MemberHi everyone, been reading for a while now and decided to join and share my story as relating to others has been the only comfort I've gotten lately.
I'm 26 and have had very mild tinnitus since I was about 9 or 10. It would fluctuate over the years in tones but was never really above a 1 or 2/10 in volume. My family doctor back then didn't have much to say other than to try the valsalva maneuvre. No idea what caused it, it came on out of the blue. I've always suspected it was my overbite causing TMJ issues.
As a small town boy I had never been to a concert in my life, and to my knowledge never had excessive loud noise exposure. No guns or fireworks either. Never been a big headphone user other than for communication on team video games.
However, starting in 2019 I went to 3 loud heavy metal concerts each at small venues. As a total concert newbie I had no idea how vital earplugs are. Especially since the majority of people weren't wearing them either. The first 2 shows, one in April and one in October, I walked away seemingly unscathed and while I experienced the typical post-concert symptoms, they went away promptly and my tinnitus didn't get any worse. The 3rd concert on Nov. 25th, was just brutal on my ears, I learned the hard way that I should've left or worn earplugs. My tinnitus has since moved up to about a 4/10 baseline, but it gets worse. (Of course my buddy was fine.)
The next day, everything sounded glassy, as if someone had sucked all the warmth out of sound. I was overwhelmed by the sound of shopping carts at the grocery store. Dishes and cutlery clanking seemed unusually loud. As of now, this sensitivity has died down a little, but certain pitches in voices, including my own, still cause my eardrums to pulse/flex. Almost every sentence I say at a moderate volume finishes off with the eardrum pulse. I can make my right eardrum twitch on command by shaking my keychain. If I hold the phone on my right side the left eardrum will twitch. Wierd. My ears and TMJ region experience a tense, a dull ache, and feeling of pressure that seems to come and go. I suppose this is a combination of (mild) hyperacusis accompanied by TTTS?
Despite still being in the "normal" category on my audiogram (lowest notch is -25 dB @ 500 Hz), I feel like there's definitely hidden hearing loss. It feels as if each ear no longer picks up as much from the opposite side of the head, like surround sound, if that makes any sense. Overall loss of uniformity in hearing. My own voice seems significantly clearer in the left ear despite the right being only "a touch lower" according to the test. Environmental acoustics also seem to play a much bigger role in how well I hear speech. I had my ears flushed and each ear ejected a wasp sized amount of wax, didn't change much, though. I took all of my vacation and sick time to rest after the concert, but not much changed and it feels like this is gonna take a lot longer to 'heal.'
I work full time overnights at a Home Depot as a forklift driver. We run basic LPG sitdown forklifts as well as narrow-aisle reach trucks. I've measured the dB's of the machines on my phone and none of them are excessively loud. The sounds generated range from 60 dB to 82 dB and averages out around 70 dB. Nobody wears ear protection in the building. But now, the reverse horns that never bothered me (or anybody else) before are almost painful. Regardless, I have since been wearing earplugs just to be safe.
For the past 2 years I have admittedly pushed the crap out of my body on the night shift. Not enough sleep, lots of energy drinks, junk food, and copious amounts of recreational pot smoking (no tobacco or alcohol, though). Leading into the concert my stress levels were almost PTSD level over a separate issue. Not sure if this made a difference, or if it's contributed psychosomatically. I have since started eating healthier, eliminated caffeine, and quit using cannabis cold turkey as it now makes the tinnitus worse. I am also taking magnesium, vitamin B12 and D, and Valerian Root for anxiety.
Tomorrow, I see an audiologist for further evaluation. My family doctor referred me to an ENT but due to our slow healthcare system in Ontario, it's going to be a 3 to 6 month wait. Based on all of my research, I don't expect much either can do. But I'm trying to stay positive and hope some of it may get better in time. I am barely coping with the anxiety and guilt over being so foolish with my ears.
I'm hanging on to my night job by a thread and am seriously considering quitting for a health break. I am lucky that I live with my parents and they support me in this. It's very hard to walk away. I know I need to rest my ears, but should that mean finding a quieter, slower paced job? I really don't know what to do.
