I Was Around a Crying Baby for a Few Seconds. My Tinnitus Is Twice as Loud Now!

[Linda_na]

@Bill Bauer Have you had similar setbacks? What would you suggest?? Is there anything I can do to make this better?

 

[Bill Bauer]

@Bill Bauer Have you had similar setbacks? What would you suggest?? Is there anything I can do to make this better?

Unless the baby was right next to your ear when it cried, there is a very high chance that this spike is temporary.

Most spikes are temporary spikes (few become permanent). Temporary spikes can last a surprisingly long time:
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/head-movement-spikes-tinnitus.25179/#post-290614
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/poll-how-long-do-your-tinnitus-spikes-usually-last.23110/
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/poll-how-long-was-your-longest-spike.22099/

When you get a spike, it is natural to panic and assume the worst. My advice is to wait three months or so. If the spike is still there, as loud as ever, at that point you might start worrying about this spike being permanent.

It makes sense to worry about a spike being permanent only if there is no fading after a month. For now, it is reasonable for you to tell yourself to not worry, as chances are it will begin fading soon.

You might want to take NAC. It is probably too late to take Prednisone. Also Prednisone can have serious side effects. Something like exposure to a gun shot or a fire alarm warrants taking Prednisone, but your noise exposure was probably not as bad.

 

[Bill Bauer]

Have you had similar setbacks?

Yes, countless times. All of them were terrifying at the time, and all had eventually faded. The longest one was the result of me pressing a loud phone to my bad ear (its volume stuck at Max), and the person on the other end of the line raising her voice to greet me. It had erased three months of healing (putting me back to square one), and had lasted for over three months.

 

[Linda_na]

Yes, countless times. All of them were terrifying at the time, and all had eventually faded. The longest one was the result of me pressing a loud phone to my bad ear (its volume stuck at Max), and the person on the other end of the line raising her voice to greet me. It had erased three months of healing (putting me back to square one), and had lasted for over three months.

The baby was actually near me when he cried but it was only a few seconds. I really hope this is temporary
so that spike eventually faded away?

 

[Linda_na]

The baby was actually near me when he cried but it was only a few seconds. I really hope this is temporary
so that spike eventually faded away?

@Bill Bauer He wasn't right next to my ear tho. I was carrying him and he was actually quiet then suddenly started to cry with a loud voice. I went to urgent care 2 days later and got some methylprednisolone, took it for one day and I could barely walk the other day because my whole body was in pain. So I didnt take the second dose.

 

[Bill Bauer]

The baby was actually near me

Where you holding the baby, so that his or her mouth was inches from your ear? In that case it is more serious, but there would still be a good chance that it would be temporary (it would be similar to that spike of mine involving a loud phone).

that spike eventually faded away?

Yes, it did. It had been raging for about a month, began fading after a month, and took another two months or so to completely fade.

 

[Greg Sacramento]

You have mentioned that you hear popping and crackling sounds when swallowing or moving your jaw. Not sure if your spike continuing is completely from a baby crying as you also were using 15DB of ear protection. Interactions - jaw = stress = ear sensitivity = dehydration = lack of sleep. Magnesium glycinate may help for muscle relaxation. A thin mouth guard may be needed.

Taken from a how to lower a tinnitus spike site. Most similar sites say the same thing.

• Dehydration – Dehydration is a fairly common trigger. A good rule of thumb is to divide your weight (measured in pounds) by 2. The result is the minimum number of ounces of water you should drink daily. So, a 160-pound man would need at least 80 ounces of water (10 cups) a day. (1 cup of water = 8 ounces)
• Nicotine – Nicotine is a common tinnitus trigger.
• Alcohol – Many people find alcohol to be a trigger as well. If possible, abstain until your tinnitus improves. Otherwise, reduce your alcohol consumption.
• Food Sensitivities – Avoid all known food sensitivities until your tinnitus improves.
• Allergies – When possible, avoid known allergens that affect you.
• Temporomandibular Joint Disorder (TMJ) – If you have TMJ, make sure to wear your bite guard or dental appliance as directed until your tinnitus improves.
• Some other benefits may be a light gentle massage on shoulders and lower back. Warm baths may help. Keep lips together when not eating, talking or brushing teeth.

 

[Linda_na]

Where you holding the baby, so that his or her mouth was inches from your ear? In that case it is more serious, but there would still be a good chance that it would be temporary (it would be similar to that spike of mine involving a loud phone).

Yes, it did. It had been raging for about a month, began fading after a month, and took another two months or so to completely fade.

I would say the baby's head was 15 inches away from me while I was holding him. I regret it so much
I am new to this and still figuring out the dangerous noises and sounds, but I guess I'm damaging myself more unknowingly.

 

[Linda_na]

You have mentioned that you hear popping and crackling sounds when swallowing or moving your jaw. I doubt that your spike continuing is completely from a baby crying as you also were using 15DB of ear protection. Interactions - jaw = stress = ear sensitivity = dehydration = lack of sleep. Magnesium glycinate may help for muscle relaxation. A thin mouth guard may be needed.

