Ask HN: Anyone else suffering from tinnitus?

Just getting Covid-19 can lead to Tinnitus. I remember hearing of quite a few people reported getting it after being infected, before there even was a vaccine.

In fact, according to the Cleveland Clinic:

"But on April 29, the American Academy of Audiology, the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association and the Academy of Doctors of Audiology issued a statement regarding the matter.

The groups said that based on a recent study conducted by The University of Manchester and Manchester Biomedical Research Centre that was published in the International Journal of Audiology, scientists estimated that 7.6% of people infected with COVID-19 experienced hearing loss, 14.8% suffered from tinnitus and 7.2% reported vertigo. This study also conveyed that there is an urgent need for additional studies regarding the long-term effects of COVID-19 on the auditory system."[1]

So just getting infected by Covid-19 might give you a ~15% chance of getting Tinnitus.

I started having noticeable, permanent Tinnitus myself in September 2019. If it were a few months later I might have thought it was because of Covid-19, but it wasn't. It might have been a side effect to an antibiotic I took a while back (Cipro) that I had a bad reaction to (full body neuropathy after a single pill, lingering neuropathy off and on for a few years after) and some studies suggest could lead to Tinnitus, or because I had to wear headphones at work to block out noise at an open office (fuck open offices, I'll never RTO to those), or something else, hard to say. I got my hearing tested by an ENT doctor six months ago and I don't have any hearing loss, though.

By the way, since you specifically said hearing loss in yours, at least according to this study[2], there's no increased risk of hearing loss following a Covid-19 vaccination.

"Our data suggested no increased risk for SSNHL [sudden sensorineural hearing loss] following any COVID-19 vaccination. In particular, adjusted incidence rate ratios, with 95 percent confidence intervals (95% CI) for the BNT162b2 vaccine’s three doses were 0.8 (95% CI 0.6 to 1.0), 0.9 (95% CI 0.6 to 1.2), and 1.3 (95% CI 0.9 to 2.0). SARS-CoV-2 infection was not associated with an increased incidence of SSNHL either."

Not saying it's impossible yours wasn't caused by the vaccine, but it seems like it's so incredibly rare and Tinnitus can have a bunch of causes (and effects a large number of people eventually) that it's more likely to be coincidence than not.

Regardless of its origin, I'm sorry you're suffering from Tinnitus. I know firsthand that it sucks, and wish there were better treatments for it, because it gets damn annoying, and fucks with your concentration and ability to sleep at times. I hope at some point there's a breakthrough that lets there be some treatment (besides that stupid 'this one trick' on reddit and youtube of thwacking the back of your head with your fingers that relieves it very little for like 30 seconds that everyone keeps passing around as if it were a miracle cure).

[1]: https://health.clevelandclinic.org/can-covid-19-cause-tinnit... [2]: https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.07.10.22277380v...).

I started hearing a similar sound recently. I don't know if the fact that I had been sitting in a loud open office layout for a year or two was related, or a coincidence. Like others here, I listened to a lot of loud music over the years, mostly using earbuds and headphones, with a few live shows. Also like others here, I've found the usual combination of (lack of) exercise/sleep/stress are factors, and I suspect age contributes as well.

Fully agree, but this is the first time in 18 months that I am able to read a thread about tinnitus without feeling any unease.

I read every single comment, even the ones that shouldn't have been posted for their utter lack of empathy.

Both ears for about, uh, 25 years (I went to a lot of un-earplugged gigs at university in small venues.)

The Neuromodulator from mynoise[1] sometimes alleviates it for a period of time, especially mixed with some coloured noises.

Other than that, there's apparently research indicating that notched audio (music with your tinnitus frequency removed) may help train your brain, e.g. [2].

Annoyingly mine seems to be a broad spectrum and/or my ability to recognise pitch is abysmal which means I've not been able to test this myself - but there's apps to do it for you.

[1] https://mynoise.net/NoiseMachines/neuromodulationTonesGenera...

[2] https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04661995

> For me, it seems the less noise I have to process, the less tinnitus bothers me.

I'm the opposite. The less noise there is, the more noticeable the Tinnitus is, and harder to ignore.

I've had the best luck just being outside (especially hiking in forests, but doesn't have to be), actually. Something about the natural ambiance seems to almost 'soothe' my ears, somehow. It can be more effective than a noise machine at times.