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Tinnitus - advice sought

A couple of years later I had an episode of Labirynthitis..a viral inner ear infection which can cause massive attacks of Vertigo


Same thing happened to me:(
Two massive bouts of Labyrinthitis (correct spelling) and I was permanently stuck with ringing in my ears
I read that there is a Lazer treatment available that (I think) promotes blood flow to the inner ear and helps "cure" it
Not sure how successful it is...but apparently does help with some cases
 
Me too. Started last year, I put it down to either Blood Pressure tablets or cutting sandstone with an angle grinder without ear protection. Tried 2 other types of BP tabs(ACE inhibitors types can cause tinnitus), but no change. I have the constant 8Khz - I only really notice it first thing when all is quiet. Went for a hearing test….all good bar 8Khz range.
 
I've had it for a while. More like a sound of running water most of the time, occasionally I get a whistling sound. It comes and goes. Mostly I don't notice it as long as I am in an environment with anything other than a quiet background. Doesn't seem to have any effect on my actual hearing.
 
I am getting a crackling sound in my left ear. Thought it was a crackly left channel on the headphones to start with (might be both!).

Should I speak to the doc about it or get some wax suction? I have had the high pitched note for many years but that is easy to ignore.
 
I am getting a crackling sound in my left ear. Thought it was a crackly left channel on the headphones to start with (might be both!).

Should I speak to the doc about it or get some wax suction? I have had the high pitched note for many years but that is easy to ignore.

Your GP will most likely take a peek inside and then tell you to get your ears cleaned by a private service (e.g. Specsavers or Boots in the UK). So, might as well skip the middle man in the first instance. Speaking from experience, Specsavers will at least decline to charge you if they decide that your ears don't really need cleaning.

Before you set up an appointment, buy some Earol spray and use it for a few days. It may resolve the problem on its own.
 
Just chiming in , I have found excessive ear wax and excessive caffeine can cause high pitched ringing . I do not use headphones or those ear bud things for the same reason . I have ringing at present because I used an ipad this am in an attempt to send pictures. I have found that smart phones/gear and wifi stuff can also cause tinnitus/chest pain / breathlessness in prolonged use in myself. As a result I wire in pc stuff and avoid ipads/smart phones as much as possible with good effect. It does appear that some people are sensitive to EMF (electro magnetic frequencies). This may or may not apply to Yourself . I hope things improve for You. Oh, also I tend to steer clear of excessive treble frequencies.
 
Although I have long suffered from tinnitus, a sort of "passive" ringing in both ears (annoyingly at different frequencies), this year I've had the sudden onset of a new tinnitus only in my left ear which is much more "active" and insistent. It comes and goes, and seems to mainly be triggered by sound rather than masked by it. That is, I don't hear it when I'm going to bed at night, but I do when I'm sitting at my desk and listening to music or even just to the fans on my computer.

I have also gone to a doctor about it, went to have my ears cleaned only to find out that they're fine, and now I have a phone appointment with a specialist lined up in a couple weeks. The main thing to keep in mind is that, in all likelihood, it's nothing serious. Beyond that, there can be other triggers. Like you, I'm rarely in a noisy environment, especially over the last year. However, the last year for me has been extremely stressful, which can be a trigger for tinnitus. Keep in mind also that COVID-19 and the vaccines can have some impact on tinnitus [citation needed].

I think generally you're going to be encouraged to learn some mindfulness techniques in order to facilitate just living with it. In my case at least, I long ago learned to live with my usual tinnitus, so it generally doesn't bother me. This new one is a sonofabitch though so I might need some new tools for it....

I just learned that I have mild hearing loss in my left ear across the entire audible frequency range but particularly above ~2kHz. Balls. Now to decide whether I want a hearing aid or not (it is, after all, just "mild" so it's up to me...and jeez, I'm only 39).
 
If it's mild and you don't notice it I wouldn't bother.

The only real day-to-day nuisance is difficulty picking out one person's voice in a noisy environment (e.g. cafe). Well, that and the fact that I have been trying to mix/master hours of old music that I wrote, so now I'm suspicious that the left channel sounds like garbage in everything I've released so far. :oops:

In all seriousness, though, the hearing aid would be an attempt to reduce the tinnitus, since the tinnitus may be an effect of my brain trying to compensate for the loss, effectively amplifying internal sounds (or so the audiologist explained). Still, I'm leaning towards your reasoning anyway.
 
