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

[Fahzz]

Odd question:

Does anyone else notice that the ringing comes on much more often when sitting- desk, couch, driving- or is it just me?

 

[Doodski]

Odd question:

Does anyone else notice that the ringing comes on much more often when sitting- desk, couch, driving- or is it just me?

Mine is steady at a low level and then sometimes it gets very loud and really penetrates my brain and makes it impossible to ignore for a few minutes and then it fades out to the previous low level that I can forget about if I am not focusing on it. I can be doing something or just sitting doing nothing when it gets really loud.

 

[BDWoody]

That's interesting. I've heard that the brain is trying to "compensate" for hearing loss at that frequency but have never heard that it could also be trying to "recreate" that frequency of tone as in your case. That makes sense and there is probably so much we don't understand about things the brain does like this.

I was talking about various available treatment choices some years ago with my brother, who is an ENT and also suffers from Tinnitus, and he had seen too many that made things worse to recommend anything beyond pursuing internal serenity.

There are apparently many types of tinnitus (no surprise there), and making things worse is not something I'm excited about.

 

[norcalscott]

I was talking about various available treatment choices some years ago with my brother, who is an ENT and also suffers from Tinnitus, and he had seen too many that made things worse to recommend anything beyond pursuing internal serenity.

There are apparently many types of tinnitus (no surprise there), and making things worse is not something I'm excited about.

Agreed, I am reluctant to try anything that may make it worse as mine has been pretty much the same for a number of years, and it doesn’t bother me 90% of the time.

 

[MattHooper]

I was talking about various available treatment choices some years ago with my brother, who is an ENT and also suffers from Tinnitus, and he had seen too many that made things worse to recommend anything beyond pursuing internal serenity.

There are apparently many types of tinnitus (no surprise there), and making things worse is not something I'm excited about.

As I've mentioned I have bad T and also bouts of really bad hyperacusis. I was aware of the claims for TRT (Tinittus Retraining Therapy) which I knew had some level of empirical studies in it's favor (though not definitive), but I never tried it. When I had an acoustic accident that made my hyperacusis unbearable I had the "nothing to loose" moment and found a nearby place offering the therapy. It's a similar therapy for Hyperacusis as for Tinnitus, a main feature being the use of hearing-aid-like noise generators that you wear most of the day, piping in a mild white-noise to get your brain acclimated to sound again. (The presence of the constant noise also decreases percieved dynamic range somewhat, which helps).

Did it work?

No it didn't completely cure the issue. I still have some hearing sensitivity and won't be attending loud movies or concerts any time soon.

Still, after about two years of wearing the devices I had moved from virtually disabled to my normal baseline. In fact I'd say I'm better: I can listen to music at much higher volumes comfortably than I ever could before.

Given the length of time it's impossible to say from this anecdote that I wouldn't have just gotten this much better without the therapy. So for me the jury is still out.

But I can say that the gentle noise generated by the device (a noise sculpted specifically around my hyperacusis issues from testing) immediately
brought some relief to my condition, as soon as I put them on. And I improved pretty quickly from the first month wearing them.

 

[Music1969]

Sometimes tinnitus is induced "mechanically", by stiffened neck muscles. I know I've surfed too long on my mobile when it starts, usually in the left ear first. Sleeping in the wrong position (stomach down) or with wrong type of pillow isn't a good thing either.

These are the only times I get it too.

 

[mattanderson]

Thanks to all for sharing their info and experiences.

Mine became bad enough to bother me after a really loud concert where I forgot my earplugs.

I'm mostly able to forget about it, and I suspect that mine is very mild compared to many, but I think I have the personality to "notice" it often, and I can tell that it affects my concentration sometimes.

My heart goes out to all of you.

 

[Beershaun]

Just had an ad for this pop up on Youtube. Anyone try it or willing to try it out and report back to the group?

Home - Neosensory

The next generation of hearing science Experience sound, rediscover peace Which product is right for you? Hearing Loss Clarify Experience speech via vibrations on your skin. Tinnitus Duo With just 10 minutes a day, you can help alleviate the constant ringing. Deafness Sound Awareness Feel the...

neosensory.com

 

[Aerith Gainsborough]

After a rather nasty middle ear infection, I am now "blessed" with diplacusis.
My left ear hears one semitone higher than my right ear (#C4 vs C4), so I perceive nearly every sound as two instances.

Dear God that is annoying as heck, especially when I try to play a musical instrument. Can only hope that this shit is temporary.

Kinda hilarious, we spend al this time learning about audio, agonizing over practically inaudible technical specs and optimizing our systems .... then from one moment to the next one of our sensors decides to crap out rendering all of it a moot point. At least I can set my RME to mono... never been this thankful for the "balance" setting.

Bottom line: it simply cannot be overstated how precious our hearing really is.

 

[Beershaun]

After a rather nasty middle ear infection, I am now "blessed" with diplacusis.
My left ear hears one semitone higher than my right ear (#C4 vs C4), so I perceive nearly every sound as two instances.

