Tinnitus

[JFK-1]

Any of you suffer from this? I have a high pitched whistling sound in I think my right ear. I say I think right ear because sometimes it can be sort of difficult to tell if it's in my ear or in my head, but it's always been there. I can remember hearing it lying in bed as a child. Never motioned it to parents or anybody for that matter because I didn't know there was anything unusual about it. And didn't quite know how to say I have this noise in my ear or my head, I don't know which. 

[il Duce McTarkin]

Yeh. Industrial hearing damage from angle grinders and years spent DJing and hanging around techno/house clubs. Constant high pitched whine in both ears/middle of my head. Doesn"t bother me if there's other background noise, but is torture in the silence. 

[Ron Burgundy]

Got a £7 grand pay-out a few years ago from work due to using oscillators that were proven to cause it.

Was never that bad but recently been getting like a crunchy crisp bag rustling in my left ear that goes after rubbing it a wee bit 👂

[Ray Gin]

Well it's in your inner ear, which is in your head, so both are accurate. I have this too after too many years spent listening to loud music.

It was incredibly annoying when it first started but I don't notice it so much these days.

 

 

[Craig_]

Saw a headline the other day about an app which is supposedly effective at reducing tinnitus, might be worth checking that out.

[Ray Gin]

1 minute ago, Craig_ said:

Saw a headline the other day about an app which is supposedly effective at reducing tinnitus, might be worth checking that out.

 

Article on this for anyone interested: https://www.theguardian.com/science/2024/jan/09/new-app-can-reduce-debilitating-impact-of-tinnitus-say-researchers

 

[JFK-1]

I was unaware people could develop it, I was born like this or I presume I was since I can't remember a time it wasn't there. It's hardest at night when all is quiet since the rest of the time other sounds can smother it so to speak though I have heard there are people who suffer much worse than I do. Louder and described as like a jet engine sound.

At night I began to use YouTube videos with sounds intended to help people sleep and some even mention tinnitus blocking as an extra benefit. I always found an idling diesel engine sound relaxing so that's a go to for me, or rain sounds.

The first is my go to idling engine the second my rain sound. 

  

 

 

[happyjam]

Yep, I've got a constant hiss in my ears.

 

Started a couple of years ago (in my late fifties now), went to the docs/hospital about it but there is nothing they can do and just learn to live with it.  TBH most of the time there aren't any issues it's only when there are various competing sounds at the same time I have bother.  Also when the wife speaks I struggle to hear her 😂.

At the time of being diagnosed I hadn't heard about this condition, but was amazed at the number of people who have tinnitus including people I have known for a long time.  

 

Not sure about the industrial (injuries) related causes but was told by the hearing specialist at the hospital it's a naturally occurring thing that can happens as you get older, a bit light losing your close-up vision in your early forties

[Spellczech]

I hear voices.

[Robbo-Jambo]

29 minutes ago, Ron Burgundy said:

Got a £7 grand pay-out a few years ago from work due to using oscillators that were proven to cause it.

Was never that bad but recently been getting like a crunchy crisp bag rustling in my left ear that goes after rubbing it a wee bit 👂

Sounds like wax.

 

Had the exact same crunchy noise recently.

 

Try almond oil drops, sorted it out for me.

[Pap]

Yeh, got it in my left ear. Came on about a year ago. 

 

I tend to forget i have it until i remember i have it, if that makes sense.

 

I have a few crime documentaries/interrogations (Jim Cant Swims interrogation videos on Youtube are perfect,, i find) that i've converted to MP3 that i fall asleep to. Something where the audio is at a constant level and no dramatic parts. 

 

Doctor originally game me a steroid nasal spray to try. Then got referred to an audiologist who in turn got me a MRI scan.

 

Only notice it once or twice a day, thankfully. 

[Ron Burgundy]

4 minutes ago, Robbo-Jambo said:

Sounds like wax.

 

Had the exact same crunchy noise recently.

 

Try almond oil drops, sorted it out for me.

Will do. My missus checked them and said they were spotless though so maybe deep down.

