-
Ever wanted an RSS feed of all your favorite gaming news sites? Go check out our new Gaming Headlines feed! Read more about it here.
-
We have made minor adjustments to how the search bar works on ResetEra. You can read about the changes here.
Oh fuck, I think I'm getting tinnitus
- Thread starter Deleted member 16657
- Start date
I got tinnitus in both ears at once after a cold that lingered for several weeks. When it first happened I was in full blown panic attack mode, couldn't sleep, was terrified this noise would last forever permanently ruining everything and was so focused on sound I was developing hyperacusis. I thought I legit wouldn't be able to survive. Now 4 years on (?holy shit can't even remember when it started) I literally never notice it outside of in bed which is mostly mental because I check for it( so I use podcasts or youtube videos with headphones to doze off), or when some new sufferer makes a post about it. Go see a doctor, I hope they can help you and that it's impermanent but it's not a death sentence or honestly all that bad after that initial period. Your brain will automamagic the shit away eventually if you try to forget it.
In my case it's super subtle and sometimes I can't hear it without blocking my ears but once I've noticed it it tends to increase in relative volume pretty quickly until it eventually sounds louder than the ambient room noise. If I move on and stop thinking about it my brain tends to go back to blocking it out rapidly though. I sometimes wonder if it's more of a brain disease than an ear disease because the volume level isn't absolute and is mostly related to how much attention you give it.
Last edited:
Go get your ears checked, don't just assume you have tinnitus.
It could be ear wax causing pressure, which could make things worse if left unattended by a doctor/GP.
Could be something else.
There are ear tests available to see what frequency of hearing your (if it exists) tinnitus falls into and how you can mitigate it.
Brain is pretty good at tuning it out, I only just realized I had tinnitus due to a similar thread here on era some weeks ago
Hmm, I think there is a 10% chance I have it then, that or it's just atmosphere. Although I just blocked my ears and nothing ...
I had a hearing test a year back and they said everything is fine, I'm guessing it's something they would pick up on?
Doesn't sound like yours is too bad which is good!
Did you forget about it quickly or is it with you now?
Forgot about it by the time I hit the next thread and it stayed forgotten until now. Mine isn't bad because I don't fixate on it which allows the brain to naturally do it's thing.
I've had tinnitus for pretty much my whole life (in my mid-thirties), I sort of got used to it. But if you're laying in bed in the dead silence of night struggling to get to sleep it becomes fairly annoying.
I think I've had it my entire life, though I've never been diagnosed. I just thought everyone was like this. Silence? Oh, you mean apart from that constant ringing that's ever-present in the background at all times.
Mine isn't bad though (I guess?). Sometimes while I'm trying to sleep it gets pretty loud, and the more I focus on it the louder it seems to get, but it never keeps me awake.
Mine isn't bad though (I guess?). Sometimes while I'm trying to sleep it gets pretty loud, and the more I focus on it the louder it seems to get, but it never keeps me awake.
It's not like the boogeyman because the boogeyman isn't real. Tinnitus is and trust me, you don't want it and once you have it there's nothing you can do about it
I'll notice it at random times, but even then it's just a faint high-pitched buzz that doesn't bother me too much, and I already had troubles falling asleep without background sounds so it hasn't affected me in that sense. I'm definitely more consciuos about adjusting sound volume when listening to music though, don't want it to get worse
I had this for a period of time when my tinnitus started. I ended up wearing earplugs to dinner and all sorts of places. My wife totally didn't get it.
I remember the noise the self check makes at the grocery store as especially painful.
Anyone have nausea / vertigo associated with ringing in the ear? I went to a walk-in clinic to have them check my ears for buildup - they said I had a bit of inflammation due to allergies and should take a claritin every day. It's helped a bit, and I don't notice the ringing as much unless I look for it, but there are still days where I'll get dizzy any time I turn my head.
At least the threads quickly fill up with support and telling people they're not alone. That always helps me get through my spikes.
You two can always add Tinnitus as filter in thread ignore function
Yeah I do. I started using Flonase daily and it helped a TON.
