Hi all, I would love to pick your collective brains on a few things. Thanks in advance!
I suffered an acoustic trauma about 2 months ago (Nov. 10) when exposed very briefly to super-high volume on small headphones (the old kind, not earbuds). My ears hurt afterward, but were better by the next day when I had to go practice with a 20-piece recorder orchestra. (It was in preparing for that practice that I had the trauma—surely one of the more ludicrous cases of a random tinnitus-causing event!)
For the next two weeks they were also fine, so much so that I mostly forgot about the whole thing. I practiced music a lot the first week, then traveled the second. When we returned home (two weeks after initial trauma) I noticed it sounded very loud when my son and I tried to practice recorder. At first I just experienced this hyperacusis and ear pain, then tinnitus set in several days later (i.e., about two and a half weeks post-trauma).
Since then it's been up and down. At worst, high pitched or pulsatile tinnitus (not too loud, but still very annoying, esp. for sleep); at best, just hiss or whooshing. Most strikingly, I went to noisy New York City (my hometown) for two weeks over Dec. holidays, expecting the worst, but was mostly fine the whole time. This seems to be why: I am not (or so far have not been) that bothered by things like loud talking in restaurants or street noise, but I *am* surprisingly bothered by proximate things like the TV or (not that loud) music at home, whether from the stereo or my son practicing piano. Usually these things don't bother me at the time, but then they make the tinnitus worse afterwards. Unfortunately they (TV news, music being practiced) are a big part of daily life in our otherwise very quiet house. I have been mostly wearing earplugs (the foam bell-shaped kind) when these noises are around, but sometimes it seems that wearing the plugs more than once a day for any lengthy period makes the T worse afterward also. Or is it perhaps just that they can't really block out enough of the sound?
I feel my T is not so bad compared to many people's. My big concern is not to make it worse, and also to promote the possibility that, since it isn't so bad, it might go away in time. I love music, and I would hate to think I would have to wear ear plugs so often forever. I've already had to quit the recorder orchestra (high pitches seem the worst)! (I should have mentioned: I saw an ENT in Dec. and eardrums are fine; there was some hearing loss—an amount he considered negligible—at high frequencies in one ear, but actually the other ear is often worse T-wise, and I wonder if that loss is really more from all my many youthful years of listening to very loud bands and wearing my Walkman on the subway. None of that ever gave me T, though.) (Oh, also, I had the flu last week and that didn't help matters. I already have sinus issues, use a Neti pot, and T seems predictably worse when ears are clogged.)
I am tempted to think it would probably be best if I really tried to be far away from TV and music in the house for at least a month or so—i.e., not in the room or nearby wearing ear plugs but off in a whole other part of the house. Especially based on my NYC experience, it seems it is these nearby loud-ish sounds that bother me sometimes most. (Unfortunately my husband, nearing 60, already needs things like TV somewhat louder—a bad combination!)
What do you all think? And also:
1) Is there any point whatsoever in taking supplements if T results from an acoustic trauma?
2) What about sleeping with or otherwise listening to white/pink noise? Does it help?
3) Is it commonplace in these situations for the symptoms to get worse during first few months, then improve? I.e., I was surprised they set in only 2 weeks later, but things I've read since then suggest this is common and that they may even peak at 3 months or so before improving. Has anyone had this experience?
4) I really only use the ear plugs at home due to our TV-news and music routines (I guess I'd use them if we went out to a movie or concert, but otherwise we live in a pretty quiet town). But I do go back and forth about how much to use them and what's best. Oh, I am also wondering if I should be using the smaller "women's" earplugs—it's true that when I use the regular size kind, they still stick out a bit even after being rolled and inserted properly. Could this make a real difference—maybe I'm not really plugging my ears completely? Or should I really avoid all TV and music even with ear plugs for awhile?
5) Finally, I am supposed to get wisdom teeth out in a week—just top ones, thankfully, which have already emerged. I could either wear earplugs/headphones for this or put it off if that seems smarter; I'm not really having pain or trouble; it's just something my dentist recommends because a gum pocket is rapidly growing there. Any thoughts?
