r/tinnitus

On 4/23, I attended a concert. I’ve never experienced ringing in my ears of any sort and wasn’t super knowledge on tinnitus so
I didn’t wear earplugs.

That night I experienced tinnitus for the first time, but by the next day it went away.

On 4/30 I went to another concert, however I wore earplugs. Slept fine that night without any ringing.

I can’t remember if it was before or after the second concert, but I felt it again trying to sleep once or twice, I tried to blame it on stress triggering it.

I went to a third concert on 5/15. I wore earplugs, and was fine.

However, 3 days after that concert, after I got off the plane, about a 1.5 hour ride, the ringing came back 2 hours later. It’s been 3 days since then, the ringing is faint but appears before I sleep and a bit after I wake up

What kind of tinnitus is this? Is it likely to be chronic? What are things I can do to help it? I’m very new to this all.

I'm losing my mind I can't sleep focus on anything I can barely go outside everything is too loud and the tinnitus is so severe it hurts. I don't know what's happening I thought it was getting better.

Hello people of tinnitus - wondering if any of you can help. Ive had tinnitus for 8 years now and I've got it to a level where its mostly manageable during the day - music when working, white noise when reading a book.

The nut im still yet to crack is the falling asleep bit. It goes through peaks and troughs however Im currently experiencing a phase of being deep in the trough, hence the post.

When attempting to fall asleep Ill have on my white noise which does mostly drown out my tinnitus however its still noise - that mixed with my brain thinking about everything seemingly possible can lead to a stressful few hours before I eventually fall asleep.

I was prescribed Promethazine hydrochloride by my GP which is an old school antihistamines that makes you a bit drowsy so once I finally fall asleep im usually golden until the morning. (Unless I need to pee but that's probably a probelm for another subreddit). I also stared taking ashwagandha (dont think it really does anything), read an hour before bed and exercise plenty.

So yeah, do any of you have any tips to get my brain to shut up for a bit?

Thanks!

My tinnitus has really started to bother me over the past two years. Every few months, I feel like the volume or the pitch increases.

I also wonder if it’s partly just my perception, because if the sound had actually been getting constantly louder for two years straight, I’d probably be kind of deaf by now. But honestly, I don’t know.

I have severe health anxiety (tinnitus is the worst thing that has ever happened to me) and mild visual snow.

I’m really struggling to stay positive because every time I think I have this under control, this fucking thing spikes again and the cycle starts all over.

Do you have any strategies or advice?

I'm wondering if this will ever stop or will keep increasing until I finally die.

And by the way, if you’re one of those users who’s going to tell me my life is over, I get it — there’s no need to add that negativity to this post too.

Thanks.

I always feel like the loudness of my tinnitus reduces after taking gaba or even l theanine or taurine. It’s not a drastic change and the effects only last for a few hours but I feel a good 20% reduction in volume. Could it be placebo? Anyone else had the same experience?

Hi to all, I am seeking urgent help. I am 20 years old, M, and have been struggling. I got a concussion about a month ago, and all my symptoms are gone except for my tinnitus. I crashed my motorcycle at ~35 and went face first into the ground. I had the SLIGHTEST ringing symptoms before the crash, but only at night and when I smoked weed, which is weird because I have NEVER Had this happen before (started 1 month ago, after concussion). It gives me extreme anxiety and affects my sleep, I already REALLY struggle w/ derealization, so it makes it a lot worse. I feel like im not normal and it makes me honestly depressed, any tips, even just kind words and experiences?

And if anyone wants to go Dr. mode, im all ears: So the ringing has not got "worse", but it is almost like its louder sometimes. I feel like it is both ears, and I have a few theories. One, is that it is caused by ear wax. I have VERY small ear canals, and even after 15 min of spraying at the doctors, the doc said he cant even see my ear drum. I have had my ear totally plugged before and no ringing, so this confuses me a bit, but idk. So then I was thinking, my neck is rly stiff, landed on face, what if the ringing is TMJ or neck stiffness from my crash? So I called to ask for a referral for Physical therapy and doc said No, because he thinks I need an ENT and audiologist to remove the wax and test me, and it is not my neck, but I would not be so sure. Just to Clarify, cat scan showed nothing bad. But yeah, I honestly cant tell if it is just the left or both, but I feel like it is the left, which would tie right into my crash (crashed onto left side of my face). Another note, Dentist saw me and said my teeth are flattening from potential grinding, but I am a chronic clencher thanks to my dad, so I stopped doing that right away (had this dentist apt 2 months ago or so), but MAYBE I am a sleep grinder? I also have headaches that are VERY mild but present, which also points me to the neck tension side of things.

