anybody else have tinnitus?

[xg4bx]

how do you cope?

i've had it for years and frankly i don't even know how i got it. as such i've become one of the fogeys who now wears earplugs at concerts to protect the hearing i have left.

as for coping, i need constant white noise 24/7. i currently have a box fan that i leave running all day that drowns out the ringing.

 

[Wench]

I have it in my right ear. Had it about 5 years now and the same,.. it kinda came on and now annoyed to death with it. I had bad tonsil issues around the same time so I'm guessing that is the culprit.
I sleep with a radio and that ear in the pillow.
I keep noise going all day like the radio, tv, fan's.

I would kill for total silence.

Edit.. I've even tried the Lipo-Flavonoid plus that is supposed to help. Save your money, it did absolutely nothing -zero difference

 

[StormFinch]

*Raises hand.* Mine comes from an autoimmune disease. White noise at night helps, and then I take Elavil (Amitriptyline) for insomnia that tends to quiet it down rather well. The T.V., radio, anything during the day to distract me from it. I don't notice it quite so bad when reading though thank goodness, and I'll turn everything off then just to have a break from the constant external noise. I used to be the type that enjoyed the silence. Now I tend to agree with Wench. Silence really is golden.

 

[FantWriter]

I turn the tv on as soon as I wake up and it stays on until I go to sleep. It doesn't matter what's on, as long as there's noise.

Mine varies quite a bit, from barely noticeable to "I'd rather stay awake another twelve hours than to have it quiet outside my head."

What really gets me is that I don't know why it changes -- right now it's just a constant ringing, but sometimes it's like there's a flock of birds outside the window.

I tried two of those OTC things from the 'dietary supplement' section of the store, and they were totally useless -- you have to stay on them for months, at great expense, before there's hope of them working, and then they end up not working for many people.

 

[CatVTTV]

Finally a thread I totally welcome......

Its good to hear from other people who do what I do to cope.

I too have the radio on all night, wearing headphones, so as not to disturb hubby. I cant stand the noisy silence.

I have had this for years now, so many, I cant recall exactly how many, and its a nightmare. A good nights sleep is something of the past, and as for watching TV, I often put sub titles on as well the sound, as the constant sound in my ear, means certain voices in Movies are hard to hear.

Then in morning, I come downstairs, and again, on goes the radio.

Thanks for sharing this everyone, you have made me feel, less alone in this...

 

[Wench]

Yes, it's nice to know I'm not just weird with the noise thing and others do it also.

Ok, question for ya'll... I have a heck of the time with hearing perception because of it. I can't pinpoint where a noise is coming from if it's moderate to low in volume and the further it is the way also makes it worse.
It has to be fairly obvious and near me to tell where it's at.
Do ya'll have that problem also?

I'm afraid they'll eventually yank my drivers license for hearing problems : (

 

[Capt' Brian]

For those readers who don't really understand what were talking about.

Tinnitus (pronounced /tɪˈnaɪtəs/ or /ˈtɪnɪtəs/,[1] from the Latin word tinnītus meaning "ringing") is the perception of sound within the human ear in the absence of corresponding external sound.

I use white + brown noise at night to help me get to sleep, drowns out the tinnitus and other sounds. That and a couple sleepy pills do the trick.

During the day it doesn't cause any problems, but for years I have found that I 'lip-read' somewhat to augment my poor high-frequency hearing.

Cause? Music at high db in my teens probably.

 

[DaveP]

I have it, too, but it varies with blood pressure. I know mine's up if it increases.

Standing in front a drummer and my guitar amp all these years didn't help. Cap pistols when I was a kid probably contributed!

My advice to the younger crowd is to protect your hearing. A pair of sonic earplugs for concerts is a good idea. They pass through all frequencies for good sound at concerts, but lower the volume below the danger level.

 

[les017]

Just goes to show, just because it doesn't hurt while it's happening when you are young doesn't mean it's not harmful. During my teen years in the 70's I attended over 100 concerts (thanks Uncle Ted), worked construction, logging and lumber mill. Oh man, it just wasn't cool to use earplugs. None of the old timers did.

I feel for those of you that have it so horribly. Mine can be pretty bad, almost to the point that I can't believe that others around me can't also hear it. But usually it is just an annoyance and I have never quite had to resort to external audio sources to dampen the effect. A few times per year it will actually concern me because it's so loud. But fortunately it has not seemed to get any worse over the past 10 years.

Like so many other things....if I had it to do all over again......

 

[maxx]

Question....

I don't know if I have this problem or not. My hearing has been slowly, but steadily declining over the past few years (thanks to working construction), but lately I don't have a ringing noise in one ear, but rather something different. I would describe it as a low frequency hum (like you hear from high voltage transformers) combined with a hissing sound. Similar to white noise, but more mechanical sounding I would say. Is this tinnitis?

