# Any Tinnitus Sufferers?



## DustyWind (Dec 18, 2013)

Hello!

I've had tinnitus for 3 years now from listening to extremely loud music on my earphones. One night I took out my earbuds and the sound was there. I also had hyperacusis, but thankfully it died down. My tinnitus is not as bad as it used to be, but it can be a pain because it is reactive to loud noises.

So, are there others here with the constant buzz?


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## webnek (Oct 20, 2013)

I call them my electric crickets, lol. 

I used to go to ALOT of metal concerts in my youth, and some were so loud that I was nearly deaf for hours afterwards. Now I prefer to sleep with a fan on in the room if the crickets are chirping too loudly 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk


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## DustyWind (Dec 18, 2013)

@webnek Yeah, it can be a pain. Do you still go to concerts? Did you get some hearing protection?


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## OldManRivers (Mar 22, 2012)

In basic training in the Army, my left ear started ringing after the first shot on the rifle range.. M1 ear, its called. That was July 1963.
It just gets louder. Some sounds around the frequency of the ringing are obliterated. I had a viral infection right after getting aflu shot and lost the hearing in that ear. I have 30 percent normal hearing in one ear. I asked about severing the nerves to silence the noise: The ENT said that works in some cases, but usually the ringing continues.

You can't help yourself, but you can spread awareness that loud music in uncool and crippling.

Some people cannot stand it and go berserk.


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## DustyWind (Dec 18, 2013)

OldManRivers said:


> In basic training in the Army, my left ear started ringing after the first shot on the rifle range.. M1 ear, its called. That was July 1963.
> It just gets louder. Some sounds around the frequency of the ringing are obliterated. I had a viral infection right after getting aflu shot and lost the hearing in that ear. I have 30 percent normal hearing in one ear. I asked about severing the nerves to silence the noise: The ENT said that works in some cases, but usually the ringing continues.
> 
> You can't help yourself, but you can spread awareness that loud music in uncool and crippling.
> ...


Wow, I am so sorry you have to deal with such a horrible affliction. A music producer I know completely destroyed his hearing by listening to loud tracks in the studio. He also lost around 70% of his hearing in his left ear. 

I agree, I keep warning my friends and acquaintances about the danger of loud noises, but few actually listen. You just have to adamant about these things, I guess. 

Thank you and stay safe, sir.


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## webnek (Oct 20, 2013)

My fiance's mother was 95% deaf, and just received a cochlear implant. It was life changing for her.

I still listen to loud music (Evoque had an 825 watt sound system) but I don't crank it up as loud as I might have in my twenties. 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk


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## Daeva (Apr 18, 2011)

I have a minor case of tinnitus because my diving instructor was an idiot.


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## OldManRivers (Mar 22, 2012)

DustyWind said:


> Wow, I am so sorry you have to deal with such a horrible affliction. A music producer I know completely destroyed his hearing by listening to loud tracks in the studio. He also lost around 70% of his hearing in his left ear.
> 
> I agree, I keep warning my friends and acquaintances about the danger of loud noises, but few actually listen. You just have to adamant about these things, I guess.
> 
> Thank you and stay safe, sir.


WhoDat Sir you done talkin' 'bout? Some ol' man, yeah!:laughing:

On physical limitations - I met a young college student, a friend of my wife's nephew, who is not yet 20 and he has an insulin pumb because of brittle diabetes. Childhood onset. Realistically, his life expectancy, baring some advance in medicine like pancreas transplant, is less that 50 years. 

I am 72, most of them good years, and even the worst had some meaning. As I told a friend, now I only have to buy half as many hearing aid batteries. I have an in-pocket amplifier that connects to an ear bud, clip on ear pad, or headphone, and that works fine in church, anywhere that there is only one sound source. It is from Williams Sound - the Pocket Talker. There are other manufacturers - moderate cost, and all equally good. - What I need is a single side headphone with an ear pad - this is basically human voice range, probably about 200 - 3000 hertz. The 10 - 15 dollar jobs have the range but not the durability - very flimsy.

Thanks for your comments. 
OMR


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## telepariah (Jun 20, 2011)

Constant loud ringing. I worked in helicopters a long time ago and didn't wear ear protection often enough. I went to some really loud concerts when I was young and I'm sure some of them made it worse. Especially Emerson, Lake, and Palmer one time. They weren't even that good. The ringing has been constant for decades at a few high frequencies. I wonder if that is the reason I am going berserk.


