Hello, I am Lucas from Argentina

[Lucas Dacunto]

Hi, my name is Lucas and I'm from Argentina.

I'm not really glad to be here but I've finally decided to register and start talking about this awful symptom that is Tinnitus.

When I was 8 years old I have surgery in my right ear because of a Cholesteatoma (a fat-related benign tumor), since then my audition in that ear was reduced by approx. 40%. I was so young at the time that I don't remember listening better than that ever in my life so it wasn't (and isn't) that big of a problem, I actually learned to live around It and I turned out to be a great musician.

Sadly, on 13th september of 2012 I was coming back from University when I had to pass through a local political manifestation. This one had lots of people yelling and making noise, many of whom had big drums. I remember hearing those sounds very loudly and even some pain from it.

That same day when I arrived home my T started... never stopped since then. Panic attack, went to my ENT, and he gave me Corticoids and told me "you'll have to learn to live with it". It was painful as shit but months went by and I eventually learned to live with that sound, I remember whole months of just forgetting that sound, as It wasn't that loud back then. The only time I was forced to hear it was when I went to bed and everything was silent.

As I grow up from then I started having chronic Othorrea, probably because my right ear is so badly shaped and humid, It works really bad and it does affect me a lot. I have to go to my ENT (new one) every 3 months or so to get checked and cleaned.

Now, a few days ago I was playing with my band at a local studio, I'm a bassist. After one essay I started hearing my T loud again, about half as louder as It was. I'm not quite sure If it was by the drums again but I started using earplugs and protectors since then.

I'm hearing my T a bit loud now, I *think* it's in my right ear, and also, I do not only hear a T but also my right ear seems to be permanently "vibrating" or "trembling", like a muscle or a vein issue, but I can almost guarantee my T is not pulsatile.

I'm quite frankly desperate, I will go to my ENT but I tend to think it's permanent and it has no cure or relief whatsoever. And I'm having a hard time picturing myself living like this for the rest of my days.... It bothers me so much because I love music, I'm a musician myself and it gives me great pleasure. I'm very sensitive when it comes to hearing.

I recently found these YouTube videos about Tinnitus and Tinnitus sound therapy and I'm having a relatively good time by hearing them and masking the sound though I'm not quite sure if these sounds will have some serious therapeutic relief or improvement, that's something I really need.

I just miss the sound of silence so much...

 

[Samir]

Hi Lucas!

I'm sorry to hear about your struggles with tinnitus. I know that the medical workers call it a symptom, but it feels like a disease nonetheless. Because it can affect a person in such a way. It is really difficult having to learn to live with something like this.

You say you got Corticoids from the ENT. Did you receive this on the same day? My understanding is that steroids need to be administered as soon as possible following a noise trauma, for them to have a therapeutic effect.

What you describe as trembling could be caused by one of the two muscles in the middle ear cavity. I have this myself, and while it can be bothersome, it's not nearly as bad as tinnitus itself. Sometimes, I think by misunderstanding, these muscle movements are also characterized as tinnitus. It's something they call objective tinnitus.

Personally, I feel like tinnitus should be defined as subjective by definition. If it's objective, then it's probably not tinnitus. Especially not if it's of muscular origin. If it's of vascular origin, a.k.a. "pulsatile tinnitus", then it's not really tinnitus. I feel like this word "tinnitus" is misused by unprofessional medical workers. If your symptoms are of muscular or vascular origin, they need to do thorough investigation. These forms of so called "tinnitus" are often treatable. If you get to the right doctor who does a proper investigation and finds the root cause of it.

Of course, sometimes, these things can be combined. I for example have tonal tinnitus, plus that muscular manifestation you described earlier. Both of which I believe are the result of a noise trauma.

I think the laterality of tinnitus is misleading. For me for example, it started out on the left side, and it felt like it was in the left ear. Several months later it now feels like it's central and inside the head. This does not mean that I have not had fleeting tinnitus on the right side, what felt like inside the right ear. Despite the fact that my left ear is the supposedly more damaged ear. Also, the damage is minimal at best, but I still have tinnitus.

As for sound therapies, you can check out notched music therapy, notched white noise therapy, amplitude modulation and neuromodulation. You will find detailed descriptions of these in the forums. I have had some success in suppressing tinnitus for a short period using primarily white noise. Right after listening to white noise I would not sense any tinnitus at all for a few seconds and it felt like heaven. I believe this is called lateral inhibition. But I caution you to not overuse this and be conservative with the volume level. For me for example, the white noise is no longer very successful at suppressing the tinnitus.

