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Tinnitus linked to undetected auditory nerve damage

scitechdaily.com

221–230 of 440 posts

Re: Tinnitus linked to undetected auditory nerve damage

#221
Not sure if tinnitus but I've heard a ringing in super-quiet environments since I was a kid.

Mid-30s now and a few months back I had a case where the ringing was very noticeable and it lasted a few weeks. I think what set it off was some hearing damage from using high-frequency equipment without hearing protection but it was definitely an experience that I'm not keen on repeating.

Once I noticed that the background ringing was louder than normal I couldn't un-hear it and it was starting to drive me nuts.

Re: Tinnitus linked to undetected auditory nerve damage

#222
post #97

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 t…

Right. I can do it too - I can make them click/crunch and roar - which I'm sure is due to the sound muscles make when tensed.

Squeeze your fist and hold it up to your ear. It's audible.

Re: Tinnitus linked to undetected auditory nerve damage

#223

I sometimes have a difficult time trying to tell if I actually have tinnitus, or if I can simply detect something that's there for everyone. Plenty of websites say that you will always be able to hear the blood flowing through your ears, and that doesn't count as tinnitus. It's just that most people subconsciously filter that out, to the point where it can't be detected even if they look for it, except while in a com…

I see the same noise, but I think it's along our nerves rather than the light it's self. High rest camera don't pick it up for example. There's a lot of filtering happening in the visual cortex all the time. Your nose for example is visible but gets ignored. (I hate it when I remember this and suddenly notice it lol) There's also the blind spot in each eye which gets covered by what the other eye can see. If I close…

> Your nose for example is visible but gets ignored

To me, it's anything that's covered in one eye, but visible by the other, that can get "ignored". It's just binocular vision at work. Similar to the blind spot thing you mentioned.

I've seen my blood vessels too, but they didn't just flash a light in my eyes, they had me look into a machine that did a full retinal scan. Now that was fun, because it was 15 minutes of "wtf your eyelashes are too long they keep getting in the way. keep trying"

Re: Tinnitus linked to undetected auditory nerve damage

#224
post #129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Honestly you should probably just get a professional hearing aid, they do a hearing test and adjust its frequency response to your ears. The longer you wait with getting it, the harder it will be for your brain to adjust to processing the full corrected sounds.

I've been considering this more often lately. I was hoping for an inexpensive option since hearing aids are just earbuds with a custom tune.

Hearing aids are much better than most earbuds, especially with regard to power consumption. I have tinnitus, mild hearing loss, but wear cheapish Costco hearing aids as earbud replacement and the hope my tinnitus won't progress.

Re: Tinnitus linked to undetected auditory nerve damage

#225

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Mine reminds me of the high-pitched sound made by old, tube TVs. I think it was called the flyback transformer. 16Khz.

That reminds me of the old crt tv my parents had for ages in their room that i could hear from the other side of the house but they couldn't that made the most awful high pitch whine. and as the screen would go black in some sort of sleep mode but it kept making that horrible noise with the only indicator that is was on still other than the noise, that apparently only i and dogs could hear, was the color of a small d…

I couldn't charge my macbook at night because the official apple charger made that noise and it bothered me.

Re: Tinnitus linked to undetected auditory nerve damage

#227

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I see the same noise, but I think it's along our nerves rather than the light it's self. High rest camera don't pick it up for example. There's a lot of filtering happening in the visual cortex all the time. Your nose for example is visible but gets ignored. (I hate it when I remember this and suddenly notice it lol) There's also the blind spot in each eye which gets covered by what the other eye can see. If I close…

> Your nose for example is visible but gets ignored To me, it's anything that's covered in one eye, but visible by the other, that can get "ignored". It's just binocular vision at work. Similar to the blind spot thing you mentioned. I've seen my blood vessels too, but they didn't just flash a light in my eyes, they had me look into a machine that did a full retinal scan. Now that was fun, because it was 15 minutes of…

> It's just binocular vision at work.

Agreed, these are just binocular vision. But here's an interesting one.

A relative had a pituitary tumor crushing her optic nerve, and went to a specialist who ran some tests as she was seeing Van Gogh style patterns everywhere. It turns out she had no color vision in the periphery, but she didn't know this. It was only when she couldn't correctly identify the color of some lights until they were right in front of her, and she got freaked out by it.

Re: Tinnitus linked to undetected auditory nerve damage

#228
post #67

I've had Tinnitus since I was 14 (when I went to a concert and stood in front of the speakers). A couple of pieces of advice to people who might be struggling with their tinnitus: 1. You need to learn to cope with it - once you're used to it, it will mostly fade into the background and be manageable. Accepting that it'll never be silent again was very difficult, but that's the only thing hat helped me feel better in…

Earplugs often give me tinnitus when I am wearing them.

Re: Tinnitus linked to undetected auditory nerve damage

#229

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can do this too. It also does the same thing as yawning when your ears get blocked on a plane or driving up a steep hill. It unblocks them.

I’m wondering if this is something different, or if it’s a more intense level of the other thing. I’m able to pop my ears without any apparent tensioning of my jaw or a yawn reflex. But I can do it while also making the rushing sound or not.

Yeah okay, that must be something different (that I can't do) then.

Re: Tinnitus linked to undetected auditory nerve damage

#230
post #208
post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is tinnitus really just "freaker by the speaker" syndrome?

Prolonged exposure to loud sounds, short extremely loud sounds (explosions), ototoxic drugs (some antibiotics, chemo..) and substances (toluene..) and viral infections that spread into inner ear can all cause cochlear damage and therefore tinnitus.

Covid vaccines as well.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8788157/

I know, I am a heretic for drawing any negative attention to our savior from the deadly pandemic.

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