I think you are right in terms of members of this forum with similar backgrounds to origin. Mine all started after second COVID infection. There then again I always had hearing issues (minor) - I wonder if COVID started something that was minor to become worse somehow? It's hard to tell however, and I am unsure if this knowledge will help with advancing why as not sure there is any research into this, which is what it probably needs.
I certainly felt generally my recovery second time from COVID infection was a real struggle. I talk to friends now who feel they are still struggling with it (in different ways). It does appear COVID may have complex affects.
I, too have heard talk about Covid jabs and actual Covid causing T but personally, I had a fall, hit my head, did a whiplash injury and neck strain and the T has been with my since then. 5 months in to my T journey. Life was great before that.
Mine started in my left ear nearly 30 years ago while the ear was full of wax and I was using ear-drops to soften the wax before syringing. However, around that time I used to listen to music at high volume through headphones from a Walkman, especially when travelling, so that could have been the underlying cause. The tinnitus in my right ear started in about the past 10 years and was a more gradual process.
Given the huge number of people who get Covid vaccinations every year, it is inevitable that some people's tinnitus will start by coincidence in the period immediately after the vaccination. As for Covid itself, I haven't had it yet and dread the prospect in case it affects my tinnitus, which is bad enough already. Having said that, my tinnitus has so far tended to be subdued when I've had bad colds.
Did the ENT man say Covid or Covid Jab (or both)? Either way there is nothing empirical about it. The research just isn't there. Not yet. Anecdotal is where we are currently at, with all aspects of the thing.
This is a good opportunity to bust some myths, for which I thank you.
Covid-19 can, for some people, lead to complex and still not well understand organ and sensory pathway damage which can include hearing loss, which is often manifested by tinnitus. There are some early research indicators that severe enough Covid infections can bring about this difficulty for sufferers.
Covid jabs have not been established to have much of a relationship with tinnitus onset, despite online misinformation claiming the contrary.
We really need to keep this distinction clear, as Covid jabs and boosters, like flu jabs, save lives. I think what the ENT was saying to our original poster is that Covid can lead to the organ damage which might introduce tinnitus - what they should not being saying as any kind of responsible physician is that Covid jabs may introduce tinnitus, as this is anything but empirically proven.
Mine started immediately after the very first Covid Jab. Never had an issue before that. I still have the yearly Jabs and it has not made it any worse! Could be coincidence? Whilst I struggle to get used to this horrible noise (and still do some days!) much better than having Covid!
I've been on antihistamines since I was 3 or 4 years old, due to very persistent constant atopic skin, today recenly they called it the "atopic triad," and also have had really explosions of itching anytime I have any sugar of any kind, though with the antihistamines available I didn't figure that out for a very long time and so tended to be a sugarholic for most of my life. That's been lifelong and the only thing that has gone near it have been antihistamines so I've been having to take antihistamines constantly and chronically since that whole time and I'm 69 now. I suspect the antihistamines had something to do with it, but then that lifelong allergy thing where your immune system attacks you certainly seems to have a possibility of being a tinnitus cause too.
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But I've also always had high blood pressure and pretty terrible blood lipids. I happen to think all of these things can be related but evidence? I have never tried to study it and I've never gotten much of an answer so a lot of plain old speculation on my part, and now with the age thing these things have been lifelong factors or at least present as variables, and I really wasn't much aware of oxidation and radicals and such things until the last decades or so, so even if something might have worked to help in my younger years I wouldn't be surprised if there's a time limit when you have these progressive variables around for a lifetime.
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One thing I know I can rule out is overexposure to sounds, at least that one possibility I've avoided cuz I've never been much of a headbanger. And I don't think I've been enough of a drinker to make a difference there. I do think there is something going on with cell phones, and that in time cell phone companies natural proclivity to suppress and just not investigate into any evidence at all about that will, with future decades, eventually come out, like they have with many industries. It seems to me that even at low power, up against your ear microwaves are going to do to your brain and signaling neural sensorium what they do to your morning eggs over time.
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