[Ray Gin]

24 minutes ago, JFK-1 said:

I was unaware people could develop it, I was born like this or I presume I was since I can't remember a time it wasn't there. It's hardest at night when all is quiet since the rest of the time other sounds can smother it so to speak though I have heard there are people who suffer much worse than I do. Louder and described as like a jet engine sound.

At night I began to use YouTube videos with sounds intended to help people sleep and some even mention tinnitus blocking as an extra benefit. I always found an idling diesel engine sound relaxing so that's a go to for me, or rain sounds.

The first is my go to idling engine the second my rain sound. 

  

 

 

 

I have an alarm clock that plays rain/river/ocean sounds for a customisable time while you drift off to sleep. Definitely helps.

 

[Pap]

6 minutes ago, Ron Burgundy said:

Will do. My missus checked them and said they were spotless though so maybe deep down.

 

You can get them cleaned by the doctor, if indeed it is wax. They have a wee machine thing.

[hughesie27]

8 minutes ago, Ron Burgundy said:

Will do. My missus checked them and said they were spotless though so maybe deep down.

I've got one of these that I use to clean my ears. Even if you don't want to use them to clean tmyou could still use it to check if there is a build up around the ear drum.

 

VITCOCO Ear Wax Removal Kit Ear Camera 1920P HD Ear Wax Removal Tool Ear Cleaner Otoscope with 6 LED Lights, 3mm Visual Ear Scope for iPhone iPad Android https://amzn.eu/d/dr6H2tn

[Horatio Caine]

There's a helpline for this. I tried it but it just kept ringing...

[Mysterion]

Since I was a kid - every once in a while i'd get a version of tinnitus. You know when you see a tv program or film where a tv feed cuts out and there's a high pitched tone, a bit like that. 

 

Wouldn't last too long but would be in one side of the head. Then stop. 

 

My youngest kid would talk non stop on the walk to school, his mum asked him one day about why he talked and he said it was to block out the noise in his ear. Was a bit of a surprise that he had something similar.

[Shanks]

Had it constantly since I was a small kid, remember going to the doctors as a child and the doctor telling my mum that I was attention seeking.  I cope with it fine now but as a child it caused me (and my parents) many sleepless nights. 

[Sooperstar]

1 hour ago, Robbo-Jambo said:

Sounds like wax.

 

Had the exact same crunchy noise recently.

 

Try almond oil drops, sorted it out for me.

 

1 hour ago, Ron Burgundy said:

Will do. My missus checked them and said they were spotless though so maybe deep down.

I get occasional fluttering in my ear and thought it was down to a build up of wax. I clean them with cotton buds (I know) fairly regularly and the stuff that comes out them is quite something. Saw that Bupa do a wax removal thing for £51 so went to them between Christmas and New Year. The guy looked at my ears and confirmed that there was no wax there. Good news is that if they don't find any then you don't have to pay anything.

 

Specsavers and the like also do hearing tests now so might be worth going to see them to take a look. That's my next step. 

[Tazio]

I’ve had it for years now and it still drives me crazy. I’ve checked what I’m not hearing because of it and it’s mainly very high frequencies so there’s not really deafness with it. The worst is if you are very tired it seems to get worse. I tend to try and avoid silence and never travel without headphones. 

[Australis]

I went for a couple of months years ago, thinking I had it.

 

Turned put to be really hard wax.

Was a relief getting rid of it.

 

Never knew wax could cause the noises I was hearing.

 

 

[AlimOzturk]

Yeah got to this from from damage playing instruments. 
 

Does not tend to bother me however have heard how it drives other people crazy. 

[Dawnrazor]

I've had it in my left ear for years, hundreds of gigs and tens on thousands of shots from rifles and shotguns for nearly forty years no doubt have contributed. 

I have a permanent whistle/hum but when a noise level hits a certain level I get a noise that I can only describe as like a bath plug when the bath is nearly empty, it really is a nightmare to live with.

Edited January 11 by Dawnrazor

[Morgan]

My wife had this for several years.  It was driving her mad, especially when in bed or in a quiet room.

