Tinnitus from Close Proximity to Fire Alarm — This Is So Awful

On my birthday, yes my birthday, my mother in law burnt the toast in her annexe setting our 6 fire alarms off (spread evenly around the house). It was Tues March 31st.

I had just woken up (and I'm guessing ears were in a sensitive condition) and myself and daughter ran down the stairs to check everything was ok, we passed 3 alarms on our way and was approx 1 meter away from each of the for 1.5 seconds (they are 85 decibels from 3 meters away, approx 10 feet) the journey to her annexe took about 25 seconds. A further 5 seconds by the time she had turned it off, although I was standing outside her back door with my daughter at that time.

I didn't think anything of it at the time, I had NO ringing in my ears that day and enjoyed by birthday in the normal way (well as much as being in lockdown allows!)

Fast forward to Monday 6th April and it's 10.30pm and trying to get to sleep when I get a noise in my left ear like an idling car engine, of course I look out of the window but nothing outside it doesn't subside of course and I struggle to sleep. Yesterday it wasn't great during the day but a lot worse during the night, I got 3 hours if I was lucky.

My ears feel filled and my glands are slightly swollen behind them. When I swallow I get a gentle cracking in both ears. When I talk, hum, bow my nose or someone speaks to me the tinnitus goes but returns within a half a second. When I watch the TV the small pauses in dialogue are filled with tinnitus returning.

Very frustrating, I take my hat off to you more seasoned strugglers.

I'm just hoping against hope that this is a inner ear infection (I have been swallowing a lot of phlegm these last few weeks) but I resigned to the fact that this really short exposure to high frequency decibels has given me temp/perm tinnitus.

Anyone been in a similar situation? Good news or bad? Please let me know.

My username is derived from the fact that I've switched the summer fan on early as it stops 95% of the tinnitus whilst I write this on my bed. Small mercies!

 

Hey, I'm sorry to hear you're going through this, first developing tinnitus is an awful experience. It sounds like your tinnitus in noise induced. Keep your ears protected from loud noises, stay away from noisy venues, try not to use headphones, and hopefully the tinnitus will disappear. Ears take a long time to heal, so there's hope for you. I wish you all the best.

 

Welcome to the forum. it seems that you have suffered acoustic trauma from exposing to the firm alarm. The ears may be unstable for a while and you may have ear fullness and the tinnitus may morph into different symptoms. Try not to get too worried about these symptoms as they tend to subside when the ears heal itself over time. If the ringing bothers you too much, you may consider masking it. Try download Apps for tinnitus masking using your phone and connect it to a bluetooth speaker. If you use earbuds or earphones, try to set the volume not too high and try to limit the time of usage. As for sleep, if you struggle with it, try the natural stuffs such as melatonin. But the most important is try to relax and stay positive. Stress and anxiety are bad for T. Give it some time to heal and settle down. You can search the forum with acoustic trauma and you will find plenty of threads for that. Take care. God bless.

 

It sounds like your ears got hurt a lot less than the ears of most people here (who can hear tinnitus over the noise of a car on a highway).

The good news is that chances are that within the next 3-4 months your tinnitus will begin to fade and if that happens, unless you hurt your ears again eventually (can take 1-3 years) you ought to be able to get to the "can hear it only in quiet rooms" stage (or even get to hear silence again).

You will want to make sure that you don't hurt your ears during this period of vulnerability as your body is healing. You will want to ensure that you avoid taking ototoxic drugs, that you don't have microsuction done (if you need to clean wax out of your ears; a manual tool should be used), and that you don't have your dental hygienist doesn't use an ultrasonic scaling tool on you (a manual tool should be used). For more details, see

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/thread...eone-else-who-has-tinnitus.26850/#post-307822

 

Charburchar, Billie and Bill thank you so much for your replies.

I'll heed all of your good advice and Bill I've started reading those links so I'll come back to you if I have any questions

I very nearly total silence today, went out for a walk with my daughter to the supermarket and when I got back I noticed that my left ear wasn't humming as much. T was a lot quieter, ears still felt full and I'm still a little oversensitive to some sounds however.

So yeah I thought I was onto a good thing but on lying down (or sitting back) a got a completely new T which feels mainly in my right ear but is across both in reality.

Thing is it's such a hight pitch /frequency!

Not at all loud, quite feint actually but piercing

Then I remembered what Billie said about things morphing and I guess that's where I am now, early days.

So it's 5.32am here in the UK and I've had about 35 mins sleep

I think ill be dosing up on sleeping meds, I can't carry on like this. I'm a single parent to an 8 year old daughter. We lost her mum 8 months ago to cancer

Trying to stay positive but I think my anxiety has seriously ramped up this last 48 hours.......