Taken from a how to lower a tinnitus spike site. Most similar sites say the same thing.

• Dehydration – Dehydration is a fairly common trigger. A good rule of thumb is to divide your weight (measured in pounds) by 2. The result is the minimum number of ounces of water you should drink daily. So, a 160-pound man would need at least 80 ounces of water (10 cups) a day. (1 cup of water = 8 ounces)
• Nicotine – Nicotine is a common tinnitus trigger.
• Alcohol – Many people find alcohol to be a trigger as well. If possible, abstain until your tinnitus improves. Otherwise, reduce your alcohol consumption.
• Food Sensitivities – Avoid all known food sensitivities until your tinnitus improves.
• Allergies – When possible, avoid known allergens that affect you.
• Temporomandibular Joint Disorder (TMJ) – If you have TMJ, make sure to wear your bite guard or dental appliance as directed until your tinnitus improves.
• Some other benefits may be a light gentle massage on shoulders and lower back. Warm baths may help. Keep lips together when not eating, talking or brushing teeth.

Thank you for your information. I know part of my T is caused by my anxiety and stress. I used to be a stressful person even before I got my T (You can imagine how stressed I am right now). I keep getting several panic attacks every day and I cant really help it.

 

[Bill Bauer]

I am new to this and still figuring out the dangerous noises and sounds, but I guess I'm damaging myself more unknowingly.

If you Have to hold a baby, at least make sure that you have some ear protection. In a year or two you will likely become less vulnerable. But it makes sense to be more careful now...

I am new to this and still figuring out the dangerous noises and sounds

If you learn from your mistakes, you ought to be ok. Nobody is able to completely avoid being exposed to noises that cause spikes. All one can do is try to minimize the times when this happens. Lots of people experience their tinnitus fading, and all of them must have had those experiences of serious spikes following noise exposure. Tell yourself that the volume you are hearing now is likely Not the volume that you will be stuck with, try not to think about the future and try to not beat yourself up about the past.

 

[Linda_na]

If you Have to hold a baby, at least make sure that you have some ear protection. In a year or two you will likely become less vulnerable. But it makes sense to be more careful now...

If you learn from your mistakes, you ought to be ok. Nobody is able to completely avoid being exposed to noises that cause spikes. All one can do is try to minimize the times when this happens. Lots of people experience their tinnitus fading, and all of them must have had those experiences of serious spikes following noise exposure. Tell yourself that the volume you are hearing now is likely Not the volume that you will be stuck with, try not to think about the future and try to not beat yourself up about the past.

I never thought about how loud a baby's cry was since it never bothered me before. I thought I was fine with the musician's earplugs. But seems like I wasn't. I am already tired of living this way. Don't know how much more till I give up...

 

[PaulBe]

I never thought about how loud a baby's cry was since it never bothered me before.

Yep.

Try tantruming toddlers, particularly girls who scream.

 

[Yuri_ol]

I never thought about how loud a baby's cry was since it never bothered me before. I thought I was fine with the musician's earplugs. But seems like I wasn't. I am already tired of living this way. Don't know how much more till I give up...

I never thought about how loud people speaking can be and it can hurt my ear.

When I was into my second month of recovery, when my tinnitus was almost gone, loud speaking made my tinnitus in the right ear become louder.

 

[Linda_na]

I never thought about how loud people speaking can be and it can hurt my ear.

When I was into my second month of recovery, when my tinnitus was almost gone, loud speaking made my tinnitus in the right ear become louder.

Did it fade away?

 

[Yuri_ol]

Did it fade away?

No it's still here.

Also a door closed very loudly and now I have a feeling of warmth in my right ear.

 

[Bill Bauer]

No it's still here.

It has been about a month, right? If this is the case, there is still hope that it will go away.

 

[Yuri_ol]

It has been about a month, right? If this is the case, there is still hope that it will go away.

27.03.2019 was... now T in louder in right ear
when I take it again I didnt know that I need to protect ears/ doctors said do nothing and eat
betahistine
i feel left ear feel much better than right.

very bad post but it can be with everyone

 

[Bill Bauer]

I didnt know that I need to protect ears/ doctors said do nothing

Hopefully you will find some of the info below to be helpful to you:
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/thread...eone-else-who-has-tinnitus.26850/#post-307822

I didn't read all the above comments, but did peruse a fair amount of it, and ran across many good points on both sides of the argument. What strikes me is there seems to be an underlying assumption (of course I may be wrong on this) that all brains and neurological systems are created equal. The way I see it, that's simply not the case, so everybody's way of dealing with tinnitus and/or hyperacusis is going to have to be highly individualized.

