Trying not to google but I need help not to do it !

[jessygirl77]

I'm literally obsessed and scared out of my mind that I am gonna have a lifelong
Battle with tinnitus do to my ears sounding static for the last week ! This had happened to me before . I googled it and read horrific stories of ppl plagued by tourtures ear ringing like it's a disorder that never goes away. I'm trying to chop away at feeling so upset by this but I can't just chalk it up to being just anxiety that will go away once I calm down . Why do some ppl get it to a normal degree and it just goes away and doesn't become a issue and others it's a lifelong problem . Are ear sounds a thing that are normal at times , or if I have it does that mean I have legit tinnitus ? I can't make the separation between a regular physical sensation or a legit terriable disorder

[darkside4k]

I think the more you obsess about it the more you are going to "hear" it. I highly doubt you will be stuck that way for life.

[jessygirl77]

I know ear ringing is normal to a degree and if y add in other factors it can make it more obvious but how do I know the difference between normal body function of the ear and actual tinnitus disorder ??? With out googling symptoms or reading ppls stories

[O_O]

For people with lifelong tinnitus, it normally comes on gradually in later life and is generally caused by some sort of ear trauma. For example, listening to very loud music for many years, or not using the correct ear protection at work, etc. My mother has worked in the music industry her whole life and has quite bad tinnitus because of it. Not that it's relevant, but she's so used to it now that she often forgets about it... although it tends to be the loudest thing in the room when she thinks about it!

If the tinnitus in your case has been brought on for no reason other than anxiety (common) then there's absolutely no reason that it won't resolve when your anxiety lessens. You've only had this a week, so it sounds acute and temporary.

Are you getting help with the anxiety? Which should in turn help the tinnitus.

[jessygirl77]

Thank you for responding !!!!! I will have it 2 weeks this Saturday. I have had it before and it left for months at a time ! I also have a lot of allergies and sinus pressure , and tight neck muscles. The idea of having a loud ring sound 24/7 sounds like tourture and is giving me insane anxiety ! Like it's all I can think about :( although I don't have loud ringing it's more like white noise

---------- Post added at 21:18 ---------- Previous post was at 21:16 ----------

And now that I think about it I did work I. A loud preschool class for 3 years with small kids so what if that causes me to get it louder and permanent ! Omg now I panicking

[O_O]

Thank you for responding !!!!! I will have it 2 weeks this Saturday. I have had it before and it left for months at a time ! I also have a lot of allergies and sinus pressure , and tight neck muscles. The idea of having a loud ring sound 24/7 sounds like tourture and is giving me insane anxiety ! Like it's all I can think about :( although I don't have loud ringing it's more like white noise

---------- Post added at 21:18 ---------- Previous post was at 21:16 ----------

And now that I think about it I did work I. A loud preschool class for 3 years with small kids so what if that causes me to get it louder and permanent ! Omg now I panicking

No no, noisy children wouldn't cause it! Well, unless you had one literally screaming right in your ear for hours every day :) The trauma that tends to cause tinnitus is from very loud music, especially if you use earphones, and loud machinery. And it has to be repeated exposure.

Now obviously people CAN get it for other reasons, but it's unusual. And the fact that you've had it before with anxiety, and it's gone away, makes it overwhelmingly likely that yours is purely anxiety based and will go away again once you start to feel calmer. I get it must be really annoying though. Hang in there! Do you have therapy or do any anti anxiety exercises? Or are you on any meds for anxiety?

[Nikolai]

Google is so unhelpful and terrifying with this kind of stuff.

I've had tinnitus for 16 years -- I'm a professional musician and got it pretty early. I never even notice any more, unless something brings it to my attention. But a lot of people just get it temporarily from anxiety. The useful trick for me was to learn to listen to something else, some other sound in the environment; and I always sleep with a little white noise generator. If it is the only "sound" where I am, I've learned to think of it like the sound of summer insects in a forest -- a kind, comforting, benign, non-threatening sound. It only bothered me the first couple months. But it sounds like you have a temporary, anxiety-triggered type.

By the way, one doctor I had prescribed a low dose of amitriptyline at bedtime -- it reduces the subjective intensity -- that's only if it bugs you when you're trying to get to sleep.

Nikolai

[paranoid-viking]

Sometimes the best medicine is complete digital detox. Like relocating yourself to an area without Internet connection for a while. I know in this time and age it is difficult , but maybe you should try for a while. Or maybe have Internet free days.