Place a foam earplug only in one ear, and play music or a video (very low volume) on your phone. Does your tinnitus get louder while the music is playing? That's your brain trying to "fill in" the missing frequencies in the blocked ear.

Noticing this might be helpful for retraining your brain. Sometimes I'll alternate back and forth, blocking one ear for 30 mins, then blocking the other. I think it is accelerating my recovery, but I can't be sure.

Good luck to everyone out there!

Just talked to a homeopathy doctor who told me that the main cause of tinnitus is nerve weakness, so if anyone wants to get cure they should strengthen themselves both physically and mentally, so that nervous system works properly

Thoughts?

Just talked to someone that had tinnitus (noise-induced, resolved mysteriously after 2 years) that kept telling me psychological part was a major part of tinnitus.

Thoughts?

Fighting tinnitus has for sure a psychological part. Nonetheless, would not say that sufferers are weak or whatever. It's a very complicated problem to adress. It's not like depression or I don't know. It's there 24/7, CBT does not help much I find (at least for me) and like everybody I went through a lot of stuff. However, none of these traumatic events nearly bothered/break me as much as tinnitus. I wonder why?

My T is constant but also reacts to movements, though not just from the neck up like what I've read about when it comes to somantic T.

It spikes whenever I move my legs, upper body, even firm touch and eating seems to trigger it. Sounds crazy but I swear I am not.

Any advice? Would a neurologist be interested or able to do anything about this at all? Feels like more than an ENT issue.

Anybody get tinnitus, hearing loss, slight imbalance, poor word recognition due to bruxism (but not TMJ/D)? If so, did treatment for bruxism, jaw clenching, teeth grinding help with improving the hearing loss? (I already am on CPAP) If so, how long did it take to get hearing back?

Since T i just feel unwell when its completely silent. I want to stay busy cause otherwise i feel sick.

What does noise induced tinnitus sound like. I am hearing a generator sound and whistle. Could this be noise induced?

I've been dealing with tinnitus in my left ear for the past 6 months. Here's my situation:

Current Treatment:

• Consulted an ENT who prescribed Tinnicar, Wintin, and Era DN
• Heard about Neurobion Forte potentially helping with the buzzing sound

New Concerns:

• Recently noticed reduced or inconsistent hearing in my right ear
• Worried about developing tinnitus in the right ear as well

Questions:

1. Can anyone recommend medications that help manage tinnitus spikes? (Mine sometimes last 1-2 days and are really challenging to deal with)
2. What preventive measures can I take to protect my right ear?
3. Has anyone experienced similar progression from one ear to another? What helped?

Additional Info:

• Left ear tinnitus symptoms: Partial hearing Loss.
• Right ear current symptoms: No hearing Loss but confused whether it's ringing or not.

That I have tinnitus

Might sound like instant gratification but please give me hopium that even if it's here to stay forever I can still achieve stuff in my life

Thanks.

I don’t have anyone in my family or friends circle that has tinnitus and understands what I’m going through. I’m hoping that someone reads this post and needs a friend, too, so we can be supportive and encouraging of each other in dealing with this. I have had idiopathic tinnitus since December 2014. I used to relish the sound of silence, and now silence is just a memory. How wonderful it would be to experience that again.

I watched Leave the World Behind and was able to tell my family, "this is what I experience daily."

Has anyone had noise induced tinnitus from loud work environment and taken serious measures to protect themselves, heal, and gotten fully better?

I had some okay tinnitus 3/10 but yesterday they did a cVEMP test on me it was short loud bursts at about 110dB AC - 500hz, for around 30 seconds I think, they did it only in my left ear since I told them to not do it on the right. I read some horror stories about people making their tinnitus louder from that test permanently so I asked my ENT over the phone today what can I do since it made my preexisting tinnitus much louder and reactive maybe and I couldn’t sleep. I am not sure if it’s me hyperfyxiaying on the problem since I don’t see any difference between left/right ear just a general increase that bothers me. So my ENT prescribed me Decamethasone 8mg for three days, and then 4mg for three days alongside, piracetam and some b-vitamins, and also esomeprazole. I am wondering if that’s worth the risk since dexamethasone has its own side effects. Should I just ask for a lower dose of the dexamethasone.

Hello all,

I have dysacusis in right ear for 1 month and also severe tinnitus in right ear since 1 week after fleeting tinnitus episodes can dysacusis get better? Or even tinnitus gets better? Because my t feels like flashbang in fps games its so hard to ignore

I got the essential T related micro nutrients (Vitamin D3, B12 and Magnesium) tested through a blood test. Everything came perfectly normal. Should I still try taking B12 and Magnesium supplements even though they’re at optimal level?

For those who have had positive results with magnesium or other supplements, was it helpful even after knowing that your body is optimally sound in all nutrients?