Lastly, welcome to Tinnitus Talk!

 

[Lucas Dacunto]

Thank you so much for your reply, It's so kind to feel like someone really understands your pain.

You say you got Corticoids from the ENT. Did you receive this on the same day? My understanding is that steroids need to be administered as soon as possible following a noise trauma, for them to have a therapeutic effect.

I got my shot of Corticoids about a week after that first incident. But didn't make any difference whatsoever.

What you describe as trembling could be caused by one of the two muscles in the middle ear cavity. I have this myself, and while it can be bothersome, it's not nearly as bad as tinnitus itself.

My ENT told me it's because of inflamattion so he prescribed me some drops and thinks It will go down eventually to it's previous levels.

As for sound therapies, you can check out notched music therapy, notched white noise therapy, amplitude modulation and neuromodulation.

I will be thoroughly investigating this therapy options you suggest, I already did find some comfort in therapy sound videos from YouTube.

Thank you again for your answer, I will be looking after these suggestions and I really appreciatte that someone gives me a hand on this painful and stressing symptom.

 

[Bill Bauer]

You could also look into HBOT treatment...

 

[Samir]

I got my shot of Corticoids about a week after that first incident. But didn't make any difference whatsoever.

That might have been a bit too late. HBOT and corticosteroids within 48 hours! At least that's what the rich and privileged are getting after acoustic trauma. There is not much else on the menu I'm afraid. In most countries, and for most people, that's not even on the menu.

HBOT and corticoids is what the Belgian PM got recently. You can read all about it here if you're interested:
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/our-prime-minister-just-got-tinnitus-hearing-loss.21984/

My ENT told me it's because of inflamattion so he prescribed me some drops and thinks It will go down eventually to it's previous levels.

Of course you could be having inflammation, but I fail to see how that would be related to the muscle twitches. Of course, I am not a doctor, but I like to think that I am well informed.

Do you hear clicks in either one of your ears? Or only a thumping kind of sound? My understanding is that thumping is caused by tensor tympani muscle contractions, while clicks are caused by stapedius muscle contractions.



You can see the two muscles pointed out on this image, relative to the eardrum and the ossicular bones and cochlea. My understanding is that clicking ears are often attributed to Eustachian tube dysfunction, even when it is not so. It should be fairly easy for a physician to see under a scope if the ear drum is vibrating. That should indicate a twitching tensor tympani. These muscles are nearly impossible to visualize directly.

Both of these muscles act to protect the inner ear from loud sounds, but the tensor tympani is the one that's pulling most the weight.

I remember quite clearly that I had a noticeable click when i was exposed to the noise trauma. It took nearly a year after the trauma for these clicks to come back again and start haunting me. I speculate it's due to some kind of cellular degradation inside the ear or the brain stem or both. It's interesting because it's around the same time that my tinnitus changed character from a hiss or static kind of noise to a tonal, almost pure tone quality. The sound stimuli of my noise trauma was pure tone like, and my tinnitus is pretty much the same frequency.

Thank you again for your answer, I will be looking after these suggestions and I really appreciatte that someone gives me a hand on this painful and stressing symptom.

I wish I could be of more help to you, and that I could bring you more positive news. There may not be any real cure as of yet, but offering each other support and understanding goes a long way too. Just know that you are among friends here!

 

[Lucas Dacunto]

I have never felt any clicks on any of my ears whatsoever, so I'm not quite sure I can relate to that. What I do feel is that I had some kind of hissing sound back then and recently It became a tonal sound, like about 16,000hz or 17,000hz.

I thank you for your support and I will try to cope with this along with keeping track of It and I will be checking this forum on a daily basis while trying any treatment option.

 

[Christophe_85]

Dear Lucas,

Sorry for you, I also miss silence but the worst thing, clearly, is the Hyperacousis... Living with this everyday is quite difficult...

Do you still play in your Band ?

 

[Lucas Dacunto]

Dear Lucas,

Sorry for you, I also miss silence but the worst thing, clearly, is the Hyperacousis... Living with this everyday is quite difficult...

Do you still play in your Band ?

Hi Cristophe

Sadly, I left my band. I told them I wouldn't be able to play with them because im 98% sure my Tinnitus went worse after playing with them. This is one of the things that hurts me the most, at an emotional level, letting go the things I love, specially doing music.

