Do you have Tinnitis? (Ringing sound in your ears)

[Soandso]

If anyone is wondering where the tinnitus sound comes from inside the brain a proposed location is the para-hypothalamus. It is a brain component associated with accuracy of sound frequencies (as best I recall).

The linkage is prior sound which the para-hypothalamus processed gets reproduced creating the "auditory hallucination" that it is being heard. One rational for this being a prior sound evocation is that deafness from birth in one ear with subsequent tinnitus in the hearing ear results in no tinnitus on the side of the ear deaf from birth.

I have not come across anything about why the para-hypothalamus draws up any specific sound frequency for tinnitus and not some other frequency. One research team makes a convoluted explanation that I'll just say amounts to tinnitus being futile cycles of auditory neurons "re-booting" for balance. If so, then conceivably in the para-hypothalamus archive of sounds heard by us there are frequencies with an archaic evolutionary link akin to "tuning up" accurately.

Some discuss stress and/or emotional components contributing to tinnitus episodes. There are neural auditory pathways linking the hypothalamus to the amygdala which would explain why some say relaxation improves their tinnitus. I surmise there is something like a neural feedback loop from the amygdala back to the hypothalamus and thence the para-hypothalamus, which then stops it's piping up.

The development of tinnitus is not always associated with one kind of cause. And for that matter not every tinnitus progressively affects the brain similarly.

However, in some tinnitus cases over time our brain's plasticity has been shown to undergo selective neural pathway(s) re-wiring. The variable ranges of neural changes, in what I'll call chronic tinnitus, probably account for different manifestations of tinnitus intractability among sufferers.

Sorry, no citations at hand right now to add here.

 

[flaviowolff]

I just started hearing the high pitch frequency for the first time after reading this thread. I really hope it's just my mind playing tricks.

 

[flaviowolff]

So, after a few days, I'm positive that I'm suffering from mild tinnitus (probably monotone, around 10khz).
I'm not sure how long I had it, as I only became aware of it after reading this thread.
IDK if my tinnitus is jaw-related, loud noise-related, or both. I do suffer from mild TMJ disorder (jaw clicking when I open my mouth, but no pain whatsoever) and I can hear the tinnitus frequency changing a bit when I chew.
I'm not a musician and I live in a quiet environment, but this year I attended a Metallica stadium concert and watched Top Gun: Maverick at the theater, and I remember this session being way too loud, especially at the first scenes with music and the jets taking off.
Nevertheless, at first I was sort of pissed off that I became aware of it, but now I'm grateful because at least I can take measures to prevent it from getting worse.

 

[Soandso]

... I'm not sure how long I had it, as I only became aware of it after reading this thread.
IDK if my tinnitus is jaw-related, loud noise-related, or both. I do suffer from mild TMJ ...

Only 1-2% of tinnitus is body vibratory somatic sounds which can be picked up by a stethoscope: thus categorized as "objective" tinnitus. The rest of times only the suffer hears it and it is non-vibratory detectable sound: thus "subjective" tinnitus.

Sometimes "subjective" tinnitus arises from within neurological components comprising the brain's para-auditory network. It seems sufferers with sensitivity to episodes of anxiety or anxiety are somewhat prone to tinnitus; with, in turn, increasing tinnitus provoking even more anxiety leading them to being more aware of tinnitus. Reading about tinnitus and then experiencing it suggests, to me, such a component of para-auditory elicitation (clinically about 20% of tinnitus suffers have anxiety/depression/sleep disorders).

There is another category of "subjective" tinnitus that is related to sensori-neural parts of our auditory network nerve fibers firing at any time. The (2021) free full text available on-line "Multidisciplinary Tinnitus Research: Challenges and Future Directions From the Perspective of Early Stage Researchers" points out how sensori-neural related tinnitus involves dorsal cochlear nucleus fusiform cells which interface somato-sensory and sound input having "... associations of tinnitus onset or aggravation with somatic co-morbidities (such a temporo-
mandibular joint [TMJ] and cervical spine disorders)...."

 

[Philbo King]

That's an outright "post-hypnotic suggestion" offer that I respectfully decline!

I may find out that I have hypochondriacal tendencies, and tinnitus is something I don't want to EVER experience... if I don't have to.
This does not mean that I lack much empathy for those who experience such bouts (*including my mate).
Out of ignorance: Does pink or white (heck, any color!) noise decrease the level when tinnitus is being experienced?

