New Here, Five Weeks In. Life Completely Changed.

[Mymlan]

Hi all,

My tinnitus started 5 weeks ago. In the beginning I could hear different sounds in both my ears, and even up in the middle of my head. But now all the noise are mostly located to my left ear. The annoying thing is that I hear about 2-3 sounds at the same time. One is like a fluctuating whistling, and the other is a high pitch constant ringing tone, and also I have a hissing tone. When I put my head on the pillow at night the volume goes up (for some reason), and then my head is full of all the noise. Some nights I can't really sleep because of that...

My life completely changed from a normal, but stressful life being a new mum. BUT it was quiet when I wanted it to be.

It all changed when I was out with my then nine months old baby, and passed a tunnel, when they all of a sudden, from a near building place (that I thought was empty because it was on the weekend), started to drill, or whatever they did?! That sound was hammering, piercing and so so loud, like over 100 dB (my guess). I tried to get out of there as fast as I could. They drilled on and on, and I believe we were exposed for the noise for about 30 seconds. My left ear kind of hurt when I walked there, but I couldn't protect my ears because my hands were busy moving the stroller. My baby didn't cry or anything, she just looked quite chocked. After one or two days I started to notice the tinnitus.

Until this day, I still cannot understand why they didn't shut off that road. People can easily damage their ears. I'm so angry! I was so worried for my baby after that, but her hearing came out normal from a hearing test, so I think that I have to trust that she is ok...

The doctors have been giving me different diagnosis, like otitis media (because I had fluid behind my eardrums). Another doctor couldn't see any fluid at all. My hearing is normal (but they only test up to 8000 Hz)..
I have a new appointment to a doctor in one month...

My symptoms are tinnitus, ear fullness, hyperacusis, some light pain (not all the time), and I'm unable to equalize ear pressure in left ear. My right ear seems just fine (I hear mild tinnitus there sometimes).

I've been feeling so down with this, and have been reading on multiple sites about tinnitus. I can't go back in time and change what happened. But I know that I have to protect my ears all the time. Our baby can be a bit loud sometimes, and that makes this even more difficult.

Please I need some encouragement. Am I able to fully recover?

A lot of hugs to all of you out there suffering from this!

 

[Digital Doc]

@Mymlan

The horrors of loud noises. This is terrible what you experienced, along g with your young child.

This sounds like an isolated noise exposure, like an acoustic trauma.

There is a good chance it will improve, but the key is to avoid further injury to promote healing. Avoid any additional noise exposure, and use hearing protection as needed.

 

[Mymlan]

Thank you for you answer. I do what I can to protect my ears. In fact I've always been very careful with my hearing so this is unbelievable.

 

[Mymlan]

@Digital Doc There are still so many question marks. When I first saw a doctor after what happened. He could see some redness on my left eardrum. Another doctor saw fluid behind my eardrum. Do you or anyone know if an an acoustic trauma can cause thoose symptoms?

 

[Digital Doc]

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30252799/

I am not sure about those otoscope findings. The literature seems to talk only about perforation of the tympanic membrane, rather than fluid and redness.

 

[Mymlan]

I'm so confused. What if my T is caused of other reasons? The medical help in Sweden, and especially the knowledge about T is a disaster..

 

[Digital Doc]

I'm so confused. What if my T is caused of other reasons? The medical help in Sweden, and especially the knowledge about T is a disaster..

I reread your original post, and it is quite clear that the T is noise induced. You initially had some TTS, and then the delayed spike a few days later as the T develops. This is all quite classic.

I know nothing about medical care in Sweden, but I assure you that the doctors are not any better here in the US.

You can try some omega-3 daily, which I take, and I think it has helped, although the medical evidence for it is kind of minimal.

This kind of things takes months to get better, just do your best to avoid any further noise exposures or else it will set you back considerably.

 

[Ken219]

omega-3

What dose do you take? I started a couple of days ago with 2 in the morning and 2 at night, 1200mg each.

 

[Digital Doc]

I take one capsule of the omega3 in the afternoon. They are each about 550mg per capsule.

If I am out, and dont take it till later, I can hear my T increasing, and an hour after I take it my T is better controlled.

 

[Mymlan]

I reread your original post, and it is quite clear that the T is noise induced. You initially had some TTS, and then the delayed spike a few days later as the T develops. This is all quite classic.

Thank you again. Then I know and maybe I can quit looking for other reasons for my T. It's so awful. I feel like I'm going through a hell right now..

