- Sep 29, 2021
- 24
- Tinnitus Since
- 08/2021
- Cause of Tinnitus
- Loud Noise Exposure
Hi all,
Like everyone who has come to this forum for answers, I have gone through all threads that are relevant to my condition. This is gonna be a long read.
I'm a musician and a sound engineer, age 43. I recently shifted my studio setup (two months ago) and had an accidental audio feedback in my extended range and high powered audio system that took me a while to kill the speakers, about 3-4 seconds. My tinnitus happened two days later when I was sitting in my room and realised I could hear a faint eeee (1/10) on my right year, and then a higher pitch, an octave up, on my left. After searching through the web, I thought I will just give it a day or two for it to come down. I still joking tell my wife I could hear higher than before after doing some online hearing test and told her the crickets irritates me as I can hear higher (I didn't realise this was the start of hyperacusis or recruitment to certain frequencies.) Tinnitus obviously didn't come down but I couldn't cancel my gigs and recording session... so as usual I continued with it for about two weeks. After two weeks and a more intense session with wearing headphones for about 3 hours a day, 2-3 consecutive days, I did realise the sound was a little different (probably 1.5/10). I started panicking after this and very quickly fall into depression and lots of negative thoughts. I can't continue music anymore which is my life's work.
Week 2-3: I went to an audiologist who of cos did the usual hearing test and suggest a tinnitus questionnaire that cost me about $130USD (same questionnaire that I can find online). What she did do for me was fit a trial hearing aid that diminished both left and right ear. I left the place and tried reading and searching for success stories to clam myself down. I was at a point where logically I knew what to do but emotionally I can't step out of that depression. I almost went to a psychiatrist but I didn't want to take any meds. I also went to an ENT friend, a very young doctor who ordered another hearing test all the way to 20 kHz, and she mentioned there is not much perceivable hearing lost, it is quite normal for my age. She also referred me to another audiologist who was in one of US's biggest tinnitus clinics probably a decade ago. He sent me some questionnaires to fill up and called me the next day. Did a full hour of counselling for free and made me feel better. He did rule out any injuries I have and made sure I have the resources to mask my tinnitus (mainly rain and waves sounds from Spotify), mentioned that it can take up to a year for it to recover (definitely did keep my hopes high and my anxiety down.)
Week 3-6: It lasted for nearly a week before I fell into depression every morning again, evenings gets better along with my appetite. at this point I was sleeping a lot, 9-10 hours every day. I would walk around my apartment with my noise machine so that I don't hear my tinnitus as that causes anxiety. I was also checking it a lot to make sure it hasn't gone up. Around week 4, the rain sounds didn't work as much and I went to crickets. However, some days when I wake in the morning, I will have a just little more buzzing than I went to bed with. This is when I realised some cricket sound triggers my tinnitus. I subsequent changed to white and pink noise but it also ended up being similar to the effect of crickets. I continued my music work but make sure to use protection whenever I am near musicians or need to listen to headphones. A book (Jack Rubinnaci - A Musician with Tinnitus) helped me at this point, kept my spirits up and not to dwell on it even though it is very difficult. However, every time I come back from a recording session, I would feel like my tinnitus would change in intensity (sometimes less intrusive) but still same volume or would go a little higher in volume. I also started MBTSR in hopes of habituating. I did a lot of meditation, and sometimes sleeping thru it, and often it will bring me to memories of really good times with my wife, which I can't foresee any more of that in future in my state.
Week 7-8: I am still thinking how stupid I was to accidentally created that feedback loop, otherwise my life would be perfect considering I was still getting a lot of work. (Because of this condition, I had to pull out of a school I was teaching part-time, it was almost 50% of my monthly income.) I started to think if there were other things that would have contributed to the tinnitus other than the loud exposure. 1) I did have a fall a month before the acoustic trauma. It was raining. I slipped and hit my the side of my head on a step. My glasses flew. However, I could get up, drive, sit down, and still go for a good dinner. No side effects for the rest of them month other than a little bruised feeling on the side of my head, behind my eyes. I did read that TBI or Post Concussion Syndrome can happen way later but I really do not know if mine can be attributed to that. 2) After the acoustic trauma, I also was also a little too enthusiastic about cleaning my ears with Q-tip, to the point that I might have went a little too deep to disturb the eardrums... I really do not know if irritation can cause tinnitus. However both audiologist and ENT looked at my ear canals and both said it was clean and normal. I started reading more books for comfort. Peter Studenik - I Cured My Tinnitus and also Kimberly Rae - What Doesn't God Fix It?. By now, I feel like I have more stiffness in my neck, perhaps from sleeping too much. The high pitch on my left has now gone to the right side, also in the head and slightly louder than the initial lower right ear pitch. I am very worried and not sure if I should continue my work in music at this point. I have several more recordings coming up. I would kinda rate the tinnitus now at about 2/10, sometimes 3/10 if I'm anxious or tired.
For noise induced challenged members, can anyone relate to the slowly growing tinnitus in 8 weeks and what do you think I should do at this point? I am wearing earplugs at appropriate moments, but don't want to constantly wear them less I aggravate hyperacusis. Some sounds do still startle me depending on my mood. Dishes, utensils, etc. I do not know if my brains are fried from the audio system, if I should go for X-ray or MRI scans to see if there's anything else wrong. My left Eustachian tube does feel a little funny but I can still clear it but blowing my nose gently. I dunno if I'm thinking too much about it. I have been taking some supplements on and off and also acupuncture. Magnesium, Turmeric, Cod Liver Oil, Ginkgo biloba and alternate with some natural Chinese herbs to lessen my anxiety and balance the body's "Qi".
My mood swings throughout the day, and usually I get better in the evenings and spend my nights playing worship songs on my guitar.