There is an Android app called MyNoise (they also have a web site) which has a preset called Tinnitus Neuromodulator. It has helped reduce my tinnitus a lot. It (as far as I can tell, I'm no neurologist) trains your brain to tune out the tinnitus. After using it while sleeping for a few months I no longer heard the tinnitus, even in silence, unless I consciously chose to notice it. Your mileage may vary...

Tinnitus Neuromodulator — Free Tinnitus Masker

De-stressing and pushing your tinnitus out of your mind are probably among the best pieces of advice you can get. Tinnitus can jump in and play with your nerves, you need to stop letting it do so and teach your brain to tune it out.

mynoise.net

 

[earlevel]

For those trying to imagine tinnitus this tone generator is set to 9.5KHz and a low volume level. Adjust it to a very low level and then you can hear what people experience.

Interesting, about 14k for me.

Some years back, I took a medication, and the ringing started. I stopped the medication, and the ringing seemed to be going away over a couple of months, but I decided it was pretty tolerable and took the medication for some time, which was an extremely small daily dose (1 mg) that had no other noticeable negative effects. I don't take the medication any more, but the ringing appears to have become permanent. It's high enough that I don't notice it when listening to music. (I played in bands when younger, so yes there was ear abuse too. I feel lucky that my hearing is largely intact.)

 

[odarg64]

I have tinnitus in my right ear accompanied by hyperacusis. I suspect that my right ear damage was caused or exacerbated by many years of playing bell up euphonium and tuba. I'm sure that listening to loud music through headphones, e.g., while operating a gas-powered lawn mower, as a stupid kid contributed to my issues. I also have some age-related loss, but my hearing is quite over-sensitive overall. I have recently developed nausea and balance issues after experiencing loud sounds (sirens, barking dogs, clanging dishes etc), so I have to get back to the audiologist. I've had to give up playing music, attending most live concerts, films in theaters and any potentially noisy events. Custom-fit Westone/Etymotic earplugs are barely adequate for smallish group Renaissance and Baroque concerts, but that's about it. The tinnitus is most noticeable when I sleep, so I play low level pink noise through sleephones, which works well. I listen to music through headphones using a very low power headphone amplifier, so I still have fun with that.

 

[flaviowolff]

I wonder which would be less risky for your hearing in general: closed-back headphones/in ear monitors or open-back headphones.
Open-backs tend to be driven with higher volumes because of the lack of isolation. OTOH, they dont create any pressure on your eardrums.

 

[odarg64]

I wonder which would be less risky for your hearing in general: closed-back headphones/in ear monitors or open-back headphones.
Open-backs tend to be driven with higher volumes because of the lack of isolation. OTOH, they dont create any pressure on your eardrums.

Sounds like a worthwhile audiology student thesis.

 

[paulrbarnard]

I wonder which would be less risky for your hearing in general: closed-back headphones/in ear monitors or open-back headphones.
Open-backs tend to be driven with higher volumes because of the lack of isolation. OTOH, they dont create any pressure on your eardrums.

Interesting thought. I’ll risk being subjective for a moment.

When I travel I use IEM (Shure 846) and listen for the entire flights, typically more than eight hours. At home I listen to open back headphones (Grado RS1i and Audeze LCD5) typically for three hours or so in an evening. I also have music on through my working day via desktop monitors. In terms of impact to my tinnitus. I find the speakers help me ignore it but have no impact on the severity. Same with the IEM on long flights. It kills it while I’m listening but it’s the same when I arrive as when I left. The open backs however reduce the effect for some time after listening. I find the grados, which sit on my ears and are very open to surrounding noise, have the most impact.
Of course this is all subjective and specific to me but leads me to think there is no detrimental impact from using different headphones but possibly some therapeutic aspect related to hearing sound in conjunction with external sounds.
The interesting part for me is that speakers don’t have the same effect as open back headphones. I’ve puzzled over that and can’t form a reasonable hypothesis. I listen to music quietly no matter what I am using for fear of increasing the problem. It could be I listen to music louder on the speakers than headphone as there is an element of noise blocking, albeit small, even with open backs.
I agree with @odarg64 that it would be an excellent and informative thesis for someone.

