Will It Go Away? I Only Hear It in Complete Silence or When I Plug My Ears

[Dorothy5271]

Hey everyone, to start things off I'd like to say that I don't take any meds that cause tinnitus, I never expose myself to loud noise and my headphones are never higher than a quarter of the way up volume wise.

I've had many ear infections and sinus infections my whole life but this is the first one I've had that has caused tinnitus (side note : I do have tubes in my ears ).

I've had the infection for about two and a half weeks and I'm now on a steroid since the antibiotic didn't work.

The ringing started two days ago, it is only my right ear and it's very faint, I only hear it when the room is completely silent or when I plug my ears and "concentrate" on it.

It doesn't really disrupt my day since I never like it to be completely quite anyways (always have a fan on).

I'm just wondering if it will eventually fade away or if my brain will just tune it out?

I am a very anxious person and even small things like this cause me to panic, any help or comments are appreciated.

 

[Kolisar]

Hi @Dorothy5271,

I am not a doctor, so I hav absolutely no training or qualifications to say anything with certainty. That being said, there have been studies showing a fairly good rate of recovery from tinnitus.@Bill Bauer wrote the following post discussing studies that show a fairly high recovery rate from tinnitus ( https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/spontaneous-recovery-stats-over-70-recover-3-studies.21441/ )

it is important to know that everyone experiences tinnitus differently, so, while many people do recover completely, many of us have not recovered.

If you have not yet, I would recommend speaking with your doctor. S/he may be able to help or refer you to someone who can.

 

[GregCA]

The ringing started two days ago, it is only my right ear and it's very faint, I only hear it when the room is completely silent or when I plug my ears and "concentrate" on it.

Don't "concentrate" on it. There's a good chance it'll go away after your infection clears.
Good luck!

 

[Bill Bauer]

my headphones are never higher than a quarter of the way up volume wise

Consider not using headphones for the next 6 months or so. Many people on this forum believe that the use of headphones can aggravate tinnitus, even when the volume is low.

For most people it goes away (or at least fades). But it can take 6-24 months for that to happen...

 

[Rick Garner]

I've had many ear infections and sinus infections my whole life but this is the first one I've had that has caused tinnitus (side note : I do have tubes in my ears ).

I have a friend of mine whose tinnitus lasted nearly 5 months due to a sinus infection. Don't listen for it or check the volume, and stay away from silent rooms.

 

[Bill Bauer]

I Only Hear It in Complete Silence or When I Plug My Ears

If you made so much progress in less than two weeks [some people take over 6 months to get to the stage you are at now, and some never get to it], you have nothing to worry about. It ought to (eventually) go away.

 

[w-drak]

If you made so much progress in less than two weeks [some people take over 6 months to get to the stage you are at now, and some never get to it], you have nothing to worry about. It ought to (eventually) go away.

Bill, you always try to make people feel positive, thanks. How are you actually? Any change of your T?

 

[Bill Bauer]

Bill, you always try to make people feel positive, thanks. How are you actually? Any change of your T?

Thank you for your kind words. Some people on this forum accuse me of being unreasonably negative. They were talking about my posts where I argued that it makes sense to protect our ears. I learned the hard way that noises that a healthy person won't even notice can make one's T worse.

I would have probably been cured now, if not for getting a secondary acoustic trauma in May (3-4 months into the nightmare). I accidentally pressed an old landline phone (its volume set to maximum) to my bad ear for a fraction of a second. After that, my T changed from a hiss to a high pitch tone that is harder to ignore. (Back in February it was a high pitch tone. It kept fading and by May it sounded like a hiss.) Luckily I think that it is most likely the case that I have experienced some improvement compared to June (it is so hard to compare volumes and pitches over time!). My H is 90% gone. However, I had a bad time interval in September, for no apparent reason. This was followed by a couple of good days and then a couple of bad days. I wish I knew what is causing these mysterious spikes!

Also, I had habituated, somewhat. The sound of T, and the memory of my first acoustic trauma do not elicit a big emotional reaction anymore...

Have you experienced any improvement compared to how you felt when you first posted on this site?

 

[jjflyman]

I'm just wondering if it will eventually fade away

IMO...yes!

