[HN Gopher] Tinnitus Neuromodulator
___________________________________________________________________
Tinnitus Neuromodulator
Author : gjvc
Score : 204 points
Date : 2025-10-18 16:08 UTC (6 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (mynoise.net)
(TXT) w3m dump (mynoise.net)
| ronnier wrote:
| If you are on iOS seems you need to unmute your phone.
| scragz wrote:
| I still want to try one of the ones with the cyberpunk pacifier
| that shocks your tongue to stimulate neuroplasticity.
| tombert wrote:
| Is there any evidence that those things actually work? I
| haven't done a lot of research on it, but I asked my ENT about
| it and she said that they don't have a great success rate and
| they're pretty expensive so I don't want to pay for it.
|
| Maybe I could apply for a clinical trial.
| nfinished wrote:
| I had great success with Lenire, at the end of the six month
| (twice a day, 30 minutes) treatment the intensity of my
| tinnitus had definitely decreased, but almost more importantly
| I'd been reconditioned not to focus on it as much.
| cyberpunk wrote:
| I... disapprove of this.
| fragmede wrote:
| ...why? Especially given your username!
| cyberpunk wrote:
| Purely for the username. A cyberpunk pacifier has err...
| mental conjurations... I think are best left alone ;)
| joshdavham wrote:
| The way I personally manage my tinnitus is by having fans
| constantly blowing in various rooms of where I live, for example
| I have a fan in my bedroom when I'm trying to sleep or in my
| office when I need to concentrate.
|
| The fans don't totally block out the tinnitus, but they sorta act
| as an undistracting distraction.
| objektif wrote:
| What type of fan is best for this? Box fans or the round
| powerful ones?
| emil-lp wrote:
| You can buy an air purifier, like IKEA FORNUFTIG.
| tptacek wrote:
| Air purifier white noise is _the best_. I don 't know what
| it is about it.
| toast0 wrote:
| It's cause the noise is _filtered_
| hollerith wrote:
| Agreed (provided it is a sufficiently large air purifier
| like Austin Air's Healthmate).
| tptacek wrote:
| If you're interested in optimizing, the Dohm classic "sound
| machine" isn't very expensive (maybe 2x what a decent fan
| costs), is portable/packable, has tunable sound, but is
| fundamentally just a fan that doesn't move air around your
| room.
| bwanab wrote:
| It's different for different people. The air purifier method
| suggested works for me, but any fan is better than no fan.
| tptacek wrote:
| Same, for going on 40 years now. I can sleep without some kind
| of white noise, but it's really challenging. I have one of
| those Dohm thingies, which has been relegated to my office; in
| our bedroom we've got an air purifier and I have a tiny desk
| fan on my nightstand.
|
| I've found that stuff like this site and therapy approaches
| like it tend to make me hypervigilant about my tinnitus, which
| is exactly the opposite of what I want. My tinnitus is
| moderate-severity (it's loud but never competes with real
| sound) and just by keeping background noise around I'm at a
| point where I think about it maybe a couple times a week tops;
| most of the times I'm persistantly thinking about it, it turns
| out I have a sinus infection or something.
| DrewADesign wrote:
| Have you tried the Dohm mechanical noise machines? The original
| white noise machine AFAIK. Might be a little more power
| efficient while still making sound by moving air rather than a
| speaker.
| amelius wrote:
| Look up "pink noise".
| riedel wrote:
| While I can normally tune out my Tinnitus, i also love the
| constant city noise and in my office I have a collection of
| solar toys that keep clicking randomly, which help me focus.
| Actually I tried the OP site and trying to tune the thing
| actually made my Tinnitus pretty unbearable ATM. I guess the
| trick is to use it without trying to directly hear the
| effect...
| Refreeze5224 wrote:
| MyNoise.net is such a great site, consider throwing them a couple
| bucks, it's basically a pay what you can model. I can't count the
| number of hours I've spent programming listening to their
| different soundscapes, rain on a tin roof, and cafe noise are 2
| of my favorites.
| mk_stjames wrote:
| Absolutely. I have a person favorite setup... which is to have
| these two playing at the * same time * and play around with the
| combos of sliders / set to automate.
|
| Pair:
| https://mynoise.net/NoiseMachines/numberStationsRadioNoiseGe...
| with:
| https://mynoise.net/NoiseMachines/magicDuneArrakisGenerator....
|
| I set the numbers stations to 'narrow' and Arrakis to 'wide'
| and stereo field, mute the numbers stations that repeats german
| numbers (those stand out to me too easily)... and it's like
| some magical productivity hack of my brain.
| sklargh wrote:
| Many of my biggest professional achievements were enabled via
| Irish Coast. I give them a few dollars a month.https://mynoise.
| net/NoiseMachines/windSeaRainNoiseGenerator....
| tombert wrote:
| I've had tinnitus in my left ear for about six months now. I was
| hoping it was the result of an earwax impaction or something, but
| after having several specialists look at my ears, test my
| hearing, and getting an MRI to check for tumors, the overwhelming
| medical consensus of the cause appears to be "I dunno", and at
| this point I have given up on it being temporary.
|
| About 95% of the time, I can fairly easily just tune it out and
| it's no different than any other background noise. Living in NYC
| helps, there's a fair amount of constant background noise even in
| the best of times. I've found that finding 10-hour videos on
| YouTube of TV static at a low volume can be helpful for the
| remaining 5%.
|
| Still I would really prefer it wasn't there. The ringing in my
| left ear is still annoying, and I'm only in my mid 30's, so
| assuming an average lifespan I have anywhere from 40-60 years
| left to enjoy this constant ringing.
|
| I'll play with this thing to see if it helps.
| breendreams wrote:
| I'm basically in the same exact situation as you, only ringing
| in my left ear. MRI/hearing/etc tests have all shown nothing
| and I haven't received any answer for it. I've had it for close
| to a decade now. NYC definitely helps drown it out but life
| would be better without it.
| cnnlives8387 wrote:
| I've noticed that if I'm eating more salt, don't sleep well,
| under a lot of stress, or taking anything that increases my
| blood pressure or affects vasodilation (supplements, some
| foods, stimulants, etc.), it causes me to have tinnitus. Loud
| concerts / music / sound-reducing headphone / noise can do it
| also.
| tmcz26 wrote:
| Look into Meniere's disease . I got diagnosed recently and
| those are all triggers for it. When undergoing episodes I
| also have vertigo. There's medication for controlling the
| bigger symptoms.
