― Duane, Tuesday, 20 May 2003 06:28 (twenty years ago) link
― duane, Tuesday, 20 May 2003 06:29 (twenty years ago) link
If you've had a persistant whistle for that long, it probably is tinnitus/nerve damage and may or may not go away depending on the cause.
Ive had "noisy" ears most of my life. You kinda get used to it, in my case I only really notice it when it's quiet which is good, but for some people it actually impairs their hearing so GET IT SEEN TO!
― Trayce (trayce), Tuesday, 20 May 2003 06:34 (twenty years ago) link
― Ed (dali), Tuesday, 20 May 2003 06:47 (twenty years ago) link
― hellbaby (hellbaby), Tuesday, 20 May 2003 06:55 (twenty years ago) link
― duane, Tuesday, 20 May 2003 07:13 (twenty years ago) link
― Tad (llamasfur), Tuesday, 20 May 2003 07:17 (twenty years ago) link
― duane, Tuesday, 20 May 2003 07:20 (twenty years ago) link
― duane, Tuesday, 20 May 2003 07:21 (twenty years ago) link
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Tuesday, 20 May 2003 13:39 (twenty years ago) link
― Nicole (Nicole), Tuesday, 20 May 2003 13:43 (twenty years ago) link
― Wired Flounder (Wired Flounder), Tuesday, 20 May 2003 13:58 (twenty years ago) link
There is a place in Berkeley that will make custom earplugs for you for about $150 that are supposed to be amazing; they're molded to your ear, only cut out damaging frequencies, apparently don't interfere with the music at all, just like turning down the volume on it. But I am too cheap to go have them made so I will probably go deaf instead.
― anthony kyle monday (akmonday), Tuesday, 20 May 2003 19:15 (twenty years ago) link
― NA. (Nick A.), Tuesday, 20 May 2003 19:17 (twenty years ago) link
― Mr Noodles (Mr Noodles), Tuesday, 20 May 2003 19:51 (twenty years ago) link
― Millar (Millar), Tuesday, 20 May 2003 19:54 (twenty years ago) link
There are these earplugs made for surfers, which although not ideal as they do not have a completly flat noise-reduction curve (high-end noises drop off slightly quicker in this case) they are better than foam ones. I bought mine for £10 from Richer Sounds in the UK. I can find out the make if you're interested (ot you can just look on their website)
― Chewshabadoo (Chewshabadoo), Tuesday, 20 May 2003 21:16 (twenty years ago) link
― Trayce (trayce), Tuesday, 20 May 2003 21:18 (twenty years ago) link
NA: What about the ones that look like a motorcycle helmet?
― Wired Flounder (Wired Flounder), Wednesday, 21 May 2003 01:18 (twenty years ago) link
― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Wednesday, 21 January 2004 23:25 (twenty years ago) link
― Trayce (trayce), Thursday, 22 January 2004 02:09 (twenty years ago) link
― duane, Thursday, 22 January 2004 03:02 (twenty years ago) link
― R bunged up with jollop V (Jake Proudlock), Thursday, 22 January 2004 16:03 (twenty years ago) link
God, if there's anything worse than it being Christmas, it's having the occasional brief attacks of ringing (coupled with that loud white noise-like whisping which is seemingly louder than I remember it ever being, along with annoyingly sore eardrums) which must have resulted from the onslaught of sound put myself through all month - knowing better all the while. So not only is everything closed, it's cold out, and I have to force myself to lay off music for a few solid days straight. Very annoying.
― mehlt, Tuesday, 25 December 2007 22:05 (sixteen years ago) link
uhrghhhh blinding white noise in my eears. it's like I'm walking around with a Tokyo-Berlin art collaboration in my ears
― burt_stanton, Monday, 14 April 2008 06:04 (fifteen years ago) link
I get a weird sound/sensation in my right ear, but only when I'm singing. it has a tinny sound. It's hard to describe - like really distant cymbals, I guess. But it's only when I sing!
I definitely have abused my ears, and sometimes think I'm going deaf in one ear. But i'm also going old, I think, when you sing, physically - by pushing sound out it goes by/through aural connections so maybe it's the interior of the ear reacting to my voice? I have sometimes noticed it when I've had to really yell something to someone in a crowd - like, I am modulating my voice to yell within the sound around me. Any thoughts?
― aimurchie, Monday, 14 April 2008 06:35 (fifteen years ago) link
What the fuck! I woke up in the middle of the night, ears ringing out of nowhere, lasted for what felt like hours. It was loud and constant, but the weird thing is that they were totally fine when I went to bed, and are ok now. Gave me the scare of a lifetime though. I mean, how the hell do you go on listening to music consistently after that. It's like a constant threat, it feels like its a virus I can just catch out of nowhere. I feel like I can't DJ or produce music nearly as much as I would like to, or listen to music. Fuck, I have to say, tinnitus/hearing loss is probably one of the things I'm most afraid of.
― mehlt, Sunday, 18 May 2008 23:35 (fifteen years ago) link
Mine's gotten a bit worse, though they're checking to see if it might be fluid buildup behind the eardrums.
― Ned Raggett, Sunday, 18 May 2008 23:44 (fifteen years ago) link
i got custom earplugs made. it was a neat and expensive (180.00 US) experience that I feel is well worth the money.
― Jimmy The Mod Awaits The Return Of His Beloved, Sunday, 18 May 2008 23:44 (fifteen years ago) link
I don't know if it's tinnitus or not, but my hearing got totally fucked by Medicine in 1995. Constant ringing for a few weeks and slightly dulled sensitivity ever since. Moral of the story: kids, wear earplugs. And Brad, if you're out there, thanks bro!
― Pillbox, Monday, 19 May 2008 00:27 (fifteen years ago) link
I get this more than every once in a blue moon. I remember my pops used to crank up the speakers super loud when I was sitting next to em to get a rise out of me. Thanks for the damage, dad! LOL, xpost; families fuck you up.
― forksclovetofu, Monday, 19 May 2008 00:28 (fifteen years ago) link
I've had tinnitus for a year and a half or so. Going too many dubstep nights without earplugs was the cause. I should really mention it to my doctor though because although it's not severe I also have, and I suppose it must be related, a problem with my left ear, it's often itchy/sore when I wake up and I feel it's not working quite as well as the right. I've learned the earplug lesson (£10 pair of vented earplugs out of a musical equipment shop actually makes really super loud club soundsystems sound better, the highs are a little sharper and the bass seems a little more defined).
― jim, Monday, 19 May 2008 00:33 (fifteen years ago) link
In October, I'll have had Tinnitus for nine years.
― Alex in NYC, Monday, 19 May 2008 01:02 (fifteen years ago) link
Thing is I never go anywhere without earplugs. In fact, I'd get so much use out of custom earplugs.
Another question. Do your ears ever feel sore after listening to music for awhile? Because mine do all the time, even when they're entirely fine otherwise. Like, hearing still fine, but soreness, possibly pressure in your inner ear.
Who I wouldn't kill for good ears.
― mehlt, Monday, 19 May 2008 01:12 (fifteen years ago) link
i have had a few 'ears ringing for a couple of days' experiences that have made me live in fear of contracting tinnitus permanently. i got some earplugs recently - not custom ones but they're a step above the cheapo foam ones and don't totally deaden the high frequencies when at a gig or a club.
― haitch, Monday, 19 May 2008 01:24 (fifteen years ago) link
Is it possible that obsessing over your hearing makes it worse, that is, paying too much attention to whatever hissing or ringing is in your ears already as opposed to tuning it out. Also, does frequent use of earplugs (not just at shows and the like, but on buses and subways) have potentially bad effects?
I've never really considered the psychological effects, but hmmn, it might not be a bad idea.
