What are the most common tinnitus frequencies? (2015) | Hacker News Reader

What are the most common tinnitus frequencies? (2015)

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160 pointswalterbell157 comments

1920 Hz in my case. I had tinnitus after I got rear-ended at a stop light. Decades later, it still recurs once in a blue moon, lasts for a mere 10-15 seconds then vanishes when I tell myself repeatedly "nothing is playing 1920 Hz".

I can relate to the last bit; I sometimes have (or notice) tinnitus when going to bed. I try to think about what frequency it is exactly and it seems like the direction attention to it causes it to go away (or at least get much more quiet)

> 1920 Hz in my case

How do you measure that?

You can just use a program that plays adjustable frequencies and shift it up/down until it matches.

Ah.

My tinnitus frequency is higher than anything I can actually hear so that doesn't work for me.

Oh wow, I did not consider that, interesting.

How do you have tinnitus if you can’t hear it?

Hearing tinnitus seems to work according to different rules than hearing outside sounds for lisper.

Since tinnitus uses different mechanics and pathways, that seems plausible.

For comparison, think of a recently blinded person still dreaming visually. Or think of phantom pain.

They can hear the tinnitus, but not real sounds at that freq.

IANAD, is there any kind of "gain correction" theory for tinnitus? ie, the brain notices your ear can't hear this frequency very well, so it pumps up the volume ... maybe too much.

That would fit this data point, at least.

Weirdly, maybe not so different than when a hearing aid starts ringing.

> ie, the brain notices your ear can't hear this frequency very well, so it pumps up the volume

I've heard this theory. Apparently weak stimulation of the nerves prevents some people's tinnitus.

You could have tinnitus at a frequency you can't hear if the tinnitus arises downstream of auditory issues that reduce hearing sensitivity.

For instance, if someone couldn't hear a certain frequency because the corresponding hair cells in their ears were damaged, they could still have tinnitus at that frequency arising from parts of the brain that process that frequency.

Mine starts as a high pitch and then I can’t hear anything out of that ear for a good 10 seconds.

Go back to the old question of if a tree falls in a forest, does it make a sound if no one hears it?

Tinnitus isn't caused by actual waves of air pressure on the eardrum. We'd not call that tinnitus (unless it was actually inescapable, eg. a perception of rushing blood flow), that's just an annoying real-world sound.

Hearing is connected to eardrum vibrations by a complicated system of the outer ear, eardrum, tiny auditory bones, the fluid-filled cochlea, tiny hair cells with sensory neurons, the auditory nerve, and eventually the brain.

When all these work properly, the brain gets accurate information about sound waves.

When those hair cells are damaged (or wherever the stimulus arises) to send bogus information up the auditory nerve, the audio perceived by the brain as a result of that stimulus is not necessarily correlated to any accurate frequency data that could make it through that pathway.

Can you match it to half or a quarter of the frequency?

Not OP, but same problem. Interesting suggestion!

Is there some kind of resonance or something that happens at half/quarter that lets you identify it?

I experimented real quick and wasn't able to do a great job estimating half of a frequency from playing with the slider on the lower one. Wasn't _totally_ off, but nothing magical seemed to happen when I got to half.

Can you tune a guitar? I can hear it when the frequencies become small integer proportions like the octave (2x) and the fifth

I suppose I've never tried. Maybe it just requires some practice.

You can actually hear the beat frequencies like tuning a guitar. So intervals like the fifth or an octave are definitely 'in tune' when you try it. Interestingly if you play a pure sine in each ear with one slightly detuned, your brain will also hear the beat frequencies as if the waves were interfering despite each ear getting separate pure signals! There was even an open source program Gnaural for experimenting with this effect - binaural beats.

I can’t hear a beat frequency against my tinnitus tones, and I really wish I could. (I’ve tuned my guitar with beat frequencies for decades.) The tinnitus tones are very elusive when I try to pin them down with a sine wave, but I can get close by alternating a sine wave on and off while I vary the frequency... the memory of the tone from a second ago has been more reliable than trying to hear if they’re close when overlapping.

Interesting suggestion. But no, I don't think so, and I'm having a really hard time describing why. It sounds like a pure sine wave, but it's so high I have a hard time relating it to any real auditory input.

Also, interestingly, since I started focusing on this it has gotten less intense.

How high does your range of hearing go. We can at least narrow it down to somewhere above that.

Just under 8kHz. The tinnitus frequency seems like its about about a major fifth higher, so ~12kHz.

I also notice in general that it's much more pronounced after I've been wearing earbuds, even if the volume is turned way down.

Jeez you're range of hearing is capital F Fucked. Did you go to school next to an airport and live backstage at a heavy metal concert? No disrespect.

No, but I'm 58 years old. Hearing loss is just a Thing That Happens sometimes.

Remind me to avoid getting old.

Damn, why didn't I write myself a note?

An example graph that highlights the degradation over the decades.

https://www.cochlea.eu/en/pathology/presbycusis

How can you hear something that you can not hear?

