I got tinnitus about a year ago after a neighbour was using what i think was a power washer for four hours, i couldn't see it so am not 100% sure thats what it was all I remember was it kept clicking(?) and was extremely annoying. We had all doors and windows closed but couldn't block out the sound and by the time he’d finished I was pretty stressed and my hearing was all muffled, then a couple of days later a buzzing whooshing noise started in my left ear. I saw a nurse & doctor who both said they couldn't see anything wrong with the ear and got referred in june 2021, letter arrived to make the booking online but no appointments available so left details and haven't heard anything from them since. The last 10 years have been a struggle health wise - Stomach issues, Menopause,Burning mouth syndrome,Jaw pain which i suspect is because I had to have lower back teeth taken out on both sides, migraines that i’ve had for 40 years and stress/anxiety made a lot worse because I didn't know what was happening to me and the doctor couldn't figure out how to fix it even though we tried various anti d’s, hrt’s and painkillers. At this point I’m just wondering whats going to go wrong with me next. Anyway there’s a audiologist at my local opticians and it says the appointments free is it worth going to see them or should I go back to the doctor? I cant afford to pay for any treatment. Am I likely to be stuck with this noise forever? Am i making it worse if I put an earplug in or cover my ear with my hand because its the only way to silence it?
Thanks in advance for any help or advice you can give.
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cold
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Hi Cold. The power washer was outside and you were inside, with doors and windows closed. How likely is it that the equipment was so loud that it could damage your hearing whilst you were indoors? Equipment that is capable of being as loud as you describe would surely deafen the operator and anyone standing close to it.
You've described numerous health issues in your e-mail, but the one which jumps out is stress. Of any of the things which you've mentioned, that is something which you have the most control over and the greatest ability to make a start in managing. Stress is one of the major factors which makes us aware of and frightened by tinnitus.
You should consider attending the audiology appointments offered locally. They should give you a baseline picture of whether your hearing is contributing to the tinnitus problem you've mentioned. From that point, you can take whatever results you have and see an NHS audiology team, who can advise you further on ways to manage your tinnitus.
Thanks for your reply. I don't think that the loudness was the problem as such but more the continuous click stop click stop i think if it had been one continuous noise i would have been alright. I’ve been trying to sort out the medical problems for about 10 years now but found it was impossible while in the perimenopause stage and am only having minor success now that i am a couple of years into menopause. I know I need to sort out my stress levels but when my hormones were all over the place it was like I had no control of my body, we tried medications, I went on anxiety+depression courses, changed my diet but with little success. I was actually starting to feel a little bit better when this happened which is why I’m a bit angry and confused as to why it happened,
Menopause can have an impact on tinnitus, as is often discussed. Weirdly enough, our next online webinar is now available to book to attend, and its on just that topic...tinnitus.org.uk/Event/tinni...
Hello cold. I've had T for a few years now, triggered by some unwise osteopathy, and am learning new things about the condition as I go along. Among the things I've learned is that stress and anxiety amplify tinnitus (T). When stressed, muscles contract and can go into chronic spasm. This, along with raised pulse, blood pressure, hormone levels and general frustration can all combine to send T noise off the scale. Many sufferers know and report that anxiety is a trigger of worsening T.
Not being medically trained what follows is based on my experience alone.
I think that when there is no other obvious physical cause of T, any stimulus that upsets us can cause and/or exacerbate T if we're susceptible to it. I think that if the upset, whether physically or psychologically traumatic, causes muscles to spasm, cramp or tighten, sometimes chronically, this generates nerve impulses that the brain might primitively interpret as noise, so we 'hear' our nervous system activity even though it is imperceptible to others. Some of the muscles located close to our brain stem are so small they cannot be easily reached (take a look at the rectus capitis major/minor muscle pairs) but if these are adversely triggered into spasm they are known to wreak havoc. Similarly the large SCM muscle can affect the head and neck causing pain and headaches, as can the TMJ musculature, so it seems logical to propose that problems with these muscles all in close proximity to the head/auditory nerve might result in T as well.
It sounds to me as though you were already stressed when your experience with the power washer noise generated further anxiety that sent your system once again into 'fight or flight' response. This is a primitive and automatic bodily reaction. It causes adrenaline and cortisol to flood the body which triggers alertness and muscle readiness for immediate action. If the muscles have no way to run off those tension-generating chemicals, their effect will continue to affect the muscles, possibly chronically and thence send them into spasm. Untreated muscle spasms can last for years.
To put it bluntly, I think it's likely to be your anxiety about a variety of issues topped off with the repetitive noise from the power washer that's set off the T, not the type or volume of noise in itself.
