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Dear god, it's doing my head in!
Think it's been there for a while but I could tune it out and only notice it when I thought about it or someone mentioned it. Now it's there all the time and so perceivably loud that its hard to hear/think about anything else. Been for a hearing test and my lugs are nice and clear and I did ok in the hearing test. So not sure of the cause. My job is sometimes noisy & I'm getting older. And I did go to a couple of very noisy gigs over Christmas, one of which I was right next to the speakers.
Audiologist said it might be something I just need to learn to live with.....forever 🙁 . That anxiety often makes it worse and if the tinnitus makes you anxious it can be a spiral of getting worse and worse that you need to break. And white noise as blockers can help. Oddly whilst noisy environments can trigger it, silence is a killer - I need something to take my mind off it.
Pretty depressing if I'm honest.
Anyone got any good news stories?
Learning to ignore it is key in my book. CBT might help. As soon as you think about it you hear it more. Since starting typing this post mine has got distinctly more noticable
Sorry about that!
I ask Alexa to play ocean sounds while I sleep. That helps....a bit.
It's been alright this year but back with a vengeance at the moment. No idea why
I've got it. Just a faint singing in my left ear. Audio tests suggest damage from shooting (left ear is nearest the muzzle) and it gets worse if I play through an amp too loudly.
So, an appointment made ( I've lost two friends who couldn't cope any more .....)and I was given a hearing aid which plays a really soft white noise sound like wind and ocean waves, which mask it very effectively. The hearing aid also helps boost the frequencies I've lost through the damage, so all good.
I also play with in-ear monitors rather than having the amp or a wedge in front of me, and I can reduce the noise of the drums and keys to suit.
To be honest I was more anxious that the tinnitus didn't develop into something more disruptive, and I have found I only need the mask occasionally. More important has been to get some pro moulded ear defenders for shooting ( it's old damage from before the advent and normalisation of sound moderators on rifles) so precautions against it getting worse play more of a part.
Is your blood pressure OK?
I have it and hyperaccussis - mainly due to narrow eustacian tubes, so I can't go diving either.
If that's the cause then making sure those tubes are as open as possible and therefore my ears are ventilated is key - cycling up hills is good for that as the type of panting seems to work well, running doesn't Also tried rucking and that worked well. For temporary relief holding ones nose and closing ones. mouth whilst pressuring your ears so they pop can help, repeatedly to ensre ventilation.
I sleep with cotton wool in my ears which helps mask things, and sometimes with a bluetooth speaker playing something like brown noise.
Another strange thing is that over ear headphones set it off. I can watch a video of someone cycling up a hill with the sound very low and it sets it off.
Maybe something to do with pressure?
I got it from riding a motorbike with a loud exhaust. Initially it was terrifying, I'd sit in a quite room and listen for it but overtime I've got used to it.
My ears are also clear and I went to ENT at the local hospital, they said I have very good hearing (I could hear the high pitch alarms to deter teenagers outside shops until I was almost 40) but they couldn't really do much. My tinnitus is high pitch, it sounds like the high pitch sounds old TV's used to make.
It's a terrible thing, it's driven people to suicide in the past and I can completely understand why. Once I got the first couple of months out of the way and knew there wasn't something sinister causing it I was able to get on and cope with it.
I'd had mild infrequent tinnitus since my clubbing days in the 90s, but it became close to permanent and annoying after my covid infection late Septemeber '22 that led onto ongoing long covid. Drives me nuts sometimes, keep meaning to book a hearing test and go from there.
I've had it since my first night club visit at 16, 32 years ago. I never stopped clubbing through my 20s - it would get worse afterwards and subside. Nowadays my ears are very sensitive - I have ear defenders even for DIY like hammering nails.
It has fortunately never interfered with sleep, I usually tube it out but it's always there.
I saw an audiologist last year because I thought it was getting worse and I was going deaf, but hearing checks out ok and she reckoned it's more likely stress / lifestyle change that causes fluctuations.
As daft as it sounds, try not to panic. And protect your ears. CBT might help, I've never felt the need but have lived with its onset for decades.