― mehlt, Saturday, 5 July 2008 12:31 (fifteen years ago) link
yeah, I've heard of people seeing a doctor about their tinnitus only to be sent off home empty-handed, informed that it's 90% psychological and that they should just try to shut it out.
I don't think there are any issues with using earplugs.
― Merdeyeux, Saturday, 5 July 2008 14:44 (fifteen years ago) link
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGHHHHHHHHHHHH
*bangs head with fists*
― 65daysofsugban (Trayce), Thursday, 7 May 2009 06:07 (fourteen years ago) link
I've had a low running case for years. Much as I love the Kitchens of Distinction, I have them to blame.― Ned Raggett (Ned), Tuesday, May 20, 2003 8:39 AM
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Tuesday, May 20, 2003 8:39 AM
I've also had a low-level ringing for a long time now. There are a few concerts I've been to that did not help, but mostly I blame the fact that I didn't understand how much damage headphones can do, not for a long time. The first time I remember having a really scary spell of tinnitus(*), I was about 16 and had been listening to Jimi Hendrix for about three hours with a huge pair of 70's studio-style headphones. The danger of well-sealed headphones is that there's no outside reference point to the volume, so when something's awesome, you just turn it up louder, then quickly get accustomed to that volume, then turn it up again when something else is awesome. Thank God I hadn't discovered Fun House back then. I'd be stone deaf. Or worse -- stone deaf except for a constant noise inside my head.
I had a nasty spell of it six or seven years ago that lasted for weeks, and since then I'm extremely careful about taking earplugs to shows. I'm also married to my Shure headphones, which let me listen to music at a reasonable volume even in loud places (trains, busy streets), because they totally plug your ears in addition to their usual function.
(*For those who don't have it, it can indeed be scary -- imagine thinking, even knowing, that you will be hearing this same irritating noise inside your head forever and ever, no matter what you do. There's a theory that Van Gogh cut of his ear in an ill-advised attempt to stop his tinnitus. When it persists long enough, the fear subsides -- more like slumps over in exhaustion -- and becomes a sleeping but threatening thing in the corner that colors your moods even when you don't realize it. Bottom line is, it decorates the space inside of your head in a way you cannot control, and that's horrifying.)
― bachmann boehner overdrive (kenan), Thursday, 7 May 2009 06:46 (fourteen years ago) link
Indeed. As I've said upthread I have had mild tinnitus probably most of my life. I cant recall a time without noise I noticed at least in dead silence (slight whooshing, sometimes high pitched whistles or beeps).
In the last 2 years, I started to notice a constant low frequency thrumming in my skull, it bugged me, as sometimes I can *feel* it, like I'm hearing a truck idling at a distance. But again, it wasn't that noticeable. I'm realising now it was sneaking up on me - when I got a bad headcold last month my ears clagged up as they usually do and I went rather hard of hearing... but when that cleared up, the deafness and noise did not. I can now hear loud sheering ringing in my ears, coupled with the low frequency hum, even over a fair amount of noise.
It makes sharp high frequencies startling and loud, and conversations impossible to follow in noisy crowds (like at the pub). Its invading my sleep. It makes my head feel like its full of pressure.
It really is incredibly bothersome.
Oh and the worst of it is, I'm not a headphone wearer nor much of a loud concert goer. So it isnt volume damage. I dont know what it is, it could be genetic, it could be smoking, could be meds I take. I dont know. I guess I need to find out... somehow.
― 65daysofsugban (Trayce), Thursday, 7 May 2009 06:51 (fourteen years ago) link
I wish you the best of luck. I never heard or read of anyone who knows what exactly tinnitus is.
In the meantime, I just try to arm myself.
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i191/fluxion23/bottle-of-foam.jpg
― bachmann boehner overdrive (kenan), Thursday, 7 May 2009 07:04 (fourteen years ago) link
I buy in bulk.
― bachmann boehner overdrive (kenan), Thursday, 7 May 2009 07:06 (fourteen years ago) link
I have this. It is a huge bummer.
― Your heartbeat soun like sasquatch feet (polyphonic), Thursday, 7 May 2009 08:24 (fourteen years ago) link
Earplugs would do nothin for me, I dont get exposed to much loudness! Also, total fear of anything in my ears merrghrhr.
― 65daysofsugban (Trayce), Thursday, 7 May 2009 10:01 (fourteen years ago) link
I just pretend I'm listening to an ambient album by Merzbow all the time. Makes me feel really cool.
― Øystein, Thursday, 7 May 2009 10:24 (fourteen years ago) link
i have had to learn to love the ring.its like having a constant FAX cd on a loop in my head.
― mark e, Thursday, 7 May 2009 10:29 (fourteen years ago) link
xpost.
This is one of my biggest fears. I keep a pair of earplugs on me at all times, usually, just in case. I also keep an earplug loosely in my right (slightly worse) ear when I listen to music. It's very frustrating, and I don't get to listen to nearly as much music as I'd like, because if I'm not responsible I'll get pangs of ringing, pain, and bad pressure, like a few days ago, forcing me to go 4 days this weeks without music :(
― Edward Saroyan, Thursday, 7 May 2009 13:32 (fourteen years ago) link
Also, are there particular frequencies that are worse for your ears? Like are repetitive bass drums going to do more damage than say, mid or high range guitars, for instance?
― Edward Saroyan, Thursday, 7 May 2009 13:34 (fourteen years ago) link
I imagine there's no limit to the frequencies that can damage your ears, and likewise everyone's head noise is special like a snowflake.
― my features are so intense (kenan), Thursday, 7 May 2009 13:39 (fourteen years ago) link
Assuming that hearing damage is indeed what tinnitus is. We don't really know that for sure. There's correlation, though, for damn sure, if not causation.
― my features are so intense (kenan), Thursday, 7 May 2009 13:43 (fourteen years ago) link
I've had a low running case [of tinnitus] for years. Much as I love ______________, I have them to blame.
^^^Wouldn't have guessed the Kitchens Of Distinction!
― SQUIRREL WITH A PEOPLE FACE (╓abies), Thursday, 7 May 2009 13:46 (fourteen years ago) link
the notorious 4k notch
― worm? lol (J0hn D.), Thursday, 7 May 2009 13:46 (fourteen years ago) link
your ears are better protected against low frequencies (that's why they don't explode every time you're out in a strong wind), but that theory kinda goes out the window at loud concerts, since the bass ends up having lots of more destructive frequencies appearing alongside it just as a result of natural distortion and so on.
After I saw The Flaming Lips (of all notoriously loud bands?) my hearing was fuzzy and pitched up a few tones for several days. That was fun. I will assume that that's the main reason for the EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE that interrupts the sounds of silence in my head.
― Ralph, Waldo, Emerson, Lake & Palmer (Merdeyeux), Thursday, 7 May 2009 14:02 (fourteen years ago) link
Tinnitus is generally associated with hearing loss, as the ringing is always there (it's from all that stuff in your head like blood cells etc. that are right next to your ear, I think) but your brain filters it out. When you have hearing loss, your brain detects it, and turns up the volume so to speak to cover it up.
I wish I could just have a child's eardrums implanted into my head, that would be nice.
― Edward Saroyan, Thursday, 7 May 2009 14:33 (fourteen years ago) link
Tinnitus is generally associated with high frequencies, I think - as you get older, your ability to detect high frequencies decreases dramatically. For example, it is accepted that people can hear up to 20khz, but many people top out at 16khz.
I remember reading somewhere awhile ago that the military had developed some pill that could protect hearing, provided you took it before/after being exposed to loud noise - apparently it was just a concentrated cocktail of antioxidants, which was supposed to counteract all the free radicals which are released by your ear hairs when they are assaulted by, say, a Dinosaur Jr. concert. Or something.
― DJ Khaled El-Amin (dyao), Thursday, 7 May 2009 15:24 (fourteen years ago) link
this whole thread is making me nervous given that tonight i will be experiencing a gig for the first time in quite a while.a small pub, loud guitar kind of experience.the joy and the pain.
