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Hey all, I'm in a very strange situation.
Last November, I started a job in a factory. Because I take personal safety importantly, I wore hearing protection (earplugs + earmuffs) whenever I worked here (even though some of the other employees did not take hearing protection that seriously).
Everything was going well until one day when I had run out of earplugs. As a makeshift option, I shoved chewing gum in my ears instead of earplugs (and it surprisingly worked well). But after 8 hours of working, it got lodged into my ear canal and I had to go to the ER to get it removed.
After the chewing gum removal, the doctor had also noted that I had excess earwax. He then made the executive decision to scrape out some of the wax from my ear canal without confirming with me first.
About 2 days later, I once again was at work but I did not have any earplugs in hand. But I did not want to repeat the whole chewing gum incident, so I just wore my earmuffs (without any earplugs). My earmuffs are hunting earmuffs with a 23dB reduction rating and they are technically designed to withdstand gunshot noises. So I thought that was enough protection.
A day later, I noticed I had acquired tinnitus. I noticed a few other symptoms. It was reactive tinnitus (the ringing amplified by the environment's noise) and I was also experiencing dysacusis.
Because of this, I had to take leave from work for several days. I then went back to work a few times but I realized that even with hearing protection, the noise levels at work were aggravating my tinnitus. It soon occured to me that my ears have become overly sensitive and I now cannot work in any type of noisy environment.
So I had to quit my job. I'm very distressed now because this problem has affected my entire life and work prospects. I now have to wear earplugs every time I go to any public area. Areas like mall food courts are almost unbearable without earplugs.
But I do not know exactly how I got this problem.I have multiple theories:
Theory #1: When the doctor removed earwax from my inner ear canal, he ended up exposing my eardrum (when it had been protected by natural earwax for years) and my auditory system could not handle this new level of raw sound that it hasn't been exposed to in probably decades.
Theory #2: The noise levels in the factory might have been over the danger level (85dB).
Theory 2 is very iffy because there are other employees there who don't wear hearing protection. It's possible that the baseline level of sound in the factory is within the safe limit but it sometimes goes to higher levels when certain machinery is turned on.
So I don't know whether its the doctor's fault or my employer's fault. Any advice what I can do?
Note: Before you say it, the chewing gum itself cannot cause tinnitus. Tinnitus is caused by inner ear hair damage (which is behind the eardrum). Mostly caused by acoustic shock.
Last November, I started a job in a factory. Because I take personal safety importantly, I wore hearing protection (earplugs + earmuffs) whenever I worked here (even though some of the other employees did not take hearing protection that seriously).
Everything was going well until one day when I had run out of earplugs. As a makeshift option, I shoved chewing gum in my ears instead of earplugs (and it surprisingly worked well). But after 8 hours of working, it got lodged into my ear canal and I had to go to the ER to get it removed.
After the chewing gum removal, the doctor had also noted that I had excess earwax. He then made the executive decision to scrape out some of the wax from my ear canal without confirming with me first.
About 2 days later, I once again was at work but I did not have any earplugs in hand. But I did not want to repeat the whole chewing gum incident, so I just wore my earmuffs (without any earplugs). My earmuffs are hunting earmuffs with a 23dB reduction rating and they are technically designed to withdstand gunshot noises. So I thought that was enough protection.
A day later, I noticed I had acquired tinnitus. I noticed a few other symptoms. It was reactive tinnitus (the ringing amplified by the environment's noise) and I was also experiencing dysacusis.
Because of this, I had to take leave from work for several days. I then went back to work a few times but I realized that even with hearing protection, the noise levels at work were aggravating my tinnitus. It soon occured to me that my ears have become overly sensitive and I now cannot work in any type of noisy environment.
So I had to quit my job. I'm very distressed now because this problem has affected my entire life and work prospects. I now have to wear earplugs every time I go to any public area. Areas like mall food courts are almost unbearable without earplugs.
But I do not know exactly how I got this problem.I have multiple theories:
Theory #1: When the doctor removed earwax from my inner ear canal, he ended up exposing my eardrum (when it had been protected by natural earwax for years) and my auditory system could not handle this new level of raw sound that it hasn't been exposed to in probably decades.
Theory #2: The noise levels in the factory might have been over the danger level (85dB).
Theory 2 is very iffy because there are other employees there who don't wear hearing protection. It's possible that the baseline level of sound in the factory is within the safe limit but it sometimes goes to higher levels when certain machinery is turned on.
So I don't know whether its the doctor's fault or my employer's fault. Any advice what I can do?
Note: Before you say it, the chewing gum itself cannot cause tinnitus. Tinnitus is caused by inner ear hair damage (which is behind the eardrum). Mostly caused by acoustic shock.
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