 

Eventually, last summer, she went to see the doc.  He sent her to a hearing specialist who gave a thorough examination and concluded that clearing out the wax would help.

 

As the wee machine was scooping out the wax (all stringy and like glue) I was watching this on a wee screen.

 

She has been much better until a couple of weeks ago when it started to make its return.  

 

She has a new appointment with the ear bloke in a three weeks time.

 

He said that in maybe 10 years or so she might need a light duty hearing aid.

 

She was pleased about that!

[TheBigO]

10 hours ago, Horatio Caine said:

There's a helpline for this. I tried it but it just kept ringing...

Boooo, i only clicked this thread to post this. Damn you

[redjambo]

I buy a drinkable tincture from Napiers the Herbalists in Edinburgh when my low-level tinnitus gets unbearable. It usually does the trick and gets it back in line. All stems from contacting them many moons ago and speaking to Dee Atkinson there who gave me a telephone consultation, talked me through my symptoms and made something up for me. Your mileage may vary, particularly because tinnitus is a multitude of different causes and symptoms and no one solution fits all.

[Jeffros Furios]

I have a build up of fluid behind my ear drum which needs surgery , I'm always popping my nose like you do on a plane .. ear wax is also annoying .. both affect my hearing and balance .

[IronJambo]

Yeah I get it in my right ear and mostly I don't notice it. 

 

It got much worse 18 months ago when I managed to have eustachian tube dysfunction.  Just as it started to get a bit better a few months ago I killed a tendon in my forearm (ok, didn't kill but have golfers elbow) and I'm taking Naproxen for that which guess what, is making it worse again.

 

My hearing isn't great and it's making the tests my work send me for harder to get through. 

[Psychedelicropcircle]

I’ve got tinnitus a gift from my clubbing years. I remember saying to the doc about it he says listen to a nature setting with your headphones, I remember thinking he’d lost the plot, I nod off with buds in most nights.

 

damn you house music 🎵 

[Horatio Caine]

1 hour ago, TheBigO said:

Boooo, i only clicked this thread to post this. Damn you

😂😂😂

[Bindy Badgy]

Mine has got noticably worse over the past six months. I'm planning to go to an ear clinic to get my ears professionally cleaned. Hopefully, that might help a bit.

[doctor jambo]

If it’s unilateral you need it investigated to rule out acoustic neuroma

[martoon]

6 hours ago, Morgan said:

 

As the wee machine was scooping out the wax (all stringy and like glue) I was watching this on a wee screen.

 

 

You paint a pretty picture, bud.

 

The William Wordsworth of JKB.

 

😄

[martoon]

I've had it, mostly in my left ear, since 2010. Took my lugs to the docs, tipped that stuff down, but it's never really went away.

 

It's a quiet hiss, when there's silence, and I've had no other choice but to live with it.

 

Hopefully, it will remain at a low level.

[PTBCAL]

7 hours ago, Morgan said:

My wife had this for several years.  It was driving her mad, especially when in bed or in a quiet room.

 

Eventually, last summer, she went to see the doc.  He sent her to a hearing specialist who gave a thorough examination and concluded that clearing out the wax would help.

 

As the wee machine was scooping out the wax (all stringy and like glue) I was watching this on a wee screen.

 

She has been much better until a couple of weeks ago when it started to make its return.  

 

She has a new appointment with the ear bloke in a three weeks time.

 

He said that in maybe 10 years or so she might need a light duty hearing aid.

 

She was pleased about that!

Once you get your ears syringed or micro suctioning then you will always have to go back every 12 months or so.

 

I got in first done in 1992 after throat surgery and they said I would need to keep getting it done. At Christmas I got them done for the 33rd time 🙂

[All roads lead to Gorgie]

I have had it for years but I am so used to it now I hardly notice it unless I think about it. Right now it sounds really loud because I am thinking about it. Those sound therapies you can listen to online make it worse in my experience. Other things people say that might help like tapping the back of your head, pressure points in the hands and taking Ginkgo Biloba for example don't do anything in my experience. 