 

[Jomo]

here is the truth....what you are describing is normal symptoms of having tinnitus. It may be light enough that you dont hear it with a little sound on but that only means your case isnt that severe. When I plug my ears I definitely hear it and when I am in silence I will definitely hear it. If I am in a room with the sink on I wont hear it, if I am out and about in a crowded area with traffic passing by I will not hear it. So although you may have a chance at beating this I would advise you to learn to adapt to this. Go buy yourself some custom musician ear plugs and never wear headphones again. When you answer your phone put it on speaker or place it slightly away from your ear. Now on the bright side....I am getting married this week and after about the first 6 months of adapting I gradually got my old life back. It may not be exactly what it was but nothing prevents me from doing what I want to do as long as I take the proper precautions.

 

[Deandush]

I wish I could only hear my T in complete silence or plugging my ears that being said it seems like yours will go away and even if it doesn't you will 100% hibuate if it's only subtle, don't be afraid and never let yourself listen to it, you will only precieve it as being worse if you do, keep yourself busy and listen to some soft white noise when you're in bed or in silence

 

[Raphael7713]

That doesn't sound so bad to me. Try being careful and don't get exposed to loud noises. Do this for at least 5-15 months.

 

[Dorothy5271]

Thank you everyone for your advice, I have spoke with my doctor and there is a bigger chance that this will go away than stay but if it does stay I'm sure I'll get used to it. While having this I have learned that both of my parents and my boyfriend have pretty loud tinnitus caused by noise exposure, I'm glad that I also have a support system in my real life too. Seeing them live normal lives makes it easier to ignore the ringing.

 

[Christophe_85]

Hey everyone, to start things off I'd like to say that I don't take any meds that cause tinnitus, I never expose myself to loud noise and my headphones are never higher than a quarter of the way up volume wise.

I've had many ear infections and sinus infections my whole life but this is the first one I've had that has caused tinnitus (side note : I do have tubes in my ears ).

I've had the infection for about two and a half weeks and I'm now on a steroid since the antibiotic didn't work.

The ringing started two days ago, it is only my right ear and it's very faint, I only hear it when the room is completely silent or when I plug my ears and "concentrate" on it.

It doesn't really disrupt my day since I never like it to be completely quite anyways (always have a fan on).

I'm just wondering if it will eventually fade away or if my brain will just tune it out?

I am a very anxious person and even small things like this cause me to panic, any help or comments are appreciated.

Hello,

Before Tinnitus, what did you do to help you relax ?

And since this is very new, it can go away !

All the Best

Christophe

 

[jjflyman]

Thank you everyone for your advice, I have spoke with my doctor and there is a bigger chance that this will go away than stay but if it does stay I'm sure I'll get used to it. While having this I have learned that both of my parents and my boyfriend have pretty loud tinnitus caused by noise exposure, I'm glad that I also have a support system in my real life too. Seeing them live normal lives makes it easier to ignore the ringing.

First. IMO, yours will fade to the point you don't hear it unless you plug your ears and listen for it.
Second, I think everyone will hear a slight ring when they plug their ears and listen for it, it's normal
I think you will be just fine, just stop reading about the horror stories and get on with life, and in a few months you will realize you don't hear it anymore.

 

[Dorothy5271]

Update: looks like my new meds isn't working for my sinus infection, I have been stressed all day and I don't know if the ringing is worse or if I'm focusing on it too much. Ive had moments even in the quiet where I was distracted and I didn't hear it but now that I'm stressed it seems more intense. I know paying attention to it just makes it worse so I'm going to play a puzzle game to distract me until I go to sleep. I have an appointment with my ENT this week so I hope I can get everything sorted out.

 

[Jomo]

I strongly suggest you find yourself a masking sound so you can sleep 2nite.....the easiest thing that seems to work for many is crickets...see if you can find a a 5 hour clip of that on youtube...if you have an i-phone....download the app white noise....it has a cricket sound loop file you can play all nite.

 

[Lex]

It can go away, but you have to stop stressing over it and start taking care of your ears. Mine began that way -- mild ringing, can barely hear it. But I obsessed over it, became so stressed and had panic attacks. It's no wonder why hyperacusis followed next. I seriously believe my already damaged ears plus my distressed state made me more vulnerable to other ear problems.

