tinnitus

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.

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)

NA: What about the ones that look like a motorcycle helmet?

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.

uhrghhhh blinding white noise in my eears. it's like I'm walking around with a Tokyo-Berlin art collaboration in my ears

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?

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.

Mine's gotten a bit worse, though they're checking to see if it might be fluid buildup behind the eardrums.

i got custom earplugs made. it was a neat and expensive (180.00 US) experience that I feel is well worth the money.

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!

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.

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).

In October, I'll have had Tinnitus for nine years.

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.

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.

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.

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.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGHHHHHHHHHHHH

*bangs head with fists*

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

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.)

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.

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

I buy in bulk.

I have this. It is a huge bummer.

Earplugs would do nothin for me, I dont get exposed to much loudness! Also, total fear of anything in my ears merrghrhr.

I just pretend I'm listening to an ambient album by Merzbow all the time. Makes me feel really cool.

i have had to learn to love the ring.
its like having a constant FAX cd on a loop in my head.

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 :(

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?

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.

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.

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!

the notorious 4k notch

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.

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.

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.

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)

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.

This reddit post talks more about spontaneous yet brief ringing in your ear.

doug for me it helps to cover my ear tightly with my palm! the muting makes the sudden upsurge of whine/feedback subside.

Yes, I've done the same with the acute tinnitus. But I've also found that it subsides within 30-60 seconds regardless.

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.)

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:

• in my teens i learned to do those super-loud whistles you do by shoving your fingers in your mouth, and i would try to produce the loudest whistle i could. at least once i came out of it with a ringing that was violently, terrifyingly loud on dozens of frequencies all at once – far, far worse than post-concert ringing. at the time i was too young/too stupid/too uninformed to recognise it as hearing damage.
• i've had trouble understanding speech in noisy environments since at least the early '90s, which i assume is an indication that the associated high-frequency hearing loss has been there for ages.
• i've developed tmj on my left side (painful jaw clicking when i chew/talk), which is also the side with hyperacusis and today's squealing. could be coincidence though.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

today my left ear settled down, weird

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.

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

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.

I was hoping so (re wax) but they removed it all and the tinnitus didn't change

oh i misread that you’d had the second syringing done. sucks.

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.

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.

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.

Is there a way to hide threads? I don't want to see this one because it reminds me and then I have it.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

oh jeez, that david baguely book is aud$150

oh! that's an old sciencey one - it's this one, more of a self-help book

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B009CH8X10/

fantastic, reading the sample now

Jolly good. If you ever feel desperate and need someone to chat/moan to, do feel free to drop me a webmail!

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.

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.

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.

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.

i wish you both well.

i keep meaning to start meditating. i think you're exactly right about the feedback loop, clem.

Huh, didn’t know about the anxiety and stress link. Would l-theanine help?

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.

Haven't noticed a correlation between noise and heat before but the ringing is fierce today. Coincidence?

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.

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/new-tinnitus-treatment-alleviates-annoying-ringing-in-the-ears/

Steep price tag, not surprisingly, but promising. I'm guessing some of it would be covered by insurance.

electrically stimulating touch-sensitive neurons in the tongue or face can activate neurons in the auditory system

Say what?!

My tinnitus is noticably higher in one ear than the other. I feel the need to tune my head.

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.

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

just listen to Merzbow once a week (not kidding)