Any comments would be LOVED, does not even have to be diagnosing me or advice for the anxiety, can just be your experience with things. Anything helps, I am 20 and this makes me feel like a scared kid lol, idk how ya'll thug it out so much.

I just got this tinitus adter shockwave therapy any same boat as me ? Last week thursday i went to pt and they use shockwave therapy on me the time it use to me i hear very loud tack tack tack cause it apply on my upper back near at shoulder on left side , the the next day i hear tinnitus its not that loud but loud makes uncomfortable.

I have neck tightness , head ache and teeth clenching problem thats why i went to therapy . But i didnt have any tinitus that last a minute before but now im on 7th days .

I also having head aches worsen having tinitus i ordered mri from my brain and cervical and my result has some mild issues on my neck thats causes my head ache i think. I think its because of poor posture but its really sucks.

Any of you here has overcome with it ?

I’m 21 and have had tinnitus for 3 months now. I’m curious to know how old are most people in the sub.

Got regular T a 6 years ago and most of the time its a non issue. But then 5 months ago i caught a cold. This resulted in PT and ear fullness I saw my GP in April and Feb both times there was fluid behind the eardrum. Then I saw an ENT today and there was no fluid according to him.

He advised a hearing test and a test they can do to check the condition of the middle ear.

So bow I have to live with PT and regular T. My Pt most days is constant level 2 can hear it and feel it in a quiet environment and is often a whoosh it can get loud.

I am distraught and need help and advice to cope.

Hey guys im new here, im 23M and its been 2 years that i experiment tinitus lastely it start bothering me a lot specially when im trying to focus on studying, i really cant focus i tried all sorts of background noises i work out regularly i try to keep my self hydrated but the ringings still so strong, is there any other tips that can help me ?

Hey everyone. So for a bit of context, I went to the urgent care today because I noticed my ear starting to slowly get more and more plugged and I guess "reactive" to every day noise. This all started just today. I have had tinnitus for years now and even yesterday I went through a small spike (thankfully I had ear plugs in) so I felt okay last night. All that changed earlier this afternoon. It's literally the worst it's been. The urgent care diagnosed it as "Otitis Media with Effusion" and stated that there's "Tympanic membrane is bulging". They also said it could be the early onset of an ear infection but weren't 100% on that so I have a prescription of Prednisone to start in the morning. I'm freaking out. Is there any way this is permanent? For as bad as it sometimes was before this is way, way worse. I don't see how it all of a sudden got so bad. I guess I'm looking for advice or similar experiences. Does something like this go away? I want to say it's most likely not from the noise earlier yesterday. Please give me your thoughts!

Coming back here to post as I received some very supportive comments from a couple of users here to a recent post, which really helped my state of mind. I wanted to share a bit about my tinnitus journey and what has helped (and not helped) so far.

I developed tinnitus following a slap to the face about 10 weeks ago. It was also accompanied by neck stiffness and pain, though I already had neck stiffness and pain, and jaw pain prior to this occurring.

I initially saw an ENT, and subsequently an audiologist, who ruled out any hearing loss. I then saw a Physical Therapist, who gave me some vestibular exercises (walking while looking at a dot) and some postural strength exercises (using a resistance band). The latter made my neck pain and tinnitus considerably worse so I stopped seeing that PT. Around the same time I also had a follow up with my ENT, who essentially told me there was nothing anybody could do, and that PT would not help. The only intervention they suggested was CBT to help manage it and learn to live with it.

That was about 4 weeks ago and was a low point in my journey for sure.

Following advice here I sought out a different PT with more experience in TMJ issues, and was lucky enough to find an excellent person. For the last three weeks or so I have been doing a very different set of PT exercises - intra-oral massage and jaw massage, and very small and controlled neck exercises.

