First and most important - extremely happy for you!
But for our learning, what do you think lead to this recent change? The other health conditions you mentioned got better?
Or something else changed?
-
Welcome to ASR. There are many reviews of audio hardware and expert members to help answer your questions. Click here to have your audio equipment measured for free!
Lenire Tinnitus Treatment
- Thread starter amirm
- Start date
But for our learning, what do you think lead to this recent change? The other health conditions you mentioned got better?
Or something else changed?
OP
- Thread Starter
- #282
That's exactly my situation.
BeeKay
Major Contributor
Likewise. Only during periods of severe stress or flu can it get really loud.
me too.
- Joined
- May 12, 2019
- Messages
- 239
- Likes
- 117
It's most often neurological AFAIK, with some susceptibility to psychological and physiological modulation, like responding to blood flow modifications but also to where your attention is or how you're coping with it.
The most recent interesting thing for me has been the realization that it also has adaptive negative-feedback qualities, like many biological mechanisms, and responds in counterintuitive ways to some interventions: I used to think that because many city noises trigger it and make it seem immediately louder, uncontrolled exposure to city noises was always a bad thing, and the more I could isolate myself from that, the better off I would be.
Not so. Too many consecutive days spent with too many hours of wearing earplugs actually exacerbate the tinnitus (probably by raising my neurological sensitivity just like the initial hearing loss made the perceptual system overcompensate by generating too much fake signal at those frequencies), and "the cure" is to spend reasonably dosed amounts of time intentionally exposed to regular non-extreme everyday noises of all kinds, and then the tinnitus subsides to my long-term-average, easily ignored level.
The most recent interesting thing for me has been the realization that it also has adaptive negative-feedback qualities, like many biological mechanisms, and responds in counterintuitive ways to some interventions: I used to think that because many city noises trigger it and make it seem immediately louder, uncontrolled exposure to city noises was always a bad thing, and the more I could isolate myself from that, the better off I would be.
Not so. Too many consecutive days spent with too many hours of wearing earplugs actually exacerbate the tinnitus (probably by raising my neurological sensitivity just like the initial hearing loss made the perceptual system overcompensate by generating too much fake signal at those frequencies), and "the cure" is to spend reasonably dosed amounts of time intentionally exposed to regular non-extreme everyday noises of all kinds, and then the tinnitus subsides to my long-term-average, easily ignored level.
Last edited:
A very interesting journal article with tons of background information. A lot of Tinnitus threads so I picked the one with the most reply's
EJ3
Master Contributor
I think that I will be going in a sleep study next month. I have heard it though the KUZU vine that my Dr. will have a prescription for me to do that when I go their on April 1 for my annual physical.
I guess that I better let them know about my tinnitus.
MattHooper
Grand Contributor
- Joined
- Jan 27, 2019
- Messages
- 11,123
- Likes
- 19,765
I seem to be doing better. It’s been a little over a month since I started my own bit of exposure therapy to listening to music again quietly. I noticed my system has become more and more calm and used to it. And it’s really nice to have something in my day like that to look forward to and enjoy. As I mentioned before, it’s a significant increase in quality of life to listen to music on my system again.
Also, sleep seems to be easier with regard to the tinnitus. I have a white noise machine beside my bed that produces a dull sound (I don’t want it to cover my tinnitus, which it doesn’t because my tinnitus is still easily audible as a higher frequency above that sound). But I was also for a long time using an old iPhone of mine to add some higher white noise frequencies while I slept.
I’ve decided that I don’t need that anymore so that’s another nice step forward.
Btw, in case it’s of interest to anybody, I’ve done some sessions with this gentleman;
www.cbtfortinnitus.com
He’s a psychologist/cognitive behaviour therapist who suffers from severe tinnitus himself. He is very hard-nosed about evidence based treatments. He holds that, while tinnitus is not “ curable,” CBT is the most well studied and evidence-based treatment for “ tinnitus distress.” So it’s not about some mechanical or medical cure for the ringing itself. But rather it’s a recognition that more than anything, it is the distress an individual experiences from tinnitus that is the main problem - or at least at this point, the part of the problem that can actually be treated .
It is recognized in tinnitus science, that the amount of distress an individual feels from tinnitus is not necessarily directly correlated to the loudness of the tinnitus.