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## Waynetta180 (Aug 30, 2010)

Yeah I have tinnitus for the past 5 years. I got it during a frightening experience (that I will not talk about) & had it ever since. It's quite loud sadly. Not only that but my left ear clicks when I swallow & I get a vibrating feeling and fluttering sound in my right ear when I rattle certain plastic bags, (think crisps bags) - it's like a butterfly in my ear! I can ignore it but of course not all the time. I've never seen my doctor about it, because she's not a nice person, she doesn't seem very good either.


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## DustyWind (Dec 18, 2013)

telepariah said:


> Constant loud ringing. I worked in helicopters a long time ago and didn't wear ear protection often enough. I went to some really loud concerts when I was young and I'm sure some of them made it worse. Especially Emerson, Lake, and Palmer one time. They weren't even that good. The ringing has been constant for decades at a few high frequencies. I wonder if that is the reason I am going berserk.


Have you tried looking into the TRT (tinnitus retraining therapy) program? I heard it helped a lot of people (one guy who is a doctor says that his tinnitus is so loud that when they went to go see Niagara Falls he could still hear his T over the waterfalls - TRT helped him greatly).


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## Children Of The Bad Revolution (Oct 8, 2013)

I have it because I have permanent partial hearing loss in my left ear, sometimes drives me crazy and stops me getting to sleep. I've read putting the tv or radio on before going to sleep can help you drift off but I can't sleep unless I'm in total darkness and silence. Guess I'm screwed.


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## Hypaspist (Feb 11, 2012)

I've had it for a while now. It sounds like the buzz you get from the old box TVs from the 80s/90s. Mine was caused by just being an idiot. I used to go on trips frequently with the parents, and the car wasn't very quiet (think sports car). Add to the mix a radio playing music I didn't like and apparently my solution at the time was just cranking my iPod to max volume while wearing headphones. What an idiotic move that was, and being a metalhead for some time afterwards didn't help matters either. You know, when a headbanging song comes on the radio, that HAS to be cranked up.


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## DustyWind (Dec 18, 2013)

@Naukowiec Yeah, same thing here. Mine sounds similar to yours. It's more of staticky hum than anything, although there's a high pitch whine that can sometimes become prominent at night.


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## MissyMaroon (Feb 24, 2010)

I do and it used to drive me crazy for a few months about three years ago. I started sleeping with headphones and soft music on. I guess it got worse with stress. It's been a long time since then and it no longer bothers me - or I hardly notice it at all - but when I do, I can ignore it. I still sleep with my headphones on 95 percent of the time because it's become a habit - unless I'm so tired I just fall asleep. I've gotten to a point I can't go to bed without them if I'm not totally exhausted so I don't know if that will be a problem. I'd like to retrain myself to sleep normally, but it's become second nature. It can make you really miserable if you focus on it and obsess over it. If you don't, however, life is just fine. But I'm speaking of my own ringing, not others.


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## DustyWind (Dec 18, 2013)

MissyMaroon said:


> I do and it used to drive me crazy for a few months about three years ago. I started sleeping with headphones and soft music on. I guess it got worse with stress. It's been a long time since then and it no longer bothers me - or I hardly notice it at all - but when I do, I can ignore it. I still sleep with my headphones on 95 percent of the time because it's become a habit - unless I'm so tired I just fall asleep. I've gotten to a point I can't go to bed without them if I'm not totally exhausted so I don't know if that will be a problem. I'd like to retrain myself to sleep normally, but it's become second nature. It can make you really miserable if you focus on it and obsess over it. If you don't, however, life is just fine. But I'm speaking of my own ringing, not others.


Yeah, the initial stage is really tough. If the headphones work I wouldn't worry too much as long as it's not cranked up to a hundred. Do you have any cardiovascular problems or was loud music/sound the culprit?


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## MissyMaroon (Feb 24, 2010)

DustyWind said:


> Yeah, the initial stage is really tough. If the headphones work I wouldn't worry too much as long as it's not cranked up to a hundred. Do you have any cardiovascular problems or was loud music/sound the culprit?


I think I've had the ringing for as long as I can remember - or at least a very long time - but it wasn't so bad that it would keep me up at night. I just had a hypochrondriac phase about three years back after a round of antibiotics, and that coupled with stress elevated it (or my attention to it, at least) so it would just drive me nuts. It either has gone down some or I've gotten used to it or both, but I am fine now. It's only sometimes that I give it any notice, but I definitely have it.