| tptacek wrote:
| If it helps: I've gone through years of coping strategies and
| coming to peace with it; it'll probably annoy you a lot less a
| year from now than it does today. (I had a really rough run in
| my teenage years, but these days a cure for tinnitus is kind of
| only academically interesting to me; I mean, I'd do it, but it
| probably wouldn't change my life much.)
| guilamu wrote:
| A message of hope.
|
| I got mine in my 30's too. The first week I thought I was going
| crazy, and this was the end of my life. I was shocked, I
| couldn't go to work for a whole week.
|
| I then saw a doctor who said to me: "Man, I've got tinnitus
| since 20 years and I barely hear it anymore. The more you
| accept it, the more it'll fade."
|
| A decade later, my own experience is exactly this. I accepted
| it as one of the body malfunctions that comes with age for
| everybody. I barely hear it anymore except in extremely low
| noise situations and it doesn't bother me at all.
|
| I wish you well.
| glimshe wrote:
| It's very much like eye floaters. They are always there, but
| you can tune them out most of the time.
| typpilol wrote:
| Brains crazy
|
| I had a slight crack in my windshield right at eye level
| view. And after a minute of driving I don't notice it at
| all anymore
| ricardobeat wrote:
| We have a projector instead of TV in the living room, and
| there is a small outlet inside the projection area, top
| right corner. We can go months without
| realizing/remembering it's there, until it accidentally
| matches a shadow or object in a scene... the brain just
| deletes it.
| Alejandro9R wrote:
| Completely agree. I've hard some light/moderate floaters in
| my left eye which were very noticeable under a white
| screen, clean walls, or full bright sky in the evening. It
| came pretty sure because of a very stressful period at 27.
|
| Here I am, 31. I have to look for them really really hard
| to see if they are still there. Only when I have a streak
| of stressful days and bad night sleep, they will be visible
| again. It comes without saying that I had to change my life
| in many, many aspects, not only due to these floaters. A
| much calmer life, better food, gym, financial security,
| better friends and people around me, and cultivate a
| spiritual being in some sense. The mind can be shaped in
| many many ways it's fascinating.
| radium3d wrote:
| Yeah, it just blends into the background for me, I've had it
| for decades. I blame the loud music as a kid.
| gblargg wrote:
| I also thought I would go crazy when mine started after some
| ear infections in my 20s. It's gotten a lot worse over time
| but I mostly only notice if I think about it, and when I'm
| laying down to sleep, and when I wake up (it seems so
| strong). I've slept with white noise all my life, and without
| that I the tinnitus would definitely disturb my sleep.
| bsimpson wrote:
| I've always been someone who hears high pitched noises that
| "normal" people don't. I'm also in my 30s, and I'm sure those
| "teenage alarms" in Japan would work on me. I was the one who
| would walk up to a CRT and turn it off when everyone else
| thought it already was.
|
| What helped me accept (and ignore) tinnitus was realizing
| that I had already grown accustomed to tolerating that sound
| indoors. When's it's something you have no agency over (like
| "it's an old house and the wires just make that sound
| sometimes"), you learn it's part of the environment.
|
| Accepting it as part of the environment gets you past the
| "OMG my body is ruined forever" anxieties and back to normal
| life.
| lucaslazarus wrote:
| This is so relatable, though it has a strange downside.
| I've had tinnitus for as long as I can remember and always
| thought I was some superhuman child who could hear
| electricity. Didn't actually realize it was tinnitus until
| I heard it at the top of a mountain I was hiking in remote
| New Mexico a few years ago. I probably got it from chronic
| sinusitis as a child, but I'm still not sure what to make
| of it.
| NBJack wrote:
| I heard older TVs being turned on and off as well as CRT
| monitors. Now, its that very range I 'hear' all the time.
| Part of me wonders if it was sensitivity to that spectrum
| that damaged my hearing when I was around multiple CRTs so
| much.
|
| I have known people that have it much worse than I face
| daily.
| tombert wrote:
| Yeah, for me it sounds almost exactly like the squeal
| that CRT TVs make. Like, it's basically indistinguishable
| from that for me.
| meindnoch wrote:
| By the way, that CRT squeel is the sound of the flyback
| transformer, which operates at 15.625 kHz for PAL and
| 15.734 kHz for NTSC sets.
| otherme123 wrote:
| For me, after 20'ish years with tinnitus, the only thing that
| brings the buzz to the foreground is reading/hearing the word
| "tinnitus".
| jay_kyburz wrote:
| Haha, its funny you say that because I've been reading a
| novel at the moment where the main character has
| debilitating tinnitus, and every time the author describes
| it, I can hear my own.
| drewcon wrote:
| Same exact story for me.
|
| Audiologist suggested treating it like a rock in your shoe.
| At the time seemed like impossible advice but now I just live
| with it and it's 100% fine.
|
| Also the idea that it is actually made worse by anxiety was a
| game changer for me. Literally, "don't worry about it" is the
| exact right advice.
| GioM wrote:
| I have had tinnitus from an infection, which (very thankfully,
| and I admit very luckily) slowly resolved over a period of
| years.
|
| That said, I have experienced occasional reoccurrence. One
| thing that helps is I ask my masseuse to concentrate on the
| sides of my neck- there is a specific muscle that when tense
| can cause ringing.
|
| Does your tinnitus get momentarily worse when you tense your
| neck muscles?
| tombert wrote:
| I just tried it, it does not change significantly when I
| tense my neck muscles.
| Aurornis wrote:
| Once the major (though exceedingly rare) problems have been
| ruled out, the best course of action is to start learning to
| live with it.
|
| It's not what anyone wants to hear, but it's the pragmatic
| approach that works best from everything I've seen.
|
| The people who become involved in tinnitus forums, support
| groups, and chasing experimental treatments think they're
| helping themselves but they're really only bringing it to top
| of mind over and over again.
|
| It feels frustrating to _give up_ and disconnect from all
| things tinnitus related on th internet, but disconnecting is
| exactly what helps with the process of letting it fall into the
| background of your life. Constantly bringing it to the
| foreground and reading about it only makes it worse.
| xnyan wrote:
| This is how it worked for me. I've had it in my left ear for
| decades, the last time I thought about it was the last time I
| read an article about tinnitus on hacker news.
| pfortuny wrote:
| Meditation, despite being a common trope, has helped me
| accept it too.
| sixtyj wrote:
| Yes, the best way is to let it fall into background. Just
| keep going.