If anxiety is the root cause of your troubles, it should help to adopt some relaxation techniques. Meditation, mindfulness, plenty of good sleep, lots of water hydration and exercise. If you feel as though you need something more hands-on, the use of a TENS machine to target the nerves on specific neck muscles might be worth investigating. The latter works for me in terms of reducing the volume of the T and the neck pain, but it might not work for others. I use a 'Medfit' machine which costs about £50. I find this brand very good, but there are plenty on the market. Speak with your GP before purchasing, just to ensure that a TENS machine is OK for you to use.
Generally, try to relax. De-stress. Slow the adrenaline and cortisol production. You should find that relaxation techniques make a big difference to your situation, even if the T stays with you. It's better to try and manage T without stressing as stress pumps up the volume.
Trying to relax and de-stress is impossible at the moment. Although the neighbour that set the noise off has moved the other neighbour who is the real cause of the majority of my stress have not, we’ve just had 3 days of loud music during the day in the garden+when they’ve put the kids to bed they go out in their new lay-z spa for another 2-4 hours. The garden is my quiet place where I can potter about and forget about my tinnitus for a few hours but I cant even do that now because they've left the spa on and there’s been a low level humming out there for the last few days - I’d be swapping buzzing in one ear for two. Due to health, dogs and the increasing hot weather (which I hate) I cant even just go out all day to get away from them. Talking/writing to them is not an option (they know I cant stand them) and husband wont let me make a official complaint because he doesn't want the hassle/think its that bad. I cant wear earplugs all the time to block out the noise because I’ve noticed it tends to set off a ringing noise if I leave them in too long, headphones dont work and I dont want to use a noise machine because I dont want to swap 1 noise for another I just want peace and quiet. I’m feeling rather trapped/stuck once again and wondering if I’m ever going to have a life worth living.
I'm sorry to read about the many issues you're trying to deal with and I do understand the sense of feeling desperate and trapped in a horrible place.Again based on experience but not training, I think that when we're in a bad place such as you describe, we have two choices.
1. We can either build up incredibly negative feelings of frustration, anxiety, anger, rage and a whole load of other stuff that will ramp up adrenaline and cortisol levels, increase the volume of T, cause the heart to work really hard dealing with the strain and become increasingly agitated, exhausted and unwell as a result (vicious cycle)
or
2. we can choose not to react negatively and look for approaches that will help us better cope with difficult, stressful and unchanging situations.
It is often the case that no-one else can make a difficult environment go away for us.
If we cannot remedy the cause or remove ourselves from an unpleasant situation that we find ourselves lodged in, we can either accept and deal with it in a way that keep us relatively calm and healthy, or give it the power to drive us, and in so doing everyone around us, crazy.
The bottom line is that if we cannot change the external stimulus that upsets us, it won't change however upset we become.
We can neither change nor control someone else's noisy/inconsiderate behaviour; I've learned this from hard experience. The only thing we have the power to change, if we want to, is our response to it.
This is where meditation techniques come in useful, but it takes application and practise. It is not easy, but if the alternative is impotent fury and distress, I think it's worth trying.
It might be helpful to explore guided meditation with a counsellor or therapist.
and of course we can always vent as much as we want on the 'healthunlocked' site here. I think this is one of the biggest benefits of this forum; we know we can have a rant without fear of censure.
As I said earlier, I do hope you are able to find a solution that works for you. I know that others' inconsiderate behaviour can pump up stress levels to the point of us 'losing it', but this outcome really does not benefit the person who has been driven to such distraction. It changes nothing and, if anything, makes things worse.
I sincerely hope you're able to find at least some peace of mind soon.
thanks for reply. I’m afraid I’m at 1 and have been for a very long time which is why I’m struggling to get out of it. I keep getting health issues that I dont know if they are stress or menopause or a bit of both and as soon as 1 clears up and I think I’m finally getting somewhere boom something else goes wrong and I’m right back to square one, it really gets you down.I went on a nhs anxiety & depression course a few years ago and we did a bit of mindfulness there but I just couldn't relax enough to do it and a nurse tried to get me to do some breathing thing but I keep forgetting to do it. I’m not sure I can afford a counsellor and the nhs here only offers cbt who said that it would be better for me to have counselling which I either couldnt afford or couldnt get to and phone counselling means going out and sitting in the car hoping no one comes along and hears what you are saying. My son suggested getting everything written down that I’m feeling and sending it in an email to the samaritans but I haven't done it yet.
If I could just get a few things sorted out then I could get away from here for a while, maybe even permanently if I could find a job and somewhere decent/cheap enough to rent.
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