[jack D and coke]

Had it bad until finally almost went deaf in my right ear. Had to get an operation to get some plastic piston to fix my hearing about ten years ago now.
If someone was on my right hand side anywhere noisy I couldn’t hear anything. 
Think it was actually some genetic thing (calcification of the bones) cos my brother and sister have had to have same operation. All same ear too. 
It was murder at one point tho. 
Got my hearing back to about 70% in that ear after op. 

[ri Alban]

Rings a bell.

[ri Alban]

3 hours ago, jack D and coke said:

Had it bad until finally almost went deaf in my right ear. Had to get an operation to get some plastic piston to fix my hearing about ten years ago now.
If someone was on my right hand side anywhere noisy I couldn’t hear anything. 
Think it was actually some genetic thing (calcification of the bones) cos my brother and sister have had to have same operation. All same ear too. 
It was murder at one point tho. 
Got my hearing back to about 70%  that ear after op. 

Qué?

[That thing you do]

22 hours ago, JFK-1 said:

Any of you suffer from this? I have a high pitched whistling sound in I think my right ear. I say I think right ear because sometimes it can be sort of difficult to tell if it's in my ear or in my head, but it's always been there. I can remember hearing it lying in bed as a child. Never motioned it to parents or anybody for that matter because I didn't know there was anything unusual about it. And didn't quite know how to say I have this noise in my ear or my head, I don't know which. 

Ive had it since having covid.

 

[Bungalow Bill]

Had tinnitus for 7 years, took me 2 years to make peace with it. Wouldn’t wish it on anyone. 

[Pap]

1 hour ago, Bungalow Bill said:

Had tinnitus for 7 years, took me 2 years to make peace with it. Wouldn’t wish it on anyone. 

 

Did it go away?

[Damosuzuki]

Had it for 36 years as the result of a virus. Very loud hoovering sound in both ears. Good news is it's absolute murder at first but eventually you are forced to capitulate and it just stops annoying you. 

 

The best advice I ever got was to stop seeing it as the enemy. Easier said than done but over time it just became the new silence. 

[Morgan]

14 hours ago, PTBCAL said:

Once you get your ears syringed or micro suctioning then you will always have to go back every 12 months or so.

 

I got in first done in 1992 after throat surgery and they said I would need to keep getting it done. At Christmas I got them done for the 33rd time 🙂

Thanks.

 

My wife seems to recall that the bloke said she’d have to come back again ‘in a year or so’.

 

By the way, micro suctioning was the exact thing she had done.  It was strange for me to be watching the process on a wee screen!

[Bungalow Bill]

11 hours ago, Pap said:

 

Did it go away?

Nope. No cure for tinnitus unfortunately. 

[JFK-1]

1 hour ago, Bungalow Bill said:

Nope. No cure for tinnitus unfortunately. 

 

I don't think they even know what causes it, difficult starting point in terms of looking for a cure.

[redjambo]

2 hours ago, Bungalow Bill said:

Nope. No cure for tinnitus unfortunately. 

 

As mentioned, tinnitus isn't a single beastie. It's quite a wide variety of issues with varying causes, symptoms and treatments.

[jim747]

My ears ring at about 11000 (I know it's not an official test, but might be interesting for others to measure).

At it's worst I'll find an audiobook on YouTube (usually Lord of the Rings as it's hours long) and play it at a very low volume in the background, silent rooms seem to intensify the ringing, and busy rooms with too many people talking do my nut in. Listening to an audiobook at low volume takes the edge off, for me anyway, we are all different.

 

 

[Don Dan]

Had it for goodness knows how long particularly in my right ear. Suspect work related and or guns and load music. Thankfully I’ve learned to tune out but there are certainly triggers that bring it on. Been to audiology, specialists xrayed all sorts but it’s still there. Left ear too but not as bad. 

[Pap]

Yesterday on the back of this thread i bought olive oil drops. Done it twice yesterday. Sometimes i get a squeaking in my ear, like air trying to escape. Been quite a bit more since the oil. Have also booked in to get my ears cleaned. At Specsavers of all places.

 

Not holding out for much. Been to the audiologist and had a MRI and seem to have to get on with it but still hold a little hope.