How long can it take before seeing any improvement? I don't really think that I've seen any improvement yet. I'm still hoping to.

 

[Mymlan]

You can try some omega-3 daily, which I take, and I think it has helped, although the medical evidence for it is kind of minimal.

How come you started to take omega-3?

 

[PeteJ]

You should also try omega 3 in actual fish, imho. Which can include herring, salmon, sardines and mackerel.

 

[Digital Doc]

How come you started to take omega-3?

"Hearing loss in the elderly significantly impacts everyday life. Due to the aging of populations in developed and developing countries 1,2,38, A-RHL remains a problem for all social classes that extensive public health awareness campaigns should be created to address. Although future large prospective studies exploring the links between dietary omega-3 FAs and hearing health still need to be conducted 32, the proposal of using omega-3 FA dietary interventions to prevent hearing loss in older adults is innovative, practical to apply and expected to be useful. Finally, as a deeper understanding of the emerging role of omega-3 FA consumption in preventing A-RHL is essential for the design of better strategies to treat this condition, multidisciplinary approaches in clinical and experimental translational research are crucial at this time."

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4975785/

@PeteJ

I eat salmon about once a week, but can't really eat it more than that.

 

[linearb]

I eat salmon about once a week, but can't really eat it more than that.

even if you could the mercury would catch up to you that much faster :-P

 

[Mymlan]

@Digital Doc I do eat alot of salmon and nutritious food, but lately I've been through alot of stress. And that acoustic trauma was LOUD! But the sound only lasted for 30 seconds. How could this be? Maybe my ears just couldn't cope so well.

 

[Digital Doc]

@Mymlan

Ears don't cope, they just get damaged. Clearly it was too loud, and you are suffering. Keep protecting, and make sure the healing can proceed to minimize the setbacks.

 

[Mymlan]

@Digital Doc So is it possible for me to ever hear silence again?

 

[JohnFox]

So is it possible for me to ever hear silence again?

The chances that you will be 100% free of Tinnitus in the future are not good. However, being that this was apparently a one time noise exposure that damaged your ears, I would guess that there is a very good chance of significant improvement, over time, to the point where it will not bother you much. For now, protect your ears and give it some time.

 

[Mymlan]

@JohnFox How do you know that?

 

[Yuri_ol]

@JohnFox How do you know that?

Can you show audiogram results?

 

[JohnFox]

How do you know that?

I don't know anything for sure. But the reason I say that you will probably be stuck with some degree of tinnitus, is that in your case as in most cases, tinnitus is caused by some degree of hearing damage/loss. When the damage to your ears is such that it brings on what we know as "Tinnitus", I have never heard of someone being completely cured of tinnitus. I have heard of people's tinnitus becoming much less intrusive over time, not only with the "noise in your head" level actually coming down quite a bit, but also with habituating to it. Further, since you describe your tinnitus coming on from exposure to a sudden loud noise event, verses being exposed to loud noise over a long period of time, I suspect that the level of tinnitus that you are experiencing right now, may settle down over time and quite possibly become very tolerable.

Many years ago, before the "event" that I experienced a few months ago I was exposed to some loud noise that left me with a loud ringing in my ears. Prior to that I did have a very mild ringing in my ears that was barely discernible that was always there. (most older men do). It didn't bother me at all. After the noise exposure, that same ringing in my ears became much louder and did bother me and had me quite worried. However, after a few months, and keeping myself from being exposed to that kind of loud noise, the ringing went back down to the level it was before and didn't bother me any longer.

BTW, what I am going through right now is not related to that prior noise exposure many years ago. My new T and hearing loss was very sudden and for no apparent reason. Be glad you are not experiencing what I am. It has changed my life.

 

[PortalNaut]

@Digital Doc I do eat alot of salmon and nutritious food, but lately I've been through alot of stress. And that acoustic trauma was LOUD! But the sound only lasted for 30 seconds. How could this be? Maybe my ears just couldn't cope so well.

My exposure was probably less than a minute, so 30secs is probably long enough for very loud noises.

For your situation:

I found some construction site noise safety listings, which says a power drill is 125-130db.

When are you most at risk of damaging your hearing?
• If you are standing about two metres away from someone and you have to shout to be heard then the noise level is high and you should wear hearing protection
• If you are carrying out noisy tasks such as drilling
https://www.construct.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Employee-Guidance-Noise.pdf​

In the USA, here is a chart for allowed exposure, and as you can see NIOSH is much more conservative than OSHA. For "30 secs" NIOSH says a max of about 115db, and OSHA like 140db.