 

It seems to me that the above are signs that you haven't hurt your ears very badly and will eventually get your life back. At least the new tinnitus tone is relatively quiet. Give it time, it ought to eventually begin to soften.

Also, when tinnitus is quiet, it is reasonable to expect habituation (it might take 2-3 years though). So your worst case scenario isn't nice, but also isn't catastrophic.

 

I'm so sorry to hear that mate. I also have a young daughter. I really hope everything works out for you. Tinnitus recovery takes time, it could be tomorrow, a few months or a year or two. Just keep pushing on.

 

Thanks mate. How long you had T?

 

Tinnitus for about two and a half months. A week or so ago I also developed hyperacusis. Another hurdle..

 

Has your tinnitus changed much in that time? Have you got just one tone or two?

Hyperacusis - that's oversensitivity to every day sounds right? Sorry learning a lot over last few days.

 

To be honest I'm just not sure. Sometimes I feel like it's getting better, sometimes not. I have two sounds, a static sound and a noise that beeps 24/7, but the latter is in the right ear, quiet and I mostly only hear it at night.

That's right. No problem, I'm pretty new to all this too. How's your tinnitus currently? Any improvement over the last few days?

 

I ended up seeing a doctor a couple of weeks ago. He did a basic assessment, questions and looking in my ears (no wax build up, ear drum fine) and after me going through my fire/smoke alarm story he said that T can also be caused by ear infections. Which got be thinking and I do now remember swallowing a lot of flem in the two weeks preceding my issues. Anyway he wouldn't give me any sleeping tablets (what I really wanted) as he said that that wouldn't do me any favours if I did have any infection. So fast forward a week and I'm doing well, hardly hear the T and the ear fullness almost 100% subsides. Had a few decent nights sleep and felt that I'm getting over the worst of it. Last few days have freaked me out though. I seem to have had constant T since one night I lay down and got a fuzzy /high pitched noise across the whole back of my head. It' seems better when I'm upright and I hardly notice it during the day but as soon as I want to sleep I'm ultra conscious of it. That's the bit I need to address as by the sounds of it my T is probably (3/10) (I can forget I have it when I'm immersed in the sound of being outside) sleep deprivation is what I need to overcome and I think I'll manage / habituate. Ears still 'click' slightly every time I swallow so I'm guessing that infection may still be around, I have no idea how long it will take to clear up though?

 

Many of the people on this forum (including me, three years after the onset) have that. It is possible that most people have that and never notice until something is wrong with their ears.

 

HI @Coldinhere

You are in the early stages of noise induced tinnitus caused by an alarm. This type of tinnitus will usually improve with time. It will require a lot of patience so you must try and not make your symptoms worse. In order to do this, I advise you to click on the links below and read my articles on tinnitus that I think will be of help. I strongly advise that you do not use headphones, earbuds or headset to listen to any type of audio even at low volume.

Take care
Michael

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/new-to-tinnitus-what-to-do.12558/
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/tinnitus-a-personal-view.18668/
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/hyperacusis-as-i-see-it.19174/
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/the-habituation-process.20767/

 

@Michael Leigh @Bill Bauer Thanks for the replies.

Ok, I've just woken up and I'm feeling totally down. I had almost silence last night, whilst watching TV in bed I noticed that I wasn't hearing anything 'underneath' the sound of the program I was watching. When I turned the volume down I just had the faint humming idling engine noise that I always get in my left ear. Nothing from the right or across my head.
So again I'm thinking that things must be getting better.

I fell asleep with a bit more confidence with my usual brown noise from Bluetooth speaker set but woke up just now with a louder and sharper tone from the right side of my head. Really frustrated. For the first time I feel totally distraught

I can't seem to acclimatise to my tinnitus as it seems to be changing all the time, sometimes hourly.

Is it normal for the tinnitus to go faint, swap ears, go both ears, across head, pretty much go silent and come back /different worse?

 

It ISN'T normal for tinnitus to go faint as early as a month after the onset. Right now you are where most people here get to after a year or two. You are doing Amazingly well.

If you plot volume vs. time, the plot will not look like a smooth downward curve, normally it looks like a stock price chart. So those retracements are completely normal and are to be expected. What matters is the monthly (not daily!) trend and the global lows. Your global low is already in the "faint" territory after a month, which is terrific. It proves that it Can be quiet, and that you haven't hurt your ears as much as many people here. If the average level a month or two from now is quieter than the average level during your first month, it would mean that your monthly trend is downward, and it ought to continue to fade.

