My ears started ringing with a low frequency tone 1 week ago, after listening to my new headphones for 3 hours. I did not use headphones for several days prior to this, and did not listen very loud. I rarely use headphones for more than 1 hours, and I'm always mindful about the volume. Especially since I already had some ringing, due to infections last fall. I did feel a discomfort in my ears towards the end of the 3 hour session, and after taking them off I heard an intense low frequency tone, that sounded like this (go to 25 seconds):
When it happened it was pretty strong, but the next day and days after it has sounded more like a distant noise, tricking me into thinking there was an engine, machine or ventilation system in the area that caused the sound. It sounds kind of like the link above, but now a bit more distant. Another example is this video, but only the barely present higher frequency noise in the video, and not the very low one which is way more present in the video:
I hear it almost everywhere now, and it elevates with sounds such as certain traffic noise or machine noises, and fans. Especially when I'm on the bus, it elevates together with the bus engine. Strange thing is that the high frequency tinnitus that I used to have, seems to be disappearing when this low frequency one is present. I also feel some kind of fullness or discomfort in my ears at times. At night when it's finally quiet outside (I live near a noisy highway), I can't hear the low frequency tinnitus anymore at all, and the high pitch tinnitus comes back again. Outside I could rarely ever hear my high pitch ones, because they only appeared when it was quiet, like inside. But the low frequency one acts the opposite, because it elevates with noise, especially while being outside.
Obviously this has caused me a lot of stress, and I'm struggling to concentrate with other things, and can't stop worrying about it. I was hoping it would go away after some days of "resting" my ears, by not using headphones for example. But after 1 week, it's still there.
Does anyone have any suggestion on what this can be, and what I should do? I'm thinking about seeing a doctor, for all it's worth. But I suspect that there's really not much they can help with.
When it happened it was pretty strong, but the next day and days after it has sounded more like a distant noise, tricking me into thinking there was an engine, machine or ventilation system in the area that caused the sound. It sounds kind of like the link above, but now a bit more distant. Another example is this video, but only the barely present higher frequency noise in the video, and not the very low one which is way more present in the video:
I hear it almost everywhere now, and it elevates with sounds such as certain traffic noise or machine noises, and fans. Especially when I'm on the bus, it elevates together with the bus engine. Strange thing is that the high frequency tinnitus that I used to have, seems to be disappearing when this low frequency one is present. I also feel some kind of fullness or discomfort in my ears at times. At night when it's finally quiet outside (I live near a noisy highway), I can't hear the low frequency tinnitus anymore at all, and the high pitch tinnitus comes back again. Outside I could rarely ever hear my high pitch ones, because they only appeared when it was quiet, like inside. But the low frequency one acts the opposite, because it elevates with noise, especially while being outside.
Obviously this has caused me a lot of stress, and I'm struggling to concentrate with other things, and can't stop worrying about it. I was hoping it would go away after some days of "resting" my ears, by not using headphones for example. But after 1 week, it's still there.
Does anyone have any suggestion on what this can be, and what I should do? I'm thinking about seeing a doctor, for all it's worth. But I suspect that there's really not much they can help with.
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