Hoping for advice on what to do now. Or just wait it out.
Like everyone who has come to this forum for answers, I have gone through all threads that are relevant to my condition. This is gonna be a long read.
I'm a musician and a sound engineer, age 43. I recently shifted my studio setup (two months ago) and had an accidental audio feedback in my extended range and high powered audio system that took me a while to kill the speakers, about 3-4 seconds. My tinnitus happened two days later when I was sitting in my room and realised I could hear a faint eeee (1/10) on my right year, and then a higher pitch, an octave up, on my left. After searching through the web, I thought I will just give it a day or two for it to come down. I still joking tell my wife I could hear higher than before after doing some online hearing test and told her the crickets irritates me as I can hear higher (I didn't realise this was the start of hyperacusis or recruitment to certain frequencies.) Tinnitus obviously didn't come down but I couldn't cancel my gigs and recording session... so as usual I continued with it for about two weeks. After two weeks and a more intense session with wearing headphones for about 3 hours a day, 2-3 consecutive days, I did realise the sound was a little different (probably 1.5/10). I started panicking after this and very quickly fall into depression and lots of negative thoughts. I can't continue music anymore which is my life's work.
Week 2-3: I went to an audiologist who of cos did the usual hearing test and suggest a tinnitus questionnaire that cost me about $130USD (same questionnaire that I can find online). What she did do for me was fit a trial hearing aid that diminished both left and right ear. I left the place and tried reading and searching for success stories to clam myself down. I was at a point where logically I knew what to do but emotionally I can't step out of that depression. I almost went to a psychiatrist but I didn't want to take any meds. I also went to an ENT friend, a very young doctor who ordered another hearing test all the way to 20 kHz, and she mentioned there is not much perceivable hearing lost, it is quite normal for my age. She also referred me to another audiologist who was in one of US's biggest tinnitus clinics probably a decade ago. He sent me some questionnaires to fill up and called me the next day. Did a full hour of counselling for free and made me feel better. He did rule out any injuries I have and made sure I have the resources to mask my tinnitus (mainly rain and waves sounds from Spotify), mentioned that it can take up to a year for it to recover (definitely did keep my hopes high and my anxiety down.)
Week 3-6: It lasted for nearly a week before I fell into depression every morning again, evenings gets better along with my appetite. at this point I was sleeping a lot, 9-10 hours every day. I would walk around my apartment with my noise machine so that I don't hear my tinnitus as that causes anxiety. I was also checking it a lot to make sure it hasn't gone up. Around week 4, the rain sounds didn't work as much and I went to crickets. However, some days when I wake in the morning, I will have a just little more buzzing than I went to bed with. This is when I realised some cricket sound triggers my tinnitus. I subsequent changed to white and pink noise but it also ended up being similar to the effect of crickets. I continued my music work but make sure to use protection whenever I am near musicians or need to listen to headphones. A book (Jack Rubinnaci - A Musician with Tinnitus) helped me at this point, kept my spirits up and not to dwell on it even though it is very difficult. However, every time I come back from a recording session, I would feel like my tinnitus would change in intensity (sometimes less intrusive) but still same volume or would go a little higher in volume. I also started MBTSR in hopes of habituating. I did a lot of meditation, and sometimes sleeping thru it, and often it will bring me to memories of really good times with my wife, which I can't foresee any more of that in future in my state.
Week 7-8: I am still thinking how stupid I was to accidentally created that feedback loop, otherwise my life would be perfect considering I was still getting a lot of work. (Because of this condition, I had to pull out of a school I was teaching part-time, it was almost 50% of my monthly income.) I started to think if there were other things that would have contributed to the tinnitus other than the loud exposure. 1) I did have a fall a month before the acoustic trauma. It was raining. I slipped and hit my the side of my head on a step. My glasses flew. However, I could get up, drive, sit down, and still go for a good dinner. No side effects for the rest of them month other than a little bruised feeling on the side of my head, behind my eyes. I did read that TBI or Post Concussion Syndrome can happen way later but I really do not know if mine can be attributed to that. 2) After the acoustic trauma, I also was also a little too enthusiastic about cleaning my ears with Q-tip, to the point that I might have went a little too deep to disturb the eardrums... I really do not know if irritation can cause tinnitus. However both audiologist and ENT looked at my ear canals and both said it was clean and normal. I started reading more books for comfort. Peter Studenik - I Cured My Tinnitus and also Kimberly Rae - What Doesn't God Fix It?. By now, I feel like I have more stiffness in my neck, perhaps from sleeping too much. The high pitch on my left has now gone to the right side, also in the head and slightly louder than the initial lower right ear pitch. I am very worried and not sure if I should continue my work in music at this point. I have several more recordings coming up. I would kinda rate the tinnitus now at about 2/10, sometimes 3/10 if I'm anxious or tired.
For noise induced challenged members, can anyone relate to the slowly growing tinnitus in 8 weeks and what do you think I should do at this point? I am wearing earplugs at appropriate moments, but don't want to constantly wear them less I aggravate hyperacusis. Some sounds do still startle me depending on my mood. Dishes, utensils, etc. I do not know if my brains are fried from the audio system, if I should go for X-ray or MRI scans to see if there's anything else wrong. My left Eustachian tube does feel a little funny but I can still clear it but blowing my nose gently. I dunno if I'm thinking too much about it. I have been taking some supplements on and off and also acupuncture. Magnesium, Turmeric, Cod Liver Oil, Ginkgo biloba and alternate with some natural Chinese herbs to lessen my anxiety and balance the body's "Qi".
My mood swings throughout the day, and usually I get better in the evenings and spend my nights playing worship songs on my guitar.
Hoping for advice on what to do now. Or just wait it out.
Member
