When I’m in bed I’m not worried, I’m wondering why my ears don’t shut the heck up.
Damn you, evolution!
I’ve had it for a couple years, mostly in my left ear. Not sure how or why it started. I saw two ear specialists and they essentially said “dunno, sorry!” and that was that. The worst is laying on my ear in bed, it amplifies the sound. For a couple months my sleep was really damaged by it, but now I don’t really think about it. It helps that I sleep with a fan and filter on, white noise is my best friend.
I’d definitely recommend getting a workup from a good ENT though. Although tinnitus is hard to cure, there are things that can be done to treat it if it’s a symptom of some other disorder and not just ear damage. I had a good earwax flushing that definitely seemed to help. And I got my sinus and allergy problems treated properly after years of ignoring them, and that’s definitely lessened the severity of the problems.
I also wonder about TMJ problems and how that relates to tinnitus, since I’ve had clicking in my jaw and jaw pain for quite a few years and have never gone through any treatment. Since the TMJ is basically right there next to the ear canal, I do wonder if that can have some effect.
I can’t read this thread through all of the background noise. I think it’s from playing too many video games.
Sounds like his is high blood pressure related.
I have it too, and some of it at least is due to HBP. I am used to it so most of the time I don’t think about it. It’s just there, background noise.
I have it both ears, mild, and easily ignored. I’ve often wondered if an earwax flushing would resolve it; I’ve been told by earwax professionals that both my ears are packed tight with it. HELLO LADIES.
(NECRO)
So my ears started up a few days ago (sort of a medium level hissing sound). I’m hoping it’s just something temporary but since my Dad has Tinnitus, I’m concerned (does that increase my chances? I dunno). It was hard to fall asleep last night and I’m getting more and more stressed about this. Going to see a doctor if this continues through to the weekend…
Based on the model I linked above, anxiety is just going to make you brain focus on it more. But I don’t know if it’s correct or not.
A doctor isn’t going to be able to do much of anything. Try using white noise to get to sleep. The volume should be just below the level of the sound to help habituate to it. You don’t want to completely mask it.
During the day, try not to obsessively check whether it’s gone. Distract yourself with work or a game and avoid silence. You might forget about it in a few days, or only notice it at night for a minute before you trail off to sleep.
I think it’s worth talking to a doctor though … it might just be an ear infection, right? I’m only jumping to Tinnitus because my Dad has it and I’ve talked with him about it in the past so my Brain Doctor has it handy in the rolodex.
But yeah, if it doesn’t go away all the reading I’ve done basically says, “Learn to live with it”.
Oh yeah it could certainly be something like that, or a more serious brain issue. Go for it.
But yeah, if it doesn’t go away all the reading I’ve done basically says, “Learn to live with it”.
Sort of. You want to habituate to it so you barely notice it, if ever. The common example is the sound of the fridge running in the background.
Stick your pinky in your ear so it fills the passage completely, pull it out suddenly so there’s a brief vacuum effect. Do that twice, as soon as the tinnitus starts. First time stops it getting worse, second time turns it off - for me anyway.
You should definitely see a doctor – it might be something that can be fixed.
There are some good tinnitus treatments. There’s retraining therapy, or TRT, which helps you habituate to the sound. There are masking devices. There’s a brand new technique involving notch filters and music that lowers the tinnitus over time by about 30% – the only advancement in treatment in the last 20 years. And there’s some promising farther out stuff involving brain stimulation, which is actually used now in very extreme cases.
You should definitely see a doctor – it might be something that can be fixed.
There are some good tinnitus treatments. There’s retraining therapy, or TRT, which helps you habituate to the sound. There’s a brand new technique involving notch filters and music that lowers the tinnitus over time by about 30% Probably the only advancement in treatment in the last 20 years. And there’s some promising farther out stuff involving brain stimulation, which is actually used now in very extreme cases.
Holy crap, that fucking worked!
I’ve never found anything that made a dent before, short of just waiting until it subsided.
I have two different tones (in my left ear too), one loud high pitched and one low pitched
I basically only sleep while some sort of white noise is cancelling out the high pitch, nowadays I listen to a Day on Cape Cod, wich is basically one hour of light rain and nothing else.
Might be a false alarm guys, sorry. It happened that I had a massage appointment last night (therapeutic) and I mentioned the ringing to her. She spent some extra time on my neck, jaw and face muscles and really loosened everything up. That helped a little.
Then my wife got me some sort of ear cleaning system in case it was wax build up. So I used that last night and a few hours later, the ringing went away. I went to sleep and woke up to blessed silence. So it was either stressed muscles or wax build up or a combination of the two I think.
At the moment, there’s nothing and I’m so happy! It’s amazing how much you take silence for granted.
I only notice mine when this thread is bumped. ;)
What kind of ear cleaning system?
My doctor always recommended simple Hydrogen Peroxide. A lot of the systems have that in them, I think. Turn your head sideways, put some in and hold it there until the bubbling subsides. Use a small rubber suction dealie that you use to flush out the loosened wax. DO NOT USE cotton swabs. Those just pack the wax in.
For whatever reason I can’t find it online but she bought it at Rite-Aid. It’s an ear wax removal thing. It starts with drops that you leave in for a few minutes and then there’s a spray nozzle that washes the ear out afterwards.