Just a bit of info on me, I recently got diagnosed with bilateral sensorineural hearing loss at age 22, with a 30 dB dip at 4 kHz and 40 dB dip at 8 k_Hz. (May be worse now from incidental exposures, but I hope not!)
I assume it's from a few years of exposure to loud music, concerts, airplane flights following concerts resulting in barotrauma, earbuds, car, traffic, fireworks, firecrackers, among many other things that could've possibly damaged my ears such as ear infections, ear irrigation, ototoxic eardrops, scratching my ear canal, suctioning my ear with my hand to get water out, etc.
This combined with my poor diet, stress, constant anxiety/depression, and irregular sleep schedule totally destroyed my ears and health. I wasn't the brightest kid growing up and never thought of using hearing protection, nor did I heed the warning from my Samsung that kept reminding me to keep volumes at a safe level.
The past is the past so not much I can do now asides from protect my ears and what hearing I have left. I've really been trying to limit my exposure to loud noises by not listening to loud music/loud sounds and limiting my time outside, but sometimes incidental noises get me by surprise such as children screaming, car horns, traffic, motorcycles, dishes falling/banging against each other, and just random loud everyday noises that are unpredictable.
Today I decided to stop being a depressed hermit and ventured downtown without bringing earplugs. I really contemplated it, but I thought that if I continue to live in fear of noise like this, I'll never heal. Huge mistake because I didn't know airplanes flew over this area. The airport is about 10 minutes from downtown so the planes that flew by were really low and close.
I tried to cover my ears, but I doubt that did anything. While I was walking, I was not only exposed to 3-4 airplanes flying overhead, I was also exposed to cars driving by. Although it was a bit quieter than a highway setting. Then when I went inside the store, this little girl kept screaming really high pitched.
Now my right ear, the one affected by tinnitus, is ringing louder than it was prior to the incident. My hearing does seem a bit muffled, but not sure. Am I just being overly anxious or did I really get hearing damage from all these little incidents today? I also drove right after so the car noise and cars passing by loudly while I was inside my car may have worsened it.
I'm not sure though. I'm so scared and anxious right now that my hearing is going to continue deteriorating at an early age.
I really don't want to resort to wearing earplugs every time I go out/drive and I can't exactly stay inside for the rest of my life either.
I assume it's from a few years of exposure to loud music, concerts, airplane flights following concerts resulting in barotrauma, earbuds, car, traffic, fireworks, firecrackers, among many other things that could've possibly damaged my ears such as ear infections, ear irrigation, ototoxic eardrops, scratching my ear canal, suctioning my ear with my hand to get water out, etc.
This combined with my poor diet, stress, constant anxiety/depression, and irregular sleep schedule totally destroyed my ears and health. I wasn't the brightest kid growing up and never thought of using hearing protection, nor did I heed the warning from my Samsung that kept reminding me to keep volumes at a safe level.
The past is the past so not much I can do now asides from protect my ears and what hearing I have left. I've really been trying to limit my exposure to loud noises by not listening to loud music/loud sounds and limiting my time outside, but sometimes incidental noises get me by surprise such as children screaming, car horns, traffic, motorcycles, dishes falling/banging against each other, and just random loud everyday noises that are unpredictable.
Today I decided to stop being a depressed hermit and ventured downtown without bringing earplugs. I really contemplated it, but I thought that if I continue to live in fear of noise like this, I'll never heal. Huge mistake because I didn't know airplanes flew over this area. The airport is about 10 minutes from downtown so the planes that flew by were really low and close.
I tried to cover my ears, but I doubt that did anything. While I was walking, I was not only exposed to 3-4 airplanes flying overhead, I was also exposed to cars driving by. Although it was a bit quieter than a highway setting. Then when I went inside the store, this little girl kept screaming really high pitched.
Now my right ear, the one affected by tinnitus, is ringing louder than it was prior to the incident. My hearing does seem a bit muffled, but not sure. Am I just being overly anxious or did I really get hearing damage from all these little incidents today? I also drove right after so the car noise and cars passing by loudly while I was inside my car may have worsened it.
I'm not sure though. I'm so scared and anxious right now that my hearing is going to continue deteriorating at an early age.
I really don't want to resort to wearing earplugs every time I go out/drive and I can't exactly stay inside for the rest of my life either.
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