About a week after starting this PT I randomly experienced one afternoon / evening of much lower volume. This was the first downward variation in the volume since the onset of my tinnitus (I had been able to vary it upwards but not down). The next day I was back to full volume!

But then a week later I started experiencing lower volumes in the mornings, ramping up by the end of the day.

Now, three weeks into this PT regimen, I am in a very variable state. My overall volume is lower (more of a static white noise than the high-pitched whine I started with), and I have some longer periods where I do not notice it at all. Then occasionally (like yesterday) I will have another loud day. I have noticed that after my PT sessions (where we do a lot of manual work), the volume increases, but is then lower the following days.

I've been spending a lot of time tracking my progress and trying different interventions, but wanted to tell you what (for me) has worked and not worked. I would guess most of this is fairly specific to somatic tinnitus linked to muscle guarding in the face and neck.

Things that worked

• PT involving manual therapy of the jaw and neck and intra-oral massage / release, and small (not strength-based) postural exercises. I have about 30 mins worth of PT exercises that I am doing about twice a day at the moment.
• Using LLMs to log progress, assess interventions and try to feel better about set-backs, and for general motivation (if I moaned to my partner about this as much as I moan to Gemini we would have broken up by now)
• Flexeril (muscle relaxant) does help me when things are bad, but it also makes me sleepy and I usually experience a 'bounce-back' after I stop taking it so I'm trying to use it less
• Clonazapam (benzo, dials down nervous system) also helps with both intensity and related anxiety... less help than the Flexeril but also less side effects
• Cervical neck pillow: the type with the divot in the middle. About 50 bucks from Amazon, and really made a difference to how I felt in the mornings
• Sleep: one of the biggest things is how well rested I am. The more I sleep, the better it is.
• Upgrading my desk chair and workspace: more lumbar support and avoiding pushing my neck forward at my desk has helped
• Hydration: waking up dehydrated makes it worse
• Breathing exercises: Just a few simple deep breathing exercises when things are bad have really helped

Things that have not worked or made things worse

• Booze: I enjoy a drink, but have noticed that this makes a real difference. Up to about two glasses of wine is fine, but any more than that makes things worse the next day. Liquor always makes things worse the next day, and a hangover = a raging tinnitus day
• Stress: any stressful situation spikes the tinnitus
• Exercise: this is tricky because I want to exercise, but the more active I am the worse the tinnitus is immediately afterwards. Obviously I'll have to work through this eventually!
• Massage: I booked a couple of myofascial release type massages. These were fine and dandy and I enjoyed them, but they didn't move the needle on the tinnitus
• Generic PT: This was the worst thing I did I think. Being given generic postural strengthening exercises just sent everything back into spasm and locked me up and set me back weeks I think. I wish I'd found my current PT first.
• ENT: I'm glad my ENT was able to rule out hearing loss - that was an important step - but the fact that she attempted to discourage me from other interventions at my follow up is hard to forgive. I was in constant discomfort and distress at the time - if I had listened to her and not bothered with my current PT I might still be there now.
• Neck heating pad from Amazon: Meh... it feels nice but it doesn't really do anything
• Noise filtering earbuds: just tried this for a concert but they made everything sound really muffled. I don't think loud noises are really triggering me but I'd like to start looking after my hearing long term
• Eating hoagies: Big sandwiches, italian hoagies etc... anything putting a lot of strain on my jaw muscles spikes things for me.

I think that's it. I'm hoping the improvements I've made continue, and trying not to feel demoralised on days where it feels like I've taken a backwards step. I have a new found respect for sufferers of this condition (and really for anyone dealing with chronic pain or similar health issues).

Love to all.

I was almost going to sleep and tinnitus was ringing as usual, so I concentrated like crazy on my ears and tinnitus vanished for a while, like I genuinely wasn't able to hear tinnitus for solid 2 minutes.

this was my first time experiencing silence in over 2 years now.

Any idea what happened here ? Or how can I repeat this ?