I'm not trying to be facetious, genuinely curious.

Hearing loss is a physical problem. Tinnitus, often, is a signaling problem. The signal can represent a sound that the physical sensors can't produce anymore.

It’s two different sources, and a subjective tinnitus source is perceived but not “heard”, if that makes sense. You might be able to experience something perhaps similar: many people can hear much higher frequencies when the speaker is in contact with their skull than through the air.

It's a fair question, and it's hard to describe. What I perceive is a very high pitched pure sine wave. When I take a hearing test, my ability to hear real tones drops off long before I can hear anything approaching the pitch that I perceive. Does that make sense?

You're not actually "hearing" anything. For one, the sound (usually) does not actually exist. In many cases it's more like an inappropriate signal from a damaged nerve or some of the teeny tiny "hairs" within the ear that sense sounds.

I have something similar - or rather I thought I did.

An incredibly high frequency sine wave noise almost inside my head.

I remembered when I was younger (a long time ago - early 80s) that I used to be able to “hear” when a computer CRT was on in my school computer room (uk, so BBC micro, with the standard monitor).

Ultimately I figured out I could hear the switching frequency of poorly designed / made power transformers.

specifically 110/220v to 5v or 12v transformers and cheap USB outlets.

I spent a day up close and personal around all my power outlets and now my head is clear of that super-sonic ultra high frequency nightmare.

Well, this is interesting. I was going to respond: I hear it even when I'm outdoors so it can't be transformers.

However, then I decided to check if my phone could hear it, so I fired up my DB Meter app. And funnily enough, there is a little spike right around 12kHz, which seems to be right around where my tone is. It's not a huge spike, but it's definitely there.

Weird.

Is the sound from your phone?

It's possible that the spike shown on my phone is some kind of artifact. I'll need to get another device with a DB Meter app to verify. But proximity to my phone doesn't affect my perception. I can hear it even when I'm outdoors without my phone with me.

I started getting tinnitus shortly before moving from upstate NY. They were in the process of plastering the town with 5g every block or so. Since I've moved to rural MO in an area where even Verizon drops calls it is completely gone. Gotta wonder...

I could hear flyback transformers growing up, too—-I could often tell from outside when someone had their TV on, even when adults couldn’t hear it at all.

Unfortunately, that frequency is a pretty accurate comparison to my now ever-present tinnitus. It’s not fun.

That… doesn’t really make any sense to me. Tinnitus is a ringing - call it a thin buzz, a whine, a whistle, but it’s a tone isn’t it? How could you not tell whether you were matching the pitch?

Because I can't actually hear that frequency. If I play sine waves through ear buds and increase the frequency, the highest pitch I can hear through the earphones is lower than the pitch I "hear" through the tinnitus.

About how much higher do you think it is if you followed the curve?

AFAICT, my hearing tops off at about 8kHz and the tone is a major fifth above that, i.e. 12kHz.

Quite interesting in terms of the mathematics and physicality of the harmonics. Thanks for answering.

https://onlinetonegenerator.com/ simply does what it says, and tells you the frequency, while this one, https://www.tinnitracks.com/en/matching# gives you a test that takes a few minutes, which I found worth the time.

Really sorry to hear that.

When I worked for Daimler, I was surprised to learn that all of their cars ship with something called "PRE-SAFE Sound" which, when it detects that you might be in a crash (i.e. at the point when the seatbelts are pre-tensioned), it plays a loud-ish burst of white noise through all the speakers, triggering your ears' automatic response which disconnects your ear drums. This means that when the actual (very loud!) crash happens, your hearing is saved. They developed this in the 90s when, after the advent of airbags, they saw that most injuries from moderate car crashes were hearing related. (Here's a video with some cool detail: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vTmLYY-Z2rc)

I always thought it was a huge shame that 1) this technology isn't required/mandated for all cars and 2) Mercedes doesn't advertise this more

The crash itself isn't usually that loud but airbag deployment can be 170 db which is very dangerous to hearing.

Could a phone accelerometer achieve comparable detection response and play a warning sound?

>This means that when the actual (very loud!) crash happens, your hearing is saved.

The loud part is not the crash itself, but the airbag deployment; it's as loud as a rifle shot because, fundamentally, it is a rifle shot. That's bad in open air; it's way worse in a confined space where that pressure is going to persist for a much longer period of time.

The combustion gas needs to fill the airbag coincident with your face being mashed into it at high speed, and mechanical suppressors slow down the gas so that won't work; using the acoustic reflex (as Daimler clearly does) to get that extra 15 dB of protection means the difference between maximum safe exposure and permanent damage.

I'm surprised that this sound doesn't start playing right before the similarly-explosive pretensioners are fired, since they're also pretty loud, but perhaps they figure it's part of the way to prompt the reflex.

That is absolutely amazing. I would have never thought to do such a thing. It's kinda too bad this sort of feature is inherently restricted to more modern, "smarter" cars.

Any idea how many peoples' hearing has been saved by the type of technology?