― mark e, Thursday, 7 May 2009 15:39 (fourteen years ago) link
I have to go to a 5 music festival in a few weeks, I'm pretty nervous about that (although I find using nasal rinse bottles and taking decongestants to relieve pressure helps, if only as a placebo).
― Edward Saroyan, Thursday, 7 May 2009 15:41 (fourteen years ago) link
the ringing is always there (it's from all that stuff in your head like blood cells etc.
I seriously doubt that blood cells etc make any kind of sound, at least not that our ears are designed to pick up. The straight-up as-we-know-them physiological explanations don't quite work, or else someone would have already put an evil, bony finger on them and concocted a sketchy drug to "treat" it. (Cynical? Moi?)
It seems to be either neurological or psychological, but of course you can't rule out physiological factors. The trouble is that something like this, with no outward symptoms that doctors can see with their eyes, no way to learn about it from a cadaver -- this shit stumps medicine every time. It's a cocktail of causes, very likely. Ever try to un-mix a bloody mary?
― my features are so intense (kenan), Thursday, 7 May 2009 17:03 (fourteen years ago) link
i've had a strange case of tinnitus, ever since i saw lightning bolt. not only was i standing five feet away from their mind melting amps, but i also got kicked in the head a few times, by some dude who seemed to be having a seizure while crowdsurfing. best show i've ever been to.
anyway... that was two years ago, and i've had a lot of trouble sleeping, since. forgot the last time i found sleep before 5:00 AM.
― Creeztophair, Thursday, 7 May 2009 17:13 (fourteen years ago) link
hardcore.
― my features are so intense (kenan), Thursday, 7 May 2009 17:20 (fourteen years ago) link
every single detail of that story is extreme. I think you should lay off the Mountain Dew and see if that helps.
― my features are so intense (kenan), Thursday, 7 May 2009 17:22 (fourteen years ago) link
wear ear plugs, people
― Ømår Littel (Jordan), Thursday, 7 May 2009 17:23 (fourteen years ago) link
i'm studying for neuro right now, but tinnitus never came up unfortunately. some thoughts, tho:
-- my dad has tinnitus, and has ever since an injury to his inner ear (lifting something very heavy underwater...blew up one of his ear drums)-- it's possible to hear blood flow: clinicians do it all the time w/steths, but it's possible to hear it internally, too! after i go running or whatever i 'hear' my heart pounding. -- my guess is that tinnitus as a result of loud music might have something to do with damaging the hair cells that are responsible for transduction of vibratory input to neuronal signal. damaging them might make them 'always on,' so as far as your brain is concerned, there's a XXX kHz pitch going at all times. that might also explain why tinnitus is associated with higher pitches: higher frequencies mean higher energy, so i guess it isn't surprising that they'd be more damagin
― i like to fart and i am crazy (gbx), Thursday, 7 May 2009 17:34 (fourteen years ago) link
also, according to the internet, there's something called "objective tinnitus," which is a sound that a clinician can hear, too, if they listen to your ear! neat!
― i like to fart and i am crazy (gbx), Thursday, 7 May 2009 17:35 (fourteen years ago) link
interesting. i don't have much of a problem with continuous ringing, only after shows and occasional thing where i hear a high ringing pitch that goes away after ten seconds or so. but after going to an audiologist i found out that i've definitely lost some hearing in the upper range, and that's mostly from overexposure to LOW pitches (well, there have been a lot of loud high pitches too over the years).
― Ømår Littel (Jordan), Thursday, 7 May 2009 17:37 (fourteen years ago) link
it's possible to hear blood flow: clinicians do it all the time w/steths, but it's possible to hear it internally, too! after i go running or whatever i 'hear' my heart pounding.
Ok, yes. It's pretty obvious that's not the problem, though. I shouldn't have responded to that post at all -- totally my bad.
damaging them might make them 'always on,' so as far as your brain is concerned
That's interesting! Of all the ear doctors I have been to, not one of them ever said that. That almost makes... sense.
― my features are so intense (kenan), Thursday, 7 May 2009 17:47 (fourteen years ago) link
the going theory on tinnitus, and the one that makes the most sense to me, is that the mind "fills in" a frequency which it notices is missing from the sound spectrum to which it was accustomed before the listener's hearing was damaged. your hearing can be damaged for a little while before your brain "notices" that it's not getting information from (say) the 4k region, at which point it starts feeding you the tone 24/7.
― worm? lol (J0hn D.), Thursday, 7 May 2009 17:48 (fourteen years ago) link
the other thing is that bass frequencies do the most damage - they don't "carve out" at the frequency where they occur; they damage the high receptors.
― worm? lol (J0hn D.), Thursday, 7 May 2009 17:49 (fourteen years ago) link
word
― Ømår Littel (Jordan), Thursday, 7 May 2009 17:54 (fourteen years ago) link
^^^^ I can't stress this enough.
― Carroll Shelby Downard (Elvis Telecom), Thursday, 7 May 2009 18:05 (fourteen years ago) link
― worm? lol (J0hn D.), Thursday, May 7, 2009 12:49 PM (9 minutes ago) Bookmark
genuinely curious about the mechanics of this! wonder if it's due to how frequency transduction is arranged along the basilar membrane: high frequencies come "first" along the length of the membrane, low frequencies at the far end. given a high amplitude signal of any frequency, the high-end receptors will ultimately be subject to the most disruption. that is, any given sound wave will pass by the high-freq receptors, but not all will 'make' it to the low-freq receptors.
someone who knows about sound/harmonics: so, i feel like i've 'heard' high tone harmonics while listening to low tones, but not the other way around. assuming that's true (that is, that low tones are more likely to have high tonal 'activity'), then it would make sense that very loud, low-freq, complex tones (construction sounds, lightning bolt) would preferentially damage high-freq receptors because a) they'd be getting spiked activity even in the absence of clear, isolated high-freq tones and b) the basilar membrane is generally less-compliant (stiffer) at the high end anyway (a structural necessity for high-freq transduction)
― i like to fart and i am crazy (gbx), Thursday, 7 May 2009 18:15 (fourteen years ago) link
given a high amplitude signal of any frequency, the high-end receptors will ultimately be subject to the most disruption.
(this is not strictly true...only in the case of a complex tone, with harmonics. the basilar membrane is designed such that a clear tone of a given freq will preferentially deform the membrane only at the point of maximum amplitude for that freq. but, we don't sit around listening to sine-waves all day, so if low-tones have the ability to 'encode' harmonic information in a way that high-freq tones do not, it would stand to reason that high-tone receptors are seeing more action at any given time)
― i like to fart and i am crazy (gbx), Thursday, 7 May 2009 18:19 (fourteen years ago) link
30 seconds of wiki would suggest i'm on the right track, here
― i like to fart and i am crazy (gbx), Thursday, 7 May 2009 18:21 (fourteen years ago) link
can u tell i am procrastinating
― i like to fart and i am crazy (gbx), Thursday, 7 May 2009 18:22 (fourteen years ago) link
genuinely curious about the mechanics of this!
you're ahead of me here - my training's in nursing, I generally know a little of the "what" and less of the "how"
― worm? lol (J0hn D.), Thursday, 7 May 2009 18:59 (fourteen years ago) link
the going theory on tinnitus, and the one that makes the most sense to me, is that the mind "fills in" a frequency which it notices is missing from the sound spectrum to which it was accustomed before the listener's hearing was damaged. your hearing can be damaged for a little while before your brain "notices"
This would certainly go with my experience. I have 2 "noises" in my tinnitus; a very low humming and a quite high pitched sound in multiple "notes" as if listening to the fade out of some bells. My bf has played me that "note only teenagers can hear" frequency before and he can hear it (he says) and I cannot. Also the TV apparently makes a hideous whistle when it has no signal I can never hear.
