Tinnitus, anyone?

[TheBrokenBee]

My ears havent stopped ringing since a week ago. No triggers. Just randomly happened. I can ignore it during the day but I can't unhear it when going to sleep.

Anyone else suffering from this?

 

[BoxerGT2.5]

I work with tinnitus patients. If you're more comfortable discussing it privately you can PM me.

 

[eyoungren]

Almost all my life.

I've found that once I eliminated sugar (or at least candy, soda and cookies) it's lessened. Gotten to the point where I have to concentrate on it to know it's there now.

 

[0388631]

Usually get it on the brink of a cold or irritated sinuses. Currently have it which goes along with my scratchy throat. Not a ringing perse, but a buzzing noise that doesn't go away. Even in a very quiet room. Woke up last night at 4 and it sounded like someone was blowing on a dog whistle next to my ear.

You should get a referral to an ENT. In my case, it goes away eventually, but sometimes you could have an ear infection and not know about it (according to my doc). I don't know how true that is because all ear infections I had as a young'in were ****ing painful.

 

[OriginalAppleGuy]

Funny - I do. Figure it's due to stress as it's been pretty high here lately. Have you used BT Noise Canceling headphones or AirPods recently?

 

[MacNut]

Mine comes and goes. Or I just tuned it out.

 

[Huntn]

My ears havent stopped ringing since a week ago. No triggers. Just randomly happened. I can ignore it during the day but I can't unhear it when going to sleep.

Anyone else suffering from this?

Disclaimer- I am not a doctor or an expert.
How old are you? I got it when I turned approximately 60. It does not go away without some therapy if at all. I notice it often, but am able to ignore it.

If you think this is temporary wait a while. If not, go see an ear, nose, throat guy and they will test your ears. One thing they will look for is a difference in hearing loss, a cause for tinnitus. If such a differential exists or if you have ear tumors in your family (as I have), they will order up a brain scan. I had an MRI. No tumors.

Here is a thread I posted a while back that discusses tinnitus and other issues.
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/whats-your-ailment-p.1832130/page-7#post-22403952

 

[DoubleFlyaway]

Do you get nausea too? My dad has (well, had, because it got so bad he had his inner ear removed and is better now) Meniere’s disease, and whenever I get ringing in my ears I get super paranoid.

 

[A.Goldberg]

There are a lot of causes of Tinnitus. In that it sounds like (no pun intended) that the symptoms came on abruptly, it would be reccomebded you see a doctor.

As a PharmD I can say one of the most frequently overlooked causes is medication. It may be as simple as ear wax blockages or related to natural hearing loss. On the opposite end of the spectrum it may be a sign of cardiovascular problems all the way to cancers and deeper neurological issues.

Hopefully it is nothing serious. As with all threads asking for medical advice online, the best advice you can do is go get evaluated by your physician in person.

 

[TheBrokenBee]

There are a lot of causes of Tinnitus. In that it sounds like (no pun intended) that the symptoms came on abruptly, it would be reccomebded you see a doctor.

As a PharmD I can say one of the most frequently overlooked causes is medication. It may be as simple as ear wax blockages or related to natural hearing loss. On the opposite end of the spectrum it may be a sign of cardiovascular problems all the way to cancers and deeper neurological issues.

Hopefully it is nothing serious. As with all threads asking for medical advice online, the best advice you can do is go get evaluated by your physician in person.

I did goto a doctor. My brain MRI came back fine. The doctor just prescribed some vertigo medicines and multivitamins with anti allergy.

 

[lowendlinux]

I've fired to many rounds without hearing protection which gave me tinnitus and took out my hearing at the tones most people speak. Between my hearing loss and the constant ring I can't hear anything if there are to many people talking it makes parties frustrating. I will say you do get used to it after a while *shrug*

 

[Huntn]

Do you get nausea too? My dad has (well, had, because it got so bad he had his inner ear removed and is better now) Meniere’s disease, and whenever I get ringing in my ears I get super paranoid.

Does having your inner ear removed effect your balance? I would think it would.

 

[eyoungren]

I've fired to many rounds without hearing protection which gave me tinnitus and took out my hearing at the tones most people speak. Between my hearing loss and the constant ring I can't hear anything if there are to many people talking it makes parties frustrating. I will say you do get used to it after a while *shrug*

M-1 Garand when I was around 18 or 19. Couldn't hear out of my right ear for an hour.

Idiot me in my early 20s not plugging my ears when a taxing 737 pulled up at Ontario International (Ontario, CA). Back when the terminals had no jetways.

Both resulted in some loss and increased tinnitus. I can be in a quiet room and it's never quiet.

 

[foobarbaz]

I did goto a doctor. My brain MRI came back fine. The doctor just prescribed some vertigo medicines and multivitamins with anti allergy.

You did the right thing going.
If the doctor ruled out known physical causes, there's not much we know about possible causes.

In many cases it will go away on it's own, but the longer it lasts, the more likely it is to stay (become chronic).

Try to minimize stress and try not to freak out about it. The more you can ignore it, the better. Listening to quiet music, podcasts or white noise helps not focusing on it when going to sleep.
Look at potential bigger stress factors, too: My doctor once told me about a case where the tinnitus disappeared after a engagement was cancelled.
You can also have your neck/shoulders and jaw looked at. Tension there might be causing it. Massages help with relaxing, too.

If it does end up being chronic, relaxation is still key. Music notch therapy shows also promise.

But it's too early to worry about that. My wife just had a scare, and it went away after a week.
Mine is chronic, but I (literally) learnt to live with it.

 

[senseless]

Mine is ok if I avoid extended noise exposure. If not, it gets much worse for hours after. Loud clubs and DJs are torture for me. I have high midrange sensitivity and roll off over 9khz.

