Recent content by Gav

I know everyone’s tinnitus is different, but my experience is to 100% not go anywhere near noise-cancelling headphones. I own a pair of Sony WH-1000XM4’s and will not be using them again. I wore them at our newly refurbished gym 10 days ago - their new music system must have been around (I’m...

@Chris Goodman, I occasionally have to take slow release Ibuprofen (Brufen Retard) for my arthritis flares - 1600 mg per day, and have hit 2400 mg at times (max dose the doctor allowed). My tinnitus always increases when I take it, but it always returns to baseline when I stop. All NSAIDs will...

@racedy, my tinnitus spikes usually pop straight away at full volume after any audio trauma, e.g. plate smash, for a week and then subside. This spike though continued growing for the period before I took the Prednisolone (9 days), then continued at the same level for five days and then started...

@VeryUnfortunate, I took my Prednisolone taper (60 mg, 60 mg, 50 mg, 50 mg, 40 mg, 40 mg, 30 mg, 30 mg, 20 mg, 20 mg, 10 mg, 10 mg) by splitting each daily dose in half. I had half in the morning and half at 12 noon. I found this minimised the side effects and I slept just fine most days.

@MaryA, "I haven't slept right in weeks." = how many weeks since your vaccination? Prednisone, if it does anything, should be taken as close to the acoustic trauma as possible. Within a few days is best, but some ENTs say you can take it within the first couple of weeks, even four weeks, to get...

@racedy, music played at too high a volume on one Sonos speaker. So annoyed with myself. I thought it was fine, but it clearly was not. My regular GP didn't ask for many specifics... I just said my tinnitus had spiked due to music exposure, and I asked for a course of Prednisone. He looked it...

Prednisone is prescribed for use within 72 hours of acoustic trauma, or up to 4 weeks depending on what you read/who you believe, so 5 weeks seems like too long. But who knows. I started taking Prednisolone 9 days after my recent spike and the taper will end in 4 days. No change in my...

Yep, it’s not an easy decision... it certainly wasn’t for me. Tinnitus spikes run a natural course... they will either subside back to baseline, or they will take hold and become permanent. Any treatment we take for our spikes will sit alongside this, so when the treatment is finished, the...

Hi @ronthejon, I've dropped a few glasses over the years... It always spikes my tinnitus instantly, but has always eased over the coming week, returning to baseline. It's why I now use ear protectors to fill/empty the dishwasher. That said... I have just today started taking Prednisolone...

Okay, so I had the MRI scan yesterday. It was quieter than other MRI units I've tried, but even with two layers of ear protection it was still loud. They did multiple scans, all with different sounds and tones. Most of these were fine... there was just one jackhammer sounding scan that I felt...

No problem. Spikes have caused me so much angst over the years... they can be very scary when they happen. I just take a regular daily supplement of Magnesium (when I remember), which I think is around 300mg. For my last spike I took double that for a few days, though this is apparently not...

I've had many, many spikes from such accidents and my hearing has always settled down after a few days, sometimes a couple of weeks. My spikes from accidentally dropping plates/glasses when unloading the dishwasher have been the shortest spikes of all. So I'm 99.9% certain you will be fine...

If you don't notice anything after a week then you're going to be fine. If you get a tinnitus spike (assuming you already have tinnitus) in the first week, it will likely settle down within a few weeks. The headphones I've been given for MRIs before are next to useless. Foam plugs are your...

You've done the right thing by wearing your plugs whenever you can. The biggest spike I've had in 16 years was recently at the dentist when I had a crown removed. It's hard to protect your ears from drilling in bones as the sound transmits straight through to your ear canal. But this recent...

If you have tinnitus, I would always recommend wearing plugs in any situation where the sound is greater than 85db. It's really not worth the risk of damaging your ears further and making your tinnitus worse. I've found all plugs can make your ears feel full as I guess it isn't normal to have...