r/tinnitus

Do you believe that there is a chance that we could become free one day and enjoy silence once again?

Do you think that research looks promising at the moment? Are you optimistic?

Heya fellas,

I do not even know what type of tinnitus I have anymore. It started 10 years ago as a hissing sound and I got used to it. Then after extreme stress 6-7 years ago I suddenly developed a second sound that is like a "weewoo weewoo" siren. Three years ago I developed a third sound plus constant numbness and painful pinches around my head.

The last 1.5 years after another period of severe stress everything became much louder. I cannot mask it anymore because all 3 sounds are different frequencies. If I cover one I hear the others.

The worst part is that traffic sound, fans, when traveling with buses, trains, aeroplanes, fridges or driving with the window open make it even louder instead of covering it. It feels like my head turns into an ambulance siren.

I had a CT scan that found nothing and I am still waiting to see an ENT. I am honestly losing my mind and having constant catastrophic thoughts because I cannot deal with this 24/7.

Is there any kind of hope for this? Either it's habituation or is there any other hope that I can at least decrease the volume so I will not notice it as much?

I am fed up with the ENTs I have visited that started to do the audiogram from the 10 dbs mark and then if you score perfect 10s they look at you like you are fucking stupid when you say to them that you have tinnitus and acoustic trauma

I am not trying to offend or fire anyone up or offer sage advice. I'm just wondering if anyone is genuinely chill with having tinnitus, or if it's just me. I've had it since at least age 10. It might have started when I got knocked over onto concrete, I dunno. But I've never really been anything except curious and accepting, to the point that if there was a cure I wouldn't do it. And maybe it's because I got it so young?

For most of my life I thought it was the sound of silence, literally, and that everyone heard it. Then when I was in my 20s I heard a story about a teacher in his 50s who developed tinnitus and decided it wasn't worth living with. I thought about that for years after as if was the first time I learned the name for what I hear, and that for many... most?... people its debilitating.

And I do get how it would be awful especially if you know what silence sounds... feels?... like. And it doesn't affect my hearing either like right now it's night and I'm in a quiet dark room; I can hear the clock ticking, the TV a couple of rooms away, and the creaks of the house. And I can hear a chorus of angels in my ears. Or bells. High tones, low tones, undulating, and i just find it a very beautiful sound that I can focus on at any time, let its complexities envelope me, or let it fade to a background hum.

I have an aunt who has just developed it and she's really suffering, and I feel so bad for her but I also don't think I'm the right person to offer her advice because I dont know what she's going through really, I dont know her sense of loss or annoyance or entrapment. And it mskes me wonder if the normalisation versus sudden onset is what makes the difference between suffering and accepting? Or am I just really strange? Or does my tinnitus just sound really beautiful and that's uncommon? (I would struggle to believe that but hey who knows).

Anyway I've never spoken to anyone else with tinnitus About tinnitus cuz doesn't everyone just despise that person who has an affliction and isn't afflicted by it? So I dont talk about it. But, coming here on a whim makes me think... maybe I am the only tinnitus afflicted person not looking for a cure?

“Just ignore it”. Which seems ignorant and unhelpful but if you realize that it’s not gonna hurt you and you’re NOT going deaf, and a big part of it is psychological, the more you think about it the worse it gets, it was a game changer for me. I usually only notice it when I think about it. So do your best to just ignore it and it will be easier to deal with and you’ll go days without even noticing it. I promise. Hopefully this helps you.

Tried it for the first time and I didn't really expect this to happen! It's incredible and delicious!

Goodbye coffee!

I was watching a tinnitus quest YouTube discussion briefly and there seemed a disagreement of where tinnitus comes from.

Do you guys think tinnitus is created by the brain or the ears?

Personally, since tinnitus is the result of auditory damage, I think it starts in the ear and the brain interprets the signal.

Hearing is a sense similar to all our other senses. When you touch something, is the feeling being created by the brain? When you feel pain is the feeling created by the brain?

When you see is the image created by the brain?

Not really. the signal starts at the source, and the brain interprets it. The interpretation may make the signal worse than it actually is but the source is still the cause.

All senses are interpreted by the brain, not created by it. The ears, skin, eyes, etc., detect input and send signals, and the brain turns those signals into what we experience.

So with tinnitus, I think the ear is sending altered or faulty input, and the brain is interpreting that signal as sound.

When I think of tinnitus and try to compare it closely to one of our other senses, I think about vision. Like when you look at something really bright and then look away, and an afterimage is still there.

That afterimage isn’t actually in front of you it’s your visual system still processing the signal even after the stimulus is gone. Is the brain creating it or interpreting it?

That’s kind of how I see tinnitus. It’s like the “afterimage” of hearing.