I'm in this shitty club as well. Have always protected my hearing - working offshore with double hearing protection and never lost the habit. Then finally got covid at the end of 2022. Not being able to enjoy silence is the absolute worst. I'd love to be rid of it.
my cure is to listen to the radio 24 hrs a day. It is painful but not as painful as the high pitch whistling I am trying to mask.
Had it all my life.
As daft as it sounds, try not to panic. And protect your ears. CBT might help
Thanks. To be honest hearing (pun sort of intended) others with the same problem sort of helps.
Stress and high blood pressure - possibly. No more stressed than a usual....but situation not changed much from when I had a proper little burn out a couple of years ago so it's underlying. And blood pressure is high normal but has been for as long as I've been aware what it was, so 20+ years.
Need to do something though. As I type this I'd describe it as painfully loud. It feels like if I opened my mouth in someone's direction I could use it as some sort of sonic weapon like the dude with his eyes when he took his shades off in the X men. But thinking about it to type this is probably not helping 😁
I have severe tinnitus following a head injury. I had counseling from an audiologist who gave tips and techniques for coping with it. I avoid silence where possible and have a sound generator to help at night to avoid sleep disruption.
I’ve had it since 1984, as a direct result of standing in front of a Grand Slam, (Phil Lynott’s last band), concert at Chippenham Golddiggers. The ringing never stopped. I’ve learned to just suck it up and live with it for the last 41 years.
I suffer with it from years of gigs, it doesn’t really bother me, but I do like to have music or tv I’m not watching to distract me.
A friend has it really bad to the point of mental health problems. He now wears white noise hearing aids, he swears by them.
it's doing my head in
Same here, sometimes it's unbearable, like screaming in my ears, mine is like a kettle whistling on the stove, high pitched and constant. The only time I don't notice it is on my bike, with the wind around my head.
It's there all the time but most of the time my brain ignores it. Until someone mentions it such as this thread. Then it hangs around until the brain ignores it again. The only time I voluntarily think about it to set it off is when I don't have a guitar tuner to hand. It's close to E.
I've had it for most of my life, I think set off by anxiety and tension in my late teens.
Recently it's gotten a lot worse and it's all down to a specific motorbike. Ridden them all my life and never had any issues but my current one seems to produce really bad turbulence(first ever bike with a screen) which, despite wearing ear plugs, has made it much worse.
I've not purchased custom moulded ear plugs but the damage is done and I can now hear the high pitched whistling while actually riding the bike, and obviously it's much worse in the quiet (like right now writing this in bed)
Really not pleasant.
https://www.loopearplugs.com/pages/white-noise-generator/
I tried this last night for getting to sleep. Crickets and white noise together worked quite well. I'll carry on experimenting.
Oh yes!
until about 3 years ago right sided. Mostly a high pitched sine wave like whine.
then a slightly lower pitched, but still high pitched, whine of similar type but louder started on the left. this coincided with a pretty big (to me) drop in high frequency hearing on that side.
the left now also has an occasional ticking/tapping sound and a variety of additional whine frequencies to add to its foundation.
I saw an ENT surgeon some years ago (~10) when my RHS hearing loss and tinnitus became more than a nuisance. Had some investigations. Bad underlying causes were ruled out. No real etiology identified for me - I don’t work in a particularly loud industry and sound exposure is ‘normal’.
Tinnitus - not much to be done to fix it, but psychotherapy (CBT) was suggested. Other possible treatments include some anti-depressants. I’ve found it is less noticeable when I am relaxed. More noticeable when I am things that are the opposite of relaxed. Opioids (prescription, for sciatica a couple of times) made tinnitus unnoticeable. Using hearing aids has made listening to people easier. I always wear hearing protection at gigs and with power tools. I find removing external noise, like traffic noise, with CIEMs or noise cancelling earphones helps.
I miss the silence of the countryside.
