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Comment by faeyanpiraat | Hacker News Reader

I've just recently got a new headphone, and was so enthusiastic about it I listened to it for a day on loud volume, and got Tinnitus because of that.

The scary part is that it did not hurt, so my body didn't notify me that I'm doing something wrong!!

It's been over a month and the ringing is still not gone, it may never will.

PLEASE be careful about your hearing guys, doctors CANNOT DO ANYTHING about it if you screw it up.

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> doctors CANNOT DO ANYTHING about it if you screw it up.

There is a window of time of a few days after being exposed to loud noises where actions can be taken to reduce the likelihood of long term damage. So actually if you screw it up please go see a doctor immediately.

Some more good news: I had severe tinnitus at some point (some years ago) and bit by bit it faded. So long term you may have some recovery (or not... but at least for me it got a bit better).

Never did for me.

I haven't heard silence in over twenty years.

Ah poor one, I really feel for you. It's incredible how such a superficially small thing can pull your quality of life down.

Maybe you just got used to it.

No, definitely not. There was a strong interference when listening to violin and only with particular notes and that has gone away completely.

What are the actions?

Hyperbaric chamber is the only thing I'm aware of against tinnitus. But you should have the first session within 24h

Also if you experience severe hearing loss (50%+), IV steroids (in 48h) in the Hospital.

In my case I did not get any hearing loss, so it was not applicable for me.

there are some TDCS treatments for tinnitus that seem to work https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30359234/

But I'm pretty sure they are only available in the EU for now, not the USA

I've stumbled upon a so called "acoustic neuromodulation" treatment option, which in theory rewires the faulty brain circuitry by only using sound (non invasive), but not sure where can I actually enroll in this.

https://med.stanford.edu/kbplab/research/recent-publications...

https://classic.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/results/NCT01435...

https://classic.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/results/NCT01541...

This is an interesting video on tinnitus by ENT surgeon Vic Veer[1].

He suggests that tinnitus may be caused by a feedback loop in the brain and why they think that.

While that's scaring in itself, it does mean that there are things you can do to alleviate it.

1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y4zuVk5STuM

Thanks for the resource will look into this.

Do you happen to have any experience with experiencing/treating Tinnitus?

I only have experience with having it I'm afraid.

I find it comes and goes with things like stress and tiredness.

Sometimes I'm very aware of it and others much less so.

The best amateur advice I can give is to try to think of it like the sound of the sea or white noise in the background. It's not, obviously, but I like the sound of sea so it makes it more ...bearable.

Hope that help even a little.

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