I *have* had one damaging concert exp: mogwai about 5 years ago with no earplugs, couldnt hear too good for 2 days afterward. Thats it though. I dont use bud earphones ever.
I read somewhere some ppl think codiene can aggravate swelling/irritation in the hearing fibres. I wonder if thats true? Also, I'm sure sure sure smoking is doing something bad?
― 65daysofsugban (Trayce), Thursday, 7 May 2009 21:11 (fourteen years ago) link
the thing is, as you get older, the li'l hearing receptors are gonna go anyway, mogwai or no. talk to some old people - an incredibly high number of them have tinnitus, it's just that it's about 9th on their list of physical complaints
― worm? lol (J0hn D.), Thursday, 7 May 2009 21:18 (fourteen years ago) link
Yeah, tell me about it. God i'm only 38 and I'm already going deaf and getting stiff in the limbs. TOO SOON GOD PAL.
― 65daysofsugban (Trayce), Thursday, 7 May 2009 21:21 (fourteen years ago) link
if you still have your youthful shape then count yr blessings young'n
― worm? lol (J0hn D.), Thursday, 7 May 2009 21:33 (fourteen years ago) link
I pictured you shaking a cane at me while saying that, J0hn =)
― 65daysofsugban (Trayce), Thursday, 7 May 2009 21:37 (fourteen years ago) link
Xposts: Taking too much aspirin can make your ears ring (don't know about codeine, though)
And I was just reciting what an ENT told me, and information I've gotten (second-hand) from audiologists.
I just don't understand how people can go to events every weekend, listen to music for hours a day and live to hear.
― Edward Saroyan, Friday, 8 May 2009 03:38 (fourteen years ago) link
Nah, never take asprin so its not that. I suppose it could just be from that one Mogwai gig, but I fear J0hn's right and the answer is just lol u old.
;;_;
― 65daysofsugban (Trayce), Friday, 8 May 2009 04:22 (fourteen years ago) link
...and smoking. That has to be doing something. Though if I have a few days off it makes no diff. I wonder how long a temp case of tinnitus takes to wear off if one ceased the cause?
― 65daysofsugban (Trayce), Friday, 8 May 2009 04:23 (fourteen years ago) link
So, does anyone's tinnitus get worse when they yawn, bite hard, jut out their jaw? Because mine does, and I'd heard about relations between TMJ and tinnitus, but having known nothing about TMJ, and not really having problems with my jaw I didn't really bother. But a google search about this has yielded results. I think I may ask a doctor soon to about this, perhaps get checked up.
― Edward Saroyan, Sunday, 10 May 2009 13:34 (fourteen years ago) link
I have a TMJ problem sometimes and it definitely makes my tinnitus worse. There are a lot of nerves that go through the point between the ear and the top of the TMJ.
― snoball, Sunday, 10 May 2009 14:00 (fourteen years ago) link
That definitely might explain why I started having hearing related issues, more or less from out of nowhere at 18. It becomes very grating going to doctors and ENT's who just tell you its allergies, despite never having had allergy problems.
― Edward Saroyan, Sunday, 10 May 2009 14:07 (fourteen years ago) link
Tinnitus vs. The Hum: fite! (quietly)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8056284.stm
― StanM, Tuesday, 19 May 2009 14:22 (fourteen years ago) link
broken tellies most likely
― Ant Attack.. (Ste), Tuesday, 19 May 2009 15:40 (fourteen years ago) link
there was a good article about tinnitus in the nyer a while back
― rip dom passantino 3/5/09 never forget (max), Tuesday, 19 May 2009 15:43 (fourteen years ago) link
http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2009/02/09/090209fa_fact_groopman
― rip dom passantino 3/5/09 never forget (max), Tuesday, 19 May 2009 15:44 (fourteen years ago) link
This October, I'll have had tinnitus in my right year for a full decade. Ummm. yay.
― Alex in NYC, Tuesday, 19 May 2009 18:18 (fourteen years ago) link
the scariest part of that article btw:
This past August, I visited the University of Buffalo, which houses one of the major clinical and research centers for the evaluation and study of tinnitus. After filling out a detailed questionnaire, I met with Christina Stocking of the Speech-Language and Hearing Clinic, who has a doctorate in audiology and specializes in the condition. Stocking thought that I might have suffered noise trauma during a youth spent on the New York City subways. Sitting in the first row of a rock concert exposes you to between a hundred and ten and a hundred and twenty decibels; the screech of the New York subways can reach about a hundred and fifteen decibels. Moreover, since much of the New York subway system is underground, the noise reverberates in the tunnels, unlike in Boston, where many of the trains are above ground and noise dissipates, or in Paris, where several metro lines run on rubber wheels.
― rip dom passantino 3/5/09 never forget (max), Tuesday, 19 May 2009 18:22 (fourteen years ago) link
No shit. Every time I've visited a city with trains (mostly Chicago) I've wondered exactly how loud things are getting in the tunnels. I'm surprised there's never been a "wear ear protection on the subway" health movement.
Then again, there are a half dozen reasons why my hearing should be shot, but I've been lucky so far. I thought I was having a tinnitus issue last week at work, but then another coworker confirmed the florescent lights were screeching. And I could hear it.
― mh, Tuesday, 19 May 2009 19:19 (fourteen years ago) link
I just celebrated one full year with tinnitus in my left ear...(what the doctor told me at the time: "when you notice that it's gone, you will know you're dead"...so, I got that to look forward to)...really screams when I have a head cold...(like right now)...fuck it though...in general, I feel like I'm winning...
― henry s, Tuesday, 19 May 2009 19:44 (fourteen years ago) link
Mines still bad. I'm more bothered by the current poor hearing in general, though. Which tinnitus never normally messes with. My hearing's been muffled since my cold 1-2 months back. I'm reluctant to go to a GP though because their answer to everything is "syringe of water in the ear" and they can fuck right off with that, it's dangerous and I dont know why they think it helps.
― Trayce, Tuesday, 19 May 2009 23:34 (fourteen years ago) link
My hearing was messed up after my last cold, too, Trayce, although not for that long. Couldn't it be that somehow there is still fluid in there that hasn't drained? If so, you should see a doc to help get it out. Why they would recommend putting water in your ear, I don't know.
― "some fucking dumb indie reason you refuse to admit" (Bimble), Tuesday, 19 May 2009 23:54 (fourteen years ago) link
To flush out wax or something, I guess? But I've had perforated eardrums before, and ENTs have told me water-flushing ears is a bad idea as it can lead to infections and (in cases like mine) water potentially getting past the eardrum. Plus, it fucking hurts!
But I dunno how else I'd clear any congestion. I've tried pseudoephedrine in hefty amounts and that did sod-all.
― Trayce, Wednesday, 20 May 2009 00:02 (fourteen years ago) link
Well, I'm probably out of my depth here, but I can tell you that once many years ago when I went to a doc after a cold - and I recall it being the same situation as what you describe - loss of hearing - the doc told me that all the anti-histamines/cold medicine I was taking was actually preventing the stuff from draining! I wish I could remember if he prescribed me any medicine or not, but I can't. I hate to sound like a broken record and I know it isn't what you want to hear, but you should see a doc.
― "some fucking dumb indie reason you refuse to admit" (Bimble), Wednesday, 20 May 2009 00:19 (fourteen years ago) link
"when you notice that it's gone, you will know you're dead"
That's some kinda fucked up shit, man. Time for a new doc, methinks.
― Alex in NYC, Wednesday, 20 May 2009 01:19 (fourteen years ago) link
Going to the doctor tomorrow and the dentist on Friday, here's hoping the problem is with my jaw and that it can be very easily treated.