I can ignore mine most of the time (low frequency hiss left ear only) probably the result of an ENT infection. hearing aids can help if audiologists can tune it to 'cancel' out the noise. I use headphones and dull podcasts as a sleep aid. Outside is better than indoors for me, wind noise tends to make mine fade into the background more
I've got used to it, but one main issue is I struggle to hear people if I'm in a noisy environment - eg. a very busy restaurant, or a party with a DJ, foe example. Went to one of our local restaurant's last year, and it was really busy and couldn't hear anything my family said. Thoroughly miserable. Not been back as it's always popular.
Another strange thing is that over ear headphones set it off. I can watch a video of someone cycling up a hill with the sound very low and it sets it off.
Maybe something to do with pressure?
Earbuds are even worse than over the ear headphones - you'll find that in-ear headphones that seal the ear chamber are best as, because fo the efficiency of the sealing, they don't need anywhere as much volume to hear.
I used to work as a software engineer and would have Shure IEM headphones on all day listening to music because my hearing was sensitive enough that I could pick up conversations from the other side of the office. Conversely if I tried that with ear buds I would only be able to last 20 or 30 minutes (or maybe less) before feeling my hearing dull (like you would at a night club at the end of the night). Over the ear headphones would last a bit longer.
I have some of these in the car in case I am transporting the dog and he starts barking, but also for taking into a pub, or even a concert:
Shure IEM headphones
they’re very good, but you have to find a way to make them seal properly. The OE tips didn’t fit my ears, but have eventually found the triple flange silicone ones that really seal them well. You can have professionally moulded sleeves custom fit to your ears, but they’re a bit spendy.
I was watching a video about creatine and there was a comment that it helped with tinnitus. Creatine is cheap so might be worth a trail.
The comment was. So this is the deal. Have had tinnitus off and on for 3 years. Started taking 10 grams for 6 weeks. Tinnitus disappeared. That got me thinking. I made no other changes. Stopped the creatine. Low and behold the tinnitus returned. Got back on board, two weeks later the tinnitus left again. Creatine is a lifetime supplement for me now. For years I thought creatine was just for weight lifting meat heads. Only regret at 62 years of age I didn't discover this earlier.
Off to buy some creatine
Yup, I'm a member of the Tinnitus club. Too many loud gigs and riding a motorbike without hearing protection. I now use custom earplugs on my motorbike and always wear earplugs at gigs. Mine is more noticable some days, but I've learned to live with it.
@zippykona - make sure to buy the powder form, recent tests show some of the creatine capsule versions contain very little creatine.
I have it. Went to see an ENT specialist and they told me that the best thing to do is to try and ignore it.
Most of the time it works.
However, reading this thread makes it sound like I’m on an airliner.
Developed it after being 'Floxed' (damaged by Fuoroquinolone antibiotics) in 2017. It's gradually getting worse and, as with others, is most noticeable in quiet environments. Wife bought me Bose Sleep earbuds that play a variety of white noise sounds to mask the roar / whine. They do help but are an expensive one trick pony compared to ordinary buds that play any sound. Intensifies when stressed or after consuming processed food, caffeine or alcohol, although 'floxies' should avoid all three anyway. Don't see the tinnitus ever improving, so there's always a radio on or other background noise to distract my brain and help me live with it.
My mum got really severe tinnitus (and deafness) through an infection and nerve damage, and hearing aids virtually cure it. Can't wear at night though. White noise or brown noise typically help, any sound really. It's your brain making up sound so you have to trick it not to. I realise it can be debilitating so really worth trying everything, but also wearing ear plugs even for driving / workplace / DIY and avoid gigs.
There's an ENT consultant on YouTube, Vik Veer, who isn't a tinnitus specialist, but has made a couple of really good videos about his own experience with it and how it works as a sort of neurological loop, which you can potentially deprogramme. His basic take is that we all have some form of background tinnitus, but the brain is very good at filtering it out in the same way that you don't hear your own blood circulating or your heart beat under normal circumstances. Sometimes something stops that filter from working --> tinnitus.
If you suddenly become aware of a noise and focus on it, you're telling your brain that it's important, so it listens harder to it, which in turn makes the noise seem louder and you're in a sort of feedback loop. Which is why not thinking about it makes it disappear into the background. He has some ideas on noise therapy and what frequency sounds tend to work etc.
