Tinnitus, anyone else have the pleasure?

I've always had a slight issue with an overly waxed left ear, but it had got worse over the past few years. I ended up seeing a specialist as I had developed a high pitched whine in my left ear, some in my right, but mainly left sided.
She noted that the left ear drum is dull rather than shiny, so I had to have a GP referral for further advice from the ENT department. Had a referral through pretty quick, but the waiting time is between 61-70 weeks.
For the past three or so weeks I have had a loud, high pitched white noise type noise in my head, slightly more left sided. It has now become intrusive in everyday life, I find that I can't have any quiet time, I need some form of background noise in an attempt to cancel this out. Really, really annoying.
Certainly not life changing, but it really is becoming uncomfortable.

Anyone else suffering? Any advice to live with this?

On-line guidance from the NHS basically says there is no cure, more of a set of strategies to live with.

 

I occasionally suffer with tinnitus, and agree, it’s not pleasant . A few links that may provide further information. The sites are French, but, if need be, open in Microsoft edge, and use the translator.

This site official French government

https://www.ameli.fr/assure/sante/t...ont des bruits,au vieillissement de l'oreille.


Slightly different – adds a little info.

https://www.fondationpourlaudition.org/les-acouphenes-516


This one is a hearing aid supplier, but add still more info, eg relating to diet. Take note of the blurb on hearing aids – can be free in UK, although this may be age related.

https://www.laboratoires-unisson.com/faq/audition/traitement-acouphenes-trt


Hope this is of some help

 

Yeah long time sufferer (thanks in part to military service most of my life and the obvious noises that’s gone with that). Anyway same as you, high pitched whine both ears…constantly. It’s always there but you learn to ignore it eventually. Silence is well erm not

You might not have noticed it yet but the one thing you’ll end up needing to do is to prioritise what sources of noise you “listen” to, for example in a room with background noise, 2 or 3 conversations going on etc it can overwhelm; so you end up tuning out some sources more so than when you didn’t have tinnitus. To put it another way if you could listen to 3 simultaneous inputs with ease amongst a sea of noise and not miss much, one of them will be for ever more moving forward that high pitched whine.

ENT will maybe suggest hearing aids to help mask the whine, but they elevate all the other noises to uncomfortable levels so it’s a bit of a double edged sword.

Unfortunately there’s no cure if the damage to the small hairs in the depths of your ears are too far gone, you just learn to live with it. If you didn’t know tinnitus is your brain telling your ears to generate noise in certain areas because it’s not “hearing” what it expects to hear thanks to those damaged hairs/areas.

 

As above, I put it down to many years of firearms and wearing of a radio earpiece. Have learned to live with it and seem to be able to ignore it most of the time.
Always worse when tired or after time spent in a noisy environment.
My consultant says I might wake up one morning to find it gone! Ten years in and still waiting.

Compliments of the season
Carl.

 

A massive thanks for all your input. Definitely not a rare condition!
It could be worse at the moment due to a cold and some congestion, feels like there is pressure in my inner ears.
I was lost in a wormhole of reading last night, thanks @Highsided for the links. Also found the UK support web page, some useful stuff on there.
Learning to live with seems to be the message, CBT has a very strong result for many people, but that is way down the line for me I’d think.
It comes with some “moderate” hearing loss in my left ear, was told this is a very common theme.

 

Minor hearing loss is your friend at times… especially when the other half is bleating on about something or other

Every cloud and silver linings etc

 

I suffer with it for periods of time and then it goes away - a takes two forms 1)the classic high pitched wine and 2) a background humming /groaning. It also regularly feels like there is something in my ear.

Like others its the left ear !.....and thats the one i wore the ear piece in !

I put it down to years of wearing earpieces at work, firearms and working at hundreds of noisy events - i also have "work / noise induced hearing loss, and find being in a crowded noisy room very difficult as all the conversations seem to merge into one and i am hit with a sea of noise that i struggle to understand.