I had T na HA since 16yo (now 31), spiked 4 weeks ago after a concert. Went to ENT right after, got only ginko extract.

Two days ago another ENT doctor got me prednisone to take 5 days. I took first doses then started googling and I am dizzy and sad and distressed from the uncertainty and lack of data related to:

• if this even helps this late
• what is the incidence of people having T worse from the drug
• how the doctor did not explain almost nothing
• how can I never be sure if T is worse or if my head is making it worse (now i of course fixate on it so much after reading for a few hours about this drug)

And genuinely torn apart what to do now, staring at the pills.

And I hate the situations T put us in.

ever since i was younger (currently 15) i’ve never really been able to hear silence, i remember as a kid going outside and if it was quiet my ears just started ringing, it really freaked me out for some reason and it just made me uncomfortable. now if i go into the bathroom and there’s no air or any noise my ears start either ringing or buzzing.

Is there any hope for me? Is this a life sentence?

I’m 41, and am honestly feeling suicidal. I will not take action. But I FEEL this bad right now.

I can’t imagine a more lonely feeling that 3 am and listening to this ringing.

I’m only about 3 months into this so far.

Doctor gave me ear drops thinking I have a mild ear infection. It’s 4 days of those and no change. This feels like my Hail Mary has just evaporated.

I already have longstanding insomnia, and a healthy dose of anxiety and depression. This is such a toxic brew.

I am so scared right now.

I just am seeking empathy, and any wisdom to help me have hope.

Today in morning at 5:30 am I went for a run a when I get back to home my T was not there anymore not even one percent but after sometime I lied on the bed it started Why is that so?

Haven't had this since I was 7 years old. It caused me deep despair as a kid. I'd get so frustrated I'd cry myself to sleep. It's this twangy humming sound that you can almost feel vibrate the inner ear. It goes silent when turning the neck, but starts up again as soon as you stop moving. I remember thinking recently how lucky I was to not have to ever hear that sound again. And then it fucking started again. The horror. Anyone know this sound?

For the past day or so, I've been having an occiasional thumping noise in my ear, which hasn't been bothering me much. About 20 minutes ago I was listening to music loudly, and when I took my headphones off my right ear started to make this whooshing sound. It also has a slight pulse. It's pretty loud and it also has a slight pressure as well. What can I do to fix this? Also, what could be an underlying cause of this? (It's probably related to my unnecessarily loud music.)

I don't live what I would consider to be a particular good life. I'm in my late-twenties, working a dead-end job that I don't enjoy (call center), but it's just good enough to pay my bills. I have few close personal friends, really just one, my relationship with my parents isn't great, and my love prospects are non-existent. Yet I never really suffered from severe depression, or thoughts of self-harm. Even in particularly bad episodes I could always take a deep breath and say that I was doing okay, that life was worth it because I had fun playing video games and reading my books.

I've had tinnitus for at least six years now. But it was always low-to-mild, easily maskable with my fan at the lowest setting. From time to time, I had very sharp ringing in my right-ear (from where I wear my headset at work lol) but those would always go away within a minute. Then a week ago, it didn't. The ringing stayed and now my fan at full volume can't mask it, and in fact I think may be causing some ringing of its own. I can't sleep well anymore. I'm scared when I go and put on my headset to play games. Even reading requires effort as I'm always trying to see if the sound is still there. It's the hope that kills me. I don't feel as if I enjoy things anymore, they all seem so small compared to the ringing.

One year. Before the ringing, I had signed a one year lease on an apartment, my first time living alone, which is terrifying now, when before I was so happy. And I also just bought a new car. I can't leave my family with my debt, so in that year I need to get my affairs in order. I see a lot of hopeful posts here of people who've learned to adapt, and maybe I will too or maybe I won't.

I didn't see much when I looked into my future before, but now I can barely see anything at all.

Has anyone tried playing their tinnitus sound (mine 6000 hertz) through their hearing aids or earbuds at a low level for masking purposes? Just tried it, and I kid you not it cancels it out. Don’t want to do any more damage, but has anyone tried this or have any experience with this and the habituation process?

When I was a kid I hurt my ear drum stupidly with a cotton bud which led to bleeding and a drs visit.

I've noticed the last week everytime it's night or more quiet I hear this constant ringing in my left ear. Even as soon as I wake up I hear it. I thought maybe it was electrical devices as I have a extension cable on the left side of my bed. But it's been very constant.

I was cleaning my ears like a week or two ago and noticed thick ear wax and panicked thinking it looked like blood. I assume it was old ear wax.

I'm debating going for a hearing test.

My tinnitus is pretty new, it's from a loud work environment. I noticed it faintly about a month ago, and about a week and a half ago it started really bothering me. The last few days I think about it constantly and it's really messing up my quality of life. I started wearing ear protection every day at work, I'm taking zinc and b vitamins, and eating magnesium rich foods, cutting out caffeine and going to sleep earlier. I'm a 34 year old male. What are my chances of beating this thing and is there anyone with similar circumstances who could share a success story with me? Right now I really need some hope. Thanks guys.

