If you have Tinnitus I need your advice

[shatto]

One week ago, last Sunday and Monday, I was in a seminar and the hotel sound system damaged my ears.
The overhead speaker was just behind our table, a bit too loud and had very high treble.
Monday I wore ear plugs and the treble still bothered me.

Today, a week later, I still am bothered. I have a numb feeling, somewhat akin to after weapon-fire without ear protection
and even my voice sounds tinny to me.
Monday the singers on American Idol sounded uncomfortably and irritatingly tinny and were almost unintelligible,
over and above the normal being drowned out by the band and their not enunciating.

And my tinnitus is louder than before.

But otherwise my range of hearing seems normal.

You think I should have this checked?

[Jay2TheRescue]

I've had tinnitus my whole life, but if this is something new, or a previous case that has gotten much worse, then go ahead and get it checked out.

[JanGeo]

Definitely get it checked, it could be that some junk in your ears, know as ear wax, got shaken loose and is hitting you ear drum. If you want to try something easy and safe first, however, try a few drops of hydrogen peroxide in each ear. The foaming will tickle like crazy so be prepared!
My tinnitus was cause by artificial sweetner aspartame that was in a protein supplement I was eating, now I have a constant ringing in my ears in otherwise perfect hearing which I protected from loud noises all my life.

[shatto]

Thanks.
Since this post is the email sent to my doctor and I have free government healthcare, that only cost a trip to Korea, we'll see what happens.

[Ford Man]

My wife and I both have tinnitus that's associated with working in load environments. I've had a constant ringing in my ears now for probably at least 17-18 years. My wife doesn't have the constant ringing, but on occasions her ears will ring so loudly she can't hear someone talking to her. An ear, nose and throat doctor put her on 250mg of time released Niacin per day which has helped considerably with the number of episodes she has with the loud ringing.

[bowtieguy]

Originally Posted by JanGeo

My tinnitus was cause by artificial sweetner aspartame that was in a protein supplement I was eating...

i appreciate the recognition. the stuff is very nasty to the brain and nerves. i recommend guys at the gym(or anyone who takes supplements) to use protein powders with natural sugar...as i do.

[JanGeo]

Yeah I had seen it about a year earlier in this supplement but a friend was getting rid of it and the listing of the sweetener was in the middle of the amino acids and I missed it the second time. After about half of a 2 lb can over the course of a month I started getting head spinning when I sat up in the morning and tilted my head until one day I ended up in the emergency room after violent room spinning that morning when I sat up. Didn't make the connection until about a month later when it started happening again. It breaks down into methanol then fermaldahide which attack the nervous system, apparently the ears are the first to go. Some people are not affected by it at all. FYI there is a lot of artificial sweeteners added to chocolate now even Hersey and Ghirardelli coco mixes so you have to watch it constantly. Another one is sucralose that leaves a funny sweet taste on my tongue for about 12 hours afterwards that I can't stand!
In any event I now have this constant ringing in my ears that is rather irritating, I might give niacin a try.

[tradosaurus]

Originally Posted by shatto

One week ago, last Sunday and Monday, I was in a seminar and the hotel sound system damaged my ears.
The overhead speaker was just behind our table, a bit too loud and had very high treble.
Monday I wore ear plugs and the treble still bothered me.

Today, a week later, I still am bothered. I have a numb feeling, somewhat akin to after weapon-fire without ear protection
and even my voice sounds tinny to me.
Monday the singers on American Idol sounded uncomfortably and irritatingly tinny and were almost unintelligible,over and above the normal being drowned out by the band and their not enunciating.

And my tinnitus is louder than before.

But otherwise my range of hearing seems normal.

You think I should have this checked?

Based on your comment (bolded) above I think your hearing has probably improved.

[shatto]

Since I have the free government healthcare I earned when they sent me to Korea, I emailed the message that began this thread, to my doctor at the local VA Clinic.
I figured that a week with no noticeable change warranted worry. My doctor is wise. He waited another week and then emailed:
( "Doc. David Chapman to: Shatto. A hearing test wont provide any new info. See if the tinnitus tones down on its own." )

The tinny sound of mine and others voices has indeed almost gone away and I am back to the half dozen separate electronic tones running simultaneously all the time, although somewhat louder than before.

Surprisingly, I have been more sensitive to...loudness.

For a few days I wore earplugs while driving, the background noise was just below painfully irritating, which is a problem for someone who drives for a living.
Yesterday, rather than compressing the foam and scrunching the ear plug in as far as possible so it expanded and filled the ear canal, i just pushed them in lightly and,
apparently what happened was they blocked out the upper range and allowed the road noise in, the result being sound two or three times louder than with no ear plugs.
Today, I was able to go through the day with open ears, although I still kept the radio in the '20' to '25' range.
On the other hand, I had not the slightest interest in the President 'coming out of the closet' and turned the radio off most of the day.

The things happening with and to my body, as time passes are often amusing, sometimes aggravating, always fascinating.

[Jay2TheRescue]

That's one thing that drives me crazy, to be in complete silence with my tinnitus. I could never do ear plugs. I always have a radio or TV on low volume as background noise to give me something to focus on so I can try to ignore the tinnitus. Another thing which may or may not be related, my range of hearing is off. I can hear high frequency well, but low frequency is extremely difficult. I hate when someone with a low, soft voice calls me on the telephone at work. I can never understand them.