I'm truly desperate for an answer, I will be doing an audiometry this Tuesday and afterwards I'll visit a clinic specialized in tinnitus treatment. With any luck I'll start some sort of treatment.

This is driving me crazy and depressed. Please someone send me strength.

 

[Samir]

@Christophe_85, I think I can relate to that. I had hyperacusis in the beginning, and it felt like my whole brain was shivering. This was right after my tinnitus changed character from a hiss that I barely noticed to a tonal type of sound. My hyperacusis has improved since, but I can still get that sensation if I am around loud noises, and even people talking loudly can trigger it sometimes.

I hope you are able to cope with this, and I sincerely hope that your symptoms will improve as well. One key to this, I think... is not to become overprotective about the ears. You should not go to loud concerts without ear plugs, but neither should you use ear plugs in the kitchen at home. Ears need stimulation, as does the brain. You have to sort of desensitize them gradually, and that takes time.

@Lucas Dacunto, I can relate to that change of sound character from hiss to tonal. In fact I did not even think of it as tinnitus until it became tonal. Many people will tell you that they experience different kind of tinnitus sounds, and that their sound has changed character over time. Not only that, you will find that many of us can change the pitch or volume of the sound by jaw and neck movements. Everyone has had a different level of exposure to noise over the course of life. So everyone will have somewhat different experience with tinnitus, but there are also many similarities as well.

For what it's worth, my tinnitus pitch is at about 6000 Hz. I am pretty sure it was caused by an acoustic trauma about a year earlier. The average frequency of the trauma sound was at 5500 Hz. So there is almost a 1 on 1 correspondence between the trauma and the tinnitus pitch. It just took some time for it to become tonal.

I understand that it hurts Lucas. It's especially hurtful for someone who is a musician. Brian Johnson had to part from ACDC last year because of bad hearing. He has hearing loss and tinnitus. That must have been tough for him, the band, and the fans. But I think he made the right decision. As did you Lucas.

I am a music fan myself. For me, music was my life. It was my escape from reality, and a way to express myself. Music is one of those sweet things that make life worth living. I have not listened to my music in quite some time now. I no longer enjoy it as much as I used to. It's just not the same. I also want to preserve my hearing as much as possible so that I may be able to restore any damage that's causing tinnitus, and enjoy music as well as silence, one more time before I die.

It's unfortunate, but we don't seem to know what we have until we lose it. We never seem to learn from our mistakes either, and pass on the knowledge to the next generation so that they may not make the same mistakes. We just keep on making the same mistakes over and over again, and the history repeats itself. It's all part of the cycle of life.

Good luck on Tuesday, and I hope you find the answers you are looking for Lucas. I know I was desperate for answers when all this started happening with me. I turned to the Internet when the doctor failed to provide me the answers. I have found the answers to many of my questions. But what I have realized in the process is that I need to find a way to forgive myself. I was blaming myself for what happened to me. As a result, I have also had to make lifestyle changes. I had to process all that emotionally. I still have hearing loss, and I still have tinnitus. Some days it's better, some days it's worse. But overall, I am able to cope with it better now. I hope that you can find the same peace of mind.

 

[Lucas Dacunto]

Thank you @Samir I appreciatte your words.

I'm desperately trying not to fall apart. What is weird is that now that I've taken my time to know better my Tinnitus I'm feeling rather odd sensations.

I can describe my Tinnitus as follows:

• One high permanent and rather loud tone of ~15.000hz which seems to be easily hidable with sounds.
• Another rather strange element, that is when I hide my 15.000hz tone I can hear or rather feel clearly a vibration, a sort of trembling in my right tympanus, something like would ressemble a permanent muscle tremble or 'earthquake' that produces another sound, not a like a tone but like two muscles compressing each other which produces this rather unique sound. It has no tone, It is more like a compression kinda sound accompannied with these already mentioned permanent vibrations and tremblings like the buzz of a mosquito but very very deep and low freq.

Based on this and the fact that I got outer-ear infection last weeks I'm quite positive I have something else than only Tinnitus, something more anatomically related, like something pushing my tympanus in or out. Thats why I hope my healthcare practicioners will be smart enough to make me get many studies. Im somewhat hopefull there is more than this because I can guarantee I had Tinnitus for 5 years and this is something 'else'.

I would appreciatte any info on this subject. Thank you again.