| bad_haircut72 wrote:
| Im curious did you also experience hearing loss? I started
| getting tinnitus in my left ear almost 12 months ago, but 12
| months before that I started noticably losing hearing in my
| left ear (with audiology tests to back it up, Im basically deaf
| in one ear now). Also mid 30s.
| tombert wrote:
| Nope! I haven't really noticed any significant loss in
| hearing at a "vibes" level, but I actually got my hearing
| tested in both ears to be sure, and my hearing is actually
| slightly better than the average 30-something.
| ectospheno wrote:
| I have had tinnitus in my left ear since 2011. You do get used
| to it. I really only notice when someone says the word or an
| article on it pops up. I considered setting up some kind of web
| filter just so I never saw the word again. I notice it now, for
| instance.
|
| To everyone who doesn't have it, wear ear plugs at concerts, be
| careful when you remove the ear plugs, and use the max volume
| limiters on your phones. Enjoy your hearing while you have it.
| bluescrn wrote:
| > I really only notice when someone says the word or an
| article on it pops up.
|
| Oh, exactly this. Haven't thought about mine in months, but
| as soon as I actively think about the subject, suddenly the
| high-pitch whine in my left ear is back and louder than ever.
| oh_my_goodness wrote:
| I got tinnitus in one ear after using music in headphones to
| block out other noise. I was probably using the headphones too
| loud and too often. This happened 15 years ago. It was pretty
| bad at first. Since then, very slowly, it has mostly "healed"
| or something. It's still there. But it's much less severe than
| it was.
|
| I also experienced significant hearing loss around the same
| time. My hearing had always been absurdly good, but that
| changed over about a year. Now I can hear well enough to get
| by, but I really miss what I had. Protect your hearing!
| bsimpson wrote:
| Earplugs are like condoms:
|
| They make a sensual pleasure less pleasurable, and they also
| protect against life-altering consequences.
| tbossanova wrote:
| You can get earplugs that only lower the sound quality a
| tiny bit these days. I bought some from the drum shop and
| they're great. As you say, $20 or so to avoid lifetime ear
| damage is a very very good investment. I feel like concerts
| aren't quite so loud these days too, maybe audio gear
| quality is better and the sound engineers don't feel the
| need to turn it up quite so loud.
| reify wrote:
| I too had exactly the same constsnt ringing in my left ear.
|
| I could not get to sleep because the noise was so loud and
| intense.
|
| It reminded me of those spy films where they torture someone
| playing loud heavy metalcore all day and night.
|
| I had a X-ray, ultra-sound and two Consultants had a look.
|
| Both said that there was nothing wrong with my ear. No ear wax,
| no damage, no issues at all.
|
| They both mentioned that tense facial and neck muscles may be a
| cause.
|
| As well as the constant ringing, there is a sound like a
| central eating system, thumping and groaning away, in both my
| ears too. I initially thought the thumping and groaning was the
| Mrs snoring.
|
| I bought some earloops thinking my ears were too sensitive and
| I was somehow hearing noises from the houses down the road and
| the motorway traffic 3 miles away. to no avail, even with the
| earloops blocking all exterior noise, I still had the high
| pitched and low piched internal noises.
|
| I found a way to reduce the noise.
|
| I was laying in bed one night and I was relaxing my jaw when I
| noticed that if I opened my mouth and let my jaw hang loose all
| the noises stopped.
|
| So over a month or so I tried to train my jaw to be less tense
| and more relaxed.
|
| For me it worked.
|
| it was my jaw.
|
| I'm 69, so have a few less years years than your good self
| hyperpl wrote:
| Another message of hope for anyone struggling with the
| possibility of having tinnitus:
|
| I may not be able to fully recount all the factors but I
| believe my ears may have had some residual fluid after
| recovering from covid (my covid symptoms were entirely
| unpleasant and impacted me differently in many ways). Before my
| ears cleared up, I took a domestic flight where I actually got
| vertigo for a few 10s of seconds on ascent. My ENT believes my
| eardrum expanded to touch the inner ear.
|
| The following day I went to a gun range and did skeet shooting
| for a couple of hours then shot really big guns and sniper
| rifles. The earplugs I brought myself were likely not adequate
| and taking them out and putting them in repeatedly in
| relatively cool weather likely didn't provide the best seal
| either.
|
| That night or the next day I noticed lots of ringing in my ears
| and I started to become worried when it was still there even
| after a week. The worst was being in silent meeting rooms at
| work where it was most noticeable. It was extremely depressing
| and I nearly lost all hope.
|
| I visited 2 separate ENTs and each just sent me re-take my
| yearly hearing test. They didn't really provide any comforting
| words other than to take the test and wear hearing protection,
| etc..
|
| Before the hearing test (~2 weeks after the gun range and
| flights) I explained everything to the audiologist and he said
| "Lots of people have various degrees of tinnitus/ringing, just
| don't think about it. I have it and that's what I do. Don't let
| it bother you and live your life."
|
| Interestingly enough, my audio test came back better than the
| previous 10 year results and since then I just don't think
| about it. If I do I can certainly hear it. My only personal
| takeaway is that the brain and body are very complex and have
| an arsenal of mechanisms to deal with trauma and that for this
| particular instance I've been very lucky.
| rwyinuse wrote:
| I have slightly similar experience. When I was a teenager, I
| had a random flu shortly before two flights abroad. I didn't
| feel that sick anymore, but apparently my ears were still
| badly blocked. On descent my ears would hurt like hell, and I
| was half-deaf for rest of the day. That was more than ten
| years ago, and since then I've suffered from moderate
| tinnitus.
|
| I too got used to it, but I would really advice people to
| avoid flying sick if they can help it (or at least use some
| meds to unblock your ears while doing it).
| manoDev wrote:
| I feel you. Here's things you can try (in this order):
|
| - Cut stimulant use (coffee, energy drinks) and alcohol
|
| - Drink plenty of water
|
| - Check blood pressure
|
| - Talk to a dentist and check if you grind teeth or suffer from
| jaw stiffness
|
| - Supplement Magnesium (chelated/glycinate, 300mg/day)
|
| I'm ignoring issues of the ear canal (wax, secretions) since
| you mentioned it.
|
| Studies point to tinnitus being either caused by changes in
| blood supply on the inner ear, of neurological origin or
| trauma. These are all measures I took and greatly improved my
| case (and when I neglect one of those, it comes back).