― Edward Saroyan, Wednesday, 20 May 2009 01:27 (fourteen years ago) link
think I was woken up by my tinnitus last night - dreamed that somebody was screaming at me, except I couldn't hear what he was saying, and when I woke up I realized that the screaming was actually the sounds of my tinnitus :/
― 囧 (dyao), Monday, 14 December 2009 01:58 (fourteen years ago) link
Happens to me all the time, though I never know if it's the tinnitus or the dream that wakes me. But yeah, my ears will be SCREAMING for several minutes before they calm down. Always a scary moment. Like I need a worse version of what I've already got! (I can't recall if I experienced this nocturnal ringing before I actually contracted tinnitus. I don't think so.)
― henry s, Monday, 14 December 2009 02:35 (fourteen years ago) link
"Tinnitus Is the Result of the Brain Trying, but Failing, to Repair Itself"
― Stop Non-Erotic Cabaret (Abbbottt), Friday, 14 January 2011 03:08 (thirteen years ago) link
http://spectrum.ieee.org/biomedical/devices/wireless-device-might-wring-out-ringing-in-the-ears
― ergonomically chromium plated fish slice (La Lechera), Friday, 28 January 2011 14:04 (thirteen years ago) link
well this is irritating
― stop swearing and start windmilling (Shakey Mo Collier), Wednesday, 3 October 2012 19:16 (eleven years ago) link
kinda starting to wish I was dead
― stop swearing and start windmilling (Shakey Mo Collier), Tuesday, 16 October 2012 17:52 (eleven years ago) link
have you seen a doctor?
― jon and kate catch h8 (k3vin k.), Tuesday, 16 October 2012 20:47 (eleven years ago) link
Really bad the last 24 hours, and I'm someone with a lifelong noose of it round my ears, so it takes a lot for me to notice mine. I'm massively stressed/depressed at the moment so I think thats aggravating it. It almost has a *sensation* as well as a sound . I can hear it over plentiful office noise/chatter/aircon/PC hum. So its bad. Ugh.
― It is like ganging up on Enya (Trayce), Tuesday, 23 April 2013 01:50 (ten years ago) link
Resorting to a soft whitenoise generator on my iphone to dull it out. Suprisingly its working.
― It is like ganging up on Enya (Trayce), Tuesday, 23 April 2013 02:00 (ten years ago) link
sorry to hear that Trayce :( hang in there
― four Marxes plus four Obamas plus four Bin Ladens (Shakey Mo Collier), Tuesday, 23 April 2013 15:25 (ten years ago) link
I've had tinnitus in one ear since the mid-'90s (caused by a sharp loud noise within inches of my ear), and it was quite bad for much of a decade. I couldn't sleep without some sort of fan or white noise in the background; complete silence was awful. But then, unexpectedly, it slowly started to subside. It still comes and goes, but except at it's worst it's soft and not very noticeable or bothersome, and at best I can't hear it at all.
So hold out hope, Shakey and Trayce
― Lee626, Tuesday, 23 April 2013 18:24 (ten years ago) link
i suspect i've had tinnitus for maybe 15 years but have only just become conscious of it this year. the trigger to noticing it was having to wear earplugs *heaps* in this flat because of the crappy building and the shitty neighbours upstairs. (going to bed with earplugs is nbd because i drop off, but when i'm awake for ~2 hours with them in i tend to notice more stuff.)
it's doing this:
- a constant high-pitched ringing in the middle of my head, which i've been vaguely aware of forever- the thing i've only noticed this year: a sort of throbbing pitchfork-type tone in my right ear
i only really hear either of those when i'm wearing earplugs (as per above) and when it's quiet, but because i've only really noticed it recently, i don't know whether it's been happening all this time. i notice it frequently now, even sometimes in normal noise situations, but half the time i'm probably imagining it (and recent severe anxiety probably exacerbates both the symptoms and my awareness of them).
i've been shitty to my ears over the years, so obviously it's all my fault, but in the past few years i've been a fascist with established volume limits, closed-design earphones, earplugs in clubs etc., specifically to protect my ears. so, whatever happens happens, but right now it's only a ~thing~ rather than a problem.
btw, trayce otm re the 'sensation'. i could swear i'm physically feeling the pitchfork-type tone as a sort of buzz, but if i can't hear the tone, i can't feel it either. the whole notion that your brain creates tinnitus through interpolation is fascinating.
― obi wankin' obi (Autumn Almanac), Tuesday, 17 September 2013 09:08 (ten years ago) link
the single most incredible thing i've discovered about tinnitus is that noticing it makes it worse. i'm 100% sure i've had it buzzing away in the distance for a good 15 years (as per last post), but in the last 2–3 weeks it's been distracting me constantly, even if it's only on the edge of my awareness. if it's actually worse, it's only a tiny bit worse, but my brain has decided to latch onto it.
the ent i saw a couple of weeks ago was all about comforting me and rushing me out the door, and didn't seem to want to answer my questions properly (what's banging around in my ears when i move my head? why do loud noises make my left ear click? etc etc, all brushed off). he also got some things straight-up wrong in his notes. but, he didn't go all guilt-trip about loud music, so it wasn't all bad.
at this point i'm supposed to have a hearing test in a soundproof booth, and an mri to look for tumours. after that, the ent will call me back and presumably point me to an audiologist, and ignore the 12 gallons of fluid that's been sloshing around behind my eardrums for as long as i can remember.
― Autumn Almanac, Friday, 15 November 2013 01:15 (ten years ago) link
good luck with that, Autumn. i went through those tests you describe. ent said based on what she saw, my tinnitus was probably caused by some kind of ear infection in the past.
i do think i have one bit of advice that may be useful to others: watch out for aspirin. i had surgery for a broken leg in early september and for the first week and a half afterward my tinnitus became absurdly loud (not good when you're having a hard enough time falling asleep due to pain). i did some research about the various meds i was on, and read that aspirin (which i was taking for anti-coagulant purposes), in some people, can exacerbate tinnitus. i called my doc and he said "yup, that could be it", so he switched me to another anti-coagulant for a few weeks(Lovenox, which I had to self-inject daily, but that was an easy trade-off. Within less than 48 hours the tinnitus subsided to tolerable levels. this was huge for me.
now I don't know how this is possible, but apparently there is one, that's right, ONE tinnitus specialist in all of Boston. i have my appointment coming up in early December, but I booked it a year and a half ago - that's how far ahead you have to book with her. it better be good!
― never have i been a blue calm sea (collardio gelatinous), Friday, 15 November 2013 01:42 (ten years ago) link
excellent that you found something to reduce your tinnitus.
is it possible that there aren't many tinnitus specialists because there aren't many successful treatments of tinnitus? with the incidence of cases (especially in america), i can't think why else there wouldn't be thousands of specialists everywhere.
― Autumn Almanac, Saturday, 16 November 2013 22:33 (ten years ago) link
So I seem to have developed some kind of tinnitus
Started a couple of weeks ago, only noticed when I went to bad and waking up in the morning. It wasn't a constant buzz but rather a two tone sound, like the old modems uploading data!
Went to the docs last week and she was very quick to tell me it was just tinnitus and that it can come and go and a lot of the time it can be caused from a recent virus/infection affecting the nerves in the ears.
But last night was quite bad, not only did I have the original two tone sound but also a constant pitch every now and then. Reading a book it was unbelievable.
I'm still 99% sure that it's just because I'm focusing on it, and last few months I've had high anxiety levels so I think that's not helping.
If I'm busy doing stuff it just doesn't even register.
so odd. The brain fascinates me sometimes.
― Drop soap, not bombs (Ste), Friday, 17 January 2014 09:57 (ten years ago) link
"bed" ffs
this shit sucks. you have my sympathies. dealing with it is an endurance test (in my experience) but take some solace from the fact that physically this can't really hurt you/is usually not indicative of anything serious. mentally it's a bitch.