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## ManWithoutHats (Jun 2, 2012)

@isingthebodyelectric have you tried any kind of white noise or ambiance generator? 


I have a low static hum in each ear but just barely. More annoying is a high pitched whine only in my right ear. I'm not sure what caused it. I listen to a lot of music but usually not too loud. Idk when it started but I think it was probably gradual. I also play music sometimes very loud and the drums are usually on my right side in a small room so that could be it. Okay that actually makes a lot of sense.


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## Children Of The Bad Revolution (Oct 8, 2013)

I've heard about those but I haven't seen many about - how are they meant to work?


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## Sman (Jan 14, 2014)

I don't have tinnitus but I have a sensitivity to noise. it's extended to phonophobia so that limits my interactions but I don't know if it's really curable


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## Kingbeus (Mar 25, 2014)

Random medical question that no one maybe able to answer, but I feel like tinnitus is another form of anxiety..
I always think that I am hearing the sounds because I haven't conditioned my brain to distract itself from that sound. I realize now I'm not as philosophical as I ised to be, but I can remember most of my philosophies come when I was stoned or smoking cigarettes.
Does anyone have these same thoughts? Am I alone?


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## Death Persuades (Feb 17, 2012)

I have tinnitus but it has nothing to do with anxiety and it is ALWAYS there. Some times more faintly than others, but there nonetheless. Oddly, it's only in my left ear.


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## Kingbeus (Mar 25, 2014)

To above:
That blows ;( I have mostly in my left ear, but I notice the right war has the beast "circulation," if that makes sense...
Time to pass out lmao. Night!


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## Zster (Mar 7, 2011)

Yep, constant loud ringing in both ears 24/7. It has worsened with time and could be the start of the familial hearing loss. Not much music that was terribly loud, or antibiotics known to cause it, though I have taken a lot of pain meds for migraine which likely has not helped. It's getting to the point now that the ringing drowns out what I am trying to listen to, usually people speaking.


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## sehvral (Apr 19, 2013)

Mine is intermittent. Started in my right ear when I was a kid after some serious trauma to that ear (my hearing after a corrective surgery was only 60% and has gotten a bit worse since). It doesn't happen as often as it used to, which is nice.

I can't do loud noises. Concerts and such are horrid, even noisy bars can be a problem. Once the db gets above a certain point, I can hear this grinding sensation like someone's rubbing sandpaper on my eardrum. Not painful but it is insanely annoying. Goes away once the noise stops.


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## BlackDog (Jan 6, 2012)

I had bad tinnitus for several months following a traumatic brain injury. Thankfully it eventually faded, because nothing I did seemed to ease it and it drove me crazy. I know some people have it a bit milder though and find ways to cope, or they get used to it.

I know loud noises exacerbated it for me. I couldn't go to the movies for ages, the loud noise would do something funny to my ears and I would get dizzy. I couldn't listen to headphones for ages either, because the sound would become gargled and incoherent. I think that was the brain injury, but the tinnitus might have made it worse.


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## tanstaafl28 (Sep 10, 2012)

I've had it all my life, I never knew it was a "thing." I just thought that was normal.


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## AshtangiBear (Dec 27, 2014)

As a professional sound engineer who has to look after his ears (insured for £20m), I hate hearing people with hearing troubles that is totally avoidable.  

EDIT: Accidental pun!


webnek said:


> I used to go to ALOT of metal concerts in my youth, and some were so loud that I was nearly deaf for hours afterwards.


Exposure to loud sound for a short period of time is usually ok. I'm limited to sound exposure, depending on SPL. A loud gig I can only do two nights a week, have to have adequate rest periods for my ears. I engineered for some well known and very loud metal and nu metal bands, I certainly need the break.



DustyWind said:


> I've had tinnitus for 3 years now from listening to extremely loud music on my earphones.





DustyWind said:


> A music producer I know completely destroyed his hearing by listening to loud tracks in the studio. He also lost around 70% of his hearing in his left ear.


Education is needed. Exposure to loud noise over a long period of time will cause permanent damage, and it isn't as loud as you'd think it is. Anything over 80dB SPL (A) for long periods of time is known to be where damage starts to occur. In the UK, the law for employees is if it is over 80dB you have to wear protection. We do measure time and loudness (LAeq), so louder noises the exposure to damage is quicker:



















Mix engineers and producers do go deaf, studios are calibrated to 85dB SPL (C) with a pink noise at -18 dB FS, if those number mean anything you'd understand why they go deaf.