Why does anxiety or stress make tinnitus worse?

I’m not completely sure, but it seems like it makes everything worse, not just tinnitus. Stress doesn’t necessarily change the original issue it changes how your brain processes and focuses on it.

I have chronic pain from a motorcycle accident a few years ago, and there were times I could barely notice it or even forget about it. But since getting tinnitus, I feel the pain daily again because of the stress it has caused.

So it makes me think it’s not just about the ear or the injury itself, but how the brain is handling all these signals. When you’re stressed or anxious, it’s like your brain is more sensitive to everything tinnitus, pain, all of it.

Please share your thoughts on this.

Please note I may be wrong about the information above it's just my opinion.

The thing that pisses me off the most is that this parasitic noise is created by your own brain for no fucking reason. Why the fuck does your brain need to create a fucking obnoxious noise to compensate for the lost input?? What fucking purpose does it serve in our evolution? It’s like your brain is begging you to shot it down for good. It’s been two months since I got this parasite and I haven’t been able to sleep a single night for more than 7 hours. How dumb should your brain be not to understand this fucking noise serves no purpose and drains your energy everyday. I’m almost done with this shit. If my brain wants me dead so bad then so be it. I’ll give it what it wants.

Been on my mind recently as I think my current job might be creating an environment where I can put too much focus on my tinnitus. I'm a software engineer at a university and barely have meetings/engage with anyone - a lot of time just sat in an office playing music. I think when I'm out in my garden/cycling/socialising it bothers me much less.

Has anyone found jobs that are more T friendly? Has anyone changed their life up completely to make it more bearable?

I found winter particularly difficult last year, and was considering making some lifestyle changes to make it more bearable, even moving abroad/travelling if that's what it takes.

For the last month I've had Eustachian tube dysfunction with fluid in both of my middle ears. With that came, what can be, horrible screeching reactive tinnitus in my left ear. White noise machines are no good against it unfortunately, and I have to sleep in a totally quiet room. The right ear has normal Tinnitus.

What made any kind of habituation difficult was that, due to changes in pressure in the middle ears, the Tinnitus evolved day-by-day. So I never got a chance to get used to it, and became fixated on what new sounds await me the next day. Also, sometimes the Tinnitus would trigger my heartrate to increase, which made the Tinnitus louder, which would make the heartrate increase. Very frustrating.

Well yesterday, the Tinnitus seemed to have stabilized long enough and I marveled that I was not paying attention to the Tinnitus at all. I can hear it when I explicitly pay attention to it and it is still doing its annoying thing. The reactive Tinnitus portion is weird because it's still reactive, it's just doing it quietly in the background now when I'm not paying it attention.

When things are totally quiet and there is nothing to focus my attention on, it's all there in it's glory. So sleep is still difficult. But during the day it has been great, all things considered.

I’ve been doing better recently and working out again after habituating. Is creatine safe for compromised ears?

I had tinnitus for 9 years and Recently I’ve gotten an ear infection that made my tinnitus reactive after a week it went back down lower then my baseline and has stopped reacting to every day noise, but since yesterday it’s gotten from a 1/10 to a 3/10-4/10 and has been reacting to everyday noise. Im scared of showering because I think it’ll make it worse. I’m going to go get my ears checked this Friday. Any tips on how to deal with a spike in also gonna stop using headphones for 2 weeks to she is that helps

Wondering if anyone has success stories or some relief using red light therapy

I am wondering what would happen if you quickly tone matched your tinnitus, or something else, during an SBUTT and that would maybe help reset your cochlea?

I’ve been having a constant ringing in my ears for the past week, mainly because I’ve been using audio-boosted headphones almost every day for the past year. Luckily, this past Sunday, it completely went away. I don't know when I can start using earphones again. I’m a bit worried that i might re-aggravate my ears.

It’s been four months and I’m thinking to myself, wow I have to walk on eggshells the rest of my life?

I saw a photo of my childhood self and this shit made go on the verge of tears cause shit was getting so good and then this happened. I’m still in denial that this can’t be fixed but Ik the damage is done. Idk how I’m supposed to enjoy the rest of my 20s without it getting worse…

Hi, I had an acoustic trauma one year ago. I'm still very sensitive. Every louder sound gives me anxiety and a feeling of fullness, with numbness in my hearing and slight pain.My audiometrics were perfect, but I still sometimes hear much worse. It's a sinusoid. Yesterday, a very loud motorcycle rode by me. Today I feel the fullness and worse hearing.How is it with you? Do you still get anxious that it's another acoustic trauma? I have the fear that I have to go to the laryngologist as quickly as I have these symptoms. How do you cope with that?