Coping with Tinnitus

Ouch. That sucks. Mine is like a high-pitched, pink noise. And it can get pretty loud. At least it's usually equally loud in both ears. I'd hate to be reaching for an imaginary balance knob all the time.
My situation just happened a couple days ago.
Here's to all Ak'ers hearing health returning to normal sooner rather than later.
 
And there may be several different types of tinnitus. Mine is severe and has ringed and hissed constantly regardless since my 20s but my hearing loss is about better than average for my age.
I also find that listening to music at moderate to moderately high levels seems to mask it and relaxes it, which is a good thing for me.
I also believe tinnitus is a brain nerve thing and may not necessarily be related directly to hearing loss per se.
One thing about tinnitus, if you have it you never feel completely alone.
 
Mine sounds like the crickets sounded in the summer when I grew up in Maine. Brings back fond memories. I have just learned to ignore it for the most part.
 
In my own case, if I'm not very careful, listening to music can aggravate it. And when that happens, it get's really loud and piercing to the point that interferes with it. And such a flare up usually lasts a long while.
 
I've had the high pitch whine for years. I spend a lot of time wearing ear plugs and other things when around loud noises now, otherwise the ringing gets fairly intolerable. I mow the lawn like that, and listening sessions are not at high volume very often. I usually get by like that, and always have a little bit of background noise going on. A fan running in the background is enough to drown it out.

Really sucks when I do decide to wind up the loud knob, I definitely pay for it. Oddly I don't seem to notice so much if I've had a few adult beverages. Or maybe I just don't care as much :)
 
I've had the high pitch whine for years. I spend a lot of time wearing ear plugs and other things when around loud noises now, otherwise the ringing gets fairly intolerable. I mow the lawn like that, and listening sessions are not at high volume very often. I usually get by like that, and always have a little bit of background noise going on. A fan running in the background is enough to drown it out.

Really sucks when I do decide to wind up the loud knob, I definitely pay for it. Oddly I don't seem to notice so much if I've had a few adult beverages. Or maybe I just don't care as much :)

Yup, that about sizes it up. And when I do over indulge (volume, refreshments, or both), I definitely pay the cost the following day(s). (That'd be this morning.)
 
A suffer caused by loud noises over the years. To many potential causes from Jet engines on the flight line with ear muffs on, guns again ear protection worn. To concerts and other loud music enjoyment. Power tools, face it modern life.

Tested for hearing and show a hole associated with loud noises. Told the ringing is the mind trying to fill the void in hearing. Also told not much to be done so have chosen to ignore as much as possible. Can't wear headphones for long without it making the ringing very active so don't. Forget ear buds!

Agree silence makes it more noticeable and irritating. At night have a fan on or the TV most nights to help falling asleep.



Barney
 
What used to get me was wondering if it really stopped for a while or did I just successfully ignore it? Then I decided that it didn't make a difference.

Well as the comments from my ENT doctor would suggest, it doesn't go away, you just notice / don't notice it sometimes. When the background noise drops to a minimum and you aren't distracted by things or otherwise occupied, it moves front and center into your consciousness. Obviously times when you are in bed and trying to go to sleep are times when it will seem most prevalent...... at least it does for me.

The unexpected thing is that I haven't found it all that much of a hardship, per se. My brain seems to have learned how to push it out of my consciousness. My fear was that it would interfere with my enjoyment of music because when I fix my attention on sound, there it is. And it does sometimes. But I guess it's like my aging body in general. I am learning to be less abusive (or suffer the consequences).

Most of the time it isn't a big deal. If it starts becoming noticeable I just try and involve myself in something to take my mind off it. One way it does affect my music listening...... I notice that after I finish a listening session of an hour or so, the tinnitus increases in volume..... sometimes dramatically. I notice some speakers cause this more than others.

Ouch. That sucks. Mine is like a high-pitched, pink noise. And it can get pretty loud. At least it's usually equally loud in both ears. I'd hate to be reaching for an imaginary balance knob all the time.

Mine is like yours, high pitched whine. In addition the volume seems to pulse up/down in a regular pattern.
 
I agree that there's a lot of variation due to consciousness of it. But in addition to that, my flavor unquestionably really does vary in intensity in a more absolute way. On good days, I deliberately listen for it and can barely detect it (it never *quite* goes away). On bad days, like today :(, it's uncomfortable to the point of almost being painful. And music definitely exacerbates it. Today is a no music day for me and I think it's due, in part, to my own abusive behavior. So in my case, I do think there's an inflammation aspect to it. Also as dcmfan pointed out, sleep deprivation also seems to spin it up.

And if I can't come up with a suitable mod, my Grados may have to go, which is a real shame, as I really like them otherwise. I think they're a culprit of my current episode. That and Roy Buchanan's ice pick tele. :)
 
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In 2002 I considered to commit suicide due to an overwhelming tinnitus issue lasting for six years back then. Nobody could help me. Then I learned by myself that only stress reduction could help me. I started to meditate daily with the aid of Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn's famous MBSR method. (Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction). A half year later my tinnitus was almost gone. It still returns from time to time but not for longer than about 12 hours in a row. I'm still practicing mindfulness meditation daily.

I would like to recommend Dr. Kabat-Zinn's "Full Catastrophe Living" and also Stephan Bodian's "Meditation For Dummies".
 
