solderdude
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Post by solderdude on Jun 12, 2017 19:25:10 GMT
The last few months I am plagued with Tinnitus.
It comes in many forms and for many (most unknown) reasons.
Wasn't a case of hearing damage here.
No loud music was played or anything like that.
Everyone now and then has a beep in their ear(s) which should go away within 30 seconds.
This is normal.
In my case I simply woke up one morning with a very soft and high pitch 'tone' in my left ear.
Just audible.
Not getting in the way of music enjoyment by that time.
It has grown louder since then. Sometimes it isn't very obvious (when busy during the day) but quite piercing and pretty loud in the evening or when relaxing.
One would think that playing music a bit louder would mask it. After all seems like a background sound.
Alas the hearing doesn't work that way.
With silence it is silence + tone with soft music it is soft music + tone... with loud music it is loud music + tone (thus also very loud).
No escape is possible.
Searched the web and basically it looks like this is something I have to learn to live with.
Looks like bye bye listening hobby.
Certainly for someone that triggers to noises, oscillations and things that should not be there in the music.
Meds, operations nothing seems to help.
Yes, you can always find articles (advertorials) claiming this or that but when you google those things on dedicated forums, doctor sites etc there suddenly do not seem to be people getting 'cured'.
A real bummer to conclude.
There are some things I can do myself, take multivitamins (with zinc and vit B which seems to help in certain specific cases) and recently have submitted myself with 'notch' therapy.
One would have to pay for those notched sounds but of course notching (narrow band filtering) is right up my sleeve.
The 'problem' with my affliction is that the tone I hear is 13kHz and at that frequency 'notched' music as a therapy doesn't seem to work.
And indeed the problem persists and the weird sharp 'distorion alike spikes' remain.
Doesn't stop me from converting one of my portable amps to a notched amp (with 13kHz and small sidebands filtered out) but this ruins the lovely details I used to love that much.
I did notice that when I enhance 10kHz yet filter 13kHz that the 'missing' info is masked a bit (doesn't sound 'filtered' that much) so am experimenting with that in the future hoping to still retain to enjoy music.
Now it annoys me (the high pitched tone and subsequent bursted 'tings' in the music.
Only notched white noise is claimed to help in some cases and might reduce the tone over time but not get rid of it.
So I made my own 'notched white noise' and started a 'therapy' based on that.
Too early to tell... just been doing that for a few days and seems to work after weeks so still a long way to go.
I just hope it doesn't worsen as that might affect the quality of life. In severe cases people have been known to end their life.
Anyone else who has or has had ? Tinnitus (in any form)
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Javier
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Post by Javier on Jun 12, 2017 19:41:00 GMT
Other than the occasional short life beep I haven't so far. When I was 19 a friend (drunk) threw a big fire cracker through the open window of my car and it fell in the angle between the windscreen and the dashboard, when it went off not only it made a big hole in the plastic dashboard and broke the windscreen into small bits but also left me without any hearing on my left ear for several days.
When hearing returned it was not as good as it was before and since then I''m quite sensitive to distortion and high volume.
Sent from my GT-I9505 using proboards
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Rabbit
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Post by Rabbit on Jun 12, 2017 20:46:57 GMT
I suffer mildly, Frans. Don't know what frequency but almost like a hiss in my ears. Closed headphones make it more obvious.
It can be a sign of raised blood pressure and certainly is in my case. I had no idea until I had a check up a couple of years back and have had to take pressure pills since.
Might be an idea to check. Apparently, when the blood pressure goes up, some people are able to hear it in the form of tinnitus in their ears due to blood being pushed through narrowed arteries.
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solderdude
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Post by solderdude on Jun 12, 2017 20:58:26 GMT
BP is fine... sometimes slightly above average.
Noise in the ears can indeed be a sign of high BP as is 'pulsating' sounds and hearing your own heartbeat.
In my case it's just a 13kHz tone.
I still get the occasional 'beep' but at much lower frequencies and always goes away.
Did notice that in the last year some (lower frequency) 30 seconds ringing was triggered by headphones with an elevated output in the 10-13kHz region.
The HD800 and 1 or 2 other headphones could set it off.
With those frequencies lowered it didn't happen.
A few years ago I wasn't as sensitive.
I guess it's part of getting older and some have the misfortune to get this (or other) afflictions.
Hoping the noise therapy will help.
I read some positive reports that with some people the beep even goes away completely for a few weeks.
After that therapy has to start again.
If I can get my 'hifi' sensation back for a while every now and then that would make me happy.
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Post by ronzo56 on Jun 12, 2017 21:52:35 GMT
Hi Frans,
I have a mild case as well. A few years back I had to stop listening with headphones for a while. It was causing some issues with my sleep. I too did all sorts of online searching. Some folks get relief from behavioral therapy. Basically you train the mind to ignore the pitch. I tried using meditation, and gradually the loudness went way down. I am only aware of it now occasionally. I have to be careful with the loudness levels of my headphones still as it can trigger it with some music. I have to wear ear plugs at concerts as that definitely sets it off. Hope yours improves. I have read that there are some treatments being tested as there are a number of service people suffering from it after combat deployment. A few look promising in early clinical trials. Hopefully something will be found.
The audiologist told me mine was caused by using shotguns while hunting in my youth. She knew by the frequency! I think it was 6Khz or 7Khz.
