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Suggest Treatment For Intermittent Tinnitus And Extreme Tiredness
Question: Hello, I'm a 27yo/male, I've been experiencing tinnitus intermittently (but most of the time its there) for the past month. I went to an indoor gun range at the beginning of XXXXXXX for the first time and wore the ear protection provided by the facility. I was at the range for approx. 15-30 min, and I was firing a glock while some people I knew were also firing a glock in the XXXXXXX to my left. Afterwards, my left ear felt clogged up, and the several days after I noticed myself turning the volume up on everything. My hearing has since come back to what I perceive as normal about 3-4 days after the gun range. About 3 weeks after the range I started getting this high pitched tinnitus sound in both ears. It gets worse at night regardless of the ambient noise level. I've also experienced some frontal headaches on some nights and extreme tiredness only at night, which is new to me. I've also noticed that my left ear would pop once in a while and my hearing would once again feel plugged up, but then would return to normal after a few seconds. Most of the time I don't have any problems opening my Eustachian tubes, I can hear clicking in both ears when swallowing/yawning- this doesn't seem to affect my tinnitus at all. I also noticed a dull pain that I would feel inside my ear below and behind my ear lobe mostly in my left ear. This pain occurred only a handful of times, and only lasted seconds.
Over the past month my tinnitus has gotten a lot better maybe improved by 50-60% overall, but each day is hit or miss, with some days worse than others. Then, several days ago I started to have cold symptoms, and now my tinnitus is worse, and I still have that tired feeling w/ a frontal headache. Have I had this cold for several weeks causing the tinnitus, and now it just escalated the past several days? Last night I thought I heard blood swooshing in my left ear, but that has since gone away. My blood pressure at the time when I checked it was about 110/70. I saw an audiologist at the beginning of Feb (several weeks ago) and a general practictioner a week ago. My audiologist ran hearing tests on me and said that my hearing is way above normal, but there is a slight decrease at one specific frequency in my left ear. My outer hair cells were all responsive. My tinnitus to me seems about equal in volume in both ears, it seemed initially worse in my left ear, but now it seems worse in my right ear. To complicate this even more, I started taking doxycycline for some mild facial acne about a week ago. Some sources say that it can worsen tinnitus..?
I have been using a noise generator at night to get to sleep, but when I turn it off in the morning when I wake up my tinnitus is still there. I don't really hear it when I keep myself active throughout the day, but once I'm going to bed that's when I really hear it. My diet hasn't changed. I never was really exposed to loud noises except for fireworks when I was a child- which never caused me tinnitus.
I was subsequently invited to go to the gun range AGAIN about a week ago, but I declined because it may have caused my tinnitus. The people who invited me, went with two other people who wore the exact same hearing protection as me, but they say they don't have any problems w/ tinnitus... I'm hoping this is just a phase that I will get over. My questions are this: do you think it was the gun range that caused my tinnitus? Will it get better? Will doxycycline inhibit the healing process (if my ears are in the process of healing)? Is it possible that I had a cold may be causing this? Is it possible for some people to be more susceptible to loud noises?
Over the past month my tinnitus has gotten a lot better maybe improved by 50-60% overall, but each day is hit or miss, with some days worse than others. Then, several days ago I started to have cold symptoms, and now my tinnitus is worse, and I still have that tired feeling w/ a frontal headache. Have I had this cold for several weeks causing the tinnitus, and now it just escalated the past several days? Last night I thought I heard blood swooshing in my left ear, but that has since gone away. My blood pressure at the time when I checked it was about 110/70. I saw an audiologist at the beginning of Feb (several weeks ago) and a general practictioner a week ago. My audiologist ran hearing tests on me and said that my hearing is way above normal, but there is a slight decrease at one specific frequency in my left ear. My outer hair cells were all responsive. My tinnitus to me seems about equal in volume in both ears, it seemed initially worse in my left ear, but now it seems worse in my right ear. To complicate this even more, I started taking doxycycline for some mild facial acne about a week ago. Some sources say that it can worsen tinnitus..?
I have been using a noise generator at night to get to sleep, but when I turn it off in the morning when I wake up my tinnitus is still there. I don't really hear it when I keep myself active throughout the day, but once I'm going to bed that's when I really hear it. My diet hasn't changed. I never was really exposed to loud noises except for fireworks when I was a child- which never caused me tinnitus.
I was subsequently invited to go to the gun range AGAIN about a week ago, but I declined because it may have caused my tinnitus. The people who invited me, went with two other people who wore the exact same hearing protection as me, but they say they don't have any problems w/ tinnitus... I'm hoping this is just a phase that I will get over. My questions are this: do you think it was the gun range that caused my tinnitus? Will it get better? Will doxycycline inhibit the healing process (if my ears are in the process of healing)? Is it possible that I had a cold may be causing this? Is it possible for some people to be more susceptible to loud noises?
Brief Answer:
Mild noise induced Tinnitus.
Detailed Answer:
Hi,
Thank you for your query.