 

[w-drak]

Thank you for your kind words. Some people on this forum accuse me of being unreasonably negative. They were talking about my posts where I argued that it makes sense to protect our ears. I learned the hard way that noises that a healthy person won't even notice can make one's T worse.

I would have probably been cured now, if not for getting a secondary acoustic trauma in May (3-4 months into the nightmare). I accidentally pressed an old landline phone (its volume set to maximum) to my bad ear for a fraction of a second. After that, my T changed from a hiss to a high pitch tone that is harder to ignore. (Back in February it was a high pitch tone. It kept fading and by May it sounded like a hiss.) Luckily I think that it is most likely the case that I have experienced some improvement compared to June (it is so hard to compare volumes and pitches over time!). My H is 90% gone. However, I had a bad time interval in September, for no apparent reason. This was followed by a couple of good days and then a couple of bad days. I wish I knew what is causing these mysterious spikes!

Also, I had habituated, somewhat. The sound of T, and the memory of my first acoustic trauma do not elicit a big emotional reaction anymore...

Have you experienced any improvement compared to how you felt when you first posted on this site?

I am fighting, but last couple weeks are not good. I am trying to believe you and @jjflyman that it will fade away to the point that I do not hear the T. But I have a lot of troubles to adapt to my "reactive" tinnitus, I hear normal noises differently in left and right ear, this is really problematic for me to accept. I have hard time to concentrate on normal everyday responsibilities. This is really shity condition and I have found out, that it affect every person differently. However, I am the kind person who is affected by such a problem a lot. Especially because I am fighting a different health condition too...

 

[jjflyman]

I am fighting, but last couple weeks are not good. I am trying to believe you and @jjflyman that it will fade away to the point that I do not hear the T. But I have a lot of troubles to adapt to my "reactive" tinnitus, I hear normal noises differently in left and right ear, this is really problematic for me to accept. I have hard time to concentrate on normal everyday responsibilities. This is really shity condition and I have found out, that it affect every person differently. However, I am the kind person who is affected by such a problem a lot. Especially because I am fighting a different health condition too...

Yeah, Mine really put me in a tail spin at first too. For about 6 months I was really depressed. Now, a year later I am getting back to myself, and a lot of the time during the day I don't hear it because of other everyday noise and the fact that it has faded a lot. I still have a ways to go, but I see the light at the end of the tunnel. If you're only 3 months in, you probably won't see a lot of improvement yet, but give it time and it will fade.

 

[Dorothy5271]

Just wanted to thank everyone again for the advice, my infection feels worse today so in return the ringing is a little louder. I'm sure once the infection is gone it will fade. I'm trying to stay distracted, I've always been a worrier so this has been a little difficult. I think some of it is just in my head ( I'll hear ringing, I'll focus on it and it goes away). I know I am extremely lucky In my situation i'm just discouraged because I've always taken great care of my ears ( I even use a push mower so I don't have to expose myself to the noise) I should probably stay off the internet because I just end up freaking myself out though. I'm trying my best to stay optimistic

 

[Christophe_85]

Just wanted to thank everyone again for the advice, my infection feels worse today so in return the ringing is a little louder. I'm sure once the infection is gone it will fade. I'm trying to stay distracted, I've always been a worrier so this has been a little difficult. I think some of it is just in my head ( I'll hear ringing, I'll focus on it and it goes away). I know I am extremely lucky In my situation i'm just discouraged because I've always taken great care of my ears ( I even use a push mower so I don't have to expose myself to the noise) I should probably stay off the internet because I just end up freaking myself out though. I'm trying my best to stay optimistic

I hope the infection will go away soon !

And very good idea to stay busy as much as possible...

Keep holding on !

 

[w-drak]

With T, it is almost not possible to predict if it will fade completely. But in your case (sinus infection), the chance is suuuuuper high. The mental side is very important, as Chris said, try to stay busy, have fun, do not think about the T. And one day, you will find there is no T anymore.

As I have already posted some other tread: Important daily question: Should I be sad and anxious giving my T the biggest power OR Should I be strong and happy and enjoy my life to fullest and give T chance to leave me (and never come back)?
If your T is not that intrusive, try to follow the second option as often as you can. When I have better days and I am able to follow the second option, than I can really feel the T leaving me.

