any visible varicose veins, it’s a deep vein that is refluxing. It improved a lot after I gave birth but my legs still ache.

After I stopped feeding I started to get painful joints, etc. The first indicator of Lupus, outside of fatigue, which I thought was just normal given the new baby and many sleepless nights.

Thanks, but I’ve made my peace with it. At first it was very difficult to come to terms with, but you get used to modified life. You can habituate to many health conditions, doesn’t mean they don’t suck, they just get easier and gradually become your new ‘normal’.

 

What does CVI stand for completely?

Yes I have learned to habituate to the health issues I have. Everyday is shit but I am too chicken to commit suicide yet.

Having a child is very risky.

 

Chronic Venous Insufficiency.

It is, no way round it, but it’s the most worthwhile thing I’ve done. My daughter is genuinely hilarious, her sense of humour is spot on (for me anyway), and she cheers me up like nobody else can.

I benefit from her existence every day, and would of probably developed these health conditions at a later date anyway, having her just made it happen earlier in life.

 

Are you in pain constantly 24/7?

 

To varying degrees, yes.

 

Omg that sucks!

 

Your daughter sounds awesome!

 

I did go to a handful of concerts in my life, about 6 or so. And I did go to very loud clubs a few times a year when I was around 21-23, along with parties throughout college. No ear protection of course But I never experienced any temporary tinnitus after any of those events or signs that my ears were being damaged at all. I know it is possible that my baby's scream was just the straw that broke the camel's back. It just stinks because I know many more people that have been doing all those things much more frequently than I did with no ear protection and did not develop tinnitus.

I have been using earmuffs around my son and it has helped a lot. Helps me be around him more without fear. I will look into silicone plugs, thank you!

 

Just to echo what @makeyourownluck said, my son is the only reason I am still around, even though he *caused* me to develop tinnitus when I did. Maybe I wouldn't have developed it until much later or not at all, but having him makes every day better, despite my tinnitus.

Yes. having a child is a risk, but so is driving a car, taking medicine, etc. Obviously there is no obligation to have kids if you don't want to, but they can add so much joy to your life if you want them. And, at this time, I refuse to let a condition like tinnitus get in my way from living my life.

I hope you start to feel better soon!

 

What about career? Education?

Nothing else makes you stick around? I am asking because universally I hear people say kids are the only reason they stay.

 

Hi Bobby,

I have a recent acoustic trauma (just 2 days ago) from a 45~50 dB in-ear word recognition test using earbuds. This is on top of several acoustic traumas since January as I was not ultra careful in protecting my ears. I know old wounds cannot be helped.

In your opinion, is it worth trying the high dose of Prednisone for this most recent trauma?

Thank you.
Roger

PS. There are many times that I just don't know what is really considered an acoustic trauma (since my original one that started the tinnitus). There are constant car horns and ambulance sirens going by my residence (I keep windows shut) but I can't wear headphones all the time.

 

I think anything that gives your life meaning is a good reason to stick around. I think a lot of people say kids since kids rely on you, and as much as you suffer, having your kids suffer is worse (which they would if you were not around). When I broke down in front of my mom about how terrible my tinnitus is, she said she wishes she could take it away from me and onto herself so I would feel better. Now that I have my son I understand I would do the same for him.

But if you find joy in your career, education, etc. then absolutely hold onto that and allow it to make your life better.

 

Just popping in to give a quick update in case anyone new looks at this thread. It's been almost 10 months now.

I still have tinnitus in both ears, I'm still bothered by it, and from reading my initial post, it has definitely gotten worse. I can hear the ringing in both ears in most places, but I would still say it's moderate and all my tones blend together to a ringing/hissing mix. In quiet rooms and silence it appears much louder and I can really hear all my different tones. Both of my ears still feel clogged. I haven't had my tinnitus or clogged feeling go away at all since onset.

I am able to filter it out if I'm really distracted. The shower masks it. Even though it's worse than before, I overall handle it better. I think I may have given myself a worse case of hyperacusis as I get delayed pain and burning sensations after noises of a certain pitch (dishes, my son's laugh) or loud noises. It's usually pretty mild though. I am probably overdoing it with the ear protection. Definitely still have TTTS with thumping, etc.

So I usually fluctuate from saying "I can do this" for a week or two to a pity party of despair for a few days. Rinse and repeat. I had a spike for a month and a half after a metal towel rod fell to the floor in a small bathroom, but otherwise my spikes usually only last a few days and aren't super frequent. I've been exposed to loud noises that haven't given me spikes too. Lack of sleep appears to really make the ringing more severe. I'm lucky that if I exhaust myself enough during the day (easy with a 10 month old) then I can sleep. I find I am able to filter it out somewhat as I fall asleep with a fan and humidifier on.

Got checked by an ENT and hearing tested again yesterday. Even though my tinnitus is worse, my hearing actually slightly improved (like 5 dB in some frequencies which could just be margin of error). My largest loss is 10 dB. Ears are still fine. The ENT said maybe it will stop when I'm done nursing as "we have no idea how hormones might affect it". I'm going to an audiologist who specializes in tinnitus next week so maybe I'll have more info then. Hopefully I'll get some custom earplugs.

I did just find out this morning that my uncle got unilateral tinnitus last year from the same thing as me (kid screamed into one ear). He's still bothered by it but started meditation and just tries to ignore it and live his life. Never went to a doctor or anything. Also, he never uses hearing protection and goes to heavy metal concerts about once a month (crazy!), even was in the pit a few times, and his tinnitus has been unaffected thus far.

I also started CBT a month ago and while it has helped with other anxiety in my life, I haven't found it particularly helpful for my tinnitus. She didn't know what it was and we honestly haven't talked about it much. I don't think she knows what to say.

Crossing my fingers for the treatments in the pipeline to bring us some relief soon. Also still hoping that I'm one of the lucky ones whose tinnitus/hyperacusis reduces by 2 years.