1. Your tinnitus (at 6.7 kHz) is most likely related to the noise exposure at the gun range. It is good that you avoided visiting the gun range again. It is also true that some people are more susceptible to noise induced hearing loss.
2. Tinnitus is common. Almost all people at some point in their lives experience tinnitus. Personnel in the armed forces tend to develop hearing loss and tinnitus up to a decade earlier.
3. There is no doubt that your hearing is above normal. The logarithmic scale for audiometry is an average hearing estimated over a large healthy population (such as pulse/heart rate), hence many people hear better than others.
4. There is some confusion over ETD (Eustachian Tube Dysfunction) and Sinusitis. However your Impedance Audiogram (Tympanogram) is within normal limits, hence ETD is not an issue. A plain CT PNS scan will help conclusively rule out sinusitis.
5. Gingko biloba, multi-vitamins and anti-oxidants are commonly prescribed as first line medications. Caroverine infusion and capsules, high dose oral steroids, transtympanic steroids, HBOT (HyperBaric Oxygen Therapy) may also help in reducing Tinnitus.
6. Mild tinnitus requires no treatment. Yes, it does fluctuate, avoid the doxycyline and it should lessen (improve) in your case.
I hope that I have answered your query. If you have any further questions, I will be available to answer them.
Regards.
Mild noise induced Tinnitus.
Detailed Answer:
Hi,
Thank you for your query.
1. Your tinnitus (at 6.7 kHz) is most likely related to the noise exposure at the gun range. It is good that you avoided visiting the gun range again. It is also true that some people are more susceptible to noise induced hearing loss.
2. Tinnitus is common. Almost all people at some point in their lives experience tinnitus. Personnel in the armed forces tend to develop hearing loss and tinnitus up to a decade earlier.
3. There is no doubt that your hearing is above normal. The logarithmic scale for audiometry is an average hearing estimated over a large healthy population (such as pulse/heart rate), hence many people hear better than others.
4. There is some confusion over ETD (Eustachian Tube Dysfunction) and Sinusitis. However your Impedance Audiogram (Tympanogram) is within normal limits, hence ETD is not an issue. A plain CT PNS scan will help conclusively rule out sinusitis.
5. Gingko biloba, multi-vitamins and anti-oxidants are commonly prescribed as first line medications. Caroverine infusion and capsules, high dose oral steroids, transtympanic steroids, HBOT (HyperBaric Oxygen Therapy) may also help in reducing Tinnitus.
6. Mild tinnitus requires no treatment. Yes, it does fluctuate, avoid the doxycyline and it should lessen (improve) in your case.
I hope that I have answered your query. If you have any further questions, I will be available to answer them.
Regards.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Prasad
Is it possible to reverse tinnitus with those supplements, and if so is it too late?
Brief Answer:
No cent percent guarantee, but worth a try.
Detailed Answer:
Hi,
Thank you for writing back.
1. Though there is no hundred percent guarantee, there is a chance that these treatments can work in the initial three months.
2. These treatments are worth a try.
I hope that I have answered your query. If you have any further questions, I will be available to answer them.
Regards.
No cent percent guarantee, but worth a try.
Detailed Answer:
Hi,
Thank you for writing back.
1. Though there is no hundred percent guarantee, there is a chance that these treatments can work in the initial three months.
2. These treatments are worth a try.
I hope that I have answered your query. If you have any further questions, I will be available to answer them.
Regards.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Raju A.T
When my tinnitus was really bad, I tried testing my hearing on the internet by listening to different frequencies. I found a website that allowed me to scroll through all of the different frequencies while wearing headphones. I noticed that afterwards the tinnitus in my left ear was better and only had a single tone instead of two different tones. I've heard somebody say on a forum that the hair cells can be lying down and may wake back up over time, do you think listening to the different frequencies excited these hair cells and brought them back to their normal state or is it my imagination?
Brief Answer:
Either hair cell fatigue or recruitment. Mechanism cannot be proved.
Detailed Answer:
Hi,
Thank you for writing back.
1. Hair cell fatigue is possible on prolonged listening.
2. There is another phenomenon known as 'recruitment' where the hair cells neighboring the damaged hair cells are recruited into the hearing process.
3. There is not way to prove the mechanism behind your experience.
I hope that I have answered your query. If you have any further questions, I will be available to answer them.
Regards.
Either hair cell fatigue or recruitment. Mechanism cannot be proved.
Detailed Answer:
Hi,
Thank you for writing back.
1. Hair cell fatigue is possible on prolonged listening.
2. There is another phenomenon known as 'recruitment' where the hair cells neighboring the damaged hair cells are recruited into the hearing process.
3. There is not way to prove the mechanism behind your experience.
I hope that I have answered your query. If you have any further questions, I will be available to answer them.
Regards.
Note: Consult an experienced Otolaryngologist / ENT Specialist online for further follow up on ear, nose, and throat issues - Book a Call now.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Shanthi.E
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