Uneasy and Not Sure What to Expect

Hi there,

I have been looking at this forum for some days now. The ringing in my ears started on Monday evening and was quite loud when it started, however, after that night it has been fairly mild. I'm not quite sure what to expect. I only really hear it when I try to listen out for it and sometimes think it's going but because it's the brain that is creating the noise it's a hard one to suss.

Am I correct in thinking that there has never been a success story and by that of course getting used to it would be pretty amazing but I mean has anyone, in particularly on here, known it to go away?. I know this has been asked before but I'm 23 years old and am trying to cope with this already. I am studying for an exam and I'm in a good position in my life and this has given me major anxiety on top of what I was already experiencing with the exams. I can't eat either and it's hard to discuss with anyone's seeing as it's in my ear/head. I'm really unsure what to think. Do people carry on with their normal lives. Has this affected everyone on here with their career/love life etc?

 

There is a high chance (70%?) that it will go away, in your case. Check out
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/spontaneous-recovery-stats-over-70-recover-3-studies.21441/

The fact that it is getting quieter so fast is a great sign!

Having said this, it will likely be months before you experience any improvement. Recovery is usually gradual, and not instantaneous. It is unlikely that the beeping of your car was loud enough to cause significant damage to your ears.

It is possible that your tinnitus is a result of sudden hearing loss. Two thirds of those patients spontaneously recover.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4912237/

I am having trouble finding a link to a study, but there the authors said that getting steroids (prednisone) as soon as possible in cases of sudden hearing loss is a medical emergency.

Since your time of onset is so recent, you may want to ask your doctor for prednisone. You may also try hyperbaric oxygen treatment.

 

If you have to actively listen for it to hear it, the best advice I can offer is 1) manage your stress as best as you can; 2) get plenty of sleep; 3) eat well - sounds like you are having some problems here but managing stress should help; 4) avoid obviously loud sounds (concerts, power tools etc) or use very good hearing protection; and 5) don't spend any more time here or on other forums. The forums will be here should something bad happen down the road, but if you have to listen for it to find it, the best thing you can do is to give it as little attention as you can.

 

For 95-99% of the people with T, the answer on this question is no. Given the intrusiveness (or better lack of) of your T, you will belong to that category as well.

 

@SA93
It is true that most people habituate to tinnitus in time and it doesn't impact too much on their life. However, there is a small percentage of people that are seriously affected by tinnitus and find it very debilitating and may need medication to cope. Some are unable to work and successfully form social relationships. I for instance was medically retired from my job some years ago because of my severe tinnitus.
Michael

 

Michael, thanks for replying for which I'm grateful.

It's only when you get this condition that you realise just how little research and money is spent in correcting this sort of behaviour that happens from acoustic truama or TMJ, stress, strain to neck/back etc etc ( I say etc etc because again with a lack of actual research nobody can pin point exactly what can trigger it) for instance. I say this with humour because I am trying to keep positive - I currently have a metal mouth, yes braces. I had them put on over 6 weeks ago. I have had a lot of stress/anxiety due to exams. I listened to headphones about 2 weeks ago and one of the headphones was damaged but I used it for an hour. The strain I have recently put my neck/back on with constantly carrying my study books around. And then the loud beeping in my car - I drive 2 mins from where I live to the station and had a bag over me so though ah will only take me 2 mins to drive home and then an hour later I started getting the symptoms in my ear.

I really do hope that with time and not too long either that the awareness of tinnitus is seen as more severe than it obviously is being percepted as.

 

Aaron, you are most definitely correct. I am aiming to get back to studying today and just trying my best to ignore it. I've always naturally been a stress box but I also don't like negativity and do not think that I should let this bother me and just habituate to it. I of course had my initial oh my god moment but with my life ahead of me I just need to carry on going!

Thanks for your support!

 

I hope things improve for you @SA93 Exposure to loud noise is usually the cause of tinnitus however many other things can cause it too. Headphone use is responsible for the onset of tinnitus is many cases. I advise when listening to music through headphones try to keep the volume low and not to listen for long durations. Better in my opinion if you don't use them at all.

Below are two links to articles that I've written about tinnitus that you might find helpful. Tinnitus, A Personal View is quite long and I suggest that you read it in full and try not to skim through it. If you have a printer better to print it. I can send it to you in PDF format, which also has a colour illustration of the ear and names parts. If you'd like that then let me know. The other article is: Hyperacusis, As I see it. Again, try to read it in full.

All the best
Michael
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/tinnitus-a-personal-view.18668/

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/hyperacusis-as-i-see-it.19174/