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Tinnitus and Noise Overload

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Hi All,
I recently lost the hearing in my right ear overnight about 6 weeks ago. I have now started to experience noise overload in my left ear especially when I’m out shopping or in a noisy than normal environment, it seems to overwhelm me causing me to get a little disoriented. Also my tinnitus which i have never suffered from, has started making a clicking sound along with other strange sounds that are not ring or load rushing sounds.
Just not sure if other people have experience this and its just normal or I’m going mad as unable to explain this to people who have not experienced it :disappointed:

9 people in this conversation9 min readJump to latest

Just dont get your reply, just asking question as ive been diagnosed with SSHL and struggling to adapt. But doubt you’ll understand by your reply.

Ah. Good. So you have seen a doctor. Describing this to them doesn’t help? Perhaps an would have a better clue.
I have tinnitus 24/7. But it’s only a high pitch tone sometimes maybe just dissolving into a hiss. Other times I get short term lower tones and then goes away.
There’s a site out there somewhere and likely linked here somewhere that has a sample of what people say they hear. I’ve read that some people suffer rhythmic sounds. That would drive me nuts.
With your sudden loss and these peculiar sounds you’re getting…I dunno. The noise overload might be hyperacussis. I also have some degree of that. Self-diagnosed of course. But that’s more about sudden sharp sounds, not just general din as far as I know.
The clicking…jaw maybe? I can produce lots of sounds with the jaw.

I tried to get answers from the , but no real explanation just that this is tinnitus, felt like there is no real concern. Just trying to get some understanding to what is happening. Thanks for the reply

I think that’s a lazy reply. Hearing stuff eh? Yeah…tinnitus. Too easy. I’ll see if I can find that site of sounds. I’m sure it’s around here somewhere.

Here’s a couple:
https://www.hear-it.org/Impressions-of-hearing-loss-and-Tinnitus-16

Sounds Of Tinnitus | Sound Relief Tinnitus & Hearing Center8

People describe the sounds of tinnitus as intertwining sounds like ringing, hissing, roaring, crickets, screeching, sirens, and more.

Scroll down on each.

You are not mad or crazy although it may feel that way!

My tinnitus has changed over the years. On addition to a pretty much constant ‘eindlike’ noise clicking, ticking, ringing noises all seem to come and go with no identifiable pattern.

Mine is usually not do bad that it disturbs my concentration but can be distracting. The hearing aids help by giving my brain something to do. Masking noises or music help when it is quiet as far as background noise goes.

There is a tinnitus orginization they have a lot of good information on their website. https://www.ata.org/4

I’m not an /Audiologist but I have a few ideas.

You may want to write down these events on the papers so you can have them as a documented records.

I’m guessing in some case, after you lose your hearing your ear is just ringing as the issue of dealing with the change of not being able to hear from the other ear and having a bit of an unbalanced hearing. I am not sure about this though, but if the ENT/Audiologist do not document anything about tinnitus they are not able to provide what’s going on and what is the possible future outcome of this matter.

If your left ear is sensitive to sounds, does it have fluid build up? Or are there any other unusual activity that cause the ear to act differently? Change in the sound environment?

And very likely it may not be normal. Just got to watch out for warnings and how to spot them if anything.

But again, these are just ideas I have and something I’d rather keep an eye out on since it doesn’t seem like a popular situation to digest into finding a solution by some providers. On the other hand, I hardly get them anymore after I got my on my left ear while I wear on my right so I don’t have much data on my tinnitus except the fact I do have a rare case of hearing tinnitus from inside of the cochlear on my left side with the CI as they are low-tone instead of the regular tinnitus I hear from other part of the ear that is the normal tinnitus.

@MangoDragonFruit said:

.

If your left ear is sensitive to sounds, does it have fluid build up? Or are there any other unusual activity that cause the ear to act differently? Change in the sound environment?

It happens more when I’m out shopping were there is a increase of noise activity, There is no fluid build up.

My left ear is the weaker so losing the stronger ear has been a challenge. I will log any changes, incase of any unusual activity so can feed it back to .

Thanks for the help :grin:

These are fairly common symptoms with a sudden loss. Don’t focus too hard on tracking the tinnitus, as over-focussing on it can make it generally more noticeable when you probably want it to be less noticeable. If you’re good at ignoring it, the tinnitus should calm down over time and I would expect the clicking to go away. Expect it to take a long time, though. Figure out what helps you to manage it for now.

To a very large degree, our ability to process speech in noise and to localize sound (which in turn helps with processing speech in noise) requires two ears. So while hearing in quiet may not always be as impacted if you have one good ear, the change in ability to hear in noise can be very dramatic. Go speak to an audiologist for help with managing this if you haven’t already.