This is continuous with studies in pain science which shows that people with similar pathologies (e.g. similar damage to their nerves or to their spine or wherever) have different experiences in terms of how distressing they find the pain. One person can be essentially disabled by their sense of pain while another person with essentially the same condition can get on with life and not even notice it much.
I think anybody who has had tinnitus for a long time or who has looked into the experience of others with tinnitus as well can recognize this phenomenon.
Even in myself: I’ve had extremely loud tinnitus since the late 90s. I remember even back then lying in bed and my tinnitus was so loud it brought to mind visions of being at a Van Halen concert in which nothing but feedback was coming through the huge PA system, and I was stuck in that venue.
And yet… I could still ultimately dismiss the relevance of it and get back to sleep and habituate again so that I was not really paying attention to it.
So I’ve always been able to rehabituate to my tinnitus whenever I’ve had flareups over the years. As I mentioned before it just happens that I had a huge T flareup while dealing with another debilitating condition, which makes it harder to slip back into regular life and forget the tinnitus.
Essentially, my other condition has me stuck lying down for most of my waking hours, so the natural habituation that comes when engaging normal life, and normal life exposure, has been unavailable to me.
Which is why I’ve started my own graded exposure.
Another thing that reminds me of how much mental state and psychology plays a role in this: because I’m starting to finally expand my physical activity, I’ve now been able to walk numerous times to the nearby intersection at the end of my neighbourhood Street.
When I’m standing there, I’m pretty much filled with joy just to be even there and having a foot back into the real world.
And when I come back home I have no flareup of tinnitus. And yet the road noise that I’m exposed to when I’m standing at that intersection - cars, motorcycles, street-cars, buses going by right in front of me - is FAR louder than anything I’m exposed to at home. And certainly far louder than the music I’m playing at this point.
And yet, again, no sense of increased tinnitus or tinnitus distress after I visit that intersection. Which again reminds me of the mental/psychological/habituation component of dealing with tinnitus. I’m sort of having to relearn lessons that I’d learned through the decades of living with tinnitus.
Btw, in case of any help, here are some nice resources/articles from Dr Hubbard’s site:
www.cbtfortinnitus.com
Also, sleep seems to be easier with regard to the tinnitus. I have a white noise machine beside my bed that produces a dull sound (I don’t want it to cover my tinnitus, which it doesn’t because my tinnitus is still easily audible as a higher frequency above that sound). But I was also for a long time using an old iPhone of mine to add some higher white noise frequencies while I slept.
I’ve decided that I don’t need that anymore so that’s another nice step forward.
Btw, in case it’s of interest to anybody, I’ve done some sessions with this gentleman;
About 1 — Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) for Tinnitus: Relief From Tinnitus. Skills for Life.
Dr Bruce Hubbard is a top tinnitus expert who specializes in CBT, Cognitive Behavior Therapy, and has tinnitus. Bruce brings his unique brand of CBT, updating the traditional “cognitive” approach to include mindfulness, acceptance, and values-directed action to fully rejoin life with tinnitus.
www.cbtfortinnitus.com
He’s a psychologist/cognitive behaviour therapist who suffers from severe tinnitus himself. He is very hard-nosed about evidence based treatments. He holds that, while tinnitus is not “ curable,” CBT is the most well studied and evidence-based treatment for “ tinnitus distress.” So it’s not about some mechanical or medical cure for the ringing itself. But rather it’s a recognition that more than anything, it is the distress an individual experiences from tinnitus that is the main problem - or at least at this point, the part of the problem that can actually be treated .
It is recognized in tinnitus science, that the amount of distress an individual feels from tinnitus is not necessarily directly correlated to the loudness of the tinnitus.
This is continuous with studies in pain science which shows that people with similar pathologies (e.g. similar damage to their nerves or to their spine or wherever) have different experiences in terms of how distressing they find the pain. One person can be essentially disabled by their sense of pain while another person with essentially the same condition can get on with life and not even notice it much.
I think anybody who has had tinnitus for a long time or who has looked into the experience of others with tinnitus as well can recognize this phenomenon.
Even in myself: I’ve had extremely loud tinnitus since the late 90s. I remember even back then lying in bed and my tinnitus was so loud it brought to mind visions of being at a Van Halen concert in which nothing but feedback was coming through the huge PA system, and I was stuck in that venue.