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## haephestia (May 13, 2013)

I've got pretty annoying tinnitus as well, and even though I'm almost done nursing school I've still never asked a doctor about it because I have no idea what they could even _do_ about it. It's only in my right ear (or at least much louder when it gets loud) and is constant, but I don't notice it if there's any background noise (fan running, A/C sounds, TV in the background, etc.). Sometimes, though, it gets super loud for 5-10 seconds, it's definitely a lower pitch when this happens and it can actually make it hard to hear someone talking until it goes away.

It's not really that bad, it doesn't keep me up at night or anything, but it also means I literally just_can't _listen to music or TV/movies above a certain volume without it starting to hysterically ring and echo so much it distorts the sound. I have to carry a pair of DownBeats with me to every concert/festival I go to and even then, by the end of the day my hearing just seems 'sore'. My husband doesn't have tinnitus and can go to a 3 day metal festival with no hearing protection no problem... although we've noticed I have about 4x the high range sensitivity to sound that he does.


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## Liquid Metal (Nov 20, 2014)

I work in night clubs quite often standing right next to/under speakers. I always wear ballistic earplugs, I highly recommend them.

I like the vibration of the music going through my body, I wonder if that does any damage?


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## Bassmasterzac (Jun 6, 2014)

DustyWind said:


> Hello!
> 
> I've had tinnitus for 3 years now from listening to extremely loud music on my earphones. One night I took out my earbuds and the sound was there. I also had hyperacusis, but thankfully it died down. My tinnitus is not as bad as it used to be, but it can be a pain because it is reactive to loud noises.
> 
> So, are there others here with the constant buzz?


How'd your hyperacusis die down? Was it actually caused by the tinnitus? Reason I'm asking is I've had minor tinnitus for years, but recently it's gotten worse (probably stress), and when I open my jaw wide it gets a lot worse. I also am suffering from hyperacusis, and I want this shit gone lol, but I didn't think tinnitus would cause it.


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## DiamondDays (Sep 4, 2012)

Some idiot kid threw a firecracker at me when i was ten. It exploded right by my ear. Since then i've had tinnitus. Now it's in both ears, so i guess it got worse. 

Anyway, it's not a huge deal. I'm more than used to it now, it doesn't bother me at all.


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## Flash FM (Aug 31, 2012)

I've had tinnitus in my left ear for as long as I can remember, although I think it worsened during my adolescence, when I went to a lot of concerts and nightclubs in a futile bid to become more popular. The constant white noise doesn't bother me, but it does make conversation difficult in busy areas (considering that I live in an urban environment, that's almost everywhere) and I suspect I'd find it easier to get dates if I had good hearing. It also killed my chances of getting into the Territorial Army.


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## Splash Shin (Apr 7, 2011)

Had this since i was a small child. The brain just fades it out though. Only notice it when it's brought up.


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## Grandmaster Yoda (Jan 18, 2014)

I have had it for some time but I didn't notice until recently.


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## phonethesun (May 6, 2013)

About three years ago I forgot to turn off an amp before unplugging some headphones, the rest is history.


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## 45130 (Aug 26, 2012)

I got a slight tinnitus, had it since childhood
I've had middle ear infection back then, so that might have caused it. My parents also took me to turkish weddings, which had music as loud as in a disco. And the small child that I was, I sometimes stood right in front of the speakers. no earplugs of course.

nowadays I stuff my ears with whatever I can find - torn handkerchiefs, earplugs, u wot. I don't want the damage to get any worse.
Also just today I noticed a really loud tone among the buzzing noises, but it went away when I popped my jaw. they also get louder when I have to take a strong bite.


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## MajTom (Jun 18, 2013)

Yep. A nice little souvenir from my time in the Navy (working in the machinery division on a carrier will do that). It's a constant dull hum for me. I only really notice it when there's no background noise though, so I almost always have some music on if I'm reading or anything like that.


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## bigstupidgrin (Sep 26, 2014)

I have occasional ringing in my ears. I went to a couple concerts and unwittingly watched a couple of those "screamer" videos from youtube way back.


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## aef8234 (Feb 18, 2012)

Tinniwa-
*googles*
..
Ear ringing?

That isn't normal for people?
Mine's reactive to... something, I think electricity? Iunno.


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