 

[lowendlinux]

M-1 Garand when I was around 18 or 19. Couldn't hear out of my right ear for an hour.

Idiot me in my early 20s not plugging my ears when a taxing 737 pulled up at Ontario International (Ontario, CA). Back when the terminals had no jetways.

Both resulted in some loss and increased tinnitus. I can be in a quiet room and it's never quiet.

Just after I joined the Army the war in Afghanistan broke out so we spent a lot of time transitioning from fighting Russia in a traditional war to fighting an insurgency which meant lots of CQB drills. I've probably shot 50,000 rounds inside rooms without hearing protection since you can't hear a radio with ear plugs. Now the cool ear plugs that block the sound of the gun but let voice through have made it down to the regular Army so it's not an issue anymore. There are lots of soldiers from my era that have the same problem to the point when I tried to re-enlist in 2007 the very first question my recruiter asked if I had hearing damage. I will say the nice part is that if I'm in an office with just a few people I can't hear them type of hear the conversation so it feel like I have an office to myself

 

[TheBrokenBee]

You did the right thing going.
If the doctor ruled out known physical causes, there's not much we know about possible causes.

In many cases it will go away on it's own, but the longer it lasts, the more likely it is to stay (become chronic).

Try to minimize stress and try not to freak out about it. The more you can ignore it, the better. Listening to quiet music, podcasts or white noise helps not focusing on it when going to sleep.
Look at potential bigger stress factors, too: My doctor once told me about a case where the tinnitus disappeared after a engagement was cancelled.
You can also have your neck/shoulders and jaw looked at. Tension there might be causing it. Massages help with relaxing, too.

If it does end up being chronic, relaxation is still key. Music notch therapy shows also promise.

But it's too early to worry about that. My wife just had a scare, and it went away after a week.
Mine is chronic, but I (literally) learnt to live with it.

I am not sure how much I'll be able to relax over the next two months because I am currently doing a course for my job thats pretty stressful. I'll do what I can though.

 

[DoubleFlyaway]

Does having your inner ear removed effect your balance? I would think it would.

Less than the extreme vertigo of Ménière’s disease did. It was a last resort to restore his quality of life. He participated in a clinical trial and ended up getting a device that worked for awhile, and then it stopped. And there was nothing else that could be done but remove his ear. But... you know... the vertigo was so bad he couldn’t stand up.. he had to crawl to the bathroom to throw up. So I think whatever issues he had to deal with with regard to getting used to the ear being removed were worth it.

 

[Huntn]

Less than the extreme vertigo of Ménière’s disease did. It was a last resort to restore his quality of life. He participated in a clinical trial and ended up getting a device that worked for awhile, and then it stopped. And there was nothing else that could be done but remove his ear. But... you know... the vertigo was so bad he couldn’t stand up.. he had to crawl to the bathroom to throw up. So I think whatever issues he had to deal with with regard to getting used to the ear being removed were worth it.

That just shows how little I know about balance. I thought the inner ear was kind of required to maintain balance? I too have bouts of vertigo for the last 4 years. It happens now infrequently. When I was younger, I had two inner ear infections which made me sick as a dog with nausea. Don’t know if that was related to vertigo 15-20 years later.

 

[DoubleFlyaway]

Well... I think no ear is better than an ear that is so out of whack it is ruining your balance.

 

[2984839]

M-1 Garand when I was around 18 or 19. Couldn't hear out of my right ear for an hour.

Idiot me in my early 20s not plugging my ears when a taxing 737 pulled up at Ontario International (Ontario, CA). Back when the terminals had no jetways.

Both resulted in some loss and increased tinnitus. I can be in a quiet room and it's never quiet.

Weird. We have the same causes for tinnitus. Though mine is from AR-15s and from working the ramp at KEWR (not at the same time, of course).

 

[eyoungren]

Weird. We have the same causes for tinnitus. Though mine is from AR-15s and from working the ramp at KEWR (not at the same time, of course).

Yeah, I paid for being the "cool" idiot that could take it and didn't need hearing protection.

It irritates my wife sometimes when she has to speak up because I can't hear her.

I wish I could have work as an excuse for the damage the aircraft engine did, but I was just being stupid. Standing there next to my dad who DID have his fingers in his ears waiting for the plane to park and spool the engines down.

Forget who we were picking up or seeing off.

 

[Foggydog]

I was born with hearing loss in both ears so have had tinnitus all my life. Sometimes it’s so loud that that it astonishes me. But eventually is goes back to its normal pitch. I have it now at I type this.

 

[Mefisto]

Use ear plugs. That really can't be overstated.

I have tinnitus since about ten years ago. This is purely the result of me thinking I was "cool" or some other hogwash not to wear earplugs at concerts, band rehearsals and such. At best, I would stick cigarette filters in my ears, but that was about it. Some really cringeworthy stuff no adult should think or do.

I've learned to live with it, but there certainly are situations where it bugs the ever living feck out of me. The stupidity of past me still astounds me sometimes.

 

[Huntn]

Use ear plugs. That really can't be overstated.

I have tinnitus since about ten years ago. This is purely the result of me thinking I was "cool" or some other hogwash not to wear earplugs at concerts, band rehearsals and such. At best, I would stick cigarette filters in my ears, but that was about it. Some really cringeworthy stuff no adult should think or do.

I've learned to live with it, but there certainly are situations where it bugs the ever living feck out of me. The stupidity of past me still astounds me sometimes.

...but after you have it, ear plugs don’t help. A friend has needed double hearingaides since her 30s due to standing in front of 8’ tall speakers at concerts.