I have something similar. I got mine after my first COVID infection. The infection was mild, but my sense of smell was gone for a week and i was left with a tinnitus

Same with me. Did not know this happened with other

Huh, as I commented on the grandparent, I've also been getting it intermittently for very short durations each time. I also had the no-sense-of-smell-only Covid in 2021, but since the "tinnitus" thing really doesn't bother me much, I never thought much of it and can't say whether it started before or after my infection.

> Decades later, it still recurs once in a blue moon, lasts for a mere 10-15 seconds then vanishes

Not trying to minimize your issue, but is it really still considered tinnitus at this point? I ask because I've been getting this regularly, probably on a weekly basis. It's not a big deal, because it also lasts for only 5-15 seconds or thereabouts, but I've never considered to actually call it tinnitus.

AIUI tinnitus is the name of the symptom, not a specific disease, and it's still tinnitus whether it occurs occasionally, frequently, or constantly.

Mine is at 8900hz.

I had a pretty brutal headcold a few years back and for about two weeks afterwards I had what I described as "supersonic hearing" though my doctor called it tinnitus.

I could hear my neighbor's garage opening a block away in San Francisco and had a frequency sensitivity that was totally abnormal. It was also really painful so I'm glad I got my normal hearing range back.

Hmm I didn’t think that was tinnitus. Maybe symptoms are broader than I thought. I wonder if that’s what I have.

I had a bad sinus infection that has mostly healed. Sometimes I can hear this very low rhythmic beating in my ear. It’s like someone banging on my furnace or doing some sort of distant construction (banging on sheet metal). I can even hear it with noise canceling headphones on (but no music, that drowns it out). The rhythm makes me wonder if it’s my heartbeat somehow.

For a long time I thought it was distant construction but I’m in a very rural area with no construction around, and I’ve noticed it over the span of months. It’s either something like tinnitus or maybe my neighbor is tunneling under my house.

It likely is your heartbeat. I had a similar thing for a long time. Advice would be to try and forget about it, and it will go away. The more attention. You give it the more prominent it will become.

I think the brain tends to filter the body sounds out of our consciousness in general and sometimes it sort of forgets to, or becomes rewired to notice or focus on something that is normally filtered.

This is straight-up tinnitus. Ever since I had ear surgery, I have various types of tinnitus. When the low form started, it reminded me of an idling diesel engine. But of course I mainly get the kind that is easy to mistake for cicadas. Sometimes I've had static sounds, too.

When I was still healing, I would also get phantom choral voices! That was really disturbing. It usually was triggered and filtered by the bathroom fan, so I basically got to crap in a heavenly soundscape, lol.

This is called hyperacusis, and it's related to tinnitus. Hearing the door bell, unrolling a strip of packing tape, or even walking down a busy street can make you feel physical pain.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperacusis

TIL. I was semi-hoping someone would fill in the gap! At the same time I'm wondering why the heck my doctor won't tell me these things.

The average doctor does not have an encyclopedic knowledge of all human disease, and if they do, they are discouraged from using it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zebra_(medicine)

Doctors only know what they've been taught or experienced. You'd hope specialists would know these things, but even they miss things and forget things. And GP's? fuggeddaboutit

Thank you, this describes me!

I have been trying to describe my hearing symptoms to people and I could only say that I thought I was more sensitive than almost all of my peers. I thought it was because I was mildly on the spectrum(this is listed as an associated condition)

I will try to get a doctor to confirm if possible.

It doesn't cause me physical pain but certain many sounds will cause great discomfort in my life. It also keeps me from good sleep because I can't tune out sounds.

I wear earplugs to concerts and have a decibel monitor app on my phone.

I enjoy producing music in my free time and also enjoy taking the occasional psychedelic. Which is probably making it worse.

I have this, as well as multiple very loud permanent tinnitus tones. The latter sucks, but hyperacusis ruined my life, as well as stopping my career as a (I think it's fair to describe myself this way) promising film/video game composer dead in its track.

It is the most horrible condition you can ever imagine. I'm over two years in and am only recently back to being able to live a somewhat normal life, but I easily get "setbacks" due to loud sounds. In the hyperacusis community it's well known that these can become your new normal -- it's happened to me multiple times.

Protect your ears and try your best to not get concussions, folks. Though I can't confirm that one or either is the cause, it's my best guess and is good advice anyway.

Does ear protection work? Maybe a custom fitted one would help?

Depends on what I'm protecting from. The problem, though, is that loud-enough-to-cause-a-setback noises happen all the time. You of course won't notice if they don't cause you pain, but people yell, drop things, trucks clang and their breaks squeak, fire alarms go off...

All of these can cause setbacks, some permanent (for instance, a random fire alarm permanently increased my hearing sensitivity/pain). Wearing earplugs full time isn't a solution, partially because that's just an untenable way to go through life, and partially because your brain will compensate by turning up its "input gain," effectively making your hyperacusis even worse.

Most people with severe hyperacusis have no choice but to become shut-ins. A large percentage eventually kill themselves, to the point that I had to stop going to support forums because it happened to often.

