Struggling with tinnitus

[Crusoe]

Wife gets some relief when out and about in noiser places with flare audio calmer ear bud things. Might be worth a try though might not suit if you use a hearing aid.

[dingg]

DickyC said:

MitchT said:

dingg said:

I'll bite or it may be my tinnitus, but I can only hear the normal whistling I've had for years listening to the clip, now is that my tinnitus or is the clip buggered?

Moving the volume up or down has no effect

Can anyone advise?

The clip is fine - it sounds exactly like my tinnitus - a 12,000 Hz sine wave, or "high pitched whistling sound". Different people have different experiences of tinnitus - that's mine.

I can't hear it either.

Mrs d tried and could hear it, I discovered that I can actually hear it if phone is held right next to ear, my tinnitus drowns it out somewhat, my whistling is a lower pitch not as whiny as the clip.

[DickyC]

dingg said:

DickyC said:

MitchT said:

dingg said:

I'll bite or it may be my tinnitus, but I can only hear the normal whistling I've had for years listening to the clip, now is that my tinnitus or is the clip buggered?

Moving the volume up or down has no effect

Can anyone advise?

The clip is fine - it sounds exactly like my tinnitus - a 12,000 Hz sine wave, or "high pitched whistling sound". Different people have different experiences of tinnitus - that's mine.

I can't hear it either.

Mrs d tried and could hear it, I discovered that I can actually hear it if phone is held right next to ear, my tinnitus drowns it out somewhat, my whistling is a lower pitch not as whiny as the clip.

That's it. Right next to the ear. I tried it again and my right ear can just make out 10K Hz with my phone next to my ear. Everything lower frequency is fine. My left ear can't hear anything higher than 7K Hz.

One of the things this means is my tinnitus is a lot lower frequency than I thought. I'll experiment.

[Fozziebear]

dingg said:

MitchT said:

I've had it in my left ear since early 2015. It sounds exactly like this...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_mugykqqyOc

I'll bite or it may be my tinnitus, but I can only hear the normal whistling I've had for years listening to the clip, now is that my tinnitus or is the clip buggered?

Moving the volume up or down has no effect

Can anyone advise?

Had quite a few bad ear infections when working as a diver and then a few years working next to turbines and screaming gas compressors hasn't done me any favours....

couldn't hear it, but the dog went mental

[Bill]

Daughter says it's horrid (from across the room), I can't hear it at all.

[jules_s]

Bill said:

Daughter says it's horrid (from across the room), I can't hear it at all.

Same result here - I can't hear it, but it does seem to make my 'sound' fluctuate

The mrs - turn that off NOW!!

[DickyC]

jules_s said:

Bill said:

Daughter says it's horrid (from across the room), I can't hear it at all.

Same result here - I can't hear it, but it does seem to make my 'sound' fluctuate

The mrs - turn that off NOW!!

In YouTube put 9000 Hz in the search and a sound generator site comes up

Then 8000 Hz

And so on until you reach one you can hear. I'm 3000 Hz adrift left to right.

[Bill]

That's with my hearing aids in...

[Skyedriver]

Another one here.
69, had it for decades, blame too many loud gigs particularly pub gigs and a Lotus 7 and a Caterham 7. It's not the car's noise but the wind buffetting.
Some days it's worse than others, my hearing is so bad now that I struggle with certain voices on TV and need sub titles.
Can't understand half of what my family say to me either with causes great amusement (to them).

Wife suddenly developed tinnitus about a year/18 months ago and was offered a "tinnitus" hearing aid which she says (apparently) reduced it significantly. When I suggest I should get one she thinks I'm just jumping on the band wagon 'cos she's got it.

[Dylano]

The thing I don't understand is how it's widely regarded as hearing damage being caused by exposure to loud noise, yet its also said that tinnitus isn't actually a hearing issue at all, it's a neurological issue and it's basically your brain inventing the noise, Ive heard it said you could have all your hearing apparatus surgically removed and you could still suffer with tinnitus.

I certainly find mine is much worse if I'm feeling stressed or anxious so that does suggest it's more than purely physical damage to the inner ear and there is a degree of neurological, possibly even physiological causes behind it.

[dontlookdown]

I have tinnitus too. It can be v aggravating and gets worse when I am tired, stressed or anxious.