Hello. Ive had a little tinnitus my whole life but ive been sleeping with fans and i could also sleep without them sometimes too. I was either habituated well or it got better at some point. I got covid about 6 weeks ago and have been on meds to manage the symptoms. Those being LDN and lamictal. I've been having ETD and was given prednisone and flonase for 5 days but it didn't cure the ETD

After that I went to the ER for a spike heartrate symptoms and they gave me valium to sleep. A few hours later I woke up to a loud as hell tinnitus and it came down a little after but never really went down to baseline. It's been 48 hours. Could that have caused a spike? Or is it my meds? If I stop the meds will it go back to normal? And how soon? Sorry it's impossible to sleep now and looking for answers. Thanks.

Hey guys, I thought I would post here about my experience with acoustic trauma so others can be aware and get my POV from this. Any advice on my questions at the bottom would also be appreciated.

Acoustic Trauma Cause/Details: 
About ~7 weeks ago (September 13th, 2024) I made probably one of the dumbest decisions I've ever made and shot a rifle once without ear protection. This was a ~6.5 Creedmoor with a 22in barrel, muzzle break, and I shot it out of the cab of a side by side (somewhat enclosed). I estimate this caused an exposure of any where from 160db to 170db. I decided not to wear ear pro because of a mix of a few things like social pressure, whispering for communication, and previous experience. I generally don't hunt with ear pro, but I was used to 22lr and shotguns w/o muzzle breaks for all my other hunting. This was the first time using this rifle for hunting and I wasn't aware of how much significantly louder it was going to be than a shotgun/22LR. Any centerfire rifle with a muzzle break is a completely different level of loud compared to a shotgun and a 22lr (140-150db). For anyone reading this DONT BE LIKE ME AND WEAR EAR PRO FOR ALL HUNTING/SHOOTING, NO TROPHY ANIMAL IS WORTH HEARING DAMAGE! DOUBLE UP FOR CENTERFIRE RIFLES! 

Here is a link to a website with a good breakdown of firearm loudness data/info: https://search.app/kMZ2PBgpJ5aoAFtJA 

Aftermath: See Current symptoms for my current symptoms and break down 

Immediate effects:  
Immediately after pulling the trigger I knew I severely messed up. My left ear (shooters ear) was super muffled and ringing more than I have ever experienced before. This significant ringing went on for a few minutes and the muffled hearing lasted for around the next 5-10 hours. It honestly felt just like what is pictured in movies where the hero is recovering form an explosion, etc. My right ear seemed to be fine because all of my attention was focused on the left ear.

Morning after: 
The morning after my left ear was very sensitive to noises, especially things like the shower running, dishes clanking, and other sharp high frequency sounds. I also felt that my left ear was inflamed and had a fullness similar to a pressure change in an airplane. Along with this sensitivity, sounds in higher frequencies ~2khz and above sound like they are coming out of a crappy speaker (speaker phone) and have a metallic reverb to them for a short second. (Dysacusis) This is more pronounced in smaller more echoey rooms. Not sure if this is indicative of a certain type of damage? My right ear seemed to be ok, but this is all relative at this point because my right ear is now acting as my baseline measurement. I didn't notice much damage to my right ear but I won't really know. I put in foam earplugs this whole day just to give my ears a chance to recover.

Week 1:  
I was freaking out at this point, reading all the reddit stories I could find for treatment, recovery, etc. A lot of these made me feel pretty hopeless and depressed. These stories also motivated me to go to urgent care and schedule a hearing test. I also tried to schedule an emergency appointment with an ENT in multiple locations, but was hit with 2 month lead appointments and in patient emergency requirements. SUPER FRUSTRATING! On Sept 16th (3 days after exposure) I went to urgent care and was told that my eardrum was slightly inflamed/swollen but not ruptured. I also got a prescription for a 6 day taper steroid pack. (Methylprednisolone). I asked for prednisone, but they told me that it was too strong for my application and has serious side effects. I was also able to schedule a hearing test in the next few days. At this point I also scheduled a meeting with an ENT for around the first week of October.
 
I took a hearing test on September 17th. (4 days after acoustic trauma) This was the first hearing test that I have ever taken and my results proved pretty hopeful (no hearing loss in the 0-8khz range, normal tympanograms, but I did have DPOAE fails in the left ear after 9khz). At this point I also didn't have any noticeable tinnitus. The audiologist said everything seemed to appear normal and that this case thankfully wasn't too severe.

Week 2-6: 
Around the 3-4 week mark I had a meeting with an ENT. This was pretty much useless, he didn't offer any more advice or treatment options. I asked about prednisone and he declined that. He did a basic otoscopy, charged me $150, and sent me on my way.

