Tinnitus Since 1996

I developed tinnitus in 1996 due to firearms in the military. So I have dealt with this problem for 20+ years. But it is definitely getting worse. Started with just a mild ringing. Now it's getting louder as I get older.

How have I coped for this long? I don't know. Just started looking for help.

 

Forgot to add. My tinnitus gets extremely loud when I yawn...Unusual????

 

Mine does that when I yawn. Mine was probably caused by loud gigs and then was triggered to a permanent state by a dental procedure. I wish I could tell you why the 'yawn' makes it worse but my guess is muscles in jaw, blood vessels and nerves. T is a weird thing...

 

Yeah I wear a mouth guard at night cause I grind my teeth. So I'm thinking grinding my teeth isn't helping much either

 

Mine get louder to when i yawn but i think my T is from using alot headset.

 

The running theory on why jaw movement modulates tinnitus is that when your ear takes damage to the cochlea, the auditory system will forcefully re-organize so it always has a full range of input, and those missing inputs are filled in by nearby nerve systems... mostly in the jaw, neck, and head muscles.

I personally cannot modulate my tinnitus at all.

 

My tinnitus started close to 20 years ago, I am pretty sure from noise concerts, working around equipment, guns, I have been wearing hearing protection for years now, but not when I was young and dumb! Anyways I learned to live with it and was able to move on, however the T got life changing a few months ago, when coming off a drug too fast and went into withdraws and very loud tinnitus, as I was coming off the prescription drug,I just so happened to be seeing my dentist and getting fitted for a mouth guard, the type that is very expensive and very hard, days later I took final dose of medicine and 24 hours later i was ill and in the er,,,,anyways I remember waking up biting down on this new mouth guard (Very hard) that it woke me out of a deep sleep, and days earlier even popped my jaw in sleep that woke me up, I have been attributing the new loud T from medicine, which it could be, however after inspecting the new mouth guard, I noticed a big indention and this thing is very hard, so it is very possible teeth clenching could be a factor in new louder tinnitus! oh and i do have neck and shoulder problems, I also am a side sleeper and so I am lying on a ear all night long, so I am looking at everything trying to figure this problem out, would just be happy with some relief (lower T) wish everyone the best!

 

Serious question and I hope I don't sound like I'm over reacting here. Has your tinnitus ever caused depression? I see myself having a really hard time coping if this is going to be something permanent for me.

 

That is not uncommon, unfortunately.

 

I'm trying to find statistics of tinnitus that goes undiagnosed. Can't seem to come across anything.

I'm still optimistic that mine will go away as there is no concrete source of trauma. I work as a nurse and I live in the country. I'm not exactly exposed to loud noises on a regular basis. Most people here and who I've spoken to relate their tinnitus to being in the military, working in demolition ect.

It hasn't been long and I've done zero diagnostics so I have to remain optimistic!

 

You just have to find a way to smile, if you let depression in ( which would be easy with T ) then it will establish itself. Luckily I have never had to take anti-depressant drugs ( as these seem to have a raft of side effects ) and so consider myself luckily. Hissing but happy. Find the thread on putting a few threads of Saffron in warm milk. It has helped give me a huge smile despite the T. Wishing you a T free day X

 

Have you tried acupuncture? For some reason that seems like the most intriguing treatment to me. If my hearing test and seeing and ENT don't turn up anything, I'm going to go to a naturopath. Because my symptoms seem to have no direct cause of onset, I'm starting to think bacterial infection.

 

Tried it for neck pain years ago and it worked well. The effect was short lived and its very expensive in the UK. Not tried for T. I have tried Chiropractic adjustment and that didn't help. Lots of great advice on this forum but I fear everyones T is personal. Not yet found a single thing to make it quiet when it hissssses like hell.

 

@devonlee many people got T for no reason at all, including myself. Mine started while I was simply sitting at computer. I can't think of a single reason what would cause my T. I was under slight stress of course (who isn't?) and I was swimming at a pool few days before (but I doubt it would trigger T only few days later)

I'm really baffled, it doesn't matter if it stops at this point anymore. I'm just simply interested in knowing what could possibly cause it