Hello everyone,
This is my first post on this site, and thank you in advance to those who read it. I wasn't sure if I should post at first, since I have been reading advice to stay off the forums to prevent worsening anxiety, but I figured I really have nothing to lose, and at the very least I can speak with those going through the same as me. I find people who aren't experiencing tinnitus have trouble empathizing, which is definitely understandable.
I am 22 years old, and about to enter my fifth and final year of college. My first exposure to tinnitus was during my early ears of high school, after I attended parties on two consecutive days with loud music. When I first noticed the lasting ringing, which I would categorize as mild, I was pretty fearful because it wasn't something I had experienced before. At a visit to the ENT they performed a hearing test and the results came back fine - in fact my hearing was better than that of the average person. The doctor gave the basic spiel about there not being a cure for tinnitus, and to use other sounds to mask it. After a few months and over the years (up until last month), the faint ringing had subsided, becoming almost completely negligible except for when I would occasionally notice a low volume ring while in bed at night. Even then, I knew how to relax myself in a way that would tune out the ringing before falling asleep. The only other times I could hear it was when I really focused on it in a silent room, and even then it was barely there. I have always been mindful to use hearing protection at loud events. Occasionally when I did forget, my ears would ring, but it was subside back to being negligible in a day or two.
However, almost one month ago (on 7/6) I made the mistake of not wearing ear protection when I went to see a friend of mine's band play, as I was in a rush to get to the show and didn't grab ear plugs. The venue was small, and the loud music lasted for around 20-25 minutes. Sure enough my ears were ringing after, but I figured it would return to normal the next day or so. But, as the days went on, the ringing persisted. I would say the ringing started off between mild and medium in volume. After a few days I went to a new ENT. Hearing tests again showed no notable hearing loss. I was prescribed a week-long Prednisone steroid treatment, which I believe did help a bit. Fast forward two weeks to 7/25, and the ringing was still present albeit with some improvement. It was then that I returned to the ENT and received options for further treatment. I opted not to receive any hearing aids/masking devices, and elected to basically "do nothing" for now and let time run its course. He suggested trying lipo-flavonoid in the meantime, which some of his patients claimed has worked, and I found out about ginkgo biloba through the internet. I have been taking them for only about 5 days so far. The doctor said that he is still "very optimistic" that the ringing will subside back to being negligible, given that I am young and that there has been some improvement over the past few weeks. To quote him, "I am not going to tell you that it will be gone in another week, but eventually I believe it will be."
I consider the ringing at this point, almost one month after the re-aggravation, to be pretty mild in terms of volume - I really can only hear a high pitch ring in a quiet room (at that point it seems loud and the most annoying, probably because it is the only noise present) but almost any external noises will mask it. But also, if I do focus on it in slightly noisy environments I can still make it out. I should also add that, in the morning, the ringing volume is at its lowest, sometimes bordering silent (this has been happening only over the past week or so). I do believe that the morning volume is decreasing very slightly each day. But, it usually picks back up in the afternoon/evening. Despite the mildness, it has still been extremely debilitating for me, and something I think about literally 24/7. I am constantly trying to listen, even purposefully inserting myself into silent places, to so see if there is any improvement, and there are times where I just wish the day would end so the next could come and hopefully things will be back to normal. It really is frustrating not to be able to be in complete silence. I feel very helpless and defeated and it has really been detracting from my quality of life. I know in a way I am fortunate that the ringing isn't much worse, but I think it's more than reasonable to not want any ringing at all. I am also having a lot of trouble coping with the fact that one bad decision might leave me in this miserable state for the rest of my life, at a young age nonetheless.
The positive part of this scenario is that again my doctor told me that he sees it getting better eventually - I guess I am just having a hard time being patient and I am terrified that it will stay this way forever. It really is the fear of the unknown. I have read that only very limited improvement will occur after 3 months... I guess I have another 2 months of biting my nails ahead of me.
Besides venting, my intention for this post was to hopefully receive feedback from the community about how to approach this. What are some effective ways to tune out the ringing when I'm in quiet places (if there are any?) How can I approach this mentally to decrease stress and depressing thoughts? Do you believe that, given my situation, things will continue to improve? I would love to hear your thoughts, and especially some of your experiences as well.
I would like to sincerely thank those of you who read this post in full, and to those who respond, I thank you even more. Best wishes and a hopeful recovery to all of you dealing with tinnitus.
