What's Causing My Tinnitus

[Kazue]

Okay, so I'm a 15 year old and there's this sound in my ear. It sounds like a really old television turning on. It's maybe a 3-4 on a scale of 1-10. It's not really bothersome but I don't want to hear that when I listen to music. Went to the doctor and they said my hearing was excellent and my ear looks fine.

So what is causing this sound and how do I get rid of it? The only thing I can think of is Advil for my headaches because I was going vegetarian, loud noise exposure over the years, and my sinuses. I think it's my tubes because when I open my mouth, my ears pop and the sound is non existent for a while. I do have a cold right now but that was a week after I got the ringing.

Everyone is telling me I'm fine but isn't telling me cause. I'm starting to lose hope as time goes on. Nearly 3 weeks now.

 

[Michael B]

Kazue, I don't know about Advil but I know aspirin can cause tinnitus. You didn't indicate whether or not you're still taking the Advil? You've only had this for 3 weeks and hopefully it will subside or go away completely. It's not unusual for us to question how we got tinnitus because knowing may help us overcome it. Don't lose hope. For most people, it subsides or blends into the background. (For others, it may be more serious.) If you're listening to music with earphones or earbuds, consider alternatives such as headphones as they can lead to tinnitus.

 

[Coyotesheaven]

@Kazue

Advil and some related pain relievers can be ototoxic when people take them regularly for months or years. I think in your case you may have had a small reaction from the really high dose, but I think as long as you avoid advil and stay away from other ototoxic substances like aspirin, your tinnitus will likely improve once the drug is eliminated from your body, or at the very least the ringing will not get worse. I've been on high doses of advil before as well, and it has never affected my tinnitus.

I think you are right that the tinnitus is also related to your recent cold and eustachian tubes becoming congested and not functioning perfectly. You could have some lingering congestion in the middle ears or E-tubes, which might affect sound transmission through the middle ear because of the fact that the E-tubes cannot preserve a balanced pressure gradient between the middle and outer ear; that will impair good sound conduction through your middle ear.

I've always had my hearing, middle ear pressure, and eustachian tubes messed up a few weeks after my cold virus has lifted, and I have also occasionally had resulting tinnitus from the infection. I have never had any lasting tinnitus or hearing loss, however, even though my colds affect my ears 100% of the time. I would think that given another week or so, it should clear up once you have recovered from your cold.
But do continue to monitor the ringing; in very rare cases a cold virus can get into the inner ear. I highly doubt that is what is happening to you right now, but do let your ENT's know of any major changes.

What did your audiograms look like, btw?

 

[Kazue]

@Coyotesheaven

I've been taking Advil for a long time but I probably took more than I should have a few weeks ago. I'm sure the medication is out of my system right now so that can't be it. The only reasonable answer is my E-Tubes have fluid in them due to my cold and sinuses. I'll try to take antihistamines to get the fluid down. I'm just so anxious to try something so my T won't be permanent. This is usually the time T clears up on its own. I'm trying everything I can. My audio gram came out normal. They said my eardrum looked fine. So the only suspect is hidden hearing damage or my E-tubes.

 

[Coyotesheaven]

@Kazue

Did they provide a high frequency audiogram (above 8khz-12 or 16khz) for you? They are hard to come by in an audiologist's office but are very useful for detecting early, hidden damage. Most people don't realize losses way up there (I did very acutely, however), but they will hear the tinnitus

 

[Kazue]

@Coyotesheaven
No,they did not. I'm kinda glad they didn't test it because I would be very deaf and that will aggravate my ringing. I'm not sure what they went up to but it wasn't that high. The audio gram wasn't covered by my insurance so I can't afford to get another one. (I'm from the US)

 

[Kazue]

Oh my goodness, that sound is annoying. I just looked it up on YouTube. I could hear everything up to 19.5 Khz. I know that's not a reliable source but I'm sure I can hear those higher frequencies.

 

[Coyotesheaven]

@Kazue

I can understand about not wanting to get another audiogram. The high frequency ones aren't always particularly accurate in any case. If your normal audiograms turned out looking good (no notches or drops below 5-10 decibels), then I think you are still in good shape hearing wise.

