Super Scared — Been Dealing with Tinnitus for as Long as I Can Remember, Two Weeks Ago It Increased

[NerdyUnicorn]

Hi people!

I have been dealing with tinnitus for as long as I can remember. But for two weeks I feel as if my tinnitus has increased. All I am thinking about all day is my ears. Today I got an appointment at the ENT clinic and he told me my tinnitus is not because of ear wax accumulation. He said the possible causes are hearing damage, ear bone structural problems, ear nerve damage.

Now I am super scared because what if the cause of my tinnitus is ear nerve damage and what if I go deaf. I am just 19. He has asked me to come to his clinic on Wednesday for audiometry test.

Ugh!

BTW my right ear hurts a bit and that's making me more scared because what if it is because of the nerve damage.

I probably damaged my ears because of hearing music at loud levels for hours I feel so bad about it.

I already have depression, general anxiety disorder, OCD, agoraphobia, hypocondria, body dysmorphia disorder, and many more. Now this is just making it worse. Ugh!!!

I don't know how to calm down. I was calm moments ago and then the thought about ear nerve damage made me anxious again.

Sigh

 

[Hazel]

Sorry to hear your tinnitus got worse!

It sounds like your doctor is just guessing with regard to the causes though. I don't think by just looking in your ear nerve damage can be determined.

It's very unlikely you're going deaf. What's more likely is that you lost some hearing from listening to loud music. I know it's hard not to blame yourself for these things, but you can't go back in time. Just protect yourself better from now on.

You could revisit the ENT and ask why your right ear is hurting. But if they haven't found any infection, a very simple likely cause (which my ENT told me when I had the same question) is jaw tension. All the stress is probably making you clamp up your jaws, and that can be felt as ear pain, strange as it sounds!

I already have depression, general anxiety disorder, OCD, agoraphobia, hypocondria, body dysmorphia disorder, and many more. Now this is just making it worse. Ugh!!!

We get a lot of people here dealing with a range of issues. It's hard to advise, and I know saying "just calm down" is not very helpful. At the same time, that's exactly what you should be doing, because the stress you're putting on yourself now will only make your tinnitus worse, whereas there's a good chance your tinnitus will calm down again if you can calm your nervous system a bit. So try to figure out what works for you. For a lot of people it's simple things like walking, yoga, breathing, etc.

 

[NerdyUnicorn]

You could revisit the ENT and ask why your right ear is hurting. But if they haven't found any infection, a very simply likely cause (which my ENT told me when I had the same question) is jaw tension. All the stress is probably making you clamp up your jaws, and that can be felt as ear pain, strange as it sounds!

OMG maybe you are right. My college started a few days ago and I noticed I was clenching my teeth too much because of my social anxiety. Hopefully that's the cause of it.

Yes, the ENT was just guessing it. I am going to visit him on Wednesday for the test. Hopefully everything turns out okay.

I locked my earphones away. Won't use them for a very long time now

 

[Autumnly]

Roughly 90% of tinnitus cases occur with an underlying hearing loss.

Hoping your tinnitus will go back down to its usual baseline!

 

[Contrast]

Now I am super scared because what if the cause of my tinnitus is ear nerve damage and what if I go deaf. I am just 19. He has asked me to come to his clinic on Wednesday for audiometry test.

I probably damaged my ears because of hearing music at loud levels for hours

Your audiologist is smarter then 99% of audiologist for suggesting peripheral neuropathy could be the problem, as opposed to the usual pseudo-diagnosis such as water behind the ear, ETD and TMJ. Did they test you for hearing defecits?


Seriously most audiologist are dumb. This is a step of progress in the field. Truth is better then comforting lies.

 

[Contrast]

BTW, There are connections with hearing problems and jaw TMD disorders that we don't really understand at all.

There are so many reports of TMD and noise induced hearing damage interacting with one another is way to high to be a coicidence. I myself experience jaw pain like issues when exposed to loud noise.

 

[NerdyUnicorn]

Truth is better then comforting lies.

That's true. I'm really hoping the cause of tinnitus is not something very bad. I spent my whole day worrying and panicking.

Did they test you for hearing defecits?

He did the basic test today. The tuning fork test. He asked me to visit his clinic on Wednesday for a comprehensive audiometry test

 

[Contrast]

That's true. I'm really hoping the cause of tinnitus is not something very bad. I spent my whole day worrying and panicking.



He did the basic test today. The tuning fork test. He asked me to visit his clinic on Wednesday for a comprehensive audiometry test

Your audiologist is literally red pilled on the issue.

Some stories on this forum are about clueless audiologist that don't keep up to date with research. There are people on this forum and /r/tinnitus go their entire lives believing they have TMJ, ETD or water behind the ear when their actual problem is damage in the ear and the symptoms are mistaken. They assume it's a coincidence that the TMJ and ETD begins after a loud concert.

It's more disheartening to see a comfortable misdiagnosis, then a factual more serious one.