In 2002 I considered to commit suicide due to an overwhelming tinnitus issue lasting for six years back then. Nobody could help me. Then I learned by myself that only stress reduction could help me. I started to meditate daily with the aid of Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn's famous MBSR method. (Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction). A half year later my tinnitus was almost gone. It still returns from time to time but not for longer than about 12 hours in a row. I'm still practicing mindfulness meditation daily.

I would like to recommend Dr. Kabat-Zinn's "Full Catastrophe Living" and also Stephan Bodian's "Meditation For Dummies".

Yes, I have FCL. I agree that it's very helpful.
 
Just one more thing (although I am not Lieutenant Columbo...)

Psychologically this fact has been always very important to me: I am totally convinced that this perfidious phenomenon is not a disease. And a lot of scientists agree with me.
 
My hearing damage came with wearing a right eared headset at work for 30+ years. I was constantly on with amateurs who had no headset etiquitte and would not turh off the headset before they slammed the headset down on the table. The other thing they would do is stand in front of the stage monitors with the mic on. Incredibly painful. The result is diminished hearing in my right ear and constant tinnitus.

My wife complains that I have the TV or stereo on all the time. She does not understand even after it was clearly explained to her. Also, I can verify that mental stress exacerbates tinnitus. I have had bouts of anxiety and depression and the tinnitus would get much louder. There is a website that has sound you can use to defeat the effects of tinnitus. It allows you to mix down a mixture of various sounds to help distract you from your tinnitus. Mine is a mix of woodland sounds and the crash of waves on the shore. This helps and I keep it on repeat to distract me. It works well.

My sound is mostly a high shriek around 9500 Hz. If I play a tone generator at the right frequency it is almost a case of phase cancellation and my tinnitus stops in the right ear. Unfortunately I then hear the generation in my left ear.

It is not fun to live with, but suicide is out of the realm of choices; although I admit it was a choice many years back. Just learn to live with it.
 
My hearing damage came with wearing a right eared headset at work for 30+ years. I was constantly on with amateurs who had no headset etiquitte and would not turh off the headset before they slammed the headset down on the table. The other thing they would do is stand in front of the stage monitors with the mic on. Incredibly painful. The result is diminished hearing in my right ear and constant tinnitus.

My wife complains that I have the TV or stereo on all the time. She does not understand even after it was clearly explained to her. Also, I can verify that mental stress exacerbates tinnitus. I have had bouts of anxiety and depression and the tinnitus would get much louder. There is a website that has sound you can use to defeat the effects of tinnitus. It allows you to mix down a mixture of various sounds to help distract you from your tinnitus. Mine is a mix of woodland sounds and the crash of waves on the shore. This helps and I keep it on repeat to distract me. It works well.

My sound is mostly a high shriek around 9500 Hz. If I play a tone generator at the right frequency it is almost a case of phase cancellation and my tinnitus stops in the right ear. Unfortunately I then hear the generation in my left ear.

It is not fun to live with, but suicide is out of the realm of choices; although I admit it was a choice many years back. Just learn to live with it.

That's a pretty interesting experiment. I might have to give that a try.

For the most part, I have adapted to the situation fairly well -- it is what it is. The frustration I was trying to communicate was of the ongoing way it conflicts with music. I don't even mean the way that it might interfere directly with listening, but that listening itself can have an exacerbating effect on my condition and presumably further erode my hearing.

Some recent headphone sessions *really* kicked it into high gear and made me wonder if I'm doing more damage. It didn't *seem* especially loud. Does anyone else feel that they might *still* be killing their ears?

My concern is that using it could be contributing to losing it.
 
My right ear started screaming at about 12.5khz, back in 1990, after/during a concert. It has not let up since then. It was the final straw, at that concert, and it was due to an over-mixed trumpet/horn section. They'd blap out a chorus of horn notes, and my ear would go sibilant. Then, it just rang. I can hear through it, but, through the ringing.
Headphones? Feel like needles being shoved into my ears; very painful. I can only listen to my binaural master recordings for very brief periods.
 
Headphones, headsets and earbuds are known hearing killers. I wear my Stax at night in the bedroom, for TV, to save the peace; so to speak. I keep the level very normal and I don't have issues. If I crank them with music, i get my own personal distortion. Not too good.
 
Have had tinnitus for 20 years or so, after a shotgun blast and also an ear surgery. Both decreased my left ear to not much more than a place for my sunglasses to rest.

It sucks. Caffeine and lack of sleep, hypertension, all make it worse.

I deal with it daily, and avoid metal dome tweeters (JBL, talking to you) and horns. Stick with Epicure and other "softer" speakers, and most of the time, it's just a mild annoyance.

Good luck, sjfloat.
 
Have had tinnitus for 20 years or so, after a shotgun blast and also an ear surgery. Both decreased my left ear to not much more than a place for my sunglasses to rest.

It sucks. Caffeine and lack of sleep, hypertension, all make it worse.

Ah, that Unholy Trinity.

And, let's face it, my constant companions.

I deal with it daily, and avoid metal dome tweeters (JBL, talking to you) and horns. Stick with Epicure and other "softer" speakers, and most of the time, it's just a mild annoyance.

Good luck, sjfloat.

Thanks for the well-wishes!
 
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