It is truly a hellish condition. I've thankfully always come back from the points in which you could describe my condition as "severe" -- there have been times where even my own speaking voice caused me pain -- but many, many people don't, and I'm always walking a tightrope, fully aware that my somewhat normal life I've clawed my way back to could be over at any moment.

Thank you for sharing and replying. I feel for you.

Thanks for this. I remember having this as a child, where the sound of walking down the stairs at home would be painful and almost threatening. It hasn't returned since then, thankfully.

I have an uncle that has this funny habit of answering the door before you ring the bell. That sounds impressive until you learn how many times a day he opens the door and no one is there. He's schizophrenic. The cost of increased sensitivity is a higher false positive rate. If there were no drawbacks, evolution would have given us heightened senses 100% of the time.

I'm not suggesting you had any sort of psychiatric issue. I'm sure your increased sensitivity was very real and very grounded in realistic expectations of reality. But, are you sure that there were no false positives that came with the heightened sensory experience? Did you ever check that the thing you recognized as a garage door opening down the block was in fact a garage door opening down the block? Could it have been some other subtle sound you normally don't pick up on?

On the garage door bit, yes I actually did confirm this.

With that said, was certainly hearing all sorts of things that I didn't know what they were, typically very low frequencies. Another comment mentioned my own heartbeat which I could hear, and I couldn't go into work for a few days due to how painful and distracting ambient noise was.

For the duration of the period I was wearing noise-canceling airpods, and it was the only way trucks passing by outside wouldn't make me wince.

No history of psychiatric issues fwiw, but have had my share of ENT irregularities (I can't properly equalize while diving, for example).

Really really want to clarify I was in no way implying a psychiatric issue. Just that anything which turns up the sensitivity of our perception also turns up our false positive rate. Everyone experiences false positives sometimes: occasional, temporary, erroneous perceptions. Its only psychiatric when the signal to noise ratio is too low to correct.

Very interested in the ultra low frequency bit. Any estimate at how many hertz it was? Somewhere under 20 hz it has to stop being sound and start being a consciously perceptible "puff of air".

Tinnitus can be close to a pure sine wave at one freq or can be a wide band whooshing or noise, or many other variations of timbres with their own freq ranges

I don’t play or enjoy music anymore, no more power tools, etc

Protect your ears

Absolutely. If you go out to a bar, nightclub, or concert: bring good earplugs always.

For using power tools, always protect ears, eyes, lungs, and anything else you want to keep.

Anecdotally I've noticed that music at concerts and bars is not as loud as it was in the 1980s. I went to a Rolling Stones concert in the late 1980s and was practially deaf for several hours afterwards. Saw the Who like 10 years ago and it wasn't close to painfully loud. Don't see near as much live music in bars as I used to but it also seems to be turned down compared to what used to be done.

I believe you, obviously. (I dont go to concerts myself, but pretty sure have tinnitus and misophonia)

But on a lighter note this _sounds_ like a setup for a joke that involves hearing loss from earlier experiences resulting in your hearing at less and less volume as time progresses.

This is exactly what I suspect is the problem with a lot of sound engineers, where over-loud top-end frequencies damage their ability to hear those sounds, leading to an escalating increase in the volume of those frequencies. I've been to venues where the top-end is literally painful to the point of having to leave, and I'm always baffled that nobody running the place seems to notice or care.

Saying that some venues do cheap out by over-loading the top-end to seem "loud" instead of spending more money on more expensive low- and mid-range speakers.

Anecdotally, I've had tinnitus for as long as I can remember, but I never really noticed until I had a permanent loud whistling sound in my ears after a concert in a smallish venue in Japan in the early 2000s, that thankfully dissipated after a few days. But it made me realize that, the residual "sound" remaining after that, I was actually hearing it before too.

I know I'm not the target market for bars and nightclubs but I've always hated just how loud the DJ's play the music. What is the point of going to a social atmosphere when you can barely even talk to someone without shouting? Who actually enjoys ear splitting music?

It's not just bars and pubs, but restaurants too. As someone who wears hearing aids, the loud music makes meals out really socially awkward, since you can't hear conversations across or down the table. It's not helped by the lack of fabrics and other acoustic deadeners, presumably because they are hard to clean.

It depends on the venue and the event, but for many people, music and dancing are the point of the experience, more than the social atmosphere. DJs of course are there entirely to play music and facilitate dancing, and don't really need to care how hard it is to have a conversation in the process.

When people like the music, it tends to sound better to them when it's played a little louder; when a DJ wants to raise the energy level, pushing the volume up a little is one way to do that. Repeat this enough times through the course of an evening and you end up with the PA really cranked. (Many bars install limiters on the sound system, to keep over-enthusiastic DJs in line...) If you walk in from the street, the ruckus might sound deafening - but if you've been there dancing for an hour or two, your ears will likely have adjusted along the way, and it won't feel so extreme.