YMMV but the generic stuff from Sams made food taste funny for me. If I recall the regular did this to me also. I wound up biting the bullet and I use Sensimist. It costs more but I have no side effects.
when I got my tinnitus it was so loud it overpowered lawnmowers and I had some bad vertigo sensations. felt like the world was always tilted and took roughly two months to fully go away. my left ear, the bad one, still feels a tad clogged or sticky inside despite being clean. not sure if there's a fix as doctors and allergy meds haven't worked.
the tinnitus itself got much quieter during this period to the point where it was almost gone only to comeback slowly and settle somewhere in-between. I rarely get days where it's near silent, usually need to be in a near silent environment for a few days for it to calm down. Luckily it doesn't bother me like some who need to have fans on etc. Some audio mixes in movies/games can be a problem though, thankfully there's subtitles.
it wont cause tinnitus but if you have it already caffeine is known to cause flare ups. it's only temporary so you don't have to avoid caffeine unless your t really annoys you.
When i go out, i always have my earplugs with me, because you never know when there is venue that is blasting music out on the street... There custom made, so they seal 100% of my earway, but expensive.
Yeah I had the same made, so comfortable and so versatile (with the centers that swap out).
Had it for about 12 years now. Went to a rock concert and that was it.
Luckily it's minor and I can ignore it but I've heard horror stories of some people having it really intense and super loud.
Luckily it's minor and I can ignore it but I've heard horror stories of some people having it really intense and super loud.
Ever since this thread came up I've been lowering my headphones volume. I'm so paranoid now because I've been to plenty of concerts along with years of blasting music and video games through headphones.
Good stuff
Some people really really suffer with it but I think that this thread is pretty representative with a lot of people having it but they're able to adjust, the brain learns to tune it out. But every time it's quiet and I become aware I get pissed, it was totally preventable and pretty easy to avoid and I failed. It's aggravating
I feel you man. Did you try some sound treatment? I have found out listening to the sound of water (river flow or fountain) in high quality headphones helped my sensibility a lot! I'm much better now.
My treatment was pretty much like this: Avoid loud noises and learn to live with it... It sounds harsh, but i just decided to 'ignore' it, don't google it, dont research it and so on. For me its on the level of background noise, uless it flares up for a short while.
I do hope for tinitus patients, that they never need do to a chest/head mri.... the noise that those machines make is a living hell for people like us..
Only if they don't contain any sort of metals, which my custom made ones do :(. On request they give out those crap ones, but better than nothing :)
These are the type that i wear when going into load places:
Nope, there is no cure for Tinnitus... The moment you hear a beep, no mater howlong, it means you got permanent damage.
There are several things that cause temporary tinnitus that fades.
How easy is it to get tinnitus? I'm a bit paranoid about it, so I usually keep the volume on my music to 30% or less. However, sometimes (maybe once a week or so) I turn the volume up to 75% or so for a song or two. Am I at risk of developing tinnitus by doing this?
I had another permanent spike a week ago, so I decided to measure my tinnitus by playing some white noise and matching how loud it is and using a dB meter. It ranges in volume from 42-50db. Fun fucking times. It's loud enough that it's really starting to get in the way of my enjoyment of music.
I've had it it my whole life, or as long as I can remember. Bilateral tinnitus can be hereditary, I guess, and I know my dad has it. But It really only bugs me during periods of particularly high anxiety, at which point I become fixated on it and am convinced it's the loudest it's ever been. Strangely, I still have excellent hearing and I listen to most things at very low volume, too. Always have.
It's not the end of the world, it's manageable, and most of the time you may not even think about it. At points of high fixation, you may be particularly bothered, but you can look into treatments (even CBT to manage your reaction to it) and distractions, and know there is some respite.
It's not the end of the world, it's manageable, and most of the time you may not even think about it. At points of high fixation, you may be particularly bothered, but you can look into treatments (even CBT to manage your reaction to it) and distractions, and know there is some respite.
The damage is done at this point, that was what i meant :).
If you 'feel' that it hurts, just lower your volume :)