And yet… I could still ultimately dismiss the relevance of it and get back to sleep and habituate again so that I was not really paying attention to it.
So I’ve always been able to rehabituate to my tinnitus whenever I’ve had flareups over the years. As I mentioned before it just happens that I had a huge T flareup while dealing with another debilitating condition, which makes it harder to slip back into regular life and forget the tinnitus.
Essentially, my other condition has me stuck lying down for most of my waking hours, so the natural habituation that comes when engaging normal life, and normal life exposure, has been unavailable to me.
Which is why I’ve started my own graded exposure.
Another thing that reminds me of how much mental state and psychology plays a role in this: because I’m starting to finally expand my physical activity, I’ve now been able to walk numerous times to the nearby intersection at the end of my neighbourhood Street.
When I’m standing there, I’m pretty much filled with joy just to be even there and having a foot back into the real world.
And when I come back home I have no flareup of tinnitus. And yet the road noise that I’m exposed to when I’m standing at that intersection - cars, motorcycles, street-cars, buses going by right in front of me - is FAR louder than anything I’m exposed to at home. And certainly far louder than the music I’m playing at this point.
And yet, again, no sense of increased tinnitus or tinnitus distress after I visit that intersection. Which again reminds me of the mental/psychological/habituation component of dealing with tinnitus. I’m sort of having to relearn lessons that I’d learned through the decades of living with tinnitus.
Btw, in case of any help, here are some nice resources/articles from Dr Hubbard’s site:
About 1 — Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) for Tinnitus: Relief From Tinnitus. Skills for Life.
Dr Bruce Hubbard is a top tinnitus expert who specializes in CBT, Cognitive Behavior Therapy, and has tinnitus. Bruce brings his unique brand of CBT, updating the traditional “cognitive” approach to include mindfulness, acceptance, and values-directed action to fully rejoin life with tinnitus.
www.cbtfortinnitus.com
Last edited:
007Shorty
Active Member
- Joined
- Apr 2, 2021
- Messages
- 208
- Likes
- 434
For the past week, I've been taking tryptophan (500mg) and glycine (3000mg) before bed to improve my sleep. Both are amino acids that are naturally present in the body. I have the impression that my mild form of tinnitus is improving, even though that wasn't the goal of taking them. I asked the AI, and it suggested that it could be due to the glycine.
Gemini:
Q: impact of glycine on tinnitus?
"Glycine plays a critical role in regulating neural activity within the auditory system, and its dysfunction is strongly linked to the development and persistence of tinnitus.
I'll continue to monitor the situation. By the way, you can buy glycine over the counter, and the brand doesn't matter.
Gemini:
Q: impact of glycine on tinnitus?
"Glycine plays a critical role in regulating neural activity within the auditory system, and its dysfunction is strongly linked to the development and persistence of tinnitus.
- Reduced Glycinergic Inhibition: Research consistently shows that tinnitus is associated with a net reduction in glycinergic inhibition in the dorsal cochlear nucleus (DCN), a key brainstem region involved in auditory processing. This reduction manifests as decreased levels of the GlyR α1 subunit protein and a corresponding decrease in the number of functional glycine receptor binding sites in DCN fusiform cells, even in the absence of significant hearing loss.
- Mechanism of Tinnitus Development: The loss of glycine-mediated inhibition is thought to result from partial deafferentation (loss of input) to the DCN, often caused by noise exposure or aging. This leads to neuronal hyperactivity in the DCN, which is a proposed neural correlate of tinnitus. The DCN circuits become "disinhibited," meaning they are already in a state of reduced inhibition, making them hyper-responsive to stimuli.
- Therapeutic Target: The evidence points to glycine receptor (GlyR) changes as a primary mechanism in tinnitus, making them a promising therapeutic target. Strategies to restore inhibition are being explored, including the development of glycine receptor agonists that could mimic the natural inhibitory signal of glycine, thereby re-balancing the excitation/inhibition pathways in the auditory system and potentially alleviating tinnitus symptoms.
I'll continue to monitor the situation. By the way, you can buy glycine over the counter, and the brand doesn't matter.
Last edited:
Interesting but are they just improving your non-REM (NREM) sleep patterns as research says may have strong effect on tinnitus expression.
Many short tinnitus videos revealed at the end of this one.
worker24x7
New Member
- Joined
- Dec 19, 2025
- Messages
- 3
- Likes
- 2
Mine high pitch bi-lateral non-puslating tinnitus started about 4 months ago.