 

[StormFinch]

From the Mayo Clinic's website;

Tinnitus involves the annoying sensation of hearing sound when no external sound is present. Tinnitus symptoms include these types of phantom noises in your ears:

Ringing
Buzzing
Roaring
Clicking
Whistling
Hissing

The phantom noise may vary in pitch from a low roar to a high squeal, and you may hear it in one or both ears. In some cases, the sound can be so loud it can interfere with your ability to concentrate or hear actual sound. Tinnitus may be present all the time, or it may come and go.

So yes, combined with your hearing loss I'd say it's tinnitus, but a trip to your doctor would be a good thing.

 

[maxx]

Thanks for the info and suggestion....but as an American without health insurance, the last place I should go when I am ill is a hospital or doctor's office. hehe

My hearing is wierd. My range has been reduced over time....yet I have become hyper-sensitive to some noises. Guess I can probably add tinnitus to the list of wierdness.

 

[Southern Gent]

I have it, too, but it varies with blood pressure. I know mine's up if it increases.

Standing in front a drummer and my guitar amp all these years didn't help. Cap pistols when I was a kid probably contributed!

My advice to the younger crowd is to protect your hearing. A pair of sonic earplugs for concerts is a good idea. They pass through all frequencies for good sound at concerts, but lower the volume below the danger level.

+1 Never used ear plugs or monitors until my 30's. Wished that I did.

 

[El Dee]

First got it in the right ear from sighting down gun barrels,, exposing the right ear to the gun blast.. Worked a Judas Priest concert@ '81 and couldn't hear right for days after....The Marshall amp that I so dearly love......Dang....Took a sinus pill earlier,,,,the elevated BP due too that pill......has the ringing on high.........

I tried two OTC products..Ring Relief?? Was a dudley.....No help at all.........

Had some dental work done a few years back...Shots in my mouth...Noticed later those shots killed it 100%,,,,Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh......that soon wore off.....Whatcha' gonna do.....

 

[gramakittycat]

Wow never thought I'd see this thread.Well off and on for a number of years now it's been constant for over a year.Left ear only and get this i'm deaf in that ear LOL.R ear ok so far.Cause....Menieres Disease no fun!!!! Planning on just having the Left inner ear removed since I;m deaf there anyway....

 

[Steel]

26 and yep.

Short barrel .357's are loud.

So is Megadeth (2x), and Metallica (4x), and Iron Maiden, and Testament, and Static-X...and loads of other metal bands that I don't even remember.

 

[DaveP]

I played in cover bands for about 20 years up until the late 80s. We weren't an extremely loud band, but noise damage is cumulative. I stood in front of a drummer, next to the keyboard player, and my 4x12 Peavey Musician amp playing a Strat and an SG. We played Friday and Saturday and practiced on Wednesday nights, so I had 3 days exposure out of 7, generally.

You don't realize how much that kind of thing changes your hearing until people start saying, "How do you stand it that loud", when you play the CD player in your car. The ones I feel for are the people on the dance floor. They are usually on a direct axis with speakers, especially the PA stack. We ran large triple stack cabs on each side. Dancers would move in front of the cabs, slap their hands over their ears, make a face, and dance back into the middle! I remember sitting in the 8th row at a concert in front of a PA stack and periodically feeling pain in my ears. I finally wadded up pieces of a napkin and made ear plugs to stop the pain.

20db sonic ear plugs can be purchased for around $25 online and are definitely worth it for musicians and concert goers. If you think that's a sissy thing to do, you might end up listening to ringing sounds 24 hours a day in a few years! Do it now!

 

[ScotTex]

I don't have the long lasting ringing in my ears very much, but I do get random, high pitch rings that last about 20 seconds or so. I use to work in loud shops and frequent gun ranges.

Another source for 'white' noise\music: bluemars.org

 

[arjay55]

I have a high pitched transformer type noise in my right ear. Quite loud too. My left ear has a different pitch but not so disturbing. I too cannot believe others don't hear it, its so loud.

I use earplug style headphones at night with my iRiver mp3 player playing rain falling on a tin roof. It goes for 50 minutes or so and I have it on loop. I set the sleep function to 60 minutes and I am usually asleep by then.

I only get 2 to 3 hours sleep per night (if I'm lucky) due to spinal pain. I have a nap during the day though, again with the 'rain' or the stereo on. It drives my wife nuts when she comes home as I always have noise.

Crazy thing is that I always had music on in the car on trips. Now I can't stand it. I think the road/tyre noise cancels out the tinnitus a little so I get some peace.

 

[quovadis]

I have developed nicotinnitus