Struggling with tinnitus
Discussion
Fozziebear said:
That's 3500hz not 3500 kHz... as I said mines considerably higher than 12kHzWhich ever frequency it's at, it's horrible. I guess it's easier for me to tune out my 5,000 to 6,000 Hz than it is for those at double the frequency because there are everyday sounds at 'my' level.
As others have said, 'silence' is worst because there is no silence for anyone with tinnitus.
As others have said, 'silence' is worst because there is no silence for anyone with tinnitus.
Dylano said:
Fozziebear said:
That's 3500hz not 3500 kHz... as I said mines considerably higher than 12kHzGiles_L said:
I've had it 24/7 since I got my covid vaccination in 2020. Sometimes I can forget about it but I often wake up in the middle of the night and it really gets me down! I've got fluid in my right ear that I'm seeing ENT for in March so I'm going to ask about the tinnitus when I'm there
Yeah its not great being woken by it, id be surprised if the ENT helpMine started a few years back, walked into my conservatory and I thought what's that high pitch whine, that was it, it never left.
It was very hard at the start, thought I would go insane (literally) Now I rarely notice it unless its extremely quiet.
I bought a couple of cheap digital radios that I placed round the house that I leave on so I'm never in pure silence. For sleep I have my phone next to my bed and I play white noise (sound of rain) quietly. At the start I had to have it quite loud, now its very quiet as my brain filters the sounds out.
One other thing that helped was getting my sleeping sorted, which I found really hard as I sleep on my side and every time I put my ear to the pillow it would crank up the tinnitus as natural sound was blocked out. Looking online I found a company called 'Pillow with a hole!' that literally make pillows with a hole in the middle. This has really helped.
As impossible as it sounds now, you will naturally habituate the sound. At the start the more you think and stress about it the more your brain engages the sound. After time you start to have moments when you realise you haven't been thinking about it and it gets better from there on.
Best of luck OP. There are habituation courses available which is definitely something to consider if your struggling.
It was very hard at the start, thought I would go insane (literally) Now I rarely notice it unless its extremely quiet.
I bought a couple of cheap digital radios that I placed round the house that I leave on so I'm never in pure silence. For sleep I have my phone next to my bed and I play white noise (sound of rain) quietly. At the start I had to have it quite loud, now its very quiet as my brain filters the sounds out.
One other thing that helped was getting my sleeping sorted, which I found really hard as I sleep on my side and every time I put my ear to the pillow it would crank up the tinnitus as natural sound was blocked out. Looking online I found a company called 'Pillow with a hole!' that literally make pillows with a hole in the middle. This has really helped.
As impossible as it sounds now, you will naturally habituate the sound. At the start the more you think and stress about it the more your brain engages the sound. After time you start to have moments when you realise you haven't been thinking about it and it gets better from there on.
Best of luck OP. There are habituation courses available which is definitely something to consider if your struggling.
I didn't realise I had tinnitus until I had a medical in 2019. I wasn't quite 49.
The hearing test as part of that showed I couldn't hear certain frequencies as they were blocked out by the permanent noise in my head. Until then, I thought it was just electrical brain activity and it was normal.
It's got worse, and in some situations, like a lot of background noise or people talking, like in a pub, I can really struggle to hear and understand someone who's talking to me. My wife's used to it with me, but some of my mates think I'm a really doddery old b
d because of it. I'm 52. 
I don't know of any measure to help or help cope with it, so I'm reading others' comments with interest.
The hearing test as part of that showed I couldn't hear certain frequencies as they were blocked out by the permanent noise in my head. Until then, I thought it was just electrical brain activity and it was normal.
It's got worse, and in some situations, like a lot of background noise or people talking, like in a pub, I can really struggle to hear and understand someone who's talking to me. My wife's used to it with me, but some of my mates think I'm a really doddery old b
d because of it. I'm 52. I don't know of any measure to help or help cope with it, so I'm reading others' comments with interest.
I find that anything drinks with artificial sweeteners aggravate my tinnitus - so much so that I ended up asking here on PH for recommendations of soft drinks with natural sugar.
The same sweeteners give me headaches too.
I also find that tiredness and stress can be an aggravating factor for the tinnitus.
I have multiple tones - I have a permanent 5khz (or so) tone, and I have a 'woob, woob, woob' type sound (it's almost like being in a busy factory with big ventilations fans) - this sound is largely in my right ear and sounds as if it's in the distance.
Interestingly, as a kid (11 or 12) I would lie in bed at night and hear trains shunting in the distance (or so I thought) - I've since come to realise this was probably tinnitus.
I also have other tones - 300hz or so - often modulated by another tone. How loud? Well I guess loudness is a relative term so I can't really say.
But seriously OP - take a look at your diet, and eliminate any artificial sweeteners as a starting point.
The same sweeteners give me headaches too.
I also find that tiredness and stress can be an aggravating factor for the tinnitus.
I have multiple tones - I have a permanent 5khz (or so) tone, and I have a 'woob, woob, woob' type sound (it's almost like being in a busy factory with big ventilations fans) - this sound is largely in my right ear and sounds as if it's in the distance.
Interestingly, as a kid (11 or 12) I would lie in bed at night and hear trains shunting in the distance (or so I thought) - I've since come to realise this was probably tinnitus.
I also have other tones - 300hz or so - often modulated by another tone. How loud? Well I guess loudness is a relative term so I can't really say.
But seriously OP - take a look at your diet, and eliminate any artificial sweeteners as a starting point.
