Wrong Club

I apparently joined the wrong club where members suffer from Tinnitus. So here's a little bit about me:

I noticed ringing in my ears back in October, 2016. I feel like it hit me out of the blue one day as I went to work. I did some googling, freaked out and made a couple of ENT appointments.

ENT visits and hearing tests told me:
- I have excellent hearing up through 6000 hertz (better than normal)
- When I hit 8000 hertz, there's a big drop in my hearing. Great, I can't hear dog whistles.
- Everything else checked out ok
- Level of hearing loss appears to be bilateral (about the same in both ears)
- Tinnitus appears in my right ear mostly

I find when I am engaged in something like work, my kids (two young girls), or a conversation, my T isn't very noticeable. I usually sleep just fine though I find it's more acute after waking up vs. when I am tired going to bed.

If I put on protective ear muffs (no audio), I would say most if not all the T disappears. Is this normal for hearing induced tinnitus? This leads me to believe my T is hearing related. I have a co-worker who has T and he says if he puts on ear muffs, all it does it block out external sounds and the T is still there loud and clear. He said his is brain\neural related.

In retrospect, I remember a few times before I noticed my T where I felt like I heard crackling or popping in my right ear after we put the kids to bed. Didn't think much about it at the time. Now I feel like its hearing loss related.

I listened to some loud music back in the day, probably early to mid 1990s. Just not sure why this is happening now. I don't have a lot of other loud noise exposure as I work in an office. We did build a house and spent a few trips over there when guys were hammering, sawing and once I stood next to an air compressor that went off at the new house. I wonder if our trips to the new house somehow put me over the edge.

After 3 months I feel like it will never go away or get better. I find loud environments with lots of echoes (or good for acoustics) make it worse like being in a crowded restaurant. I play either rain or pink noise videos on youtube when I am at work to help mask it. I put my ear muffs on for a minute or two when it really bothers me. I keep it short since I don't want to develop hyperacusis. My questions would be:

1. Does my description make it sound like my T is related to hearing loss vs. something else?
2. How is masking different from sound therapy or tinnitus retraining therapy? I went out to audionotch but don't see how that's really different than listening to pink noise. If there is something I can listen to which may help reduce my T over time, please point me in the right direction.
3. Any recommended foods or supplements? I tried B12 and melatonin (recommended by ENT)

I read how they discovered proteins from Startlet Anemone's may help repair the stereocillia of mice. I'm ready to eat a bowl of startlet anemone sushi with extra wasabi please. Sadly science doesn't work that way. I hate this so much I want to start a new ice bucket challenge for tinnitus and hearing loss sufferers to help raise funds for good causes like the sea anemone proteins.

 

Welcome to the forum. It is sometimes hard to pin point the exact cause of T or it may be due to combination of factors. Hearing loss is just one known cause, but T can come from stress, ototoxic drugs or side effect of normal drugs, TMJ, TTTS, ear infection or ETD, neck or head injury, sinus infection and congestion, acoustic trauma, barotrauma, etc., etc. You seem to have some element of hyperacusis in your description of the T in loud places. Masking comparing to TRT is missing the counselling segment of the treatment protocol of TRT. As for the masking aspect of TRT, you need to set the maskers slightly lower than the T. Other than that, I am not sure. Perhaps someone who has gone through TRT can clarify. For foods and supplements, it is best to cut off excess salt, sugar, caffeine, MSG, alcohol etc., and you may want to consider NAC, Magnesium, Zinc, D3 besides B12. Good luck. God bless.

 

The first ENT I saw thought it was stress related and the level of hearing loss at 8k hertz and above has probably existed for a long time. I've read there are lots of different reasons on why T happens. Based on your list of items from stress to barotrauma, the only one that applies to me is stress.

Sorry, not giving up my daily black java or the occasional glass of wine or manhattan. I cut both out for a week only with no change in my T. I don't consume MSG knowingly and not a huge fan of sweets like the women in my life.

I thought hyperacusis was more about sensitivity to sound. Any and all sounds are the same to me. It's more that my T is more noticeable in particular environments like a crowded room or driving a car.

If any of the hearing restoration projections come to fruition, I feel like I may have an avenue to both improve my hearing at and above 8k hertz and my T may disappate as a result. Better to be optimistic and pessimistic.

I also feel like if my wife and I have another baby, I should save the chord blood. BTW, I am 43 with two little girls ages 3 and 5. It's on the table.

I still believe that even though stress may have induced it, the T is still related to my hearing. I can cup my hands over my ears and the T basically goes away or is hardly noticeable. It's also not very noticeable when I hit the hay at bedtime probably because my brain has had enough for the day and the neurons need a rest.

If anyone decides to eat a big bowl of sea anemone with a dollop of wasabi, let me know if it improves your T. I haven't seen any published news on that front since last August.

 

It is most probably related to your hearing loss, actually i would say yes it is.