Woke Up with Strange Tinnitus — Reacts to Everything Over a Certain Decibel Amount

Hello fellow tinnitus people. I have had a low hum tinnitus in my right ear ever since I was little. I’m 100% habituated to it by now and I never even think about it (it is possible people, keep your head up!)

However, I had a strange thing happen to me two days ago with my left ear.

It started when I woke up from a solid night sleep. I could immediately tell something really weird was going on with my left ear. Almost like all of the air had been sucked out of it and I could barely hear anything. Not only that, almost every single noise was severely distorted and painful in a way. I could barely even stand to be in my bathroom with the exhaust fan running.

Fast foreword to yesterday, and the weird “air” feeling was totally gone. I could actually stand to listen to things again with my ear BUT I’ve developed a type of hum in my ear and it ramps up like crazy when I hear anything over a certain decibel amount. I can’t even barely understand my toddler because the stupid ringing ramps up when she speaks to me. My own voice even triggers it. Anyone have anything like this before? I did have some slight pain in my jaw near my eardrum yesterday as well. No dizziness or anything like that. Nor do I listen to any loud music and I haven’t gotten sick in a very long time.

 

Hello. I'm new to this and don't have much advice but if your jaw was sore, do you think you grind your teeth at night? Maybe a mouth guard will help alleviate it. I know some people here say they give themselves a deep massage on the jaw and it lowers the tinnitus. It may work for you but just be careful to not hurt yourself. Has the pain in the jaw by your ear left?

Hope you are feeling better as time goes on... Sending love and calm your way!

My 3 of 4 tones respond to sound. The other is solid no matter what's going on.

 

Hi @Thedoc813, does it ramp back down after your toddler is done speaking and when you stop speaking? If so, that sounds like reactive tinnitus.

 

This was clearly SSNHL. Did you go to the doctor because you should have been put on steroids ASAP. This is no joke.