Another reason for loud music is that loud bass feels really good. If you enjoy dancing, that deep rumble just gets in your bones and makes you want to move. It can be kind of a spiritual experience to let yourself get overwhelmed and swept away by the music, feeling and moving in the moment, not thinking so much. A good, well-tuned sound system in the hands of someone who cares about sound quality can give you this experience without the "ear splitting" sensation.

Even if the bar has no dance floor, loud music can help create a sense of intimacy. Drowning out all the other conversations means other people can't listen in on yours, and forcing you to lean in and pay close attention to the person you're speaking with might help spark a connection of the sort many people go out looking for.

There’s a myth that loud sub bass frequencies doesn’t cause as much damage as loud high pitch frequencies. Haven’t looked into whether it’s true or not yet.

It is quite possible to get tinnitus with low frequency exposure. I got mine from exposure to loud music while using earplugs that basically had no attenuation on low freq.

Leaving the club the silence outside sounded like my head was inside a slowly cooking porridge kettle. This disappeared in a couple of hours. Low frequency tinnitus appeared years later. I thougt first that my neighbourg must have installed a new air condition unit.

I have had a Tinnitus tone for as long as I remember. I always do well on hearing tests and it doesn’t bothers me really. Someone on HN once mentioned a technique of tapping the back of you skull to give temporary relief. It works surprisingly, but for me it just shifts the frequency of the tone up a bit. I’d be interested to test if this shift is just perceptual or if it could be measured

I know the skull tapping method you mention but unfortunately I only get very temporary relief using it - 20 or so seconds - and it's quite an unpleasant experience, if we are thinking of the same method. Mine is: hands over ears with fingers wrapping around back of head such that middle finger tips just touch, lift index finger on to middle finger, press index finger down hard onto middle finger and slide it off such that it quickly slaps the back of the head/neck (similar to a standard thumb-index finger clicking motion). Repeat this for 10-20 seconds using both hands to get about 30 taps. It's loud, not quite but almost painful, and doesn't provide very long relief for me so I don't use it much.

It is temporary relief for me as well. More like a gimmick than a solution.

It works for maybe a second or two for me.

Just tried that. Sounds like switching channels on old tube TVs.

Trying the most commonly reported frequency of ~8,000 Hz on a tone generator[1] provides a good example of how distressing this can be. If you give it a try, I would recommend you turn the volume almost all the way down before pressing play.

[1] https://www.szynalski.com/tone-generator/

Nice link. I was able to roughly match the tinnitus in my left ear to somewhere near 12,000 Hz. Mine is a constant super high-pitch so difficult to match exactly. Surprised I could still hear the generated tone that high.

I'm with you. 11.5khz (faded-in, early 50s). The chart has a small dip to the 40 line there. Not significant but I'll take specialness wherever I can find it.

My GP has a theory it's due to damage to my eardrums, from the tubes put in when I was a gradeschooler. Dr was a bit of a butcher but it was the 'deference to authority' age so all the adults were fine with him.

I hadn't thought of doing this; I just informally tested mine to find I've got a dead zone between ~13kHz and ~14.5kHz. I can hear the sound above and below that range - it fades out, then back in as I move higher in frequency.

I have "somatic tinnitus" where I can change the tone, frequency, and sometimes make it disappear altogether for a few days. This is a working theory, but it's supposedly caused by inflammatory arthritis (spondyloarthritis) in my cervical spine and other areas compressing nerves and arteries. I can also move the ligament in my C8-T1 spine, which causes all sorts of side effects but it can also resolve or make worse my tinnitus for several days. Sometimes just moving my neck towards one shoulder can also resolve or make worse my tinnitus.

It's been like this for almost 10 years now with the worst of it starting about 5 years ago. Not many doctors are familiar with this condition, so as you can guess, I get a lot of looks like I'm crazy but it's legit happening. Not to mention this is the least of my neurological concerns. The US healthcare system thus far has been hugely disappointing in giving a damn beyond "yep, looks like you have to live with this forever".

I occasionally play live music and after a particularly loud show started looking for ear protection that wouldn't muffle things too much. These are both popular suggestions:

https://eargasm.com/

https://www.etymotic.com/product/er20xs/

I can hear the music at a live gig far better with a good set of musicians ear plugs. Live music is often so loud that it seems to get distorted within my ears, but the ear plugs bring that under control. The fact that I can hear properly for the next day or two is a bonus.

I do find it unusual, though, that I can still feel the bass in my chest even though the music is no longer unbearably loud.

Note: You can still get hearing damage through conduction. If you can feel the bass in your chest, you might want to add more distance between you and the loudspeakers.

I go to concerts pretty regularly and have had both- the eargasms are much more comfortable and sound better. That said, the Etys are very durable - mine lasted for something like 20 years

That 20khz one tracks for me. Sometimes if I over caffeinate I get that. I think the neurological explanation is right. Its as if certain brainwaves are leaking into the region meant to represent sound waves.