Now, I'm not sure about this but I've suffered bad Tinnitus since I was infected with the new lurgy (mentioned in other threads) in December which has left me with a blocked Eustachian tube on the right side, it's something that I just can't shift and I've done all the recommended exercises and massages. Anyway, was researching Tinnitus on the web and one suggestion I came across was that maybe antihistamines can help in some cases. I thought I would give it a go so took one of those one-a-day ones and lo and behold the ringing was greatly reduced after a few hours and lasted all night until about an hour ago when the ringing started to build up again. I'm going to give it a go again this afternoon to see if I get the same result. Just thought I would share.
When mine first started a few years ago, I did have a few months of panic, I'm stuck I can't get away from it, I'm trapped etc
But you do get used to it. Now writing this I'm aware how bloody loud it is and seems to be at least three different high pitched sounds at the same time.
But like I said, if not thinking about it, it doesn't really bother me anymore.
But you do get used to it. Now writing this I'm aware how bloody loud it is and seems to be at least three different high pitched sounds at the same time.
But like I said, if not thinking about it, it doesn't really bother me anymore.
Edited by croyde on Tuesday 7th March 22:24
hearing lots about people with it. Must be Covid? Tried listening to those tones, 12000khz in my right ear, sounds like my tinnitus, and only 10000khz in my left.
Makes sense as when I'd be on stage with bands whilst operating a TV camera, I'd always have the left can of my protector headphones off my ear so I could hear the music.
If you listened to the music mix via the cans there would be a delay and you needed to be in time with the beat in order to make your shots work.
Being by the drummer or by the bass bins, especially with a Rap band, was bloody painful.
Makes sense as when I'd be on stage with bands whilst operating a TV camera, I'd always have the left can of my protector headphones off my ear so I could hear the music.
If you listened to the music mix via the cans there would be a delay and you needed to be in time with the beat in order to make your shots work.
Being by the drummer or by the bass bins, especially with a Rap band, was bloody painful.
After visiting ENT specialist, I was recommended a saline salt nasal douche & on the drive home thought what a waste of time.
Visited Boots & purchased a kit, mixed up the solution & followed the instructions.
This bit took some perfecting, I would choke, solution seemed to come out other nostril & eyes.
I battled on & probably six months later finally stopped using it.
For me this solution worked & no longer have tinnitus but friends have also used this method & not all had same results.
Visited Boots & purchased a kit, mixed up the solution & followed the instructions.
This bit took some perfecting, I would choke, solution seemed to come out other nostril & eyes.
I battled on & probably six months later finally stopped using it.
For me this solution worked & no longer have tinnitus but friends have also used this method & not all had same results.
Saw a specialist about mine....... He described it as the small tiny hairs within the ear that detect the noise get corrupted somehow and that is what the noise is and why it is different for each individual. Mine arrived after the C19 jabs which was widely pooh pooh`d but has now been acknowledged as a side effect.
Heavy going but semi interesting : https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC87881...
Mine gets worse the morning after a session and I have resorted to low level sounds at bed time , waves , rain and water running etc just to stop concentrating on the high pitched tinnitus. I notice it only at bed time or when I put ear plugs in to go riding.
Heavy going but semi interesting : https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC87881...
Mine gets worse the morning after a session and I have resorted to low level sounds at bed time , waves , rain and water running etc just to stop concentrating on the high pitched tinnitus. I notice it only at bed time or when I put ear plugs in to go riding.
I have had mild tinnitus for years, in fact I cannot remember what it is like not to have a faint ringing in my ears when it is quiet. Mine is manageable, I only really notice it when I am in bed or alone in the house.
Just recently I let my girlfriend clean my ears with a cotton bud (she has done this numerous times) and knows just to clean the visible areas. She clearly cleaned a little bit too deep last time and my left ear was suddenly blocked.
When I woke up the next day I had tinnitus in that ear far worse than before to the point I could hear it all the time. I could unblock the ear slightly if I pulled the ear lobe around, but waking up in the morning it would be 100% blocked again.
This went on for a couple of weeks, I seriously thought that was it and I would have bad tinnitus in that ear for life. I tried spraying Earol in that ear every couple of days and luckily after a while it unblocked and my tinnitus has gone back to the level it was pre ear blockage.
I have actually had my ear wax vacuumed out in the past but it made zero difference to the level of tinnitus I have.
Mine I think goes back to a time I went with a friend to a battle of the bands night in a pub/night club. It was so stupidly loud there that at the bar they wrote the price on an iPad as there was no way you could hear them.
I wish I could have gone back to that night and just not gone instead.
Just recently I let my girlfriend clean my ears with a cotton bud (she has done this numerous times) and knows just to clean the visible areas. She clearly cleaned a little bit too deep last time and my left ear was suddenly blocked.
When I woke up the next day I had tinnitus in that ear far worse than before to the point I could hear it all the time. I could unblock the ear slightly if I pulled the ear lobe around, but waking up in the morning it would be 100% blocked again.
This went on for a couple of weeks, I seriously thought that was it and I would have bad tinnitus in that ear for life. I tried spraying Earol in that ear every couple of days and luckily after a while it unblocked and my tinnitus has gone back to the level it was pre ear blockage.
I have actually had my ear wax vacuumed out in the past but it made zero difference to the level of tinnitus I have.
Mine I think goes back to a time I went with a friend to a battle of the bands night in a pub/night club. It was so stupidly loud there that at the bar they wrote the price on an iPad as there was no way you could hear them.
I wish I could have gone back to that night and just not gone instead.
I had this back in 2017, it came on after a bout of a vestibular migraine . Ended up seeing a ENT consultant he said provided nothing bad is going on like an acoustic neuroma. Tinnitus is caused by an autoimmune response on the acoustic nerve. He recommended taking B12 supplements and cutting out caffeine improved it for me by about 50% after about 2 weeks, this made it bearable
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