Two Stepping with Tinnitus

Hey guys, new girl here. Well for starters I am 26 years old, I work as a receptionist and hostess at a Dance studio/Salsa Nightclub and I work day and night shifts there.

On Thursday Nov 15th I had a night shift, I was scheduled to work the front desk (as I always do). That night, one of the DJ's had the music BLASTING. I have been working for about 2 years there but I only work the Nightclub night 3 days out of the week (mainly on the weekend).

The following morning, November 16th (worst day of my life) I woke up with ringing in my left ear. It was new to me. I didn't know what it was, so I just tried to go through my day without thinking about it.

Until Saturday came along and the ringing remained. I began to panic, and started googling all my "symptoms" mostly ringing in the ear and headache. I suffer from Anxiety and Stress as it is. As soon as I read Tinnitus, I began to freak out, questioning if this was permanent, if it would go away soon, my anxiety was through the roof.

I was depressed for a week. I didn't eat, drink, nothing. I went on YouTube for a quick fix, began to do tapping on my head, massaging my ears, etc.

Then I found Julian Cowan Hill on YouTube sharing his experience with tinnitus, my oh my!

Did he really help me take control of my anxiety with tinnitus. I really have faith that I will one day be free from this noise. I did also go to my doctor and she found no ear damage and I hear perfectly fine.

It's just nights and mornings, or even quiet evenings when I hear it the most. During the day, nada. Could it be I'm worsening it by stressing out? I exercise, eat well (stopped drinking coffee and liquor). I just fear having it for good.

Could it be that I can get rid of this, or at least lower it? It's mild tinnitus for me really.

P.S. I am quitting that job next month, in the meantime I wear earplugs during my night shifts and in loud places. I am also not around speakers in the building, so I try to avoid them. I've become very aware.

I'm reaching out to all of you who are going through a similar case. Any advice will do. I'd appreciate any kind of support. I am grateful to have found this community of warriors✊

 

Hey @Adilene Ambriz ,

Glad you found Tinnitus Talk during this difficult time as there is a ton of info here that can help you get through it better.

You mentioned you went to see a doctor and they found no ear damage. Did you do a hearing test? If so, ask them how high they tested. Most hearing tests only go up to 8khz but a lot of hearing damage that’s causes tinnitus is beyond that and you want a hearing test the goes to 16khz,

From here on out, you really want to take care of hearing over the next 3-6 months. There is a high chance that the ringing will go away but only if you take care of your hearing and avoid loud places. I would suggest quiting that place as soon as possible to increase your chances of not making this permanent. You should get a sound meter app for your phone and test to see how loud it really is in at work. Because it's always possible to make it worse and thats the last thing you want to do. You are in a good spot right now, very early days, where there is a good chance it can heal and go away. So do everything you can to take advantage of that.

Also I suggest never using ear buds again. Headphones, maybe once in a blue moon, preferably never but definitely no ear buds. My tinnitus started out similarly to yours, it got better, I was fine and could use headphones but years later I started using ear buds and my tinnitus spiraled out of control. So try to avoid that if you can.

And just fyi, if you are working at the club and they unexpectedly blast the music again and your tinnitus gets way worse, contact your ENT and ask if steroids can help you. In many cases steroids, like prednisone, can reverse tinnitus or reverse recent damage that worsened it but you have to take it within 48 hours for it to have a good chance at working. The sooner the better. Beyond a week or two and the chances are very low as the cells have already died off.

Hope this helps.

 

Thank you I will DEFINITELY do that!

 

I suspect that your tinnitus will fade away seeing you just got it and it has been less than a month and it is moderate to mild. Anxiety can play a HUGE roll in ramping it up and making your perception of it greater. @another sean also gave you some great advice.

Use this as a lesson to protect your ears in the future. Tinnitus can be permanent and a LOT worse if you don't take precautions going forward. Always wear good hearing protection in loud venues or place. Please Please Please use hearing protection from now on.

 

Good advice... I second that! -- @Adilene Ambriz -- You're young and are getting some good advice at the outset. Ears heal slowly, and recovery will likely test your patience. But you've got youth on your side, and tons of helpful information at your fingertips. I think you can navigate this quite successfully if you follow the advice of Julian Cowan Hill and others. -- All the Best!

 

You guys are great, thanks for advice❤ grateful

 

why aren't venues/DJ's held liable for this?