I felt a sleep on a chair while listening music in hedphones (I would say low volume, but not very very low). for about 2h, then woke up (it was a nap during the day over the winter holidays)
I had that high pitch noise, and from there on, especially in the morning it got loud. During the day slightly less. But still it was almost always on, my focus was disrupted, very hard to concentrate and work.
Now with the warm weather, every time I hear AC or fan sound (now that they are on in house and in car) , tinnitus comes back very fast -- But with less veracity.
In the last 4 months, I also switched and I listen to music very very low volume, to the point where I have to use a headphone amp and large circumference headphone drivers to recognize sound better.
I am using a headphone amp because phones volume control is not precise enough (either 0 or too loud on the next volume up click).
With an amp's volume control (and I have too many amps) I am able to adjust sound to a barely listenable volume where I can still enjoy sound tonality (of course it is not as good as listening at 15% or above levels of volume).
Headphones with large drivers seem to help me to recognize sounds and tonality better, at the very very low volume - so I use JVC HARX 700, Audio Technica A900x and a few others (just to change things up)...
I also prefer very large comfortable pads surrounding my ears, not sitting on top - so I ordered some veloure pads (turns out same pads fit the JVC and the A900x headphones !). The earpads are (if somebody is interested): "
Black Velour Ear Pads Cushion Earpads Cover Earmuff Replacement Pillow Compatible with JVC Harx700 Harx900 HA-RX700 HA-RX900 Headphones Headset
Brand: YDYBZB
"
Also if use headphones sitting on top of ears (rather than over the years), at very low volumes, they disrupt music sound (when moving my head, for example as the pads move a little more). So for now big big headphones, low low volume - work for me.
On top of the above, before I go to sleep (if I remember!) I take magnesium vitamin and drink Kefir (some times). Not sure if the above is of any help or I am just improving health wise -- but my tinnitus is a lot less now. I just feel like I need to calm down my body more, before going to bed. I think sleep has to do something with this, either sleep quality, or sleep positioning, or preparation before sleep, or food in the evening before sleep -- not sure -- I am still reading through the articles I see on this thread, and other places...
I would say listening at very very low volumes causes some sort of excersise to my hearing path-ways. I cannot measure it, but after about 2 months of forcing myself to listen at barely audible levels, I can enjoy music again, and mostly without that high pitch tinnitus.
I felt like the tinnitus I have is in 10khz range (as I tried to match the pitch to the online khz hearing tests). I can hear up to 12.5Khz (used to be able to hear up to 17Khz 13 years ago).
Audiologist says my hearing is above average (but she only tested up to 8khz).
Anyways, just wanted to share about this. I never had tinnitus before -- just started 4 month ago, and I thought it would only go worse from there, but for now I am getting better, fingers crossed.
I felt a sleep on a chair while listening music in hedphones (I would say low volume, but not very very low). for about 2h, then woke up (it was a nap during the day over the winter holidays)
I had that high pitch noise, and from there on, especially in the morning it got loud. During the day slightly less. But still it was almost always on, my focus was disrupted, very hard to concentrate and work.
Now with the warm weather, every time I hear AC or fan sound (now that they are on in house and in car) , tinnitus comes back very fast -- But with less veracity.
In the last 4 months, I also switched and I listen to music very very low volume, to the point where I have to use a headphone amp and large circumference headphone drivers to recognize sound better.
I am using a headphone amp because phones volume control is not precise enough (either 0 or too loud on the next volume up click).
With an amp's volume control (and I have too many amps) I am able to adjust sound to a barely listenable volume where I can still enjoy sound tonality (of course it is not as good as listening at 15% or above levels of volume).
Headphones with large drivers seem to help me to recognize sounds and tonality better, at the very very low volume - so I use JVC HARX 700, Audio Technica A900x and a few others (just to change things up)...
I also prefer very large comfortable pads surrounding my ears, not sitting on top - so I ordered some veloure pads (turns out same pads fit the JVC and the A900x headphones !). The earpads are (if somebody is interested): "
Black Velour Ear Pads Cushion Earpads Cover Earmuff Replacement Pillow Compatible with JVC Harx700 Harx900 HA-RX700 HA-RX900 Headphones Headset
Brand: YDYBZB
"
Also if use headphones sitting on top of ears (rather than over the years), at very low volumes, they disrupt music sound (when moving my head, for example as the pads move a little more). So for now big big headphones, low low volume - work for me.
