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@Michael Leigh, thank you for the article. I do have sound sensitivity and phonophobia. I have also always had manageable anxiety and OCD, but it completely spiraled out of control when I got tinnitus. I am in a constant state of stress due to both the ringing and the fear of it worsening. I'm...

How does one tell when it is appropriate to wear earplugs or not? I don't go to loud places anymore, but I find that even when I am in quieter environments, there always seems to be sudden and unexpected loud noises that will pop up. It seems impossible to avoid.

I got my tinnitus in the same manner (loud, unexpected blast through headphones) and it's been absolutely devastating. I really sympathize with you and can relate to everything you said. It seems so incredibly unfair that all it takes is one second to ruin your life. I'm a year in, and...

Hey, I just stumbled upon your post and wanted to say that our cases are very similar. I got my tinnitus in the exact same way, and am the same age as you. I also have a crippling case of phonophobia that has been greatly affecting my quality of life. Like you, I have been avoiding things that...

This has been on my mind a lot too lately. My tinnitus was caused by headphones, and I'd never feel comfortable wearing them again, as they not only bring up painful memories, but could potentially worsen my condition. I've been wondering why there hasn't been more talk about this, especially...

I think about this every single day and have yet to come up with an answer. What's worse: Living a shitty life where I'm basically a hermit and have no joy or social interaction, or living a normal life with the risk of tinnitus potentially getting worse? I'm not even asking to do loud things...

This condition is seriously brutal, between the noise itself, the regret, and the fear of it worsening. It's physically and mentally exhausting. I hope it gets better for you, and I pray we'll see some effective treatments in the near future.

That's infuriating, I'm so sorry you're dealing with this for the second time. Thank you for sharing though, I'm glad to hear it went away for you after so long. I'm nearly 9 months in to this nightmare and am starting to lose hope. Mine was caused by acoustic trauma from headphones, but I often...

Thank you for the advice. What kind of things would you do to desensitize yourself to sound? I'm not sure if I can sense if my ears are fatigued, as I haven't been around a lot of noise lately. I have pretty much been homebound for the 6 months I have had tinnitus. Are you pretty much back to...

Thank you for the reply. I agree, it's extremely uncomfortable wearing earplugs with tinnitus. I recently had to wear them for 3 hours straight and was completely beside myself with anxiety. I prefer to just stay home and away from noise, but I can only hide out for so long. Congrats again on...

Hi, Thanks for sharing. I got my tinnitus around the same time, and in exactly the same fashion. It was a ~95 dB accidental blast through headphones for one second. Your remark that all it took was a second to ruin everything really resonates. It sounds like you've been though a lot since onset...

This is the most invaluable success story I have found, as it describes my situation perfectly. Especially the part about extending the deadline and changing your mind about how loud it is. Thank you for sharing. I hope my tinnitus follows a similar path.

I’m glad to know it improves so gradually. I feel like mine is healing, but at a snail’s pace, to the point where I’m starting to second guess myself if anything is really changing. It seems to subtly fluctuate as well so it’s hard to tell for sure. Did you do anything to help out the healing...

That's great to hear, thank you for sharing! Did your first tinnitus slowly fade over the two years, or did it suddenly just drop off?

Thank you for your reply! You are absolutely right that over protection causes psychological damage. I had a pre-existing anxiety disorder and OCD, so when I got tinnitus I went through the roof trying to control the situation in an attempt to prevent the tinnitus noise from getting worse. Now...

How long did you protect your ears for in total? I've been protecting religiously for about 6 months and am wondering if I should stop. Is 6 months considered healed enough? I have severe phonophobia, but also I really don't want to rely on earplugs for the rest of my life, so I feel like I need...

That's horrifying. I'm so sorry. Hang in there.

Have you noticed any improvement since onset?

Oh wow, that makes me feel better then. Wearing headphones (moderate volume) for 8 hours a day at work for a span of 6 months was what (I believe) weakened my ears. But the final straw that caused my tinnitus was an accidental 1-second long blast at max volume.

Oof. Yeah. I've been getting so much conflicting information from these tinnitus forums that I don't know what to do anymore. I have been wearing earplugs pretty much every time I leave the house because I thought I was supposed to protect my ears as much as possible in the first few months...

@Michael Leigh, hello, what do you mean when you say overprotection makes the auditory system more sensitive? Does this mean you will perceive sound as louder than it is and it will be uncomfortable, or does it mean that your auditory system will become weakened and more susceptible to being...

@Tau, did your first tinnitus slowly fade over time, or did you just wake up one day and it was gone? Have you noticed any improvements with your second bout?

Amazing success story! Great to know it can take over a year to go away. While you were healing, did you avoid loud/moderate noises as much as possible? When you left your house, did you wear earplugs? Or did you continue to live relatively normally?

@valerinaanna, ugh, that's so beyond frustrating that your tinnitus came back! Has it improved at all since you got it? I'm glad to hear that your first bout went away though, at least there's hope.

Hello fellow sufferers, I'm here to spread some positivity to those who are struggling. I was talking to my aunt recently and I told her about the horrifying ringing in my ears that I have unfortunately been experiencing as of late. She replied "Oh, my friend had that once." My ears perked up...