Anyway, I have a high-pitched whine in my left ear courtesy of long covid. Mostly I barely notice it these days, I listen to podcasts while I'm falling asleep, I say long covid, but it may be my left eustachian tube, which makes weird bubbling noises if I pressurise it. Potentially some sort of dilation treatment might improve it.
The other day, while doing the washing up, it made a slightly different noise and the tinnitus pretty much vanished for five minutes or so, which was nice, but a bit odd.
When I first had it, it properly did my head in and felt very loud, these days, not so much, most of the time I simply forget about it. Except of course when someone posts a thread on here 🙁
There's an ENT consultant on YouTube, Vik Veer, who isn't a tinnitus specialist, but has made a couple of really good videos about his own experience with it and how it works as a sort of neurological loop, which you can potentially deprogramme. His basic take is that we all have some form of background tinnitus, but the brain is very good at filtering it out in the same way that you don't hear your own blood circulating or your heart beat under normal circumstances. Sometimes something stops that filter from working --> tinnitus.
If you suddenly become aware of a noise and focus on it, you're telling your brain that it's important, so it listens harder to it, which in turn makes the noise seem louder and you're in a sort of feedback loop. Which is why not thinking about it makes it disappear into the background. He has some ideas on noise therapy and what frequency sounds tend to work etc.
Anyway, I have a high-pitched whine in my left ear courtesy of long covid. Mostly I barely notice it these days, I listen to podcasts while I'm falling asleep, I say long covid, but it may be my left eustachian tube, which makes weird bubbling noises if I pressurise it. Potentially some sort of dilation treatment might improve it.
The other day, while doing the washing up, it made a slightly different noise and the tinnitus pretty much vanished for five minutes or so, which was nice, but a bit odd.
When I first had it, it properly did my head in and felt very loud, these days, not so much, most of the time I simply forget about it. Except of course when someone posts a thread on here 🙁
a high-pitched whine in my left ear courtesy of long covid.
Same for me, left ear more pronounced whistling than my right and my tinnitus I am pretty sure coincided with covid, the timing is suspicious, it was just around Easter 2022, I've read of a potential connection between covid and tinnitus, I guess I'll never really know.
Had it since my mid 20’s, over 30 yrs ago. Came on after a middle ear infection and grommets. Has got a lot worse in the past few years as I am into my late 50’s.
yoga, mindfulness app, distraction stuff is all fairly good, most of the time.
Aye, tinnitus that presents in both ears. Slightly different noises, they also pitch change in given circumstance.
Do have associated mild hearing loss, all caused by firearms and varying degrees of ineffective ear defence (cheers MOD).
Had it for around 15 years, very used to it now and the lack of silence. Did a run of CBT to work on getting accustomed to it, now I use it as an indicator for assessing if I need to do some self-care. It increases when I'm fatigued, stressed or both so I use it like an early warning system.
Very interesting reading. Mine came on while listening to music in the garden with headphones during lock down.
A time when I was totally relaxed.
My sister once managed to give herself tinnitus just by reading an article about, she had never suffered from it before. It lasted a few months and then one day someone asked her how tinnitus was and she realised that it had gone.
His basic take is that we all have some form of background tinnitus, but the brain is very good at filtering it out in the same way that you don't hear your own blood circulating or your heart beat under normal circumstances. Sometimes something stops that filter from working --> tinnitus.
Yeah that's my understanding too.
Having googled creatine it seems that it can also make it worse.
Not something I’m willing to risk.
Having googled creatine it seems that it can also make it worse.
Not something I’m willing to risk.
I have had it since my mid-teens.
I blame it on listening to Sigue Sigue Sputnik on my friend's Sony Walkman at too high a level back in the mid-80s!
However, I also believe it is hereditary as my Mum, her father and my daughter suffer or suffered from it.
Mine sounds like a camera flash charging and some other less frequent variations.
It does seem to get worse when my mental health suffers.
I’ve had for years too at varying intensities. I’m in my 50s (just) and hearing is not 100% either, noticeable mostly in groups in pubs.
I don’t have it as badly as lots of you guys but practicing meditation regularly helps with lots of things so I believe this helps me with this too.