bur547

I got permanent T after 5 minutes with a grinder. I had noticed some temporary spikes in the previous couple years after short work with a hammerdrill or saw, so I was always careful about using ear protection. This day, for whatever reason, I did not.

I suspect Ketoconazole as being at least partially responsible for my Tinnitus. I can't pinpoint the exact year I started using it, I now believe it was between 10 and 12 years beforehand. This is also the same time period where I started gaining Hyperacusis. Loud sounds sounded way too loud and would cause pain to my ears. Good examples of this are fire truck sirens or dishes clanking. I was often covering my ears where other people did not. I suspect Ketoconazole helped create hyperacusis by being mildly ototoxic. I had been using 2% solution daily. Once I was exposed to noise I believe the hyperacusis allowed my ear(s) to become damaged from sound that otherwise would not have been damaging.

There is another problem in one of my ears however, I woke up with sudden hearing loss in my left ear 15 years ago. I went to the Dr. and they basically told me I was fine. I went again 2 years before developing T and they said the same thing. I had a hearing test done and there was a slight dip in my left ear, but according to Dr. well within normal range. Things sound muffled from this ear and the main reason I was following up is because I was hearing a lot of distortion especially at certain frequencies and volumes. Dr. says it's fine, (Go away).

I wear hearing protection every day now when I leave the house and my T has become bearable. It's very easy for me to cause a spike if I am not careful, and a spike may last for several weeks. I fear of a spike becoming permanent, and I fear the overall condition worsening over time. I would say I am pretty well habituated with the current baseline level of T, but during a spike it becomes very hard to ignore.

I mostly have a high frequency whine like a cathode ray tube TV, starting about 13500 Hz and ranging upward beyond what I can hear. I can only estimate what the highest tone is because I can't actually perceive outside sound at that pitch, but yet I can hear it inside my ear(s) 16000 Hz+. Difficult to say if the sound is coming from both ears, the left for sure and the right maybe. At times I can hear it in both ears, it tends to jump back and forth aggressively during a spike, but mostly seems to be at home in the left ear.

I also have very low frequency sound that sounds like a train engine heard from inside a basement or through the ground, low rumble. The low frequency T is much more bearable, during a spike it seems to disappear completely so I am comforted when I can actually hear it. This sound I only hear in my left ear.

I still get distortion in my left ear and not my right. I sometimes get fluttering eardrum in my left ear as well. At this time I am trying to find a family doctor as I have only dealt with walk-in clinics before and the quality of care has been low. I am hoping to have an MRI and hopefully a physical problem can be found, hopefully one that can be treated.