Hi everyone,
I’m looking for advice or shared experiences because I’m honestly getting worried.
About 6 days ago I had a CT scan with contrast dye (iodinated contrast). During or shortly after the injection, my tinnitus suddenly became extremely loud — far beyond my normal baseline. It felt almost immediate and very intense.
I assumed it would calm down within hours or a couple of days, but now it has been nearly a week with no improvement at all. The ringing is still incredibly loud and intrusive.
I’m trying to understand whether anyone else has experienced:
a major tinnitus spike after CT contrast dye
ototoxic reactions to iodinated contrast
delayed recovery after contrast-related tinnitus worsening
A few questions:
Did it eventually improve for you?
How long did it take?
Did doctors take it seriously or offer any treatment?
Is there anything that helped reduce the spike?
I would really appreciate hearing from anyone who has gone through something similar. This has been extremely distressing.
Thank you.

Hi, i have bad and good days.

Like 50-50 or 60-40 depends month to month.

Recently i noticed that i can have 3/4 days in a row good or bad.

For example, my last bad day was sunday. Today is my third good day and when it happens i feel myself like ‘healed’.

But i know tomorrow or the day after probably bad days will return.

I’m asking myself if it could be a good sign that my brain quiet down my tinnitus for 2-3-4 days in a row.

AC102 (AudioCure Pharma): In preclinical (animal) models of noise-induced damage, a single dose almost completely reversed tinnitus and restored connections between inner-ear hair cells and the auditory nerve. It's now in Phase 2 clinical trials for sudden sensorineural hearing loss (often linked to tinnitus), with tinnitus effects also being studied. Human results are pending (expected updates around 2026), but it's one of the most exciting regenerative candidates.

Hi, I’ve been living with tinnitus caused by acoustic trauma for two years now. During this time, I’ve gone into 'over-protection' mode. At home, I frequently used Bose QuietComfort noise-canceling headphones, and outdoors, I used earplugs. The problem is that yesterday I realized that if you touch the inner part of the headphones in a certain way, they can emit a piercing, high-pitched screech. Now, I’m terrified of using them because I don't want to risk further hearing damage (luckily, I was just handling them yesterday and wasn't wearing them, but the whistle was still very loud... I can't imagine if I'd had them on). However, after two years of this routine, I’m now terrified of being at home without protection. I live with noisy people.

I’m so discouraged... I don’t know what to do. Obviously, I couldn't go on living with headphones on forever; in fact, I was already progressively trying to use them less often. But now I find myself forced to stop using them all at once. I’m terrified that any noise I hear—dishes clattering, windows or doors closing—could cause me acoustic damage. I could use earplugs, but even then, I’m not sure if it’s a good idea to keep putting them in and taking them out. Doing that creates a sort of 'vacuum' effect, and I don't think it's healthy to do it so many times throughout the day. Maybe I should just give up, only wear plugs when I go out into very noisy environments, and pray that my tinnitus doesn't get worse. To think that just a few years ago I lived a normal life and could be in my own home without any protection... The thing is, the people I live with are so loud; they are hyperactive. They’re constantly grabbing plates and making noise. To avoid it, I end up risking isolating myself in one room.

I’m scheduled to have to have a dental cleaning tomorrow. Is there anything I can do to prevent my tinnitus from spiking? I’m definitely going to have to get my wisdom teeth pulled as well eventually.

I have tinnitus and real bad anxiety & depression. My depression is so bad that I've been having suicidal thoughts. My GP recommended me to take antidepressants and we can talk about it on our next appointment.

For those who have tinnitus, does antidepressants worsen it? Which antidepressants are ok to use with tinnitus (I'll try to talk about diff options with my doctor)?

Edit (forgot some info): My initial intent for going to the GP is to have my ears checked. I have an appointment with an audiologist this Saturday so I would have clarity about my T.

I got tinnitus 6 months ago and initially it was so much mild that I won't even consider as tinnitus, I didn't knew about protecting my hearing and all so i exposed my ears to extremely loud sounds and it got worse eventually and i can consider that worsening as a result of loud sound exposure but eventually I started using earplugs and earmuffs to the extent that I was even sleeping with earplugs and using both of them in the daytime but idk why some days ago it still worsened in loudness without any clear reason, I can now hear it over fan but can't hear it outside,

If someone is experiencing this, any advice or any supplements to use anything, should I not overprotect this much ??