| tombert wrote:
| I don't drink alcohol at all and haven't for quite awhile,
| and my blood pressure is pretty low and hasn't changed
| significantly. I did try cutting out caffeine entirely for
| several months (and the tinnitus actually started when I
| wasn't haven't any caffeine at all).
|
| I do very slightly grind my teeth in my sleep, but in this
| particular case the problem is basically solved (at least at
| the dental level) because I have mild sleep apnea so I sleep
| with a plastic mouthpiece every night anyway.
|
| I'll look into the magnesium supplements.
| manoDev wrote:
| Yeah, caffeine is not the cause per se - the thing is it
| has both vasoconstriction and vasodilation effects at
| different times, so it can mess with blood vessels in the
| inner ear. It totally makes sense if you get tinnitus when
| you _cut_ caffeine after your body is used to it.
|
| Magnesium plays a part on vasodilation regulation as well,
| and many people are silently deficient on it. It's hard to
| detect deficiency w/ blood samples, because the body works
| hard to keep blood concentration stable. You will know you
| do if you get muscle cramps or twitches.
| everyone wrote:
| I tried Lenire and it didnt do anything, probably made it
| worse. Been doing CBT (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy) and I
| seem to be making some progress with it.
| semolinachops wrote:
| I got tinnitus about 4 years ago in one ear. At first I thought
| it was stress with a new baby, moving house and a busy time at
| work. I thought maybe it was wax.
|
| I saw a few specialists, had hearing tests, MRI and CT, and
| everything came back fine. Couldnt work it out so I gave up for
| a bit.
|
| Later I went back to my GP and got another referral. This time
| the consultant asked the radiologist to focus on a specific
| area. He explained it can show up on a normal scan but unless
| they know what to look for it often gets missed.
|
| That is when they found I have thinning of the bone over the
| inner ear called superior semicircular canal dehiscence SSCD.
|
| I wear sleep earphones at night which have been life changing.
| 3shv wrote:
| Is this an ad for Soundcore?
| richwater wrote:
| Yea i have no idea how that product relates to tinnitus
| semolinachops wrote:
| Inadvertent ad removed.
|
| Sleeping with tinnitus can be very hard and increases the
| anxiety. At least it was for me. I found specific sleep
| earphones worked particularly well at reducing this.
| mrblah wrote:
| this is anecdotal and not medical advice, but i reduced my
| tinnitus symptoms by ~90% by taking therapeutic doses
| (1200-1800mg/day) of benfotiamine (fat soluble form of vitamin
| b1) over the course of a month and a half.
|
| i was taking it for unrelated nerve pain and was very surprised
| that my sense of smell and hearing also remarkably improved, to
| the point where i needed to reduce the long standing 'known'
| audio levels of all my various listening gadgets a few clicks.
| the ringing was a little worse for the first couple weeks, but
| then reduced a couple more weeks, then almost completely
| stopped 1 day.
|
| from what i gather, high doses of the fat soluble form of
| vitamin b1 can repair nerves and is used as first line therapy
| in some countries for neuropathy, chronic pain and even
| alzheimers.
|
| i'm sure it won't help everyone, i can't even find any solid
| research on tinnitus and benfotiamine, but putting this out in
| the ether since it is a cheap and relatively safe thing to try,
| i was completely surprised by this nice off-label side effect
| (it did help with my nerve pain as well). there is much more
| research based evidence on benfotiamine therapy for other nerve
| problems, and it follows that hearing and smell would also be
| affected, it's all nerves, good luck
|
| edit * adding if you are taking high doses of benfotiamine, you
| should also be taking magnesium with it, i just took zma (zinc,
| magnesium and b6) at bedtime *
| OutOfHere wrote:
| Even 80 mg of benfotiamine a day is too potent for me, giving
| me anxiety. 40 mg is more tolerable. I do take plenty of
| magnesium, zinc, and P5P. Be careful taking the basic non-P5P
| form of B6 because it risks causing serious neuropathy in the
| long term. Benfotiamine is more for managing damage from high
| glucose. I acknowledge your experience, but if your nerve
| damage is not from metabolic concerns, I am skeptical.
|
| Why not use lipothiamine or occasionally sulbutiamine instead
| for this purpose?
| mrblah wrote:
| the older i get, and more in tune with my body i become,
| the more i'm thinking everything is connected to
| metabolism... it is, after all, the primary thing life does
| as it relates to energy. the b vitamins, and specifically
| b1 is a precursor/cofactor in almost every metabolic
| pathway. i only high dosed it for a couple months, just
| taking 150mg with ala daily now, but my tinnitus that i've
| had for 20 years is gone unless it gets triggered by movie
| or video game sound design during explosion or gun fight
| scenes (ugh)
| cyberpunk wrote:
| Absolutely anecdotal, but my left ear tinnitus recently
| cleared up and ive been taking a b complex for a couple of
| weeks for unrelated reasons... Wild.
| victornomad wrote:
| I started having tinnitus in both ears 10 months ago.
|
| I don't know the exact cause, but I started noticing it during
| a job-related burnout and a series of work-related events that
| significantly increased my stress levels.
|
| It was so bad to the point I had to abruptly quit my job (FYI,
| freelancing without a safety net sucks).
|
| My doctor gave me pills to help calm my brain and the noise,
| especially during the night. I also have hypersensitivity, so
| having a constant noise ringing was not ideal :/
|
| Luckily my ENT doctor recommended that I do multiple things at
| the same time: - tinnitus retraining therapy
| (TRT), listening to white noise ~4 hours a day - going
| to a therapist - daily meditation - daily
| exercise - reducing salt, chocolate, coffee, etc.
|
| The hissing is still there, but I can now ignore it most of the
| time.
|
| I started to see life a bit differently since then. Things that
| disrupt your life can happen so suddenly...
|
| I'm still trying to find a job, but I lost a lot of confidence
| and developed a bit of a trauma since I don't want to
| experience burnout again :/
| mouse_ wrote:
| You can do it.
|
| It will be easy once you start.
| sixtyj wrote:
| Kids told me that I am losing my hearing. So I went to hearing
| lab. When I told doctor that I have tinnitus in left ear for
| almost 10 years, he recommended lorazepam in tough times...
| that it works. :)
| epolanski wrote:
| I'm in your situation.
|
| 38, came out of nowhere few months ago, seen any kind of
| doctor, I hear this 24/7 whistle in my ear.
|
| Being in silent rooms or trying to sleep is hard.
| Towaway69 wrote:
| I had tinnitus before I knew it was tinnitus - I thought it was
| normal. I literally thought that everyone had a constant sound
| in their ears.