On top of the above, before I go to sleep (if I remember!) I take magnesium vitamin and drink Kefir (some times). Not sure if the above is of any help or I am just improving health wise -- but my tinnitus is a lot less now. I just feel like I need to calm down my body more, before going to bed. I think sleep has to do something with this, either sleep quality, or sleep positioning, or preparation before sleep, or food in the evening before sleep -- not sure -- I am still reading through the articles I see on this thread, and other places...
I would say listening at very very low volumes causes some sort of excersise to my hearing path-ways. I cannot measure it, but after about 2 months of forcing myself to listen at barely audible levels, I can enjoy music again, and mostly without that high pitch tinnitus.
I felt like the tinnitus I have is in 10khz range (as I tried to match the pitch to the online khz hearing tests). I can hear up to 12.5Khz (used to be able to hear up to 17Khz 13 years ago).
Audiologist says my hearing is above average (but she only tested up to 8khz).
Anyways, just wanted to share about this. I never had tinnitus before -- just started 4 month ago, and I thought it would only go worse from there, but for now I am getting better, fingers crossed.
Last edited:
nanook
Senior Member
I got tinnitus when I was about 18 years old - I'm 62 now, so quite some experience with it.
In the very beginning it was really loud, my audiologist determined ca. 60dB SPL at ca. 10kHz and since it was one ear only, someone basically screamed into my left ear at night - hard to find sleep once you wake up.
In the beginning I was worried every time it got louder, but time taught me that it returns to normal every time.
Most important things for me were:
- make sure you drink enough
- make sure you get rid of tension in the neck and down to the shoulders
- relax and take care of yourself
- don't focus on the tinnitus - it starts to get louder immediately
- don't regard your tinnitus as an enemy - regard it as a friendly "warner" that reminds you to take care of your wellbeing (this is the hint of a therapist that I saw when I was really struggling with my tinnitus)
All the best for you!
Multicore
Major Contributor
- Joined
- Dec 6, 2021
- Messages
- 4,364
- Likes
- 5,525
I don't know the cause. An ENT NP speculated that it is caused by hearing loss, which is 10-20 dB HL worse on the left in 8 to 12 kHz, and that the hearing loss is "age related".
I've had it for more then 10 years, I guess, but only in the last two or three has it become bothersome.
It got a lot "louder" in the spring last year. I don't remember if it was instant or over a few days but since then it's been bad enough for me to consult medics. There's some information about that history here:
Measure my tinnitus, or yours?
I searched (casually) and it seems audiologists are Measuring Tinnitus (American Tinnitus Assoc.) as I would imagine: Tinnitus sound matching: The presentation of common tinnitus sounds back to patients, to help them identify their specific perception of tinnitus. The health professional may...
www.audiosciencereview.com
Since the audiology showed significant asymmetry the ENT suggested an MRI scan to see if there's an acoustic neuroma. I went for the scan but immediately panicked from claustrophobia so that was the end of that.
I should rerun the masking test to compare the result with that of 6 months ago.
This was around 25 years ago when I first got my tinnitus, but I did have an MRI to rule out tumors or other issues in the brain itself. The ENT explained, in likely grossly oversimplified terms, that each cochlear hair cell in the ear is connected to its own brain cell. When a hair cell is damaged and quits communicating with its brain cell, the brain cell gets bored and starts generating its own activity with the frequency tied to that of the damaged hair cell. In my case, that resulted in a constant 9KHz pitch in both ears. (Interestingly, at age 73, I still have some hearing above that frequency.) Odds are that they have a more sophisticated understanding of the issue these days but this explanation still makes sense to me and I learned to live with the issue a long time ago, just like I'm learning to live with my other age-related issues these days.
This describes my situation rather exactly. My onset was right at age 65 (in other words, just as the warranty expired), I am now 67. I did go to a kind of loud concert about two weeks before, will always wonder if that had to do with my onset - the "final straw" as it were. My loss is in right ear, about -10 dB from 1 khz to 4 khz. And yet, the tone I hear in my brain is more like 8-9 hkz. And yes, I can still hear up to about 11.5khz just fine.
Similar threads