Please keep us updated.. also when you will be cured, so we can than celebrate your success.

 

[Dorothy5271]

@w-drak Im trying to keep busy , it's just difficult because of the infection, I just want to lay in bed.

The ringing is manageable and I could definitely get used to it if it stays but I obviously don't want it to. The more I think about it the louder it gets.

I keep reading stories about how terrible tinnitus is and how hard life can be, I'm reminding myself that the majority of people who "get over" tinnitus wouldn't feel the need to put it online anyways.

I sadly have to go to the e.r. in a bit for some head scans but I will keep updating even if it goes away

 

[w-drak]

@Bill Bauer : I think the protection you mention in your posts is very important. I am just not sure about the protection against milder noises. Concerning this issue, I personally think that each person is different and the cause for the T was also different. I protect myself from noises whose level I found disturbing (loud music, loud machinery, overcrowded places) but I refuse to overprotect myself to make my H more severe. I think everybody can logically find her/his limit. I have the second tenure with the T and the reason was a loud music, but I was able to somehow feel it was to much during the concert. I had not left the place, everybody around was happy even without plugs, so I was like: "eh, I am just being too anxious". What a mistake.. But as I said, now I protect my ears a lot, but trying to not overprotect them either...

@jjflyman : Your posts are very important for me, I hope you will keep us updated...

 

[w-drak]

@w-drak Im trying to keep busy , it's just difficult because of the infection, I just want to lay in bed.

The ringing is manageable and I could definitely get used to it if it stays but I obviously don't want it to. The more I think about it the louder it gets.

I keep reading stories about how terrible tinnitus is and how hard life can be, I'm reminding myself that the majority of people who "get over" tinnitus wouldn't feel the need to put it online anyways.

I sadly have to go to the e.r. in a bit for some head scans but I will keep updating even if it goes away

I can imagine the infection in combination with the T is not a perfect situation, but it is just a matter of time.

If you can already say that you can get used to the ringing, then it will fade away. It is also good to remember that almost everybody has a little bit of ringing, just they need to focus on it. And when you have a bigger problem with T and then it gets better, the forgetting is a little bit more difficult to achieve and can take time - but you will get there, I am very positive about it.

I have actually made a little bit of personal research at our laboratories in the acoustic chamber, I will post the results here later.

 

[Bill Bauer]

but I refuse to overprotect myself to make my H more severe.

When I began to do what you would probably call "overprotecting", that is when my H began to improve, and now it is 90% gone. I used to be disturbed by the hum of the microwave, and by the sounds of a basketball being dribbled 20 meters away.

I had not left the place, everybody around was happy even without plugs, so I was like: "eh, I am just being too anxious". What a mistake..

I learned that a noise that healthy people would not even notice, can ruin the life of a person who already has tinnitus.

 

[Dorothy5271]

Update: Good news is the sinus infection is gone but that still doesn't explain the fullness and pain in my ears and face or the ringing. I started to worry and I could tell the ringing was getting louder so I'm trying to just lay down and relax. It's been almost a month of feeling sick and I just want my life back.

I did find out one of the meds I took could cause the ringing but again it doesn't explain anything else. I know eventually the ringing will either go away or I will just get used to it but on top of everything else I just feel hopeless.

The doctor at the E.R looked at me like I was crazy when I was telling him the 50 different symptoms I was having, I have an ent appointment next week so I'm hoping we can figure out that much. I thought my symptoms were from a sinus infection but I was wrong, I've been in bed for three weeks straight and I'm just so grateful that my schooling is online. I'm rambling now so I'll hop off of here, it sucks that I'm even more anxious after seeing a doctor /:

 

[Bill Bauer]

Now that your ears have been compromised, you will want to ensure not to go to loud events. Otherwise, you risk making it louder, and then it will be harder to ignore.

 

[jjflyman]

I used to be disturbed by the hum of the microwave, and by the sounds of a basketball being dribbled 20 meters away.

Yeah, me too. I would leave the room if my wife used the microwave or the mix-master. I would use ear plugs to vacuum (still do), even clanking dishes would hurt. But now, 12 months later, the H seems totally gone.