I'm 26 and have had very mild tinnitus since I was about 9 or 10. It would fluctuate over the years in tones but was never really above a 1 or 2/10 in volume. My family doctor back then didn't have much to say other than to try the valsalva maneuvre. No idea what caused it, it came on out of the blue. I've always suspected it was my overbite causing TMJ issues.
As a small town boy I had never been to a concert in my life, and to my knowledge never had excessive loud noise exposure. No guns or fireworks either. Never been a big headphone user other than for communication on team video games.
However, starting in 2019 I went to 3 loud heavy metal concerts each at small venues. As a total concert newbie I had no idea how vital earplugs are. Especially since the majority of people weren't wearing them either. The first 2 shows, one in April and one in October, I walked away seemingly unscathed and while I experienced the typical post-concert symptoms, they went away promptly and my tinnitus didn't get any worse. The 3rd concert on Nov. 25th, was just brutal on my ears, I learned the hard way that I should've left or worn earplugs. My tinnitus has since moved up to about a 4/10 baseline, but it gets worse. (Of course my buddy was fine.)
The next day, everything sounded glassy, as if someone had sucked all the warmth out of sound. I was overwhelmed by the sound of shopping carts at the grocery store. Dishes and cutlery clanking seemed unusually loud. As of now, this sensitivity has died down a little, but certain pitches in voices, including my own, still cause my eardrums to pulse/flex. Almost every sentence I say at a moderate volume finishes off with the eardrum pulse. I can make my right eardrum twitch on command by shaking my keychain. If I hold the phone on my right side the left eardrum will twitch. Wierd. My ears and TMJ region experience a tense, a dull ache, and feeling of pressure that seems to come and go. I suppose this is a combination of (mild) hyperacusis accompanied by TTTS?
Despite still being in the "normal" category on my audiogram (lowest notch is -25 dB @ 500 Hz), I feel like there's definitely hidden hearing loss. It feels as if each ear no longer picks up as much from the opposite side of the head, like surround sound, if that makes any sense. Overall loss of uniformity in hearing. My own voice seems significantly clearer in the left ear despite the right being only "a touch lower" according to the test. Environmental acoustics also seem to play a much bigger role in how well I hear speech. I had my ears flushed and each ear ejected a wasp sized amount of wax, didn't change much, though. I took all of my vacation and sick time to rest after the concert, but not much changed and it feels like this is gonna take a lot longer to 'heal.'
I work full time overnights at a Home Depot as a forklift driver. We run basic LPG sitdown forklifts as well as narrow-aisle reach trucks. I've measured the dB's of the machines on my phone and none of them are excessively loud. The sounds generated range from 60 dB to 82 dB and averages out around 70 dB. Nobody wears ear protection in the building. But now, the reverse horns that never bothered me (or anybody else) before are almost painful. Regardless, I have since been wearing earplugs just to be safe.
For the past 2 years I have admittedly pushed the crap out of my body on the night shift. Not enough sleep, lots of energy drinks, junk food, and copious amounts of recreational pot smoking (no tobacco or alcohol, though). Leading into the concert my stress levels were almost PTSD level over a separate issue. Not sure if this made a difference, or if it's contributed psychosomatically. I have since started eating healthier, eliminated caffeine, and quit using cannabis cold turkey as it now makes the tinnitus worse. I am also taking magnesium, vitamin B12 and D, and Valerian Root for anxiety.
Tomorrow, I see an audiologist for further evaluation. My family doctor referred me to an ENT but due to our slow healthcare system in Ontario, it's going to be a 3 to 6 month wait. Based on all of my research, I don't expect much either can do. But I'm trying to stay positive and hope some of it may get better in time. I am barely coping with the anxiety and guilt over being so foolish with my ears.
I'm hanging on to my night job by a thread and am seriously considering quitting for a health break. I am lucky that I live with my parents and they support me in this. It's very hard to walk away. I know I need to rest my ears, but should that mean finding a quieter, slower paced job? I really don't know what to do.