Dear God that is annoying as heck, especially when I try to play a musical instrument. Can only hope that this shit is temporary.

Kinda hilarious, we spend al this time learning about audio, agonizing over practically inaudible technical specs and optimizing our systems .... then from one moment to the next one of our sensors decides to crap out rendering all of it a moot point. At least I can set my RME to mono... never been this thankful for the "balance" setting.

Bottom line: it simply cannot be overstated how precious our hearing really is.

That sounds terrible! I'm so sorry to hear. I hope you fully recover soon!

 

[Robin L]

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.

Nope.

However, I do hear self-noise late at night. I'm currently in the cassette tape, type II Dolby b range of hiss 'n' hum.

 

[DSJR]

When growing up, I always had a kind of 'rushing' sound in my ears when suffering a heavy cold which cleared up. Tinnitus wasn't a huge issue apart from the aftermath of a Led Zeppelin gig at Earls Court in 1975 - the sound down on the floor was excruciatingly loud and my ears rang for days afterwards. Travelling back and forth to London's West End in my early twenties didn't help much, but a job change to the sticks (mid Herts) in 1982 helped a lot and my ears seemed fine until my early 40's. Ringing in my older years didn't start until my mid 40's and gradually built up in the background, but the current severe hearing loss at hf and background tinnitus which is always there now, didn't really kick in until three years or so ago (so early 60's for me) and not sure if T2 Diabetes didn't make it worse (it's caused slight retinopathy but no idea if hearing acuity is affected as well). Wearing hearing aids is the ultimate 'end' for my former career in 'specialised audio' as 'everything' now sounds great and I await the torrent of sarcastic humour should I attend the show that's planned by my local audio 'salon' this autumn.

The tinnitus today is still there, but the increased hf via the aids tends to help it not to intrude as much as it did. PLEASE LOOK AFTER YOUR EARS CHAPS and get professional assistance if you have any issues at all - 'cos once the damage is done, that's it for life!!!!!

 

[Aerith Gainsborough]

That sounds terrible! I'm so sorry to hear. I hope you fully recover soon!

Thanks.

I've read that as much as 5% of the musicians have this condition due to noise trauma. Can't fathom how they continue playing but I guess that's what being a professional entails.

 

[paulrbarnard]

I’m 62 and never had a problem until three or four months ago. I now have it continuously. It is always noticeable and some days downright intrusive. I have no idea what triggered it. The only thing that helps is listening to music I think it is the distraction element. After a few minutes of music the ringing seems to get less intrusive and I start enjoying the music. I find the effect lasts for a few hours after listening but then comes back. I do find stress and lack of sleep increases the volume level significantly or perhaps that is just a reflection of my irritability increasing and noticing more.
it is a terrible thing. I find myself looking at all manner of expensive ‘cures’ but am enough to of a realist to not start emptying my bank account to the snake oil salesmen. I will watch this thread with interest in the hope that someone can share other positive mitigations.

 

[paulrbarnard]

Well, thats weird. followed the tone generator link and it kicks in at 120hz. thats what i hear when its quiet. anyone else has 'low' tinnitus?

Mine is around 5khz.

 

[Soniclife]

After a rather nasty middle ear infection, I am now "blessed" with diplacusis.
My left ear hears one semitone higher than my right ear (#C4 vs C4), so I perceive nearly every sound as two instances.

That does sound annoying. Is it worth investigating if you can pitch shift one channel so that it then matches the other? Probably only usefully for headphones, and you may need to pre-process the audio rather than DSP on the fly.

 

[Aerith Gainsborough]

That does sound annoying. Is it worth investigating if you can pitch shift one channel so that it then matches the other? Probably only usefully for headphones, and you may need to pre-process the audio rather than DSP on the fly.

No, that would not work since there is considerable drift in the frequency shift. It is nonexistent in the bass area, most pronounced at C3 - C4 and gets less the higher you go.

Thankfully, my ear is slowly getting better, the distance of the tones shrinks more and more.

Guess I dodged a bullet there. :S

 

[Soniclife]

No, that would not work since there is considerable drift in the frequency shift. It is nonexistent in the bass area, most pronounced at C3 - C4 and gets less the higher you go.

Thankfully, my ear is slowly getting better, the distance of the tones shrinks more and more.

Guess I dodged a bullet there. :S

Glad it's improving, have you been able to enjoy music with it?

 

[MKreroo]

I was under the impression that the ringing usually happens when listening too loud, but recently I started having the ringing on some days despite listening to the same volume other times.

 

[Aerith Gainsborough]

Glad it's improving, have you been able to enjoy music with it?

Thanks.
Only in mono, otherwise it's a jumbled mess. Even human voices are difficult to focus on.

So ... well not really. Over the last 3 weeks I barely listened to music at all, let alone tried to play my flute/piano.