It seems to me that right now all you need to do is focus on not harming your ears again.
You will want to avoid taking ototoxic drugs, avoid microsuction or syringing (performed when you need to clean wax out of your ears; a manual tool should be used), and not let your dental hygienist use an ultrasonic scaling tool on you (a manual tool should be used). For more details, see

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/thread...eone-else-who-has-tinnitus.26850/#post-307822

 

Your tinnitus will fluctuate a lot @Coldinhere and this is quite normal in the first few weeks and months of noise induced tinnitus. Keeping this in mind will help you accept those periods, when the tinnitus is less or more intrusive as you'll know, this is the way the condition behaves and it won't stress you out. Please keep away from headphones and when listening to music through speakers, keep the levels moderate. You'll be just fine just give it time and read my articles again in the links that I sent you and those below, as this will help reinforce positive thinking.

All the best
Michael

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/acquiring-a-positive-mindset.23969/
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/tinnitus-and-the-negative-mindset.23705/
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/is-positivity-important.23150/
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/from-darkness-into-light.22234/

 

Really appreciate the replies so thank you so much.

My anxiety levels are are of the scale today however, last night was the worse and my T kept me awake most of the night. Couldn't seem to mask it at all. It's loud now whereas I said it's normally a 3/10 during the day, it's now a 8/10. I can hear over the TV, music and general everyday noises i.e there's no escaping from it now.

I thought I had some hope yesterday when my GP said that he'd refer me to the ENT dept when covid 19 was over but he fully expected it to be a ETD and for me not to need to attend. He said my symptoms where very much ENT ones and I should recover soon.

It's SO loud today, I can't believe that a week-ish) after my originally post I was on my first call with him saying that the nasal decongestant (that the hospital doc had suggested) was working and i felt that I was, sleeping better, hearing it less and slowly on the the mend.

Thank you @Bill Bauer for the guidance on 'global lows' and I know that it's going to be a rocky road to recovery but right now I feel totally helpless

I've got a young daughter to raise on my own after the heartbreak of losing her mum 9 months ago (maybe T is repercussion of that) and my energy levels are so low I feel a few more nights more of 1/2 hours 'sleep' and I'll be heading into oblivion.

Any help, please? x

 

HI @Coldinhere

As I have explained you are in the early stages of tinnitus and this can cause a lot of stress and anxiety and lack of sleep. You were right to see your GP. However, in the early stages of tinnitus particular noise induced which is what you have, been seen at ENT too soon is not a good idea. I have explained the reason in my articles that I have sent you in the links. I understand that you may find it difficult reading them at the moment but when you can, please take your time and read through them thoroughly.

Unless you were having additional problems with your noise induced tinnitus, such as: Acute pain in the ears, deafness, dizziness or balance problem. Ideally it would be best to be seen at ENT no sooner than 4 months preferably 6 month wait. I didn't understand this 24 years ago when I first got noise induced tinnitus with hyperacusis. However, experience has taught me this is the correct way to address this type of tinnitus. Seen too early by ENT it is possible your symptoms could be made worse especially if any type of treatment were to be started. The ears are quite resilient and of right themselves and for this reason, a lot of ENT doctors prefer not to see a tinnitus patient too soon.

Tinnitus can go away within a few weeks and many people naturally habituate by the time they are seen at ENT. I stress, I am talking about Noise induced tinnitus, not tinnitus that is caused by an underlying medical problem. In this instance if a person were experiencing the symptoms that I've mentioned above, they would normally be fast-tracked to ENT for tests.

The best treatment for noise induced tinnitus in the early stages is to leave things to time for your ears to settle down. As I have mentioned: stress, anxiety and lack of sleep are often associated with the onset of tinnitus and therefore, a light sedation/medication to help address this is advised. Therefore, I suggest you talk to your GP about what you have been experiencing and he/she will be able to treat you accordingly.

I have the belief that you live in the UK. If this is the case please do not be tempted to see a private GP or ENT doctor as you'll be wasting your time and money. You will get the best help and long term aftercare for tinnitus under the NHS, that no private practice can match in the UK.

Please talk to your GP and read my articles when you can as they will help reassure you.

Take care
Michael

 

Ears take months/years to heal, so there is no reason to assume that you will be stuck for the rest of your life with what you are experiencing now.

The first few months are the worst. To illustrate this point, here is a poll that I created 3.5 months after the onset of my tinnitus:
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/thread...-make-you-wail-and-weep-uncontrollably.21797/
It gets better.

I have no words to convey how sorry I am about your situation. It must feel like a never-ending nightmare.

I am optimistic about your chances of eventually getting your life back. The scariest tinnitus is the tinnitus that stays relentlessly at the same volume level and pitch for months and years. Yours isn't like that, so as long as you avoid hurting your ears again, you ought to gradually get better.

