Hi John,
I too first noticed my T in the first week after seeing ACDC in Foxboro, Mass just a few weeks before you. It was an outdoor venue( Foxboro Stadium) but realized that there was a speaker a few rows down above us. Fortunately my son and husband are fine. My hearing tested fine but I have been reminded by many on this site that there could be loss at a higher frequency that audiologist do not typically test for. So maybe I have hearing loss or maybe I don't. My ringing is more like a head noise that sounds like a light saber from Star Wars ( thank you
@Moe for that description) But for me, coinciding with all this was fluid in my ears, ETD from chronic untreated allergies and some TMJ. I have Invisalign and tend to grind them together during the day and probably at night too. Anyway, accompanying my T was ear fullness and popping and clicking , all of which my ENT believed is from ETD and TMJ. That said, there are a whole host of things that could have caused my T.
Mine is easily masked but sleeping is really hard. My anxiety makes me look for any sound possible. And my anxiety keeps me up. I do tale sleep meds and when really needed an anti anxiety. I bought a sound pillow and am going to try it.
So here is what I have learned. I saw a an audiologist who does TRT. I was not a candidate for TRT, as my T is too low to hear over the partial maskers but she gave me some good information that was all later confirmed by my ENT at a follow-up appt.
1. Protect your ears but don't. Overprotection can actually make things so much worse. I was afraid to blow dry my hair or go to my son's hockey games. She said to still do those things and not with ear plugs. She said the last thing you want to do is make your ears too sensitive. She said the rule of thumb is that if you have to raise your voice to have a conversation you should be protecting your ears. For me that is any place -restaurant/ bar that plays live music for sure. I also brought them with me to the one movie I have seen since this all started. I was able to pull them in and out as the noise level fluctuated. I was also at a fair recently and the rides were super loud so I put them in. She said you won't damage your ears blow drying your hair in the morning. She said if I was a hairdresser exposed to a hairdryer all day for years, then I should be worried. Also, when using earphones, keep volume to 50% or below. I got the noise canceling ones that help you keep your volume low by canceling out all the outside noise you typically crank the volume up to avoid.
2. She recommended masking devices and a sound pillow to decrease anxiety and help me not search for my T. Easier said than done but it has helped a lot and kept me functional.
3 Be educated about too toxic meds. Many meds can cause T but you need to research it and put the prevalence rates into perspective. When you google meds that can cause T the list goes on for days and includes good old Ibuprofen.
Lastly, make sure you read the posts under "success stories " and the "doctor's corner". They will give you hope, and I think you will find Dr Nagler's posts in particular very informative. I was pleased to read that your MD thought your T would improve or resolve in some months. My ENT said the same thing and I have improved but it is not gone. Sometimes I think it is gone and then find it again. I do know people who had T from acoustic trauma who had it resolve many months later so there is hope.
Wow long post huh?
Best wishes,
Danielle