|
| It was not until someone explained that they had tinnitus and
| told me their symptons that I suddenly realised that I too had
| tinnitus.
|
| Since then it's become harder to ignore it but on the other
| hard, its nice to know that it's not normal and that others can
| truly hear _nothing_ - something I do wish I could do: hear
| nothing. I did recently discovered that head under water helps
| to reduced the sound.
|
| Acceptance has been my treatment for years, I hear it when
| there is mental downtime. So it does keep me busy (mentally) so
| that I don't hear it - ironically tinnitus motivates me to do
| stuff!
| technothrasher wrote:
| I've had it as long as I can remember. Like you, I thought it
| was normal. When I was a little kid I thought that was what
| the Simon & Garfunkel song "The Sound of Silence" was talking
| about. Since I suspect I've had it since birth, it doesn't
| bother me. It's just something that is. I feel bad for the
| folks who get it later in life and have trouble with it. My
| neighbor got it a few years ago and it keeps him up at night
| sometimes.
| pests wrote:
| Same situation, basically went away a year later on its own.
| Every once in a blue moon or when I'm at the boundary of
| wake|sleep or sleep|wake I'll kinda hear it again but I find if
| I just acknowledge the sensation, move on and continue what I
| was doing - it'll be days or weeks until I remember it even
| happened. Focus on it less.
| mft_ wrote:
| Exactly the same story for me: right tinnitus just started one
| day in my 30s; examination, hearing test, MRI all normal. ENT
| specialist exhausted his diagnostic options then suggested
| ginger tablets.
|
| It rarely bothers me (although it's always there) but obviously
| there's a cause and I'd like to find it. I have a suspicion it
| may be somehow related to neck anatomy and/or postural factors
| (it sometimes seems to worsen slightly with particular
| positions) in bed but beyond that I'm at a loss.
| wppick wrote:
| Try experimenting with diet like cutting out/down on sugar or
| salt and see if it makes any difference. There's no strong
| evidence that EMF can cause tinnitus but would be interesting
| to test that out somehow too (camping/cabin trip in a radio
| free zone?)
| geophile wrote:
| I got tinnitus in my late 20s. Forty years later, it's still
| there. Research into the causes, and treatments, has been
| disappointingly slow.
|
| I would really like to experience total silence at some point,
| but that seems very unlikely.
| WanderPanda wrote:
| I have a strong Tinnitus on one ear after an ear surgery for 8
| years now. And I usually don't notice it for months at a time,
| even though it is there all the time (thanks for reminding me
| :p) So it's not as bad as it might feel in the beginning. I'm
| mostly bothered by my hearing being generally impaired by it.
| It sits at ~9kHz but it somehow still makes it significantly
| harder to comprehend voices.
| semitones wrote:
| Remarkably, our experiences are _incredibly_ similar. Left ear,
| about a year, got all those tests done, specialists don't know
| other than "that's tinnitus for you - if I had a cure I'd be
| rich", 98% of the time I tune it out, I live in NYC, early
| thirties.
|
| If you ever find something that works for you, please reply
| here @tombert, I'll do the same :)
| nostromo wrote:
| Here's my hot take on tinnitus:
|
| First and foremost, ignore it. When you find yourself listening
| to it, distract yourself and immediately move on.
|
| Secondly, add more white noise into your environment. The best
| approach I find is just opening a window or adding a little fan
| or water feature to your desk. White noise generators don't work
| as well for me, but they can help in a pinch.
|
| I believe that our modern day indoor environments are honestly
| just too unnaturally quiet anyway.
|
| I'm not joking when I say that the only time I really get annoyed
| by my tinnitus is when the monthly "cure" for it gets posted on
| HN. ;-)
| ionwake wrote:
| Dont know why you are getting downvoted
| wizzwizz4 wrote:
| While "white noise" is the _colloquial_ phrase, it 's also a
| technical term that refers to a different noise spectrum - one
| that _will_ do serious damage to your hearing if you listen to
| it loudly enough to do anything about tinnitus. (When played on
| ideal equipment, white noise has _infinite energy_ - which is
| clearly not what you want to deliver to your ears.) You 're
| probably thinking of brown noise, pink noise, or perceptually-
| weighted grey noise.
| janmo wrote:
| The only way to temporarely get rid of my tinnitus (completely
| gone or at least very reduced for up to 30 seconds) is to listen
| to this beep tone from 8 to 12 KHZ:
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qNf9nzvnd1k
|
| apparently the phenomenon is called residual inhibition. If only
| there was a way to make this work permanently...
| tptacek wrote:
| Whoah, that's weird. I listened to the whole sweep just so I
| could match it to my tinnitus (turns out: about 10khz), but
| when I paused it to re-evaluate my own tinnitus, it wasn't
| there. I mean, it's back now. But still, weird.
| conception wrote:
| https://youtube.com/shorts/YyT9ZwWy5Jc?si=PoDNVQ4ox24_RW-l
|
| Also works pretty great. If I need a few minutes of actual
| silence I use that. I think people using TENS and other
| therapies are basically stimulating the same nerves to treat
| it.
| atombender wrote:
| Works for me, too. Interestingly enough, playing the Tinnitus
| Neuromodulator for 20 seconds (with certain sliders set and
| some off) also works.
| timmg wrote:
| One thing that seems to help me with tinnitus is the Airpods Pro
| when you customize it for your hearing. Like they have a tool on
| the iPhone/iPad that will (essentially) set up an equalizer in it
| that matches your (lack of) hearing.
|
| I think actually stimulating the parts of your hearing that match
| the tinnitus is what helps. That's why this white noise thing
| works. But, also, listening to music or watching movies with the
| Airpods Pro (after configuring) -- I assume -- does something
| similar.
| kstenerud wrote:
| I tried it out but it did absolutely nothing for my tinnitus. All
| it does is put out a bunch of changing tones (my tinnitus never
| changes tones, so I'm having trouble figuring out what this is
| supposed to do?).
|
| Lots of people giving good feedback on it, though. What exactly
| is it about this site that works for other people?
| Arch-TK wrote:
| I've had a low grade (although who knows, it's not like I can
| hear someone else's tinnitus to compare) tinnitus for as long as
| I remember. For my childhood I thought it was just normal to hear
| this noise when there was no external source of other sound.
|
| Honestly, I never felt particularly negative about it.
|
| I guess if you never know what true silence sounds like, you
| never know what you are missing.