I sympathise with all here. I've had it (high-pitched whine, similar both sides so it can seem 'inside my head') for more than a decade. A combination of using loud equipment at work and not wearing hearing protection years ago now and loud concerts many years ago, both of which caused some hearing loss. Then a period of stress which seemed to initiate it.
I have it constantly and it can be really obvious when quiet. Sometimes it affects music listening so that I can really only hear the 'main body' of the sound where other times I hear more of the detail too. If I'm busy, I don't notice it TBH so it is bad when I'm bored. I noticed in the last year that I occasionally get an additional much deeper tone (like 1kHz ish or even lower) but it never lasts longer than a few seconds. I also struggle to pick out conversations, sometimes even in a relatively quiet room, but I think that is more of a concentration (brain in neutral) thing....
 
I can suggest you try:

1) put your finger outisde your ear, behind and underneath it , and just above the ear external ear lobe. Press Hard in this spot for about ten seconds. Now do the same with the other ear. You may have to experiment to find the best position to press.

2) Buy some V.S.O.P. cognac (not VS!). I suggest Martell 'Red Barrel'. It MUST BE v.s.o.p.

Sip a couple of thimblefulls of this each afternoon/evening for a couple of days and see if it helps.

Have you had your blood pressure tested recently?

I do hope you get this annoying thing sorted soon.

Best,

eguth
 
^^^
Years ago I used to find a couple or three measures of port and brandy cured everything. You just didn't give a toss afterwards. The wife occasionally grabs me by the lug hole (like a naughty schoolboy) but that never worked. ;)
 
The only real day-to-day nuisance is difficulty picking out one person's voice in a noisy environment (e.g. cafe). Well, that and the fact that I have been trying to mix/master hours of old music that I wrote, so now I'm suspicious that the left channel sounds like garbage in everything I've released so far. :oops:

In all seriousness, though, the hearing aid would be an attempt to reduce the tinnitus, since the tinnitus may be an effect of my brain trying to compensate for the loss, effectively amplifying internal sounds (or so the audiologist explained). Still, I'm leaning towards your reasoning anyway.
Try flare ear plugs..for listening to someone talking in a noisy environment, they sort of work...I have a pair..most of the things flare claim about these earbuds are nonsense but for hearing someone talk or monitoring your voice whilst playing the ukulele and singing! They work!
 
I only hear my tinnitus when it mentioned or I think of it. I think I’m lucky, at 72 you should expect the side effects of ageing even in good health.
 
The only real day-to-day nuisance is difficulty picking out one person's voice in a noisy environment (e.g. cafe). Well, that and the fact that I have been trying to mix/master hours of old music that I wrote, so now I'm suspicious that the left channel sounds like garbage in everything I've released so far. :oops:

In all seriousness, though, the hearing aid would be an attempt to reduce the tinnitus, since the tinnitus may be an effect of my brain trying to compensate for the loss, effectively amplifying internal sounds (or so the audiologist explained). Still, I'm leaning towards your reasoning anyway.

I have a similar issue. Didn't think I needed aids, but the ENT Doc and the audiologist both told me that using hearing aids helps maintain your hearing. In other words, less future hearing loss than if you don't use them. Apparently something to do with additional stimulation they provide to the frequencies you don't hear as well.

In use, I don't find in general use that they make a big difference. BUT: I can definitely hear high frequencies such as cymbals better when listening to music while using them. I have a high end pair, and find they only help with music listening and no downsides that I can tell.
 
I've had tinnitus for years probably due drumming when I was young, going to too may gigs and heavy headphone use in later life to shut the world out. Now at 64 my hearing is not good at all and every several years my tinnitus ratchets up so that I can now hardly ever listen to music. I have a pretty good hi-fi - ATC speakers connected to a DCS P8i SACD player which I love to bits. But I grieve for the days when I could listen to music for hours. Now, it's snatched moments when my T is low.

Doe anyone else out there find their enjoyment of music is affected by T and if so, what if anything did they do about it?
 


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