I read a book many years ago called "Adrenal Syndrome". A lot of the book touched on the residual resiliency of people's adrenal glands as they respond to life's stresses. Very low resiliency often resulted in months/years of chronic debilitating exhaustion following a stressful event(s) in their lives. Very high resiliency indicated essentially the opposite. The author broke this down into some rough numbers:

25% of people have low resiliency, meaning normal life stressors will often send them into some degree of a tailspin.
25% of people have high resiliency, meaning that no matter how severe a stressor comes into their lives, they will be able to cope without becoming debilitated to any degree.
50% of people fall somewhere inbetween.

I believe there are some kind of corresponding numbers for a person's brain and neurological resiliency as well, which can greatly affect the ability to cope with tinnitus. (I believe adrenal resiliency also plays a major role in our ability to cope). -- Based on these assumptions, it's pretty easy for me to conclude that what may be overprotection for one person will be underprotection for another, and vice versa.

I think the main point to understand for someone new to tinnitus is that their path forward is going to be a lot of "testing the waters". Generally, IMHO, it's going to take a few weeks or months to get important insights that will help us achieve a healthy balance. In all likelihood, most people are going to learn from experience when their over-protecting or under-protecting.

I've come to believe however, that in those early months, if one is going to err in either direction, it should be toward overprotection. It just seems to me the consequences of underprotection (which could result in permanent injury) in those early times are much more dire than the consequences of overprotection--which as I understand, generally results in temporary setbacks.

Doing a number of things to better support the brain and neurological system and the body's stress response (adrenal glands) is quite high on my list of recommendations I would make to anybody with tinnitus. Doing so might even prevent phonophobia or OCD, etc., as we go through our learning curves -- Just my 2 cents worth.

Relative newbies to tinnitus are likely to find all the information/opinions above quite confusing. So here are a few common-sense rules to follow:

1. The best protection of all is avoidance. Even the best earplugs can't guarantee complete hearing protection so those relatively new to tinnitus are best advised to avoid prolonged loud noise exposure - especially amplified sound at for example live concerts and sports events. This may involve lifestyle changes.

2. When in doubt, use hearing protection. In the many tasks we all do through the week, some will inevitably involve exposure to noise - which may be at higher levels than we at first realise - so using hearing protection for many of these is only sensible.

3. Build quiet into your day. It's not a good idea to be wearing hearing protection all the time - so you need to give your ears a break by ensuring that there will be quieter times during your day when hearing protection isn't necessary.This may involve changing your routine. Use soft masking noise and light music (not using headphones) to avoid "silence" where tinnitus is most noticeable.

4. Don't stress about stress. Tinnitus newbies are forever being told that the thing which makes tinnitus worse is stress. But while it's true that how you are feeling at a particular moment can make tinnitus temporarily louder, it won't have a lasting effect. But prolonged loud noise exposure can make tinnitus permanently louder. So don't stress about stress - but do be concerned about noise.

Oh go you'll be fine they said. Wear earplugs they said.

So I went to the event with ear plugs. Was there for only a few minutes. Big mistake. Gave me low drone/hum that's worst than the high pitch hiss/eeeee, tea kettle sounds. Never went away. sigh
3 1/2 years ago.

Everyone is different. Every situation is different.

 

[Linda_na]

My T volume is a little bit lower today. However, I had to do a group project with my classmates in a study room (not so quiet). I hope it won't have any effects.

I am losing my hope

 

[Bill Bauer]

I hope it won't have any effects.

If it were to have an effect, you would have felt it right away.

my T volume is a little bit lower today.

Wonderful!

group project with my classmates in a study room (not so quiet)

You might want to carry foam earplugs (3M 1100 are great) with you everywhere you go.

 

[Linda_na]

If it were to have an effect, you would have felt it right away.

Yea I guess!

You might want to carry foam earplugs (3M 1100 are great) with you everywhere you go.

I just bought a box (200 pairs) of those. Thank you for your help.

 

[Bill Bauer]

I just bought a box (200 pairs) of those. Thank you for your help.

I also bought that large box (I did so even before I got T two years ago). It seems to me that one can use those plugs more than once, (at least 10 times?) and they still seem to provide good (same as the one provided the first time one uses them?) noise reduction. I don't throw away the plastic pouch that each pair of earplugs comes in. When I take out a pair of plugs, I place it back into that pouch (to ensure that they are reasonably clean). This is something you could experiment with...

 

[Linda_na]

I also bought that large box (I did so even before I got T two years ago). It seems to me that one can use those plugs more than once, (at least 10 times?) and they still seem to provide good (same as the one provided the first time one uses them?) noise reduction. I don't throw away the plastic pouch that each pair of earplugs comes in. When I take out a pair of plugs, I place it back into that pouch (to ensure that they are reasonably clean). This is something you could experiment with...

I'll definitely try. The only problem is the orange color. I have some Hearos skin color earplugs that doesn't show very much. Don't like it when people stare at me as if I'm a hypocrite wearing ear plugs in regular places. But what can I do :/