| VPenkov wrote:
| Same here. A few years ago I thought maybe the ringing isn't
| normal. It hadn't occurred to me before that.
|
| I found a YouTube video of a "tinnitus demo" with the right
| sound and frequency. I could only start hearing it at about 80%
| volume. I gave my headphones to my partner and she said it was
| unbearable. I guess I'm used to my normal.
|
| I slightly regret knowing about it, I seem to be paying more
| attention to it now.
| Barrin92 wrote:
| I think that's most people. I never even knew that I had
| tinnitus (still don't know if I do frankly) because if you've
| put me in a dead silent room I've always heard some very low
| kind of 'static' for a lack of a better term. Most people I've
| ever talked to say the same thing, very few people have ever
| told me they hear absolutely nothing. Only after I kept reading
| about it did I start to notice it more, I think there's a
| really big psychological element to it.
| Arch-TK wrote:
| Tinnitus (at least mine) sounds like a quieter version of the
| high pitched noise that movies like to use to emulate
| tinnitus due to a loud noise (explosion).
|
| It's a quieter version of the tinnitus you can personally get
| if you are close to a loud noise (don't do this
| intentionally, it is an indication that you've caused
| yourself some hearing damage).
|
| I've never heard static, I think that honestly sounds closer
| to what might actually be termed a noise floor. I know what a
| noise floor sounds like, and I've never heard a noise floor
| just due to quiet conditions...
|
| IDK, like I said, unfortunately science hasn't found a way to
| easily and temporarily swap ears.
| EvanAnderson wrote:
| Similar story here. I hear something like CRT whine all the
| time (except higher than the typical 15Khz NTSC tube whine).
| When I was a kid I played with the SOUND statement in GW-BASIC
| and figured out my tinnitus s was between 17 and 18 Khz
| (listening for bleating interference between my laptop speaker
| and the tinnitus). Today my hearing tops out between 12 and 13
| Khz but I assume the tinnitus whine is still the same old
| frequency.
|
| My daughter has it, too. My wife doesn't, but my daughter has
| described it to me.
|
| I haven't felt negative about it except for the time I visited
| an anechoic chamber exhibit at a local museum (COSI in
| Columbus, OH) in my early 40s. It really messed with my
| perception and the tinnitus was much louder than normal for
| days after. Even thinking about it makes me edgy.
| Nux wrote:
| White noise is key here. Luckily I do not have tinnitus, but I
| have small children and they sleep great with this on. And so do
| their parents, especially handy when going on holiday in noisy
| hotels etc. I can't go on holiday without it now! :)
|
| I've just downloaded this audio track with yt-dlp, placed it on
| an sdcard and I play it in a loop on a small speaker.
|
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nMfPqeZjc2c
| netule wrote:
| This appears to be brown noise, not white noise.
|
| I have no affiliation with this macOS app, but I use it for the
| same reasons you do. It's paid, but worth it IMHO. It generates
| the noise on your own machine, and you can pick what kind of
| noise you want to hear: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/brown-
| noise-ambient-noise/id15....
| foxfired wrote:
| I'm so happy mine is gone. It came in waves for me and funny it
| enough, it sounded like ocean waves crashing [0]. I used to play
| ocean sound for my kids to sleep, so I didn't notice that a good
| part of the sound wasn't coming from the device, but from me. It
| was unbearable for several weeks before it just disappeared.
|
| [0]:https://idiallo.com/byte-size/nightmare-on-ocean-street
| tarr11 wrote:
| The drumming technique works for me for a few minutes if I need
| some temporary relief
|
| https://treblehealth.com/tapping-technique-for-temporary-tin...
| y-c-o-m-b wrote:
| This is pretty cool, but unfortunately I have somatic tinnitus,
| so this doesn't work as well. The frequency/tone is very dynamic
| with my version of tinnitus and I can even change it by moving or
| massaging my neck (especially at the base of my skull) in certain
| ways. The good news is that also means there are brief windows of
| time where I have zero tinnitus because my neck and muscles are
| in a position to temporarily fix whatever underlying issue is
| causing it.
| charleshn wrote:
| I can relate.
|
| I had tinnitus for over 10 years. My tinnitus was not the usual
| ringing type, it was some sort of humming, low frequency noise.
| The frequency was not constant, it could vary. It could
| sometimes stop for 5-10 minutes, e.g. after a hot bath.
|
| Went to see many specialists, tried everything, to no avail.
|
| One day I started experiencing recurrent tension and light pain
| in my neck and shoulder blades, so I started doing some neck
| and shoulder blades stretches several times a day.
|
| After a few weeks, the pain was gone, and I realised the
| tinnitus had stopped. This was maybe 2 years ago (I am still
| doing those exercises multiple times a day).
| gikkman wrote:
| I've had tinnitus since I was a child. It's probably due to a
| procedure they used to do around here an children with ear
| infections. Nowadays, I rarely notice it. But I remember in my
| teens, it sometimes was absolutely excruciating because I had no
| way of coping or tuning it out. This is very interesting. I might
| consider trying it. If there's something I'd really want to
| experience at least once, it's that "absolute silence" so many
| mention when being out in the forest it country side.
| CGMthrowaway wrote:
| Ear tube surgery?
| WarOnPrivacy wrote:
| > Ear tube surgery
|
| Almost certainly. My Dr feels mine created a weakness that
| enabled tinnitus to develop 4 decades later.
| gikkman wrote:
| Yeah, thanks. Didn't know the English term. I had them for
| years, and I've been told by my doctor that's the likely
| cause to me having it for as long as I can remember.
| WarOnPrivacy wrote:
| I'll add this. When I first mentioned it to my Dr (GP,
| not ENT), he looked in my ears and saw scar tissue. That
| was all he had to go on.
|
| I was also driving an old car w/ heavy cabin noise and
| the timing fits. I recently moved into a different old
| car and will see if anything changes.
|
| edit: The last time I tried to gauge my freq, I put it at
| about 1150Hz. Today I would say it's closer to 5300Hz. I
| guess ignoring it includes ignoring changes.
|
| ref: https://onlinetonegenerator.com/
| larrykubin wrote:
| For me personally, looking for solutions like this and
| researching tinnitus makes it more noticeable and worse. The best
| approach for me has been to pretend it doesn't exist and is
| insignificant, and even though it's still there after 7 years, it
| doesn't bother me as much anymore.
| tinnythrowaway wrote:
| One of the insidious things about anxiety and panic disorders
| is the feedback loop of focusing on the distressing symptoms,
| which causes more distress, which creates more symptoms, etc.