― Ayn Rand Akbar (Shakey Mo Collier), Friday, 17 January 2014 18:51 (ten years ago) link
but you will be ok! everybody with this seems to become more or less ok with it over time.
I just think of it as a radio station devoted to Alvin Lucier that plays in my head all the time
― sleeve, Friday, 17 January 2014 18:55 (ten years ago) link
haha, man, I went to an Alvin Lucier concert last year (including "I am sitting" and "Silver streetcar") and definitely had a weird feeling of wondering to what extent it sounded at all the same to most other people in the room. But I guess that question might have occurred even if my ears were perfect.
I'm at a point now where even when I find myself paying attention to my tinnitus, it doesn't really bother me. One exception: when I'm exhausted. But everything is terrible then, so ...Still, those early times, when you're constantly kinda on the alert for it and thinking about it and worrying about whether it'll get worse &c are the worst. Hope that won't last too long for you.
Dunno if I mentioned it here, but I didn't bother to go see a doctor about my tinnitus, because I'd read that it was incurable etc. When I told my doctor last year (having had it for over a decade) she was shocked and kinda disgusted with me and sent me straight to an ear-doctor. Ear-doctor said "Meh -- waddyagonnado?"
― Øystein, Friday, 17 January 2014 19:15 (ten years ago) link
yeah that's what they say
― Ayn Rand Akbar (Shakey Mo Collier), Friday, 17 January 2014 19:23 (ten years ago) link
I guess my tinnitus posts were on a different thread but these are things that have helped me this past year:
Quitting earbuds and closed can headphones, switching to open air ones instead (grado)
Using a music player with crossfeed, also cutting upper treble on most music
Oddly enough, listening to an 11khz sine tone. I figured out my tinnitus is about 13 kHz and the adjacent tone knocks it out a little
― grape is the flavor of my true love's hair (Jon Lewis), Saturday, 18 January 2014 00:12 (ten years ago) link
Magnetic pulses to the brain deliver long-lasting relief for tinnitus patients
― the 'major tom guy' (sleeve), Thursday, 18 February 2016 16:03 (eight years ago) link
Not sure I want magnets near my brain.
― fields of salmon, Saturday, 20 February 2016 14:53 (eight years ago) link
http://i.imgur.com/9HjUcIW.jpg
― Raffi, Master of the Pan Flute (fake penthouse letters mcgee), Saturday, 20 February 2016 15:00 (eight years ago) link
my tinnitus is p. mild and mostly not a bother* but I am quite happy for my brain to be wiped tbh so sign me up for testing
* either it gets worse or I stop being able to filter it out whenever I have a cold, so that's bad; and when I go and see live music even with earplugs it goes "oh hai" for a week afterwards and makes me miserable about how I can't even go out and have fun any more, so I've 99% stopped doing that - but apart from that... hey wait, maybe it is a bother after all
seriously it's nice to see anyone researching this at all
― a passing spacecadet, Saturday, 20 February 2016 16:16 (eight years ago) link
Good God it's been loud the past day or two, and today even worse.
Having trouble thinking straight sometimes. I'm sure my ilx posts show it too.
Peace to all itt.
― never have i been a blue calm sea (collardio gelatinous), Friday, 11 March 2016 02:19 (eight years ago) link
Good luck, be strong fellow sufferer
― Οὖτις, Friday, 11 March 2016 02:40 (eight years ago) link
Indeed, godspeed. Mines been coming and going, not sure if I've readjusted or its subsided slightly.
― Interesting. No, wait, the other thing: tedious. (Trayce), Friday, 11 March 2016 03:01 (eight years ago) link
Thanks Outis & Trayce, and back at you.
Music at bedtime will help. I've become oddly fascinated by 4-hour long youtube vids with New Age tunes and images of immaculately groomed tropical landscapes and gurgling brooks.
― never have i been a blue calm sea (collardio gelatinous), Friday, 11 March 2016 03:13 (eight years ago) link
Yeah as Ive said upthread white noise apps are a boon. I use an iphone one called... White Noise, rather originally, you can mix tracks of water and birdnoises and such, and it doesnt sound too looped or fake.
― Interesting. No, wait, the other thing: tedious. (Trayce), Friday, 11 March 2016 03:57 (eight years ago) link
thanks for the tip Trayce, i'll check it out.
― never have i been a blue calm sea (collardio gelatinous), Friday, 11 March 2016 19:51 (eight years ago) link
had a scare two weeks ago. it lasted only 24 hours and only on my left ear, but the frightening part was it was triggered by going to a pretty tame show (sloan)
i wasn't standing that close to the stage or amp, but i wasn't wearing earplugs. admittedly, i've hardly worn earplugs to shows, only when rehearsing with bands
anyway, i didn't even want to post that it had gone away because i thought it would come back. i basically listen to everything pretty low and have stopped using headphones, as i used to use them almost everyday for a couple hours
yesterday i was on the phone for a couple hours and had my phone on my left ear as usual. that night i woke up in the middle of the night and my *right* ear started ringing for like three seconds, but that's it
all clear, but have been exercising caution
any tips for prevention?
― F♯ A♯ (∞), Wednesday, 12 October 2016 21:49 (seven years ago) link
in my experience shit just happened with no relation to past treatment of my ears. my left ear just decided I have tinnitus now. But in general if you're trying to minimize hearing damage, wear plugs etc. Tinnitus can occur independent of hearing loss (as it did in my case).
― Οὖτις, Wednesday, 12 October 2016 21:54 (seven years ago) link
that's interesting
thanks for the info
― F♯ A♯ (∞), Wednesday, 12 October 2016 22:03 (seven years ago) link
Mine is exactly the same and just as loud, maybe louder, than it was three years ago but for whatever reason it hardly ever 'bothers me' anymore. I still have some discomfort listening to digital-era solo piano and choral recordings on headphones, though.
― still lists its address as the recently razed home of “Morris” the (Jon not Jon), Wednesday, 12 October 2016 22:06 (seven years ago) link
Almost two years later, bass frequencies still physically hurt my ears. Haven't been to a live show in that time and even loud bars trigger a mild hyperacusis for the next day or so. The ringing is still ever present but I rarely notice it anymore. You do get used to it. I sleep with a pink noise app on my phone, which was recommended by an audiologist.
In retrospect, I was fortunate, given that I trashed my right ear when I was 16 but didn't have any notable permanent damage until more than 30 years later. Still, I won't let my kids go to shows without earplugs.
If your ears are ringing for anything less than 20 seconds, its likely just an unrelated physiological reaction. I occasionally get that in both ears, increasingly so as I get older. But nothing to worry about.
― doug watson, Wednesday, 12 October 2016 23:12 (seven years ago) link
Yeah you do get used to it. It took me a really long time tho.
― Οὖτις, Wednesday, 12 October 2016 23:26 (seven years ago) link
This bothering me every night now. Work has been extremely stressful, wondering if the two are related.
― clemenza, Thursday, 13 October 2016 00:00 (seven years ago) link
If your ears are ringing for anything less than 20 seconds, its likely just an unrelated physiological reaction.
this is actually good news, I have a solid bed of high frequency whine but every once in a while it gets REALLY loud and freaks me out.
so much research still to be done on this, so little is actually understood
the goddamn low frequency flutter in my left ear that was caused by totally excessive volume at a Gary Numan concert is still there, but I only hear it when it's very quiet/at night in bed.
― sleeve, Thursday, 13 October 2016 00:05 (seven years ago) link
Sleeve is that like the physical-feeling flutter where your timpani sort of does a soft drum roll, or pure sound?
My tinnitus is a plain 13khz whine... My wife's is midrange white noise 'like a vacuum cleaner running in another room'. She won't go to bars at all let alone concerts.
― still lists its address as the recently razed home of “Morris” the (Jon not Jon), Thursday, 13 October 2016 00:13 (seven years ago) link
I have the constant high-pitched whine, and the occasional kick-drum flutter, and sometimes one ear will just go out entirely for a minute or two. It's awesome, I tell you.