I developed tinnitus a month ago after a flight. I was sick and coughing right after the plane, but this time, I didn't equalize the pressure in my ears as I usually do. A day later, I noticed the tinnitus. Two weeks ago, I went to see an ENT doctor who prescribed steroids and medication to improve blood circulation around my ear for two weeks. He said it might be because of the flight, and I should try to get rid of it as soon as possible, otherwise my brain would think this is the "new normal".

I think now the condition is better. Now hear the ringing sound from time to time, not every night, but sometimes during the day when I get tired, angry, or think about it. I hope this condition goes away soon.

Do you know what the blood circulation medication was?

Nicametate citrate 50mg, I take it 2x a day

Stating the obvious: check with a doctor before taking them

It can go away.

Even though I’ve had it precisely since a particular flight, doctors don’t want to ascribe causation. Otitic bachtrytrauma has come up.

Is it actually gone, or do you just don't think about it? I have a quite loud tinnitus at 9 kHz but I still don't even think about it for stretches of weeks and even months. But when I'm made aware of it it's always there (even if there is loud background noise)

I had this exact same issue. Always had a mild tinnitus but a new prominent tone developed after a severe ear infection resulting from the same lack of equalization. It was a real rough few months. It got a little better. Then randomly a few years later that prominent tone just kind of disappeared one day. Now I’m back to baseline where it has to be extremely quiet for me to hear my tinnitus. Hearing is weird, just have patience

Tinnitus is an interesting one to me. I've read so many of people's theories and anecdotes and have suffered myself for the last 11ish years.

The hearing system is complicated, we still don't know why tinnitus happens. The cochlear cannot be observed medically without destroying it (perilymph).

My running theory is our hearing synapses severe for numerous reasons. Concussion, viral infection, loud noises, jaw compression. But the most interesting to me is.... People that have ear wax build up and no obvious middle ear or inner ear trauma can develop tinnitus. I think there's a much bigger connection between the body, mind and cochlear than we think.

We've been focused on inner hair cell regeneration but a paper I read recently suggested hair cells have the ability to recover. The connection between these and the auditory nerve are disconnected potentially as a protection, why these aren't reestablished is a bit of an unknown.

The good news is there is research being done to regrow these synapses, some results in nice of course. The brain may need to relearn the connections. I have quite a firm believe it's these synapses that need therapeutics.

I do wish we threw more money into hearing, it's an essential sense to the world and loosing it has an detrimental impact on society. It's not fair people wake up with sudden deafness without explanation, or following a flu or vaccine etc.

If I had a few billion this is one area I would fund and have a good idea who would receive said funds.

Mine started after a COVID booster (which is finally being recognized as a cause, too late for many of us). 9 kHz.

Don't feel bad, mine started after COVID infection so you might have gotten it anyway

Mine started after an unnecessarily prescribed dosage of gabepentin. It's supposed to go away in a few weeks after withdrawal, but 3 months later, I still have it.

Wow, that's interesting, considering that gabapentin has been experimented with as a possible remedy for it.

I hope it goes away for you.

Oh you'd love it if I would post my personal tinnitus frequency here so you could target an attack for my ears specifically and.... hack me or something. Not gonna happen, I'm onto you ( ͡⎚﹏ ͡⎚)

Yes, what people call tinnitus is really just being able to hear your individual interlink frequency in the collective consciousness.

Someone with an entire wardrobe of tinfoil hats has entered the convo.

;)

Not a paid shill, but Loop Experience Plus Earplugs are really great. If you plan on going to a concert, they're a good option, or any other hearing protection specifically designed for concerts.

The thing is the carrying case is super small and easy to lose unless you attach it to something big.

A few years ago, I had an iOS app that did audio notch therapy for tinnitus. Does the therapy actually work? For some people, maybe. From what I remember, the research papers I read on the subject indicated the therapy can help. I conducted a small study with the audiology dept at a local university, but I didn't reach any useful conclusion. In the end, I suspect notch therapy ends up working similarly to masking therapy (using white noise or other sound to cover up the tinnitus).

It sounds like REEEEEEEEEEEEEE constantly.

Also have SCDS in my left ear: I can "hear" my left eye move.

I listen to notched pink noise videos on YouTube because they mask my tinnitus and help me concentrate. People have posted white/pink/etc noise videos with notch filters to match a range of different tinnitus frequencies. I don’t think the notch has helped me, but if I’m already going to listen to pink noise, I might as well try the notched noise.

I have mild tinnitus. It's super high in frequency, very close to my threshold of hearing around 13k or so (I'm 44). I mostly only notice it when putting on headphones (without anything playing). Also sometimes if I'm in a really silent room but that's not a daily occurence.

It started about 2-3 years ago, weeks after my first COVID shots. I don't know if these event are related or not but there's mounting anecdotal evidence that more research is needed.

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/article/covid-va...

Some weeks ago I started taking some mushrooms (lions mane, etc) and niacin or nicotinic acid (a form of vitamin B3). Not niacinamide which is also another form of B3. I'd say on average my tinnitus has been reduced by 30-40%.

