Hello from the UK

[Balthazar]

Hi everyone,

So here's another reluctant member if the group. I felt compelled to write this after gaining much support and ideas how to deal with T, so hopefully my experience can be as helpful.

I'm 31, male in pretty good all round health. Amateur musician, listen to a lot of music from techno to metal. I went to a Edm festival noticed a slight soreness in one ear after the third day, didn't think anything of it. Came back home to realise my ears were ringing. The left ear cleared up fairly quickly, but the right still has a continual mid-pitched hum.

First few nights were pretty unpleasant, tried masking sounds successfully, but they disturbed my sleep. I've found that the pitch changes when I lie down and relax. A high pitched tone comes in alongside the mid-pitched one and then takes over entirely. The sound usually is loudest in early evening, then settles down as I do.

So what have I done about it - I take magnesium, all b vitamins, zinc, vitamin c, gingko bilba and omega oils. Drinking lots of chamomile tea. Is it making a difference? Hard to say, but I figure try everything going. Also anecdotally people seem to think 3 months is a good time to ascertain if anything is working....

I went to 2 nhs general practitioners who said my ears are fine and hearing good. Nothing you can do, take a neurofen and come back in a month if it is still there. They seemed to think there was a reasonable chance of it going in a few months, however reading on the Internet I'm struggling to find many examples of this.... Although there are many reasons why this could be, either way I'll let you know if it ever passes!

After a bit of research I discovered hyperbaric oxygen therapy, so rushed down to my nearest chamber (2 weeks in).I'm on the second session and volume is still the same, but the pitch may have gone up a little I think. I'm intending on doing up to 20 sessions dependant on results. So again I'll try and document the results to help people's research.

Thanks for reading and any advice would be very welcome.

All the best,
B

 

[Joel S]

Hi mate, I also found myself succumbing to tinnitus after a loud night out. I'm 26 now and I think years of listening to my headphones at full blast and working around loud machinery did the job. Both my dad and brother have it too and my dad told me not to have the volume to loud on my headphones.....I didn't listen though.

I have managed to get on with it over the last 3 years. The first few months were horrible but after a while I just learnt to deal with it and ignore it basically. But......... the other day I went out to a drum n bass night in a very small box type room with no ear plugs. And since then I would say the intensity of my tinnitus has doubled, and is now at a level that is difficult to deal with. Usually if I go out to nights that have loud music I tend to stand right at the back, or wear ear plugs if I need to.

I really hope your tinnitus goes, but just one piece of advise is don't put yourself in a position that could make it worse...you'll be kicking your self otherwise!

I've not really felt compelled to look at treatments before, as I said it wasn't really that severe. But over the last week or two I've been looking some things up and found the tinnitus clinic. Take a look, sounds promising, the only thing is it costs 4,500 quid. I've only just signed up to this site myself and I'm going to take a look at some of the treatments other people suggest. I'm going to take some hypnotherapy sessions soon and see if that helps at all.

All the best pal

 

[Balthazar]

Thanks mate, appreciate the feedback. Yes this is very much my fear, that I might make it worse! What earplugs do you use?

I've just had my 3rd session of hbot and the pitch has definitely got higher. It's still about the same during the day, quite loud in early evenings, but tolerable at night.

Joel, it might be worth having a look in hbot? I know it's best for recent onset, but it may help at least the recent damage? I'm sure Cardiff will at least have a place for divers.

 

[somethingelse88]

Thanks mate, appreciate the feedback. Yes this is very much my fear, that I might make it worse! What earplugs do you use?

I've just had my 3rd session of hbot and the pitch has definitely got higher. It's still about the same during the day, quite loud in early evenings, but tolerable at night.

Joel, it might be worth having a look in hbot? I know it's best for recent onset, but it may help at least the recent damage? I'm sure Cardiff will at least have a place for divers.

about 3 years ago at a night out where I moronically stood by the same spot near a speaker for hours, i had really loud tinnitus in one ear which lasted around a month i think and then gradually disappeared altogether, i guess because the exposure wasnt too prolonged, so if i were you i wouldnt give up hope on it going away on its own!

now ive had proper permament T for around 6 months due to prolonged working in a noisy kitchen / plate wash room, and i had never seen this hyperbaric therapy come up in my research at the time, can you tell me what it costs? it wouldnt be covered by the nhs for this purpose would it ?

 

[Balthazar]

Hi @somethingelse88,

Sounds just like my story so that's encouraging to hear! i haven't come across many examples online of it clearing up by itself.

Unfortunately hbot isn't covered by the nhs, but I did need a note from my gp to confirm I'm in otherwise good health. I'm paying just over £100 a session, although have found somewhere that will do it for £40. I'm sure i've read of somewhere doing it even cheaper. I think the best results are if it is done as early as possible after exposure, but I reckon it's worth try.

Good luck!

 

[Balthazar]

Just had my 7th Hbot session and am having mixed results. The mid-pitched ringing sound has got higher in pitch and a little softer in volume. However I've noticed a new high pitched sound on the left ear. So I'm starting to question the wisdom of carrying on... On the plus side when relaxed it all reduces to a whooshing sound which is fine to get to sleep with.

 

[Cymro41]

Just ordered one of those Tinnitus clinic gadgets. Hope it works