Many, many thanks for any help you all can provide!
Jen
I suffered an acoustic trauma about 2 months ago (Nov. 10) when exposed very briefly to super-high volume on small headphones (the old kind, not earbuds). My ears hurt afterward, but were better by the next day when I had to go practice with a 20-piece recorder orchestra. (It was in preparing for that practice that I had the trauma—surely one of the more ludicrous cases of a random tinnitus-causing event!)
For the next two weeks they were also fine, so much so that I mostly forgot about the whole thing. I practiced music a lot the first week, then traveled the second. When we returned home (two weeks after initial trauma) I noticed it sounded very loud when my son and I tried to practice recorder. At first I just experienced this hyperacusis and ear pain, then tinnitus set in several days later (i.e., about two and a half weeks post-trauma).
Since then it's been up and down. At worst, high pitched or pulsatile tinnitus (not too loud, but still very annoying, esp. for sleep); at best, just hiss or whooshing. Most strikingly, I went to noisy New York City (my hometown) for two weeks over Dec. holidays, expecting the worst, but was mostly fine the whole time. This seems to be why: I am not (or so far have not been) that bothered by things like loud talking in restaurants or street noise, but I *am* surprisingly bothered by proximate things like the TV or (not that loud) music at home, whether from the stereo or my son practicing piano. Usually these things don't bother me at the time, but then they make the tinnitus worse afterwards. Unfortunately they (TV news, music being practiced) are a big part of daily life in our otherwise very quiet house. I have been mostly wearing earplugs (the foam bell-shaped kind) when these noises are around, but sometimes it seems that wearing the plugs more than once a day for any lengthy period makes the T worse afterward also. Or is it perhaps just that they can't really block out enough of the sound?
I feel my T is not so bad compared to many people's. My big concern is not to make it worse, and also to promote the possibility that, since it isn't so bad, it might go away in time. I love music, and I would hate to think I would have to wear ear plugs so often forever. I've already had to quit the recorder orchestra (high pitches seem the worst)! (I should have mentioned: I saw an ENT in Dec. and eardrums are fine; there was some hearing loss—an amount he considered negligible—at high frequencies in one ear, but actually the other ear is often worse T-wise, and I wonder if that loss is really more from all my many youthful years of listening to very loud bands and wearing my Walkman on the subway. None of that ever gave me T, though.) (Oh, also, I had the flu last week and that didn't help matters. I already have sinus issues, use a Neti pot, and T seems predictably worse when ears are clogged.)
I am tempted to think it would probably be best if I really tried to be far away from TV and music in the house for at least a month or so—i.e., not in the room or nearby wearing ear plugs but off in a whole other part of the house. Especially based on my NYC experience, it seems it is these nearby loud-ish sounds that bother me sometimes most. (Unfortunately my husband, nearing 60, already needs things like TV somewhat louder—a bad combination!)
What do you all think? And also:
1) Is there any point whatsoever in taking supplements if T results from an acoustic trauma?
2) What about sleeping with or otherwise listening to white/pink noise? Does it help?
3) Is it commonplace in these situations for the symptoms to get worse during first few months, then improve? I.e., I was surprised they set in only 2 weeks later, but things I've read since then suggest this is common and that they may even peak at 3 months or so before improving. Has anyone had this experience?
4) I really only use the ear plugs at home due to our TV-news and music routines (I guess I'd use them if we went out to a movie or concert, but otherwise we live in a pretty quiet town). But I do go back and forth about how much to use them and what's best. Oh, I am also wondering if I should be using the smaller "women's" earplugs—it's true that when I use the regular size kind, they still stick out a bit even after being rolled and inserted properly. Could this make a real difference—maybe I'm not really plugging my ears completely? Or should I really avoid all TV and music even with ear plugs for awhile?
5) Finally, I am supposed to get wisdom teeth out in a week—just top ones, thankfully, which have already emerged. I could either wear earplugs/headphones for this or put it off if that seems smarter; I'm not really having pain or trouble; it's just something my dentist recommends because a gum pocket is rapidly growing there. Any thoughts?
Many, many thanks for any help you all can provide!
Jen