| For many the "way out" for anxiety is to create space and
| simply allow the unwanted sensations and feelings to exist.
|
| Tinnitus and anxiety are comorbid. It's healthy to just
| practice letting it be if you can.
| WarOnPrivacy wrote:
| > looking for solutions like this and researching tinnitus
| makes it more noticeable and worse. The best approach for me
| has been to pretend it doesn't exist and is insignificant
|
| This is me. I have a mental distance worked out. Posting in
| this thread will require a bit of recovery time.
|
| However, I recently learned by best friend (lives distant now
| but we chat daily) has tinnitus to the point where it affects
| discerning speech - so it's up there. But it doesn't bother him
| at all to think and talk about it. He's never felt any distress
| from it.
|
| I'd never heard anyone say that. I changed the topic because I
| didn't want to put his zen at risk.
| reify wrote:
| I too had exactly the same constsnt ringing in my left ear.
|
| I could not get to sleep because the noise was so loud and
| intense.
|
| It reminded me of those spy films where they torture someone
| playing loud heavy metalcore all day and night.
|
| I had a X-ray, ultra-sound and two Consultants had a look.
|
| Both said that there was nothing wrong with my ear. No ear wax,
| no damage, no issues at all.
|
| They both mentioned that tense facial and neck muscles may be a
| cause.
|
| As well as the constant ringing, there is a sound like a central
| eating system, thumping and groaning away, in both my ears too. I
| initially thought the thumping and groaning was the Mrs snoring.
|
| I bought some earloops thinking my ears were too sensitive and I
| was somehow hearing noises from the houses down the road and the
| motorway traffic 3 miles away. to no avail, even with the
| earloops blocking all exterior noise, I still had the high
| pitched and low piched internal noises.
|
| I found a way to reduce the noise.
|
| I was laying in bed one night and I was relaxing my jaw when I
| noticed that if I opened my mouth and let my jaw hang loose all
| the noises stopped.
|
| So over a month or so I tried to train my jaw to be less tense
| and more relaxed.
|
| For me it worked.
|
| it was my jaw.
| vinc wrote:
| I started hearing tinnitus a decade ago in a quiet room at night
| when I came back home after two years traveling the world at
| around 30 yo. Over the following months it became louder and
| noticed it more, then after maybe a year I could hear it all the
| time. During the day I could live with it but in the middle of
| the night I could not get back to sleep after waking up. It was
| causing a lot of anxiety because I was afraid of how much louder
| it may become.
|
| I was thinking that maybe I cough something during my travels so
| I went to see a few specialists but they found nothing.
|
| What I understand now is that the cause is probably all the
| vipassana meditation I did and some psychedelics I experimented
| with during my travel which opened some filters I had in my mind
| blocking sensor noise. It's the most plausible explanation for
| me.
|
| The noise was probably always there, or maybe it got louder when
| I become older, but I never noticed it until it became
| disturbing.
|
| A decade later the noise is still there, all the time, but it's
| not an issue at all anymore. It's not louder than before, and I
| have no negative feelings associated with it. I made peace with
| it and I can now easily ignore it, or to be more accurate, I can
| live with it and it'll disappear on its own after a short time
| until I put my attention back to it (voluntary or not).
|
| As I'm writing this in a quiet room it's very loud, but that's
| fine, it just sensor noise. Soon enough I'll stop hearing it if I
| don't focus on it.
|
| I hope reading this can help. I wish I had someone back then
| telling me that it would turn out okay to just accept it after
| doing some medical checks.
| WarOnPrivacy wrote:
| > It was causing a lot of anxiety because I was afraid of how
| much louder it may become.
|
| Been there. After a few years of slow increase, mine suddenly
| cranked up to 11 (due to an infection, it turned out). There
| were a few rough weeks while I worked out counter & coping
| measures. I still need those measures from time to time.
| measures:beltone app & speakers at the head of my bed.
| A half doz (non-controlled) insomnia meds to rotate thru.
| I discovered UK Great Railway Journeys vids; they
| interfered with distress feedback loops
| jounus wrote:
| My tinnitus is at 14khz, so every tone in this generator is too
| low.
| stacktraceyo wrote:
| My AirPod pros gave me or really exacerbated my tinnitus
| 3shv wrote:
| Why is everyone here having tinnitus in their left ear? Including
| myself.
| munchlax wrote:
| Because I can't hear you over the sound of stereo tinitus
| epolanski wrote:
| Left ear too. Was noticing disproportionately more left ear
| sufferers but thought it was a bias.
| rufus_foreman wrote:
| A bunch of people with tinnitus in their left ear. That's kind of
| weird. That's what I have.
|
| Anyone with tinnitus only in their right ear?
|
| And yeah, I've had it since the early 90's and it mostly only
| bothers me now when someone brings it up. Thanks Hacker News!
| throwaway8902 wrote:
| Lots of people posting in here about how they can't figure out
| the cause of their tinnitus.
|
| Mine was ear wax. I went to an ENT doctor for an unrelated issue,
| he pulled a big plug of wax out of my ear, and my tinnitus (which
| was quite bad and had a very sudden onset) totally disappeared.
|
| If you have it, go get a doctor to look in your ear before you
| give up and decide to try to live with it.
| ufko_org wrote:
| I have mine since 2007 in both ears. Simply accept it.
| bookmtn wrote:
| Suggest trying Brown Noise for a bit of relief.
| benbojangles wrote:
| 36yrs with tinnitus, but this website looks like what happens
| when chatgpt and a tinnitus sufferer vibe codes better than
| nothing I suppose ... Or is it?
| jonway wrote:
| No, it's pretty old and created by an Audio Engineer.
| fragmede wrote:
| Sounds like it's not, but even if it was made by a doctor that
| desperately wants to bring relief to the tinnitus sufferers of
| the world who used AI to create it, what difference would it
| make?
| upcoming-sesame wrote:
| I started having tinnitus right after a COVID infection.
|
| it's not too bad, only one ear and it comes and goes pretty
| quickly.
|
| For me the COVID correlation is 100%, but I haven't found too
| much literature about it and wonder if anyone experienced it as
| well
| cyberpunk wrote:
| Mine started after covid also, see further up tho it actually
| recently stopped and i couldn't figure out what had changed
| apart from taking a complex b supplement for a couple months..
| Cant hurt maybe?