 

[winstona]

Hi people!

I have been dealing with tinnitus for as long as I can remember. But for two weeks I feel as if my tinnitus has increased. All I am thinking about all day is my ears. Today I got an appointment at the ENT clinic and he told me my tinnitus is not because of ear wax accumulation. He said the possible causes are hearing damage, ear bone structural problems, ear nerve damage.

Now I am super scared because what if the cause of my tinnitus is ear nerve damage and what if I go deaf. I am just 19. He has asked me to come to his clinic on Wednesday for audiometry test.

Ugh!

BTW my right ear hurts a bit and that's making me more scared because what if it is because of the nerve damage.

I probably damaged my ears because of hearing music at loud levels for hours I feel so bad about it.

I already have depression, general anxiety disorder, OCD, agoraphobia, hypocondria, body dysmorphia disorder, and many more. Now this is just making it worse. Ugh!!!

I don't know how to calm down. I was calm moments ago and then the thought about ear nerve damage made me anxious again.

Sigh

I was in the same boat. I have had tinnitus for as long as I remember but it was the very mild kind where I can just ignore it 98% of the time. I probably only got frustrated by it when I was in a very quiet room in an odd time. But things have changed for the worse after a loud concert and some ear cleaning.

It sounded like you have acoustic trauma and the ear pain and the Tinnitus are a result of that. At this point, I don't think it is healthy for you to panic because for many of us and myself, the pain eventually goes away and the tinnitus fades.

Since the cause of your Tinnitus is noise related. I suggest that you start to protect your ears by not over exposing them to loud music. refrain from using headphones/earphones at least for the first 6 months so that your ears can heal and build up the tolerance to everyday noise again.

 

[NerdyUnicorn]

I was in the same boat. I have had tinnitus for as long as I remember but it was the very mild kind where I can just ignore it 98% of the time. I probably only got frustrated by it when I was in a very quiet room in an odd time. But things have changed for the worse after a loud concert and some ear cleaning.

Yes, I read your post about it. I'm sorry you had to go through all that. Nobody deserves it

It sounded like you have acoustic trauma and the ear pain and the Tinnitus are a result of that. At this point, I don't think it is healthy for you to panic because for many of us and myself, the pain eventually goes away and the tinnitus fades.

Since the cause of your Tinnitus is noise related. I suggest that you start to protect your ears by not over exposing them to loud music. refrain from using headphones/earphones at least for the first 6 months so that your ears can heal and build up the tolerance to everyday noise again.

Yes I won't use my earphones for a very very very long time. My audiometry test is going to happen today. Let's see what damage happened

 

[NerdyUnicorn]

The audiometry test just happened. My hearing is in normal range. There's no hearing loss. I'm just gonna meet the doctor. I'm scared now. What if it's actually some nerve damage or something else Ughhhhh!

 

[winstona]

The audiometry test just happened. My hearing is in normal range. There's no hearing loss. I'm just gonna meet the doctor. I'm scared now. What if it's actually some nerve damage or something else Ughhhhh!

I have read that some form of hearing loss cannot be detected by a normal hearing test. Many have gotten T with no hearing loss from their hearing test.

 

[Hilde]

NerdyUnicorn,

first: DO NOT PANIC ! (But, believe me, I can relate to that feeling!)

Try to get a bite guard (a bit expensive but worth while) - that was one things I did (I am a teeth grinder, worried about stuff, some times can not fall asleep..). Then, I started acupuncture and after the first session the T was down a lot (1 -2 tones instead of 3) and I could sleep and started to have fun and smile again.
I do massages of my head area (I try different areas and feel when I touch a "trigger point" - those points vary over the day ! Usually they are around my ears ..) ...
Overall, I no longer feel panic and down, I feel almost 100%, even with the still slight ringing. Some days it is feeling as if it is on the verge of disappearing and I am sure one day (hopefully sooooooon) it will. Over time (7 months now) it has gotten better by A LOT, but some days it may just come back a bit ... up and down, but tendency is fine.

Bottom line: you are young, your body still can repair stuff over time, do not panic!

ALL THE BEST

 

[NerdyUnicorn]

I have read that some form of hearing loss cannot be detected by a normal hearing test. Many have gotten T with no hearing loss from their hearing test.

I went to my GP for a health check up. He said all the different kind of symptoms I was having was because they were stress induced. Well it turns out my tinnitus had increased so much because of stress and anxiety. I have all sorts of anxiety disorders. Took the anti-anxiety medications and wow the tinnitus loudness got reduced. Oh gosh I just feel so calm

 

[NerdyUnicorn]

Anxiety is the worst

 

[MarkX]

What medication are you on?

 

[Candy]

Please give me the name of your medication...

 

[NerdyUnicorn]

What medication are you on?

It's called Etizolam. I need to take 0.5 mg. (BTW Etizolam is only legal in India and Japan and a few European countries ). I read its chemical structure is a bit similar to Xanax

 

[Candy]

Thanks for the info...