Regards,
Dan
This is my first post on this site, and thank you in advance to those who read it. I wasn't sure if I should post at first, since I have been reading advice to stay off the forums to prevent worsening anxiety, but I figured I really have nothing to lose, and at the very least I can speak with those going through the same as me. I find people who aren't experiencing tinnitus have trouble empathizing, which is definitely understandable.
I am 22 years old, and about to enter my fifth and final year of college. My first exposure to tinnitus was during my early ears of high school, after I attended parties on two consecutive days with loud music. When I first noticed the lasting ringing, which I would categorize as mild, I was pretty fearful because it wasn't something I had experienced before. At a visit to the ENT they performed a hearing test and the results came back fine - in fact my hearing was better than that of the average person. The doctor gave the basic spiel about there not being a cure for tinnitus, and to use other sounds to mask it. After a few months and over the years (up until last month), the faint ringing had subsided, becoming almost completely negligible except for when I would occasionally notice a low volume ring while in bed at night. Even then, I knew how to relax myself in a way that would tune out the ringing before falling asleep. The only other times I could hear it was when I really focused on it in a silent room, and even then it was barely there. I have always been mindful to use hearing protection at loud events. Occasionally when I did forget, my ears would ring, but it was subside back to being negligible in a day or two.
However, almost one month ago (on 7/6) I made the mistake of not wearing ear protection when I went to see a friend of mine's band play, as I was in a rush to get to the show and didn't grab ear plugs. The venue was small, and the loud music lasted for around 20-25 minutes. Sure enough my ears were ringing after, but I figured it would return to normal the next day or so. But, as the days went on, the ringing persisted. I would say the ringing started off between mild and medium in volume. After a few days I went to a new ENT. Hearing tests again showed no notable hearing loss. I was prescribed a week-long Prednisone steroid treatment, which I believe did help a bit. Fast forward two weeks to 7/25, and the ringing was still present albeit with some improvement. It was then that I returned to the ENT and received options for further treatment. I opted not to receive any hearing aids/masking devices, and elected to basically "do nothing" for now and let time run its course. He suggested trying lipo-flavonoid in the meantime, which some of his patients claimed has worked, and I found out about ginkgo biloba through the internet. I have been taking them for only about 5 days so far. The doctor said that he is still "very optimistic" that the ringing will subside back to being negligible, given that I am young and that there has been some improvement over the past few weeks. To quote him, "I am not going to tell you that it will be gone in another week, but eventually I believe it will be."
I consider the ringing at this point, almost one month after the re-aggravation, to be pretty mild in terms of volume - I really can only hear a high pitch ring in a quiet room (at that point it seems loud and the most annoying, probably because it is the only noise present) but almost any external noises will mask it. But also, if I do focus on it in slightly noisy environments I can still make it out. I should also add that, in the morning, the ringing volume is at its lowest, sometimes bordering silent (this has been happening only over the past week or so). I do believe that the morning volume is decreasing very slightly each day. But, it usually picks back up in the afternoon/evening. Despite the mildness, it has still been extremely debilitating for me, and something I think about literally 24/7. I am constantly trying to listen, even purposefully inserting myself into silent places, to so see if there is any improvement, and there are times where I just wish the day would end so the next could come and hopefully things will be back to normal. It really is frustrating not to be able to be in complete silence. I feel very helpless and defeated and it has really been detracting from my quality of life. I know in a way I am fortunate that the ringing isn't much worse, but I think it's more than reasonable to not want any ringing at all. I am also having a lot of trouble coping with the fact that one bad decision might leave me in this miserable state for the rest of my life, at a young age nonetheless.
The positive part of this scenario is that again my doctor told me that he sees it getting better eventually - I guess I am just having a hard time being patient and I am terrified that it will stay this way forever. It really is the fear of the unknown. I have read that only very limited improvement will occur after 3 months... I guess I have another 2 months of biting my nails ahead of me.
Besides venting, my intention for this post was to hopefully receive feedback from the community about how to approach this. What are some effective ways to tune out the ringing when I'm in quiet places (if there are any?) How can I approach this mentally to decrease stress and depressing thoughts? Do you believe that, given my situation, things will continue to improve? I would love to hear your thoughts, and especially some of your experiences as well.
I would like to sincerely thank those of you who read this post in full, and to those who respond, I thank you even more. Best wishes and a hopeful recovery to all of you dealing with tinnitus.
Regards,
Dan
Member
Maybe it's some sort of sign..for what, I have no idea, lol.
IIRC, I think 