| cryptoegorophy wrote:
| Whoever is suffering with tinnitus, try this - firmly press on
| your jaw muscles - if your tinnitus amplifies then it is related
| to your clenched jaw muscles! A therapy on these muscles will
| either reduce the tinnitus or will completely make it go away!
| Wish my doctor told me that years ago instead of doing useless ct
| scans and hearing checks. Wish you all silent nights!
| aivisol wrote:
| Can you please tell what kind of therapy you did ?
| fragmede wrote:
| physical therapy exercises, eg https://youtu.be/lwWDbZrGDPg
| cryptoegorophy wrote:
| Yes. This pretty much. As soon as you know where to dig it
| becomes so much easier.
| elric wrote:
| My tinnitus gets louder when I press my jaw/cheek, but no
| amount of neck/jaw therapy, exercises, or dry needling has made
| any difference.
|
| The scans and hearing tests are not useless, they help rule out
| the nastier causes of tinnitus. Calling them useless and going
| straight for jaw therapy is potentially dangerous advice for
| some.
|
| Sure, give it a try, but don't skip the rest of the diagnostic
| process.
| sayrer wrote:
| It is striking that it sounds like Brian Eno - An Ending (Ascent)
| pipes wrote:
| Bit off topic but anyone here use white noise with their young
| kids, as a sleep aid?
|
| I'm really paranoid about giving them tinnitus. I am just back
| from holiday with extended family, I mentioned to my brother that
| the white noise he is using with his kids is extremely loud, he's
| using a phone app. To the point my daughter moved rooms out of
| his kids room. Google ai agrees with me that hearing damage is
| definitely a risk. I mentioned this to him and it went down
| really badly. I'll not mention it again.
| BraverHeart wrote:
| How would replacing a buzzing sound problem with a synthetic
| buzzing solve the problem of... not hearing any buzzing?
|
| It's like trying to put out fire by lighting more fire, what am I
| missing?
| dag11 wrote:
| Because the brain is really weird, and tinnitus is often a
| completely internal neurological phenomenon.
|
| The sound machine linked here was really helpful for me when I
| had some distressing tinnitus due to concerts several years
| ago. If I listened to this somewhat loudly for several minutes,
| I'd then get about 2-3 minutes of what felt like pure silence.
| And for a little while after that as the tinnitus came back, my
| brain interpreted it as a gentle white noise instead of a
| continuous high-frequency tone. Then it went back to the tone a
| little while later. So if I was having trouble sleeping due to
| hyperfocusing on the tone I'd first pop in some airpods and
| listen to this for a few mins.
|
| Nowadays my tinnitus is much less bothersome. Probably a
| combination of objectively getting a little better, and me
| getting more acclimated to it. Plus I've been using good
| musician's ear plugs for all my concerts and raves since then
| which stopped it from getting worse.
| alt187 wrote:
| It's like how swimming is confortable but having a wet spot on
| your shirt isn't. Your tinnitus dilutes in the harmonic
| background noise.
| exasperaited wrote:
| Like others I have tinnitus that only now really rears its head
| in extremely quiet environments or when I see the word "tinnitus"
| or someone says it. Then I am reminded I have it.
|
| I think I have always had it; I became more aware it was abnormal
| and unusual in my twenties when I realised that TV dramas use a
| similar high pitch sound to indicate someone who has had sudden
| hearing damage (after an explosion etc.) and then it really
| bothered me for a while because I was living in a very quiet
| area.
|
| About six years ago now I was at a gig at a local venue when I
| experienced hearing loss due to a freakish bit of bass feedback.
| I was in a particular corner of the room and clearly experienced
| an overtone that almost nobody else heard at all, and at a volume
| nobody else experienced; pure bad luck. The sound made me run
| away automatically. I was thirty yards away before I even really
| comprehended that I was leaving.
|
| I experienced considerable hearing loss -- muffled, incomplete
| hearing -- for several days. Nearly complete for the first day.
|
| But when my tinnitus came back I realised I felt sure I was going
| to get my hearing back essentially entirely. It was curiously
| reassuring. I've never really been stressed by it since.
|
| So I have what I expect to be lifelong tinnitus. But also
| earplugs now.
| throwaway233927 wrote:
| There is a company called Auricle that is working on releasing
| their tinnitus treatment device. To my knowledge, they are the
| only tinnitus treatment device company with a properly blinded
| study showing efficacy. They have started taking outside
| (accredited) investors for those interested:
|
| https://www.auricleinc.com/joinourmission
| lexx wrote:
| Have tinnitus 20 years now. Very loud. Can hear it in cinema
| while watching action movies. First year was depressing. I
| couldn't believe I will never enjoy silence again. Now I don't
| care. It's my little friend. Really. Life can be amazing even
| with extreme tinnitus
| brianhama wrote:
| I suddenly lost the hearing in my left ear at the age of 24. One
| moment I was fine, eating a slice of pizza, the next moment I
| suddenly could sense something was wrong. I tried to stand up and
| walk, but my balance was gone. My ear felt full and there was a
| strange metallic echo. I waited about 24 hours and it hadn't gone
| away, so I went to the urgent care. By that time, just standing
| up was enough to cause me to vomit. I've had a pretty healthy
| life, so everything that was happening was rather disconcerting
| to me!
|
| The doctors at urgent care erroneously diagnosed the problem as
| dehydration as a result of my telling them I had played tennis
| earlier before the incident. They sent me home with instructions
| to drink lots of water. After waiting another 48 hours completely
| unable to hear or even stand up, I went back to the urgent care.
| This time, they diagnosed it as an ear infection and gave me
| antibiotics. Over the next two weeks, my balance slowly returned,
| but what little hearing I still had slowly deteriorated further.
| About a month after it started, I finally was referred to an
| audiologist that concluded that I was completely deaf in my left
| ear, possibly due to a viral infection, but there isn't any way
| to know for sure the cause. Had it been treated with steroids
| immediately, it might have saved my hearing.
|
| I am now 40 years old and have lived with being single sided deaf
| for half my life. Initially I didn't think much of it. I've
| slowly realized it has had a profound impact on my personality
| and sense of identity. I am much less social due to the
| difficulty I have hearing in group settings. Conversations are
| frustrating because it takes so much effort to hear the other
| person properly. I am reluctant to tell people about my condition
| because I don't want to be seen as handicapped in any way.
| Usually by the time I do end up telling someone, they say they
| had already figured as much.
|
| Tinnitus is a major daily issue as well. I can't seem to
| understand how this website helps though.
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(page generated 2025-10-18 23:00 UTC)