I had an account on Tinnitus Talk before, but I can't find it anymore. So, I've created a new one because tinnitus has started to ruin my life again just when I thought I was doing well and living normally.
I've had tinnitus for 10 years, caused by listening to loud music and playing bass without earplugs. I'll skip over the horrible experience of those first few years. Eventually, I habituated and lived about 95% normally. Then, I had a spike in 2020 (before COVID-19). That spike calmed down after three months, and I was able to re-habituate. 2024 was actually the first year in a decade where I felt really normal. During winter vacation, I even managed to stay home alone for two days, just reading in silence without music, and I don't remember hearing the tinnitus or being bothered by it.
But as it often goes with tinnitus, good times are short, and they usually precede a big setback. In April, I woke up one day and instantly knew something was wrong. This time, it seemed even worse than when I first developed tinnitus, and I really panicked. The symptoms felt different than usual, and I'd like to know if anyone else has experienced something similar.
Here's a summary of the first symptoms:
Here are my current symptoms:
The physical sensation makes me wonder if something is actually going on near my ear that's making the tinnitus worse. Does anyone else have this?
I've had tinnitus for 10 years, caused by listening to loud music and playing bass without earplugs. I'll skip over the horrible experience of those first few years. Eventually, I habituated and lived about 95% normally. Then, I had a spike in 2020 (before COVID-19). That spike calmed down after three months, and I was able to re-habituate. 2024 was actually the first year in a decade where I felt really normal. During winter vacation, I even managed to stay home alone for two days, just reading in silence without music, and I don't remember hearing the tinnitus or being bothered by it.
But as it often goes with tinnitus, good times are short, and they usually precede a big setback. In April, I woke up one day and instantly knew something was wrong. This time, it seemed even worse than when I first developed tinnitus, and I really panicked. The symptoms felt different than usual, and I'd like to know if anyone else has experienced something similar.
Here's a summary of the first symptoms:
- Louder tinnitus, only in my right ear
- A new tinnitus frequency (750 Hz), louder than anything else
- A sensation of fullness in the ears
- Numbness around the right ear
- Reactive tinnitus
- Some sound distortion
- Listened to music for an hour with AirPods Pro (sound isolation on, low volume, never over 50 dB in the last 10 years)
- Drank a beer (33 cl)
- Vaped a small amount of weed (about 0.1-0.2 g)
- Cold day with some wind (maybe cold air entered my ears)
- Slept on my side (possibly the right side, but I don't remember)
- Played video games on TV (volume at 8-10%, no headphones, just speakers). I was talking loudly on the microphone with my friends.
Here are my current symptoms:
- Loud tinnitus, only in my right ear
- Sensation of fullness in the ears
- Slight numbness around the right ear
- Mild reactive tinnitus
- Mild high-frequency hearing loss (above 10 kHz), right ear only
The physical sensation makes me wonder if something is actually going on near my ear that's making the tinnitus worse. Does anyone else have this?