Had full audiology test ca 6 months ago. No actual hearing damage but full on tinnitus. Doc told me that most cases are stress related rather than anything to do with damage to the ears. No treatment as such but I believe there are things that can mitigate it eg at night to help you sleep. White noise played through headphones, that kind of thing. Most of the time I now find I can just put up with it. Amazing what you can get used to.

[Slowboathome]

Dylano said:

The thing I don't understand is how it's widely regarded as hearing damage being caused by exposure to loud noise, yet its also said that tinnitus isn't actually a hearing issue at all, it's a neurological issue and it's basically your brain inventing the noise, Ive heard it said you could have all your hearing apparatus surgically removed and you could still suffer with tinnitus.

I certainly find mine is much worse if I'm feeling stressed or anxious so that does suggest it's more than purely physical damage to the inner ear and there is a degree of neurological, possibly even physiological causes behind it.

I believe it's similar to phantom limb pain. Our brain actually creates the sensation of everything we see, hear, feel, touch and taste. When a limb is missing or our hearing is damaged the brain struggles to 'make sense' of the missing signals and creates something that isn't accurate - pain in the case of the missing limb, tinnitus in the case of faulty hearing.

[wombleh]

I’ve had it since getting ear problems as a teenager some 30 years ago, exactly like that 12k sample. Also find I stop noticing until someone mentions it, OP just won the game! Got considerably worse after first getting covid but calmed back down a year or so after.

Also listened to loud music and played in bands etc, still do but always have ear protection in now. I have been asked by GP if it was having detrimental impact but by that time I’d been living with it for decades, so possibly there are things that can be done. Would imagine distraction and relaxation likely to be first things to try.

[Glosphil]

I've had tinnitus for 2-3 years. Doesn't seem to be getting worse. Provided I'm doing something I don't notice it.

Noticable late at night & when I wake up. To me it sounds just like the noise of the central heating boiler (gas burner & pump}.. In the morning on waking I sometimes check whether the c/h is on - it isn't!

[DaveA8]

[quote=Brum_Brum]I forget about mine until someone asks about it, thanks for starting this thread!

Never a truer word, if you can "forget" you have it, it will become bearable but until that point, it is just awful. It puts pay to the notion of quiet contemplation !

The irony for me was that the more despondent I became the worse it was.

I found by just closing my eyes and listening to it, it eventually lost it's power over me. I have no idea where mine is on a scale so I wouldn't presume how it is for others but sadly it is a battle of mind over sound and it can be managed to the point of it becoming irrelevant ( at least in my case)

[DickyC]

In my second post, I said my tinnitus was off the scale high-pitched. Since I found out there are high-frequency sounds available on YouTube, I've done some simple trials and my all-the-time tinnitus is between 5,000 and 6,000 Hz.

Knowing now that some have it at 10 or 12 kHz means I owe them an apology. I seem to be lucky to have it at a more bearable frequency.

[Fozziebear]

Im going to try CBD oil, Ive used the edibles and found a drop in noise, mines a high pitched ringing/screech that's 24/7.

[Dylano]

DickyC said:

In my second post, I said my tinnitus was off the scale high-pitched. Since I found out there are high-frequency sounds available on YouTube, I've done some simple trials and my all-the-time tinnitus is between 5,000 and 6,000 Hz.

Knowing now that some have it at 10 or 12 kHz means I owe them an apology. I seem to be lucky to have it at a more bearable frequency.

When I played that 12kHz vid upthread that's almost a dulcet tone compared to my tinnitus which is a much higher pitch!

[Fozziebear]

Dylano said:

DickyC said:

In my second post, I said my tinnitus was off the scale high-pitched. Since I found out there are high-frequency sounds available on YouTube, I've done some simple trials and my all-the-time tinnitus is between 5,000 and 6,000 Hz.

Knowing now that some have it at 10 or 12 kHz means I owe them an apology. I seem to be lucky to have it at a more bearable frequency.

When I played that 12kHz vid upthread that's almost a dulcet tone compared to my tinnitus which is a much higher pitch!

Mines about 3500khz, tried to match it as close to it, Now imagine that 24/7

[DickyC]

Fozziebear said:

Mines about 3500khz, tried to match it as close to it, Now imagine that 24/7

How many?