I suddenly lost hearing in my right ear in August of 2018. I delayed seeing my because I thought it was just water or an allergy related issue. The Dr. said sudden hearing loss is a significant thing which shouldn’t be taken lightly. He sent me to an audiologist who set up an . I had an acoustic neuroma surrounding my nerves between my ear to my brain right against my brain stem. The surgery was 12 hours and now I’m completely deaf in the right ear, have partial facial paralysis and balance issues. He said that because of the proximity to my brain stem it most likely would have been fatal to just leave it. Make certain you’re safe.

I use an Oticon Cross because of my job. I find that too much sound especially on the left is overwhelming every other voices or sounds but this is whether I’m using the hearing aids or not. I keep hoping I learn to adjust but in about a year and a half I haven’t. If I’m driving and I want to hear my passenger I have to have the windows all closed and no radio on at all. Partys suck too.

I had my about 2 weeks ago and still awaiting the results from my . I have been recommended a CROSS hearing aid but will take about 6 to 8 weeks for me to be assesed and fitted, that was 4 weeks ago. It took 4 weeks to schedule an MRI. Im lucky in the sense the tinnitus doesn’t effect me sleeping, just while I’m awake. When your hearing goes in one ear it does feel like a piece of you head is missing and until it happens to you its hard to imagine the impact it has. I currently have to work from home due to covid, going to be a challenge once I’m back in the office.

Good luck to you with the . Losing even partial functioning of one of our senses is immediately noticeable. But they say we adapt.

If you’re completely deaf on that ear, then cross might make sense.

However, if not, I’d encourage looking at wearing TWO aids which communicate between themselves. Like, phonak marvel/paradise/ costco ks9.

It always make sense to try to aid bad ear. However it makes sense to help your brain to process that information, hence aid for good ear to make your life easier.

Cons of cross devices is that you lose ‘where did this sound come from’.
Cross means - just move the sound to the good ear.
Bicross is when you move the sound to the better ear but that better ear still needs help, so it’s an aid.
Tricross or ampcross is a name for a workaround that can be done with some aids, where you aid bad ear AND transfer the sound to the good/better ear and aid or not the better/good ear, depending what you need.
Check this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K9d1l0PwGA45

Marvels and paradises transfer sounds between themselves even in automatic mode, albeit lightly, but enough to notice something is going on.
But there are also custom programs to achieve so, like 360 or acoustic phone.

I wear that combo - aid for good ear for convenience and aid for bad ear to keep it and brain working since it’s not totally dead. Many pros think I’m crazy or whatever, but being able to really hear from which direction car comes (I test it when I close my eyes), and have improved comprehension as compared to having just bad ear aided, is definitely worth the price for me.

Hi, I began having episodes of acute hearing loss in my right ear overnight about 3 years ago. I have tinnitus in both ears anyhow but in the right, when this happens, it’s so loud and a different tone. My hearing at first is really just lost and then, like you, loud noises are unbearable and sound like a broken speaker. My treats these episodes as emergencies. He starts high dose steroid taper and sound eventually returns to baseline. He believes it is a rare form of Meniers disease without the vertigo. The first couple episodes took a little while for hearing to return but lately, the last year, they recur with more frequency but hearing returns to baseline more quickly especially if I get steroids immediately. He gives me a script to fill and keep on hand. Another option is injection directly into eardrum. I can’t bring myself to allow that so far. But for me, at least, my hearing does improve after these episodes. I don’t know how I would live with it if it stayed that way. And yes, disoriented is a perfect word for how it feels when it happens. I’ve had one time it happened during the day while working. It was immediate and it did disorient me until I realized what it was.

Hi mjohno. With these things I don’t think there is any one answer but for sure you need see a good gp and also an audiologist or . I’ve had tinnitus from as far as remember and also mid/severe hearing loss. It’s a nuisance but guess always been there so didn’t come overnight. However the SHL is a mystery and also accompanying tinnitus. I have constant tinnitus like a high pitched buzz but quite often I go completely deaf in one or both ears and the T does mad things and annoyingly is like a siren or fire alarm going off but over minutes or few days goes back to the norm. I think you should get proper medical advice and seek out a good audio as sometimes there are underlying things going on. It is annoying but that’s easy to say as have had loud tinnitus all life but when it gets too much I’ve kinda got strategies to take mind from focussing too much. Child I am I play some games on line or else get stuck into house work or get involved in a good novel. No one can give answers on forum but it’s good to share with fellow like minded. Get proper medical advice to put mind at rest then you’ll have more of an idea. Wish u well and hope u get some answers and find ways to make it a bit easier. Kind regards

Sorry but ps as only responded initial post. Ye hearing aids mentioned are prob best way to go and do take time to get used to but could make huge difference. I feel like am totally deaf in one ear as can clear without aids in one at talking levels. I thought was pointless to have 2 aids working in tandem adjusted to levels of loss but using the 2 together gives me a more balanced detection of sound and direction so give it a go. Took ,e a while to get used to but makes a world of difference good luck :heart_eyes_cat:

Thanks for all the comments, in the last week things seem to be calming down and feel so much better, feel more balanced and tinnitus remains the same. Still awaiting appointment for hearing aid, i hope this will further improve the situation. :grin:

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