I have good days and bad days - i find keeping busy is a distraction, also playing "gentle /quiet / relaxing music" also helps - last night Cat Stevens

 

I've had tinnitus (together with some hearing loss) for many years now, probably due to a lifetime working with noisy marine diesel engines, steam turbines and other machinery.

Over the years I've just got used to it, and when I have a few hours without the noise I look upon it as a bonus.

The way I deal with it is by trying to ignore it, keeping busy and realising that at least it's not something worse!

I think I'll try the music thing suggested by 'edthefed'....

 

Just consulted my wife who is an NHS audiologist and she has recommended some reading material that might assist:
A book called Rock Steady: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Rock-Steady-Healing-Tinnitus-Neuroplasticity/dp/1989603858
Also a website: https://tinnitus.org.uk/

 

Cheers Nic.
I’ve been on that website, really useful and sensible stuff. Thanks for the reading link, wi have a look.

 

Yeah same here. Too many noisy gigs probably. Am a part-time musician and generally play these days with in-ear monitoring which helps. Most annoyingly music makes mine worse. Even listening quietly, I’ll find that later in the day I suffer with the whining increased in volume. Always music. Listening to podcasts at similar levels doesn’t bring it on at all. No idea why one is worse than the other. And yes, conversations in loud environments can be challenging. Would love to have better news, but it’s just something you end up living with. Tiredness and stress make it worse for sure.
I also get wax build up and found the small cameras you can buy off Amazon are good for monitoring that. Treating with olive oil or similar when it gets worse does the job.

 

I suffer from it.

It always used to come and go, much like when going to a concert and your ears ‘ring’ until the next day.

Now I have it constant. I even went through Bupa to investigate it. I had a hearing test done and also a MRI scan. Nothing came of that apart from consultant asking how I get on living with it.

Not sure what trigger if it was, however sceptical part of me believes it was either linked to a prescription of Naproxen which I took on and off for almost a month, or the Covid vaccine.

I guess we all just learn to get on with it, I joined a Facebook book group however clearly some people struggle to get on with it and it actually made me more aware of it’s presence, so left the group.


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Given how many of us suffer - perhaps the cause is BMW !

 

Must be those pesky RFTs.......

 

It's a gift of advancing years. I have a loud high pitched noise in my right ear. It never goes away but I have become used to it and in my case my brain can dial it out if I'm listening to music or watching the telly. It can sometimes keeps me awake at night, other times it's all but switched off. But it always comes back.

It's better than the alternative.

 

I used to play in a brass band and then went through years of clubbing in the 90’s that I’m paying for now. I reached 50 in 2022 and decided to see an audiologist as I knew I had hearing loss. The end result was £5k’s worth of hearing aids that I have worn ever since. It took a good 3 months to get used to them, but now I’m hearing things that I have never heard before.
They have an app on my phone and during times of the high pitched noises I can set the app to play background sounds through my ears, such as waves or light rain. I do not really use it as it’s is very occasionally that I have the high pitch noise, and it goes away in a few minutes, but if you experience this regularly then it could help.

 

Thank you all for your comments and for sharing your experiences. It really does seem to be a more common issue than I first thought!

The white noise is always there, I'm finding that I need background noise, music or radio talking. There may come a time in the near future where I will need to go to the specialist to look at the possible solutions.
I've had to order some speakers for the works laptop, the speakers on that were causing a slight pain/vibration in my left ear due to their tinny sound. Lots of Teams meetings not helping.

 

Update on this ear business. After two outer ear infections I was sent for an ENT appointment at the QE hospital, helpful consultant discussed the issues with me after I had a further ear test. They've booked me an MRI to check that there isn't anything pressing inside the head, unlikely but worth a check.
The noise has definitely got worse, doesn't seem to be related to any external noise, and is becoming slightly more difficult to ignore. The consultant suggested something called "talking therapy" to build strategies to cope, anything is worth a try!

 

I’ve not heard of that, hope it helps.

Keep us posted


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