I would never want to give you false hope just to make you feel better. After spending 39 months reading the posts on this forum, I feel confident about everything I wrote to you in this thread being justified by what I know about the experiences and tinnitus trajectories of the other posters.

 

[QUOTE="Tinnitus can go away within a few weeks and many people naturally habituate by the time they are seen at ENT[/QUOTE

I've had it for 4 weeks today, just can't see it shifting anytime soon though it changes everyday. I've completely lost the 'idling engine' noise today from my left ear but this high pitched shrill is much worse

Thanks for the advice and guidance Michael, I feel I owe you a beer.

 

@Coldinhere

The way you are feeling at the moment is quite normal under the circumstances. You are in the very early stages of noise induced tinnitus and it will improve with time I assure you. Please keep away from headphones and overly louds sounds. Try to avoid being in quiet rooms and surroundings. Use low level sound enrichment as I've advised in my article: New to tinnitus what to do. It is in the links I've given to you. At night use low level nature sounds by your bedside.

When the lockdown is over and you feel better we can go for a pint. I know some nice places here in Sussex by the sea. Just kidding.

Take care
Michael

 

Despite the loudness and intrusiveness, try to give it time. We have all been there: hours and days that felt like hell, where healing or habituation seemed to be impossible. It was like that for me last year, and a short period last February.

Yet right now, I usually have a state of near silence, and I sleep well again. Sounds are faintly recognizable in the distance if I focus, and a bit more present when I lie down: but my life is pretty much normal now. I can sit in peace whenever I feel like it.

You will get there too. It won't be easy, and you will have bad days like today: but someday you will suddenly realize that you live life again.

Again, give it time, we're rooting for you

 

I'm not 100% sure it was acoustic trauma, I literally ran past those smoke alarms, 25 seconds at most. Would that cause trauma? They are standard home alarms after all.
I'm guessing that it could be bereavement related or an infection although the hospital doctor said I had no ear wax and no signs of an ear infection. He also said likely to be an ETD.

Feeling a little dizzy today but don't know if that's more tiredness related.

Thanks again.

 

@Tybs thanks. Appreciate it. Can honestly say I've never been so scared in my whole life and its a bad time to try and look for distractions.

 

In your first post you said that there are 6 fire alarms in your property? These home alarms are normally fitted with piezo speakers that can emit sound levels of 35 to 100 decibels. If all six went off that is very loud indeed. The most common causes of tinnitus are: Exposure to loud noise, stress, an underlying medical condition within the auditory system and medication. A bereavement can be a very stressful time and this could cause tinnitus. Give it time for your ears to settle down.

Michael

 

Have they ever both been present at the same time, or would you say that the high pitch tone has replaced the idling engine sound?

Check out

Some more info that you might find to be useful:
Playing crickets sounds works well with a high pitch tone tinnitus. The idea is not to play so loud that you stop hearing tinnitus. The idea is to give yourself something else to listen to besides your tinnitus. Initially you will still be focusing on your tinnitus. But hopefully after 5-15 minutes you will be able to start focusing on the masking sound.

Try taking Amitriptyline. It is nonaddictive and it doesn't make you feel drowsy the next day.
Having said this, whether or not it's a good drug to take is a complicated question.

Large doses of Amitriptyline (50-100 mg, as opposed of the normal 10 mg that one uses to help one to fall asleep) has been used as a Treatment for tinnitus.
https://www.researchgate.net/profil...e_Tinnitus/links/5502051c0cf24cee39fb28c8.pdf

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0079612307660245

Just like most potential tinnitus treatments, Amitriptyline can Cause tinnitus (or make tinnitus worse) for a very small fraction of the people who take it:
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0269881107082126

During the first few months after the onset of my tinnitus (back when I haven't been aware about any of the above) I had been taking Amitriptyline to help me sleep and I ended up feeling good about the experience.

Many people on this forum have had a similar experience with this drug.


Whenever someone reports that their tinnitus is gone, I ask them whether they can still hear it in a quiet room (to determine whether their tinnitus is actually 100% gone). Check out the search results below. When you click on each of the text links there, you will see my question. Scroll down to see their answer.
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/search/4086100/?q=quiet+room+earplugs&o=relevance&c[user][0]=22665

 

Over the past week or two, have you been exposed to moderate noises like that of a vacuum cleaner or hair dryer? Many people (including me) get spikes after eating dairy foods.

 

Yes both, hair dryer and vacuum cleaner have both been used by me. Do you think they could have caused a spike/different tones to appear?

 

Thanks man x