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Post by timjthomas on Jun 13, 2017 10:30:22 GMT
I've had it most of my life - at least since my late teens. The tone is always there -- never goes away. For the most part, I've learned to ignore it. Ambient sound helps. Regarding headphones -- it essentially eliminates my use of closed headphones or IEMs. I can wear them, but typically not for long (an hour at most usually). I can't remember exactly, but I do have a complete drop out at either 8 or 12Khz (can't remember which).
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heater
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Post by heater on Jun 13, 2017 11:47:36 GMT
So sorry to hear about your hearing issue. I always thought tinnitus was caused by listening too loud or elevated blood pressure especially due to extreme stress. Like a being under attack. Seems like you've found out there are other unknown causes. I can't quite wrap my brain around whether it is the auditory nerve misfiring or the brain is sending a signal to what itself? When you hear something in a totally quiet environment that would suggest to my uneducated mind that there is a signal being created somewhere between the eardrum and the auditory control center in the brain.
Wish I knew something that would help. This is a field where some researcher will have an epiphany someday and come up with an explanation and hopefully treatment. Really just may be a matter of resources being invested as with so many other afflictions. Which one gets the attention first. Don't give up hope.
The meditation idea previously mentioned seems wise.
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juke
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Post by juke on Jun 13, 2017 17:17:54 GMT
I have it too, seems we all have listening on headphones in common....
I'm very lucky as I've got to the stage of not noticing it a lot of the time, until somebody mentions it, Frans!
Just after a session it is always more noticable.
I hope you find a way of dealing with it, your case sounds pretty bad.
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Rabbit
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Post by Rabbit on Jun 13, 2017 17:43:55 GMT
I think that many people have it but don't actually realise because they don't listen for it. I can go for a very long time without hearing a thing and then all of a sudden I seem to be just a little bit more aware of it. The time when I noticed it most was after listening to some Grado headphones quite a few years ago. I had been sent the new version of the sr325 and queried it with Grado because it was a different colour. I then wrote to John Grado himself, who did answer me telling me that I must have had the first silver one in the UK.
While testing it I listen to quite loud for extended periods and I think that that might have been the start of my Tinnitus but I do manage to ignore it quite a lot.
One way that I managed to lessen it was to imagine the sound right in the centre of field and then shift my hearing slightly to the left and for some reason it seemed to go down. I kept doing this for some time and eventually it seemed to lessen on its own.
I do have high blood pressure so that might also be something to do with it though.
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Post by hifidez on Jun 14, 2017 6:51:53 GMT
I have a little pulsatile tinitus in my left ear which is only noticeable when there is absolutely no ambient noise; like when you're trying to get to sleep. Right ear, I get occasional whistling at (guessing) c. 8-10kHz. Starts of loudly then gradually subsides. But there's always a slight residual 'whine' which I'm used to. It's like the faint whistle you'd get on old-fashioned CRT TVs.
Right inner ear also gets a bit full with some sort of fluid; valsalva maneuver usually sorts it. This has been the case ever since getting a severe ear infection way back in the early 80s. Glandular fever was probably to blame.
Poorly lot aren't we?
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sekar
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Post by sekar on Jun 14, 2017 13:09:22 GMT
I got the same issue with my left ear a couple of months ago.
Not sure the real source of this problem concerned with headphones but some listening of AKG K601 driven by power amp couple of years ago could possibly provoke this .
Usually I manage to ignore it as i got used to perceive that as a kind of white noise. It disturbs only at nighttime a bit .
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Post by ronzo56 on Jun 16, 2017 1:38:03 GMT
Hi Frans,
I was wondering if an audiologist tested your hearing and determined the frequency of your tinnitus? I am asking because I have used a few online diagnostic programs and I am unable to correctly identify the frequency of my tinnitus with any of them, which is critical when using notched music therapy.
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solderdude
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Post by solderdude on Jun 16, 2017 4:50:33 GMT
I have been 'playing' with test tones and EQ frequency bands for about 30 years now. When I first heared the beep I thought it was above 10kHz or something. I planned on using a tone generator at work or grab the one on the attick but as there are a lot of them at the web I used this one: www.notchtherapy.com/tinnitusnotch.com/It's a matter of playing the tone at the same frequency and amplitude and look for phasing effects (used sealed headphones). When you hear 100Hz together with the high pitch you are 100Hz off for instance. Doesn't work when the hearing is damaged and you can't hear at the ringing frequency. It only works when the hearing is still O.K. Above 8kHz Notched music doesn't seem to work. Still going to build a Notch filter in one of my portable amps. If only to get rid of the nasties it creates. Finding the right frequency and notching files with the right bandwidth and frequency isn't as easy as I initially thought. Below 8kHz notched music therapy seems to work. I have been doing Notched white noise for a week and it looks like the tone is somewhat less intense and don't hear it every now and then. When listening to notched noise I hear the tone creeping up in volume (need to match the noise to the tinnitus volume) and you hear all kinds of weird things happening with the tone in the ear. It seems to be doing something. I hope there is merit to the notching thing. |
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Rabbit
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Post by Rabbit on Jun 16, 2017 9:17:45 GMT
The Tinnitusnotch site is great for trying to identify the pitch of noises. I think mine is at around 12500. Quite hard to determine where exactly it is. I might give it a go just to see. Thanks Frans.
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Post by ronzo56 on Jun 16, 2017 17:41:43 GMT
Glad to hear you are getting some results Frans. Hope it works for you. My tinnitus is at a frequency where my hearing is 2dB down from normal. So the loud noise from the shotgun has done minor damage. Apparently my brain is trying to fill in for the loss. Your experience makes me think it might be time to have my hearing checked again.
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