It should also be somewhat reassuring that you can hear those ultrasonic frequencies through the online tone generators, despite the fact that it is not an official medical test. That's actually pretty good even for your age I would think.

For the record I can only hear up to 13 khz in my left ear (granted I don't use headphones for that), and I am 'deaf' in all frequencies above 10 khz in my right ear. At my age (22) I should be hearing at least through 16 khz. My high frequency audiograms originally showed significant drops in the very high frequencies in both my right and left ear; these dips were originally were the source of my T and inner ear injuries.

So it is always useful to track your ability to hear the ultrasonic frequencies, and I am glad you still have retained the ability to hear the vast majority of them.

 

[Kazue]

@Coyotesheaven
I think I can check the results out on my patient page from the hospital I went to. I'll be sure to set up sometime later so I can monitor my hearing. May I ask what caused that hearing damage? That's very significant damage, I think. I consider myself lucky due to all the abuse I've done to my ears. Clubbing with deep bass sounds, sitting a few centimeters from a really nice speaker, listening to music with earbuds at 80% everyday, and many other things. I would say I deserve my T. My ears are telling me to chill out lol.

 

[Coyotesheaven]

@Kazue

The really high frequency damage in the right ear was caused by a firecracker explosion (some drunk idiot threw one right in front of me), along with 2 heavy bass exposures that followed that (one in an Imax theater, the other at a school dance). The left ear used to hear up to 15-17 khz even after those accidents. Then migraine attacks or phenomena I still have no answers to caused the rest of the damage to both ears. My audiograms don't look to great in the normal frequencies either.

Aww, you certainly didn't deserve any tinnitus you have! You may have made a few mistakes, but the vast majority of people in this noise obsessed generation made those very same mistakes, and unlike you many people don't always stop and learn their lesson so quickly. I'm one of those people who didn't learn until I was learning the hard way.

So you may have a very minor amount of damage done, but none that your body can't potentially repair given many months time and avoidance of loud music.
Because you are a lot more careful now around loud noises now, your hearing will probably be preserved to a greater degree than your peers as you get older as well; many people still don't recognize the real danger of very loud noise and music and will continue to expose themselves, but you will know how to protect yourself!

 

[Kazue]

@Coyotesheaven
Oh wow, yikes. Poor ears. Fireworks are very loud and just imagine them right in front of you. Imax theaters are EXTREMELY LOUD. I went to see Deadpool and those action scenes made me hold my ears in pain. The sounds were echoing off my eardrum. Back then, I didn't really care. But now I would complain to the manager and tell them to turn it down. I think you are still fairly young and that your hearing will improve slowly, but gradually. I too, learned the hard way. Like seriously, who sits in front of speaker and listens to fireworks without ear protection.(I know, I'm an idiot.) I will protect my ears from now on and I hope you do the same. I hope your body magically recovers since you're still young. Have you tried any herbal remedies or marijuana/hemp oil?

 

[Jacob83]

@Kazue ,

You were getting headaches after you went vegetarian? Are you eating eggs and drinking milk? It's not very hard to fall behind in the appropriate amount of vitamin b12 when living a veggie life. I'm also a bit surprised you can hear your tinnitus over music with such good hearing.

I'm starting to lose hope as time goes on. Nearly 3 weeks now.

Pssh. There is an incredible amount of stories of stories of people losing tinnitus after months and even years. No reason to lose hope

 

[Kazue]

@Jacob83

Yes, I was eating enough eggs and definitely a lot of cheese and almond milk. I don't drink cow milk. I don't think I was eating enough for my metabolism but I was so full. So I had to eat meat occasionally unfortunately. I just heard that fluid leaves the ears and sinuses usually leave after 1-3 months at least. Yes, nothing can mask my T. I think nature raining sounds can mask it though. I was sitting in the rain and I couldn't hear it that much.

 

[Jacob83]

Time is on your side. Stay strong and best of luck.