 

[pseudoid]

Dude WTF. I almost broke a hip trying to Google "coterminously". There should be a $50 deposit before using words like that. ...

That word is recognized and is provided with a definition in my local WordWebPro.

Fribulation starts at 6hz.

Not so with this one and it is NOT worth a broken hip.

 

[pseudoid]

A mention was made to "road-noise tinnitus" during a truck review.
I had never heard of it... nor personally experienced it.
YMMV
"Association between exposure to road traffic noise and hearing impairment: A case-control study" discusses it here.

 

[Scrappy]

Drinking alcohol makes it worse in scale with amount drunk

I hear white noise when sauced. No ringing fortunately.

 

[Keithdd]

Mine started just over a week ago and I'm really pissed about it. Also lost a lot of hearing in that ear. Maybe 90%. Just woke up like that. It's ringing around 9khz. Constant. I can still hear up to 9khz in that ear but it's very quiet. Was good for 13khz and better volume than left ear. I have been lucky to have had no hearing probs apart from very occasional blockage needing syringing. No idea what caused it, but was in the midst of a mild cold. Seeing audiologist for tests today. Internet says often it goes away by itself. Some frequencies in speech/music/tv sound really odd and others almost painful. And losing the ability to really enjoy music is a downer. Shocked to see how many here report it.

 

[Fahzz]

I hear white noise when sauced. No ringing fortunately.

I belive the kids call that a "buzz on".

 

[Kachda]

I got my tinnitus as a kid when a firecracker went off in my hand. Annoying as shit

 

[MattHooper]

I got my tinnitus as a kid when a firecracker went off in my hand. Annoying as shit

Two of my best friends when teenagers were playing with firecrackers. They were standing beside each other lighting and throwing cherry bombs. One guy lit his firecracker, raised it up to throw but it exploded just as he had raised it between their heads.

Ever since that accident, one guy has had bad tinnitus and some hearing loss in his right ear, the other guy the same issues for his left ear.

The number of fireworks/firecracker accidents must be staggering.

 

[DonR]

Mine started just over a week ago and I'm really pissed about it. Also lost a lot of hearing in that ear. Maybe 90%. Just woke up like that. It's ringing around 9khz. Constant. I can still hear up to 9khz in that ear but it's very quiet. Was good for 13khz and better volume than left ear. I have been lucky to have had no hearing probs apart from very occasional blockage needing syringing. No idea what caused it, but was in the midst of a mild cold. Seeing audiologist for tests today. Internet says often it goes away by itself. Some frequencies in speech/music/tv sound really odd and others almost painful. And losing the ability to really enjoy music is a downer. Shocked to see how many here report it.

"Welcome" to the club. At least you are not alone. It is, unfortunately, a big club.

 

[Andysu]

I have tinnitus in my right ear accompanied by hyperacusis. I suspect that my right ear damage was caused or exacerbated by many years of playing bell up euphonium and tuba. I'm sure that listening to loud music through headphones, e.g., while operating a gas-powered lawn mower, as a stupid kid contributed to my issues. I also have some age-related loss, but my hearing is quite over-sensitive overall. I have recently developed nausea and balance issues after experiencing loud sounds (sirens, barking dogs, clanging dishes etc), so I have to get back to the audiologist. I've had to give up playing music, attending most live concerts, films in theaters and any potentially noisy events. Custom-fit Westone/Etymotic earplugs are barely adequate for smallish group Renaissance and Baroque concerts, but that's about it. The tinnitus is most noticeable when I sleep, so I play low level pink noise through sleephones, which works well. I listen to music through headphones using a very low power headphone amplifier, so I still have fun with that.
View attachment 220177

he put creatures inside of us , to control our minds .

 

[Andysu]

had it since 1979 , battlestar galatica in sensurround abc 1 bournemouth , maybe most intense use of 70mm sensurround on earthquake , same running time only earthquake had less use of it where battlestar was sensurround nearly most of the running time . all i hear on/off is hissing noise centered around 6KHz and 8KHz and it can be rather taxing pressure where i want punch the wall , lot of good that will do .

i don't have any high frequency hearing loss . its the hissing that sounds like a capacitor that goes noisy after few minutes and all i hear is hissing which i guess if -100dB may sound around -60dB or -50dB inner ear noise . i can use headphones centre narrow band pink noise or sine wave to roughly guess where its centred at .