April,

Hello from Guilford, Ct.

I am sorry to hear about your tinnitus. Having had louder tinnitus than before for over a year now I can understand your distress.

There are many possibilities why you have t but doctors rarely have a definitive reason because the condition is still poorly understood. Hearing loss/hair cell damage in the cochlear seems to be one of the possibilities though. I have seen 3 ENT's and they all will rule out clinical reasons for tinnitus like a tumor (very rare) thyroid, menieres disease etc. You may want to visit one who understands tinnitus and get an audiological exam.

Yes, aspirin is a known aggravator of tinnitus as well as other substances, i.e. salt seems to bother many, so you may want to eliminate these if possible to see if there is any relief.

Ear protection is important. I have to be careful with my ears and how much they are expopsed to loud noise now. You can get spikes from excessive noise. When going to a club or concert I would recommend getting some musician earplugs with decibel reduction built in. Audiologists know about them. Also there are other things that can cause spikes like hair dryers/blowers, vacuum cleaners etc.

In the end don't be surprised if they tell you that there is nothing clinically wrong and you have to live with it. We have all heard that here. The good news is many people will tell you their story and how things do get better, and they do!

Best wishes,

Mark

Welcome April,
Sorry that your T has gotten worst. There may be a definitive reason as to the change in the volumn. I think it would be a good idea to see and ENT/audiologist who has extensive background in T and let them examine and test the situation. You'll may find out what is causing the problem (some of which Mark alluded to), it could be related to high frequency hearing loss or they may not offer any clinical reason. In any event you would have a better understanding of the situation which will help relief some anxiety. In most cases, the anxiety from the T is worst then the T itself.

I totally agree to protect your ears during louder situations. I love concerts and sports events , but I try to keep them outdoors. Most important are those earplugs. I always have them with me and use them at any thing that has increased volumn including movies and noisy restaurants.

I have read on this site that some people have experienced sudden higher volumn after it has been pretty low. I feel that the best chance you have to return to a quieter state is to see an ENT for an opinion and attempt to alleviate anxiety. As in a cycle, anxiety precipitates T which causes more anxiety.

April, you'll begin to find relief from T and anxiety by pursuing happy and rewarding distractions. If there ever was a time to allow yourself to do something that you enjoy or discover a new hobby, this is it. The benefit will perceptionally reduce the importance of T(which it never deserves) as well as the volune.

Go and see your ENT as soon as possible. At least you can rule out what it's not. And if it's something treatable, then you can get treatement rather than continuing to suffer. At least if it's not treatable T, you'll know where you stand.

Welcome April,

Lots of helpful support here. For a non-refundable fee of $200,000.01 we will always be here for you and promise that we can and will do nothing to help you stop the nasty noise that you are hearing. On top of that if you ever feel that we are going over and above the call of duty(Ex: making you smile, getting a little chuckle here and there) we will have to refund your money and provide you with a severance fine of $1,000,000,000.(This is all paid out in Monopoly money BTW).

Oh and BTW dont get too close to attester there. Sand gets in everything!(JK).

Pat

It sounds like the great tinnutus bailout. This relief will certainly clear-up or is it write-off that toxic hearing. I'm beginning to feel better already!

Yes sand gets into everything, but who's complaining when that nice tan comes with it.

April,
If you have decent health insurance, why not go?
I had a mild form of tinnitus for 25 years...then an hour or so listening to a loud band my t is not so mild anymore.
Always protect your ears.

Hi April, you'll make it through this. A visit to the ENT is always the first stop just to rule out some as mentioned above. I think the problem most have with the ENT is when we expect the to have a fix. As long as you're not setting yourself up for disappointment, as John said, a trip to the doc can't hurt. I love having my ears cleaned.

Thanks everyone for yor responses. I have been quite depressed lately over this as well as chroninc pain from another prblem that I have. Does anyone know how to find a good ENT that knows alot abotu tinnitus? Also, if my tinnitus became louder due to going to a loud concert woul this happen right after the concert or could it show up 6 months later? The last concert I went to was 6 months ago and really loud. I noticed a temporary problem right after, but then it went back down. Lately, I have really done nothing that would cause this sudden increase so I am baffled. I am not sure if I can cope with this.

April

April,
The 6 month delay sounds very odd. When I had a mild t sometimes a head cold would flare it up temporarily and allergies could do the same. When my t flared up from a head cold it usually only flared up for the duration of the cold (a week to two at the most). I'm reading a book by Joni Eareckson Tada now. She's been a quadriplagic since 1967. It's amazing what us humans can endure.

If your looking to google t research look into...
rTMS tinnitus
Neramexane tinnitus
Auris AM 101
ATA
I'm sure I'm forgetting few...