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Tinnitus linked to undetected auditory nerve damage

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Re: Tinnitus linked to undetected auditory nerve damage

#91

Post by sgbeal »

janmo wrote: post #60

Most people having a peeep tone tinnitus including myself can experience complete silence for a few seconds (up to 30) by listening to a tone at the specific frequency of their Tinnitus. For example listen to the following, at a level that it isn't uncomfortable and your Tinnitus might be gone for a short time: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qNf9nzvnd1k This is called residual inhibition. You can Google "tinnitus re…

> Most people having a peeep tone tinnitus including myself can experience complete silence for a few seconds (up to 30) by listening to a tone at the specific frequency of their Tinnitus.

What "works for me" but your kilometrage may vary...

i listen to LOTS of white noise. All night when i sleep, when i'm out and about and might normally listen to music, and sometimes just randomly throughout the day.

For whatever reason, listening to white noise over long periods seems to tone down the volume of my beeping, _sometimes_ to the point where i have blessed silence for several days at a time (recently a full 2 weeks, though that was a new record in my 13-ish years of beeping).

Whether or not the white noise _genuinely_ plays a factor is difficult to say, but it's been my experience, the past three or four years, that the volume of The Beep and the duration of the rare Quiet Periods seems to be affected by how how much white noise i listen to.

(Sidebar: "quiet" is never quite silent, but The Beep sometimes (thankfully) fades to the point where i have to actively listen to hear it, exactly as it was when this all started out around 2010.)

(Sidebar: though the tone of my beep is near-constant, wavering only very slightly, the volume varies wildly, from minor background noise to headache-inducing and concentration-shattering.)

That said: "white noise" is a generic term here. i often get better results with what my phone's white noise app call "pink noise" or "blue noise" - they're just different frequencies of the same style of noise.

Edit: FWIW, i've heard from two other tinnitus sufferers that white noise has a similar effect on them. That doesn't mean that it definitely helps, but it seems to help for some of us.

Re: Tinnitus linked to undetected auditory nerve damage

#92

Post by LoganDark »

therein wrote: post #90
LoganDark wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

15.625KHz to be exact. I can hear this sound quite well, to the point where I prefer not to be in the same building as any CRT that emits it. There are those that don't, mainly newer models I assume. I think it has to do with the exact shape of the waveform that drives the (horizontal part of the) deflection yoke. Some of them are noisier than others.

I remember enjoying that sound as a child. Muting the TV while falling asleep.

One of the power supplies I own makes a high-pitched whining sound from its fan. It's the most terrible, obnoxious sound, but I somehow don't mind it. It blends into the background after living in it for years. Still, when it goes away, there is nearly unparalleled silence.

Re: Tinnitus linked to undetected auditory nerve damage

#93

Post by talldrinkofwhat »

iJohnDoe wrote: post #68

Have Tinnitus. I had the ever common thinking it was caused by a visit to the dentist or the antibiotics that were prescribed. Maybe it was, maybe it wasn’t. It was also possibly when I walked behind a server rack and the fans were blowing air and the sound from the fans were loud, both into my ears. This could could have caused the damage that caused the tinnitus. Took about two days to kick in fully. Tinnitus start…

The beauty of our race is it's absurd ability to accept uncomfortable situations as "normal".

the obvious exceptions being chronic pain, and the jets' imperative to steal defeat from the jaws of victory.

Re: Tinnitus linked to undetected auditory nerve damage

#94

Post by dh3 »

petersumskas wrote: post #62

I have tinnitus. I had brain surgery to remove an acoustic schwannoma. The doctor said that I would lose all hearing in the ear due to the unavoidable damage to the acoustic nerve. Well, at least that will get rid of the tinnitus, I thought. No such luck! I still have tinnitus. As such I think there may be more to tinnitus than undetected nerve damage. It isn’t clear cut though: I have some hearing in that ear after…

I have the same tumor on the auditory nerve on both sides (NF2). Had surgery on one side. Lost full hearing on that side (so auditory nerve almost fully severed). Always had tinnitus but after surgery it's gotten much worse on that side. Not unbearable but a constant source of noise. I can see there being some sort of connection between the nerve and tinnitus.

Re: Tinnitus linked to undetected auditory nerve damage

#96

Post by jader201 »

I don’t know if this is a clue, but I can do muscle movements in my head/face/jaw to make the tinnitus worse (only as I make the movements, immediately reverting back to “normal” tinnitus as soon as I relax).

Some examples:

- jutting my jaw forwards

- moving my ears back with my face muscles

- pushing downward on the top of my head with my hands

Another possible clue: this has been true since I can remember — even as a child, well before I developed tinnitus. I always thought this was normal, until mentioning it to others, and it seems no one I know shares this experience.

This, to me, suggests that (my flavor of tinnitus, at least) may be due to physical/muscle related causes, and not necessarily associated with hearing damage or neurological. Or that I was “destined” to get tinnitus at some point, as if I was born with some defect that others weren’t.

Or, it could just be that there is something else unrelated with how my muscles are connected to my hearing that cause the same tinnitus (e.g. same frequency), and that the persistent tinnitus actually is hearing damage.

I’ve not looked into it much, and have really only mentioned this to my doctor (who mostly blew it off as irrelevant), and others in my family. But thought I’d share here in case anybody experienced something similar, and may have insight into what causes this “muscle-related tinnitus”, and if it’s somehow connected or unrelated to the persistent tinnitus.

Re: Tinnitus linked to undetected auditory nerve damage

#97

Post by nsxwolf »

jader201 wrote: post #96

I don’t know if this is a clue, but I can do muscle movements in my head/face/jaw to make the tinnitus worse (only as I make the movements, immediately reverting back to “normal” tinnitus as soon as I relax). Some examples: - jutting my jaw forwards - moving my ears back with my face muscles - pushing downward on the top of my head with my hands Another possible clue: this has been true since I can remember — even as…

Interesting. I can “play my eardrums”, which I describe as the ability to consciously control something in my ears that causes a loud fluttering, ringing sound that is something like wind entering my ear canals combined with a bell.

After some research I’ve found some people can control something called the “tensor tympani” and generate sounds described as a “roar” but being a subjective experience I am not certain this is exactly what I am doing.

Re: Tinnitus linked to undetected auditory nerve damage

#98

Post by anjel »

im3w1l wrote: post #79
janmo wrote: post #60

Most people having a peeep tone tinnitus including myself can experience complete silence for a few seconds (up to 30) by listening to a tone at the specific frequency of their Tinnitus. For example listen to the following, at a level that it isn't uncomfortable and your Tinnitus might be gone for a short time: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qNf9nzvnd1k This is called residual inhibition. You can Google "tinnitus re…

Well if tinnituses arises from the brain not having an input, then it seems like the proper way to fix it is to restore the input. Now restoring damage to the nerve or those little hairs inside the ear, I'm sure that's tricky, but it also seems like it should be quite doable if you just throw resources at it. This seems promising? https://hms.harvard.edu/news/scientists-regenerate-hair-cell...

Seems neurological and reminiscent of phantom limb pain after amputation. And they treat that now by fooling the brain with mirrors...
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