Earplugs Were the Cause of My Tinnitus!

[Sam Sep]

Yes, believe it or not earplugs were the cause of my tinnitus!!!

It started in 2015 during a simple cold. I woke up in the middle of the night with this deafening high pitched ringing sound, so confused did not even know where I was. It was so frightening I wanted to call 911 because I didn't know what was going on.

Anyway the ringing continued for one whole year and I had all sorts of tests done and nothing was physically wrong with my ears or brain. During this time the only thing that was helping me was an android app that I was using to create the same frequency sound as my ringing and it was only controlling the severity of the ringings. The ringing faded and went away on its own after a year until...

...one night I put my earplugs and within minutes the ringing started. Holy moly! I took them off and it disappeared in a few minutes again! can you believe it?! during that whole year I was routinely using the earplugs and they had made my nights so quiet (considering my home is really quiet, around 4 dB in average) that it had caused my tinnitus.

Anyway, during that year my tinnitus annoyed me so much that I felt obligated to come here and tell my story. I will be the happiest man on earth if one of you finds this thread helpful!

 

[Bill Bauer]

Could it be that your tinnitus is so quiet that you can hear it only when you are wearing ear plugs?

 

[Sam Sep]

I wish. As I said it was deafening. Even during the days.

 

[fhs]

Of course earplugs can cause tinnitus and so can hearing aids when improperly used. Earplugs do block earwax from escaping your ear so it's probably not a good idea to wear them 24/7. They also raise humidity and can cause mold/bacteria growth near the eardrum which can cause tinnitus due to nerve damage.