​

http://www.sengpielaudio.com/NIOSH-OSHA-Standards.gif

 

[Bill Bauer]

Please I need some encouragement. Am I able to fully recover?

Yes, many people recover. It is reasonable to expect that sometime within the first 3-6 months after the onset your T will begin fading, and that eventually (could be as long as two years) you will either get to hear silence again, or at least get to the "can hear it only in a quiet room" stage.

Check out
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.

 

[HeavyMantra]

I always wear earplugs in Stockholm for this exact reason. The subway, sudden construction sounds, people honking horns 2 m from me, people making their cars sound as loud as they can when passing a bus stop. The potential risks never end.

 

[Mymlan]

I always wear earplugs in Stockholm for this exact reason. The subway, sudden construction sounds, people honking horns 2 m from me, people making their cars sound as loud as they can when passing a bus stop. The potential risks never end.

I do wear my earplugs now (I have customized ones, and they are really good, pricey, but good

I was born and raised in Stockholm, but I'm really starting to hate this place (atleast the central parts), especially Slussen, where all of this happened, of course. Also I live quite near Slussen (Gamla stan). But we are luckily moving away from here in about a year if we are lucky.

Even if my T is noise induced, I've been through alot of stress lately. I need to learn how to relax and be more in peace within myself in able to heal. I'm seeking help for this now, so that I can bring my life back, with or without T. I have a daughter, and I need to stay strong for her sake.

 

[HeavyMantra]

I do wear my earplugs now (I have customized ones, and they are really good, pricey, but good

I was born and raised in Stockholm, but I'm really starting to hate this place (atleast the central parts), especially Slussen, where all of this happened, of course. Also I live quite near Slussen (Gamla stan). But we are luckily moving away from here in about a year if we are lucky.

Even if my T is noise induced, I've been through alot of stress lately. I need to learn how to relax and be more in peace within myself in able to heal. I'm seeking help for this now, so that I can bring my life back, with or without T. I have a daughter, and I need to stay strong for her sake.

Ah yes, I pass the construction at Slussen on my commute. Many, many times have I had my earplugs in and been exposed to a drill or such and thought "well, I would have been fucked right there had I not had my earplugs in". Horrible place right now.

Good luck with your stress management, it's the best and probably only thing you can do to make your tinnitus better. If you are into yoga I can give you tips about classes that specialize in stress reduction near T-centralen.

 

[Mymlan]

Ah yes, I pass the construction at Slussen on my commute. Many, many times have I had my earplugs in and been exposed to a drill or such and thought "well, I would have been fucked right there had I not had my earplugs in". Horrible place right now.

Good luck with your stress management, it's the best and probably only thing you can do to make your tinnitus better. If you are into yoga I can give you tips about classes that specialize in stress reduction near T-centralen.

Yes this was a one time exposure for sure, but I had bad luck unfortunately. I agree with you, there are alot of disturbing noise around here anyway. I don't see alot of people protect their ears. I do protect my ears as much as I can, and have always been careful.

Yea, yoga might be something for me to stay calm and relaxed

 

[Michael Leigh]

Please I need some encouragement. Am I able to fully recover?

HI @Mymlan

I am sorry to hear that you are going through a difficult time with tinnitus at the moment but usually improves with time. As you are new to the condition the tendency is to focus on it which is understandable and difficult to stop. Please click in the links below and read my articles that I think you will find helpful.

Prior to the onset of the tinnitus were you a frequent user of headphones, headset or going to places where loud music is played. I would be interested to know and possibly give you some more advice.

All the best
Michael

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/new-to-tinnitus-what-to-do.12558/

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/tinnitus-a-personal-view.18668/

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/hyperacusis-as-i-see-it.19174/

 

[Mymlan]

@Michael Leigh Thank you for your encouragement, it means the world to me!

I completely stoped using headphones and I haven't being in places playing loud music for years.

I will read the attached links to learn some more.

Best,
M

 

[Michael Leigh]

I completely stoped using headphones and I haven't being in places playing loud music for years.

HI @Mymlan

I just wanted to find out if you were a user of headphones and now that I know you used to be. My advice to you is not to use them ever again even at low volume. However, the choice is yours.

All the best
Michael