It generally kinda seems like maybe inflammation or other kinds of bodily stress increase tinnitus symptoms. Getting sick and having a shot have that in common, along with various accidents and other medications. Research into tinnitus tiggers is needed, but we have to be a little careful about implying the Covid vaccine can cause it, without comparing it to other things or to not taking the vaccine, since even though the shot might trigger an increase in symptoms, it appears getting Covid is even more likely, so the shot may be the route that is far less likely to trigger tinnitus. It also might be almost any sickness vs almost any vaccine.

My tinnitus did seem to get worse right after my first shot, while I was feeling crummy, and then went back to normal. (It also gets worse when I’m low on sleep, sometimes when I exercise, and when it’s quiet.) A friend believes he got tinnitus from the Covid shot - but he’s ~50 and that’s when a lot of people first notice tinnitus. A huge problem with tinnitus is often you have it for a while before you notice it. I’m pretty sure I just didn’t become aware of my tinnitus until it had been there for months or years. It’s not surprising that an event that increases the symptoms might be blamed or associated with tinnitus, since you’re more likely to notice it, even if the condition was already there.

I protect my hearing and do a lot of audio work. My symptoms definitely coincided with COVID shots. Furthermore, my girlfriend developed them as well at the same time (we got our shots at the same), but we didn't mention them to each other until after mine became severe after my last booster.

Two hearing specialists confirmed that this is a true relationship, which is being suppressed in the media and in public. People, even experts in the field, are afraid of being "cancelled" for decrying this serious vaccine risk. And rightfully so. I've been reported and shadow-banned for simply making these statements and posting the links I provided above (which go to a research paper and mainstream news sources).

The initial symptom after the COVID shots was occasional sudden attenuation of hearing in one ear, accompanied by a high-frequency tone. These both diminish over the next minute or two.

After my second booster (which she did not get), my symptoms became severe and continuous.

Sorry to hear your tinnitus got worse. The boosters had no effect on mine. Hey I believe you that the shots can increase these symptoms, and I agree it’s a touchy subject. I just wanted to be clear that even though it’s true (and happened to me), that still doesn’t mean the summary that the vaccine is a “serious risk” is correct, because there’s a high risk of tinnitus when you skip the vaccine and catch Covid.

Thanks. I think it's a serious risk, especially when weighed against the effectiveness of some boosters. The second original booster was nearly useless, so the risk/reward ratio was much higher than that of the original shots.

But because this side-effect information is being suppressed, millions of people were denied the right to assess that ratio. I would never have gotten that second booster had I been apprised of this risk.

People have the option to wear highly effective masks that protect both them and others in risky situations if they don't want shots. I was denied the info to make an informed choice, and there's no excuse for that.

"It started about 2-3 years ago, weeks after my first COVID shots."

After experiencing hearing loss and tinnitus following my last COVID booster, I have seen two of the top specialists in the country, who were quite vehement in assuring me that this is a "true agent" and that information on it has been suppressed.

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/article/covid-va...

https://www.abc15.com/news/local-news/investigations/can-the...

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8443418/

https://www.news-medical.net/news/20220523/Pfizer-COVID-19-v...

https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/tinnitus-rare-sid...

Facebook group for victims, with several thousand members: https://www.facebook.com/groups/265035901879921/

I had mild tinnitus for years that I believe I got working w/loud machinery & going to lots of concerts (clubs are actually worse because you are more likely to stand next to the speakers). The morning after my second Pfizer mRNA shot I awoke to what amounts to a miniature jet engine inside my ear. It has persisted for 2 years & has been extremely stressful and disconcerting.

After a long time (during covid) I was finally able to see my PC who sent me to an audiologist for a hearing test. The audiologist only found slight hearing loss at high frequencies in my left ear (the ear closest to the CNC machines I used to work with). She said she didn't see anything else abnormal & asked if I wanted an MRI to see if it could find anything. I agreed. The MRI found nothing wrong with my ear or eustachian tube.

I've reported it to VAERS and have been sort of following Gregory Poland, MD [1](director of Mayo Clinic Vaccine Research Group), who also got tinnitus from his first mRNA covid shot. The issue definitely needs research.

Dr Poland, along with others, have recently released a couple of reports [2,3] saying that we need a new roadmap for covid vaccines. I agree!

Also, I used that tone generator site that someone else posted and it seems that my jet engine screams at about 18000 Hz.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gregory_Poland [2] https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0264410X2... [3] https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/covid-19/cidrap-unveils-roadmap-a...

Edit to add VAERS website. If you suspect you got tinnitus from an mRNA vaccine please report it here: https://vaers.hhs.gov/reportevent.html

Thanks for the info.

> it seems that my jet engine screams at about 18000 Hz

It's impressive you can hear that frequency. If you don't mind me asking, how old are you?

No prob! I turned 57 in February.

Holy shit it's amazing you can hear up to 18k!