― Don Van Gorp, midwest regional VP, marketing (誤訳侮辱), Thursday, 13 October 2016 00:51 (seven years ago) link
xp Jon it sounds kind of like a street cleaner? a rhythmic sort of whoosh/flutter? that's what I thought it was when I first heard it (with earplugs in, at night)
― sleeve, Thursday, 13 October 2016 00:59 (seven years ago) link
Does it help to plug your nose and blow out, to "pop" your ears? My ENT specialist suggested doing this several times a day and yeah, I find that it does help with mild hyperacusis.
― doug watson, Thursday, 13 October 2016 01:42 (seven years ago) link
This reddit post talks more about spontaneous yet brief ringing in your ear.
― doug watson, Thursday, 13 October 2016 01:45 (seven years ago) link
doug for me it helps to cover my ear tightly with my palm! the muting makes the sudden upsurge of whine/feedback subside.
― sleeve, Thursday, 13 October 2016 02:21 (seven years ago) link
Yes, I've done the same with the acute tinnitus. But I've also found that it subsides within 30-60 seconds regardless.
― doug watson, Thursday, 13 October 2016 13:25 (seven years ago) link
My other comment about "popping" your ears was as a suggested response to when there's a fullness feeling in one ear and a slight pain with some frequencies (usually bass frequencies for me.)
― doug watson, Thursday, 13 October 2016 13:27 (seven years ago) link
from 2013:
the single most incredible thing i've discovered about tinnitus is that noticing it makes it worse.
i had largely forgotten about this, but a couple of weeks ago i was trying to work out whether my tv soundbar was having trouble putting out treble due to age/dust or whether i was just having trouble hearing higher frequencies. in doing so i basically beetlejuiced my tinnitus and now it's back, or rather my awareness of it is back.
i really don't think it's much worse than five years ago (except today my left ear is squealing like a pig for some reason), but i'm fascinated in the fact that noticing it has suddenly brought it back to life.
why do loud noises make my left ear click? etc etc
this is another thing i forgot all about until now, which is suddenly obvious again, and which i've just learnt is called hyperacusis.
other things i've realised in the past few days, now that this is a thing again:
this one was clearly caused by some auditory canal issue (i.e. not loud noises), because it always gets louder two days before i have a cold. it's a functional early warning system that helps me sort out my shit when i'm busy.
― calamity gammon (Autumn Almanac), Tuesday, 16 October 2018 10:40 (five years ago) link
also i don't talk about my tinnitus ever because i don't want to remind sufferers they have it, and i don't want people who have never noticed it before (e.g. me in 2013) to suddenly realise, panic, go through 40 years of hell &c.
― calamity gammon (Autumn Almanac), Tuesday, 16 October 2018 10:44 (five years ago) link
Mine is really noticeable at night, I dunno if it's entirely because it's quieter then or if it actually gets worse at night.
I get multiple high pitch tones, have thought about trying to figure out the actual notes and make a drone out of them.
My wife got me earplugs for my birthday but it's probably too late now. I suppose it might not get worse.
The weird thing is I do really well on those hearing tests for high frequencies, I can usually hear the tones only teens/early 20 somethings can hear. So I obviously have some kind of hearing damage but it just manifests as tinnitus and I think some reduction in volume, like sometimes I have trouble hearing really quiet sounds, but the frequency isn't affected.
― Colonel Poo, Tuesday, 16 October 2018 10:57 (five years ago) link
it might help to go to an audiologist and see whether you actually do have hearing damage, because if not the cause could be something treatable
― calamity gammon (Autumn Almanac), Tuesday, 16 October 2018 12:09 (five years ago) link
Yeah, I have tinnitus and hyperacusis (I'm 40) but my hearing is fine. I actually did better on my least hearing test than the one five years before.
also i don't talk about my tinnitus ever because i don't want to remind sufferers they have it
This! It's so difficult to get that balance between taking about it, not talking about it, and - especially - getting advice that doesn't make you feel even *more* self-conscious about it.
I'm having trouble at work right now - we just moved to an open-plan office and it's much, much louder, so I have to work at home most days. Disability rights in the workplace are actually pretty good in the UK, but workplaces always look at disability rights as recommendations - not, you know, THE LAW.
― Chuck_Tatum, Tuesday, 16 October 2018 13:09 (five years ago) link
xp I've been to the GP about it, and they had a look and (TMI time) I had *massive* amounts of ear wax in both ears, which they couldn't get out by syringing and had to book another appointment to have them cleaned out with a suction device, which I had done a few months ago. Made *no* difference at all to the tinnitus though. I guess I'll have to go back.
― Colonel Poo, Tuesday, 16 October 2018 14:14 (five years ago) link
today my left ear settled down, weird
this is super weird since everything i can find about tinnitus indicates associated hearing loss, especially where there's hyperacusis. tinnitus is such a fucking weird thing. recent research points to some people's brains inserting the noise and others' brains just not.
xp I've been to the GP about it, and they had a look and (TMI time) I had *massive* amounts of ear wax in both ears
it's possible the ear wax is inhibiting the sound hairs in some way, but as per above i don't know what i am talking about
― calamity gammon (Autumn Almanac), Wednesday, 17 October 2018 09:35 (five years ago) link
I was hoping so (re wax) but they removed it all and the tinnitus didn't change
I was given the fear of putting cotton buds in my ears as a kid so I've never tried to clean them out myself, so that was 42 years build up they removed. It was quite impressive, reminded me of that Father Ted episode where they make candles out of Father Jack's ear wax.
― Colonel Poo, Wednesday, 17 October 2018 09:41 (five years ago) link
I was hoping so (re wax) but they removed it all and the tinnitus didn't changeoh i misread that you’d had the second syringing done. sucks.
― calamity gammon (Autumn Almanac), Wednesday, 17 October 2018 10:23 (five years ago) link
At what point exactly will I be able to claim that almost 20 years of tinnitus qualifies me for... some level of recognition? Not sure what level exactly, a degree of fucking patience or understanding on the part of my employers for persistent sleep disturbances, deafness, and social anxiety due to not being sure I hear things properly. It affects me and it has a knock-on effect on any of the other various conditions I suffer from. I mean seriously, have you tried to sleep when your ears sound like an old TV tuned to static? Have some fucking respect, for fuck's sake.
― fields of salmon, Friday, 19 October 2018 02:00 (five years ago) link
Mine's been very noticeable the last few weeks. One time it almost always surfaces is when I wake up after falling asleep in front of the TV for an hour or two.
― clemenza, Friday, 19 October 2018 02:20 (five years ago) link
I have what I would consider a minor amount of tinnitus for someone my age (64). It is just one tone, not several, and not very aggressive. I notice it most when I am awake in the quiet hours of the night. I just try to ignore it as best I can, which seems the best option available to me, unless they invent cheap, easily attached, artificial ears that work better than new.
― A is for (Aimless), Friday, 19 October 2018 03:16 (five years ago) link
Is there a way to hide threads? I don't want to see this one because it reminds me and then I have it.