Over this period it seemed like the ear fullness decreased slightly and the ringing and noise sensitivity seems to have gone down mildy. Around the 2-3 week mark I also think I developed slight tinnitus in my left ear at a noise rating of around ~2/10 (Can only hear if I focus on it in fairly quiet rooms) at about a frequency of about 10khz.

Current symptoms:
Since then I haven't seemed to have had much noticeable improvement in my symptoms. From what I can tell the mild tinnitus is pretty much constant, but can easily be drowned out with things like quiet music or fans.

The ear fullness remains, as well as the weird metallic/robotic distortions in my left ear with any higher frequency sounds (<2khz and 50+ db). This seems to be increased in any rooms with small size or significant echo. I would say that this is the most annoying symptom of everything. Simple conversations sound off and make me self conscious of my symptoms which I think is a negative feedback cycle. I am also pretty sure that I significantly damaged my high frequency hearing in my left ear. I think everything 13khz and above is gone in my left ear and everything 9-13khz has significant damage. Common things now sound a little off due to this. Not expecting this to ever come back or improve at all.

I have also noticed occasional 5-10 seconds bursts of tinnitus in my right ear at maybe around 5-6 khz, but these come and go fairly quickly and only happen once every few days. This is still scary though as it indicates that I did damage my right ear.

Synopsis & Advice/Questions:
Not sure how long this will last, some say forever, some say a few more months. Time will tell and I will update this chat monthly with updates or as updates come.

Overall I feel like I got off easy on this incident compared to some of the stories that I have read on here and other forums. I'm still praying and hoping this gets better and not worse, I'm still early on in the recovery process so I'm still very hopeful. I was very panicked, stressed, and disheartened the first 2 weeks, but I am starting to learn to live with this and accept these as permanent symptoms that I will have to live with.

Since the acoustic trauma I've spent ~$100-$150 on various forms of earpro for various uses (shooting, hunting, concerts, construction, etc) and have been using these religiously for different outings. I am trying to keep living as normally as possible and trying not to let this dumb decision haunt me for the rest of my life and keep me shut in from the outside world.

Any info/support on the following questions would be appreciated.

- Anything I can do to help with these symptoms? (exposure to medium sounds, anti-inflammation supplements, sound isolation, etc.)

- How to prevent further decline of hearing? Just wear earplugs to any mildy loud events? Is my hearing going to be shot in this left ear when I'm 50 no matter what? I think I artificially 'aged' my ear ~20-30 years due to this acoustic trauma. Will my ear continue to age like a ~50 year old's ear from right now, deafness in this ear by the time I'm 40?

- Any recommendations for helping with the ear fullness (supplements, diet, exercise, etc.) Amazon links to supplements would be great!

- Has anyone else experienced the distortion that I have been experiencing, if so what is this? I've read that it is everything from hyperacusis to double hearing, to TTS, to what I think is most accurate, Dysacusis. Is there any way to diagnose this? Is this brain/nerve related or more ear mechanism related?

- Is there anything I can do to help recover from these distortions? Is recovery a common thing for these symptoms or should I buckle up and mentally prepare to have this distortion the rest of my life?

- Any good clear/hidden options for bar/restaurant earplugs? The alpine party plugs (19bd SNR) that I purchased are a little bit overkill for most restaurants and bars, but I really like the stealthy hidden aspect of them. One complaint is that I have large ear holes and I can barely get these out after I have them in. It is a 2 hand ordeal with a lot of prying, etc. Do you guys have any recommendations for clear/stealthy lower db earplugs (~16-14 db SNR) earplugs that are somewhat easy to remove and have larger sizing than alpine. I was looking at the Etymotic Research ER20XS Dual Flange or maybe eargasms high fidelity earplugs? Any experience with these or any other recommendations?

Thanks guys!

Audiogram Results

Just curious for those who already had T and got Covid. A lot of people say Covid made their volume worse but is there anyone where it didn’t affect it at all??

Do I have something to worry about?

Went to a bar on Sunday, not really that noisy (it was a small themed bar). Had two cocktails over the course of an hour and a half, both around 20%, then headed back to a friend’s place to sober up. On my drive back from there, I noticed a ringing in my ears that varied in volume but rarely stopped. Since then, more of the same. Sleep’s been rough, I’ve woken up early at least once every night. Went to my PCP yesterday and they found a lot of earwax in both ears, the right one they were able to get out with just a tool but the left one required drops and irrigation (NOT THE ELECTRONIC ONE, MANUALLY, yes I know that even those are risky now). That was noon yesterday, T volume hasn’t wavered since. Sometimes, depending on what I’m doing, I can’t even notice the T. I have a hearing test scheduled for Tuesday and am in the process of scheduling an ENT visit. Anything I should know ahead of time of the visits and does this seem temporary or permanent?