I can hear all the way to the top of that tone generator, 20,154 Hz. There are a couple spots in the 14-16K range that seem to drop out though. IDK what to say? lol

Before I got my first and only COVID vaccine two years ago I'd had vertigo on and off here and there over the years. 15 minutes after the shot, after not experiencing vertigo for a year, I was pulled over on the side of the road, and have been suffering ever since. The same thing happened to a relative. I'm not a conspiracy theorist at all and think overall the vaccine was probably positive, but we aren't getting close to the full story on side effects.

Mine started right after COVID infection. I was already vaccinated but got a very mild COVID. First sense of smell was gone and then tinnitus started.

I wish there was a cure for it. Unfortunately as a child my father took me to semi-frequently to a night club he worked at, and I had no hearing protection. I have had tinnitus ever since. It varies in severity based on seemingly a lot of conditions (orientation, physical activity, mood), but most of the it's not too awful luckily.

Still, it sucks that we may be a more than my lifetime away from really finding a solution.

I have a whole concert of tinnitus frequencies. It is not a single tone. I don't remember when it started, but it has been there for decades.

I've read that tinnitus is akin to phantom limb syndrome, the brain compensating for missing frequencies it no longer hears. Happily, I can ignore it, but it's always there.

Mine is a deep sinus tone around 50-60 Hz. The amplitude varies between the days/sometimes between the hours. Pretty annoying, even though it's most prominent in quiet environments, and I can imagine having a loud high pitched tinnitus would perhaps be worse.

Are you sure you’re not hearing something real from the electrical grid?

this immediately struck me as a possible example of "The Hum"[0], although that is said to "peak at around 40hz"

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hum

And on the main topic, i occasionally have ringing ears, and about 90% of the time i know why (usually a loud engine that i wasn't wearing protection near), but 10% of the time, like during a quiet weekend at home - it appears out of nowhere. I am not sure what my frequency is, but it's well over 1khz.

I tested the most common frequency reported with a tone generator app, and 8000 Hz indeed seems to match my tinnitus.

More surprisingly though, the tinnitus _also_ disappears (but only for about 10 to 20 seconds) when I stop the tone generator.

Unfortunately, rather than tinnitus I have misophonia, and I can hear ice melting. No treatment or cure. But I would bet at least some cases of subjective tinnitus are actually people who have super hearing abilities.

well, I used to have super hearing. Had a hard time being around CRT displays because the flyback transformers were really really loud. Now, with age, I get a phantom limb tone of 16KHz. [1]

Coincidentally, the peak notch in the OP was the 1st subharmonic of that.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flyback_transformer

Does not being able to be around CRT displays because of the noise make qualify one as having super hearing? Pretty sure a good percentage of the population have that problem

Was tested while attending an electronic music class. Professor displayed everyone's result, so we could compare. His chart was the worst, as a cautionary tale. Too many live performance in front of the PA.

This is very common though, isn't it? Every child can hear a tube TV running when muted. Dog whistles too and all. And that's not even at the top of kids hearing range.

Yes, that's normal hearing for a child.

By chance - not ice cubes in a glass of water making a hissing sound?

No the slight crackling. Also even though I live in a detached house, I hear my neighbors morning alarms going off. One time I had to walk into the warehouse of a local newspaper because they bought new forklifts that made a high pitch sound when they were in reverse, and the guys riding the forklifts had ear protection and it was vibrating the windows of my apt a half mile away. They turned the sound off only after weeks of calling the police.

I used to play in a symphony orchestra as a professional and I suspect that studying my whole life to listen to a pin drop has led me into this place.

Funny, I'm right at 8000Hz like the peak of their distribution. I've had tinnitus for years but never knew the frequency until now.

8 years later an update would be fascinating. Would overtones and frequency doubling or splitting or harmonising account for any of this?

And did that YouTube cure ever really work? A remedy that was going around some years ago, I think involving doing something to the back of the head...

If it's that tapping in the back of the head for like a minute you're talking about, it seems to work for some people and just temporarily the tinnitus always come back. I've tried it a bunch of times and i worked for me only once for example.

Is this thing legit?

Hi waves I am a hearing scientist. There is not enough information provided in this write-up to judge the data. Take it with a big grain of salt. There could be UI/UX factors that are not accounted for which could swamp out any sort of meaningful information about tinnitus perception, for example.

Have you had much exposure to tinnitus research? Is there much promise showing, assuming there is some going on, in terms of an eventual treatment?

Thank you so much for the reply! I am apprehensive about trying this app out for fear of inadvertently causing my tinnitus to increase.

What's the current method recommended by hearing scientists / audiologists?

PSA -- because articles about anything tinnitus-related typically result in people discussing home remedies or the like -- for some people tinnitus is indicative of magnesium deficiency.

I'm stressed by losing my job and I have symptoms (muscle pain, tiredness, insomnia) that I self diagnosed and treating with magnesium pills. When will the tinnitus be gone :-)

When will the tinnitus be gone :-)

I have no idea. It would depend in part on how severe your deficiency is.

I have one anecdotal report that their tinnitus did clear up, but it took a few years to go away completely.

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