― StanM, Friday, 19 October 2018 07:23 (five years ago) link
sorry stanm, i don’t think there’s a way to hide individual threads (greasemonkey maybe?)today i was in a meeting and suddenly recalled a friend (being a dick because kids) firing an aerosol rape whistle in my left ear in the ‘90s. that’s the ear which has the hyperacusis and the louder ringing. on remembering that, i freaked out so much i nearly passed out in the meeting. incredible how a physical trauma can suddenly hit you 25 years later.but as i mentioned upthread, i had basically forgotten about this for a few years, so i’m guessing it’s been like this for so long that i’d subconsciously normalised it. also, the rape whistle incident might not have had anything to do with this. it’s all guesswork at this point, but more importantly it’s ancient history.the hyperacusis (or recruitment?) itself is bizarre. most of the time it’s not very perceptible, but if someone is talking loudly it causes me discomfort i can’t really pin down. this has been the case for as long as i can remember, but until this week i had no idea why. it’s most pronounced if i put in earplugs and then speak normally, which makes my left ear sound completely like a blown speaker cone. again, i think this has been going on for decades, i just didn’t think about what it was.i’ve also had trouble understanding normal speech forever, which i always thought was just me being stupid but is probably this.so where I’m going with this is that i‘ve only just realised i’ve had hearing loss for a quarter of a century. this is probably one for veg grrrl’s absent-minded thread tbh.
― calamity gammon (Autumn Almanac), Friday, 19 October 2018 09:37 (five years ago) link
and the only thing that’s really upsetting me right now is that i can’t talk to anyone about this, even ‘er indoors, because i don’t want to remind them of their own hearing issues they might have forgotten about. so i’m sitting here half-watching ‘making a murderer’ and feeling numb as fuck.
― calamity gammon (Autumn Almanac), Friday, 19 October 2018 09:40 (five years ago) link
CBT was really helpful to me, if it's affordable. I don't know where you live, but if it's London, I know a guy.
There's a book by a guy called David Baguely that's also helpful. Somehow knowing a bit more about the science is reassuring and causes less anxiety.
― Chuck_Tatum, Friday, 19 October 2018 09:49 (five years ago) link
At what point exactly will I be able to claim that almost 20 years of tinnitus qualifies me for... some level of recognition?
I think about this a lot! People don't realise how strong you have to be to deal with it sometimes, how often you have to resilient and not freak out. I suppose people with most disabilities feel like this.
― Chuck_Tatum, Friday, 19 October 2018 09:52 (five years ago) link
otm, there’s a maddening element to any long-term ailment which most unafflicted people don’t ever think about, e.g. how people endure untreatable chronic pain for 30+ years is just completely unfathomable to me.CBT was really helpful to me, if it's affordable. I don't know where you live, but if it's London, I know a guy. There's a book by a guy called David Baguely that's also helpful. Somehow knowing a bit more about the science is reassuring and causes less anxiety.thanks for this! i’ll definitely have a look at that book. you’re right about understanding the science – this video made me feel a lot less like a sadcase and more aware that some of us just have the wrong brain (and that it’s potentially treatable in the coming years/decades).re cbt: for now i’ll just hang on and hope i go back to my years of blissful ignorance (?–2013, 2014–2018), but if not i’ll go back to the incredible psychologist who ended my lifelong severe anxiety in ~3 months. as the damage to my ears happened half my life ago, i can’t very well get worked up about it now.
― calamity gammon (Autumn Almanac), Friday, 19 October 2018 10:03 (five years ago) link
oh jeez, that david baguely book is aud$150
― calamity gammon (Autumn Almanac), Friday, 19 October 2018 10:05 (five years ago) link
oh! that's an old sciencey one - it's this one, more of a self-help book
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B009CH8X10/
― Chuck_Tatum, Friday, 19 October 2018 12:21 (five years ago) link
fantastic, reading the sample now
― calamity gammon (Autumn Almanac), Friday, 19 October 2018 12:45 (five years ago) link
Jolly good. If you ever feel desperate and need someone to chat/moan to, do feel free to drop me a webmail!
― Chuck_Tatum, Friday, 19 October 2018 14:32 (five years ago) link
cheers! i'd make the same offer but my webmail address is long defunct, but i'll be here anyway if you need support &c.
― calamity gammon (Autumn Almanac), Friday, 19 October 2018 23:32 (five years ago) link
Non-stop the past three weeks. Not sure if there's a connection to what's going on--I was thinking that all the silence plays a part.
― clemenza, Thursday, 2 April 2020 12:36 (three years ago) link
Went through a very anxiety-filled week, also a week of almost non-stop tinnitus. I know a couple of things that were causing the anxiety, but I think the tinnitus played a role. I've read that stress/anxiety can be one of the contributing causes of tinnitus; I get the feeling it's like a feedback loop, though, and the tinnitus in turn exacerbates the anxiety. Today, for reasons as mysterious as ever, almost no tinnitus--and it was such a relief, I felt calm the whole day.
― clemenza, Thursday, 23 July 2020 01:02 (three years ago) link
I got written up at work right around the same time as the pandemic started to kick in and my tinnitus volume level exploded. it's not great! its gotten less extreme lately but I also got laid off from the aforementioned job so I have no daily stress, just long term stress.
― officer sonny bonds, lytton pd (mayor jingleberries), Thursday, 23 July 2020 02:41 (three years ago) link
i wish you both well.
i keep meaning to start meditating. i think you're exactly right about the feedback loop, clem.
― keen reverberations of twee (collardio gelatinous), Thursday, 23 July 2020 02:47 (three years ago) link
Huh, didn’t know about the anxiety and stress link. Would l-theanine help?
― Donald Trump Also Sucks, Of Course (milo z), Thursday, 23 July 2020 03:24 (three years ago) link
I got that from the Mayo Clinic site (under "Lifestyle and Home Remedies"):
http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/tinnitus/diagnosis-treatment/drc-20350162
To help with the anxiety, I bought some Melatonin over the counter a couple of days ago. I guess it's possible that that helped with the anxiety, which in turn helped with the tinnitus...but that seems a little too quick and too easy. I think it's more likely today's break was attributable to the randomness of this crazy thing.
― clemenza, Thursday, 23 July 2020 03:37 (three years ago) link
Haven't noticed a correlation between noise and heat before but the ringing is fierce today. Coincidence?
― koogs, Friday, 31 July 2020 18:03 (three years ago) link
I haven't noticed that, but it's something you'd have to consciously check. I'm on my second quiet day in a row after a few days of non-stop activity.
― clemenza, Sunday, 2 August 2020 15:56 (three years ago) link
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/new-tinnitus-treatment-alleviates-annoying-ringing-in-the-ears/
― sleeve, Thursday, 8 October 2020 14:16 (three years ago) link
Steep price tag, not surprisingly, but promising. I'm guessing some of it would be covered by insurance.
― clemenza, Thursday, 8 October 2020 15:16 (three years ago) link
electrically stimulating touch-sensitive neurons in the tongue or face can activate neurons in the auditory system
Say what?!
― dinnerboat, Thursday, 8 October 2020 17:10 (three years ago) link
My tinnitus is noticably higher in one ear than the other. I feel the need to tune my head.
― Bidh boladh a' mhairbh de 'n láimh fhalaimh (dowd), Thursday, 8 October 2020 19:47 (three years ago) link
It's such a mystery how all over the place is. I think I can categorize and roughly quantify it:
40% of the time, it's either not there at all or I'm not conscious of it, which as a practical matter probably amounts to the same thing. When I am aware of its complete absence, especially when out walking late at night, it's like a gift.
25% of the time, it's very faint--there, but not a bother at all. I'd accept this 100% of the time if given the choice.
25% of the time, it's actively annoying, enough to spoil a walk.
10% of the time, often after waking from a nap with the TV on, I'm thinking "Are you kidding me?" And I regret every time I ever listened to music really loud in the car.
― clemenza, Saturday, 23 January 2021 00:09 (three years ago) link
from that xpost Scientific American coverage: Our approach is to make everything in the auditory system much more hyperactive to everything but the tinnitus.Reminds me of reading long ago that William Shatner was trying a headset, I think it was: white noise biofeedback, auditory system learning to ignore tinnitus. He said it was making a significant difference, but I don't know about long term results
― dow, Saturday, 23 January 2021 00:43 (three years ago) link
just listen to Merzbow once a week (not kidding)
― Überschadenfreude (sleeve), Saturday, 23 January 2021 01:32 (three years ago) link