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I have tinnitus. I don't recommend it

blog.greg.technology

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Re: I have tinnitus. I don't recommend it

#201
post #14
post #12

Most veterans have it, I sure do although relatively mild. Besides being issued defective ear plugs, the CVC helmets we used were garbage at protecting your ears. https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2023/08/29/business/3m-settlement-mi...

In some ex-soviet countries college students may go to introductory military training, and they never even tell students that they need earplugs when giving them an AK to shoot at a shooting range.

Earpro in military & law enforcement is a relatively new phenomenon and much of the world still doesn't do it.

Re: I have tinnitus. I don't recommend it

#202

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’ve had it since I was a kid. One day I just noticed how strange it was that silence sounded like this. I was maybe 6 or 7? Eventually just got used to experiencing silence like this. However, I usually only become aware of it when I’m alone - more so indoors at night time.

But that isn’t tinnitus right? I noticed mine right around the same time and I call it the “aether noise”. To me, regular tinnitus (which I also had for a few days after concerts) could be matched and recreated with a tone generator, and is much more “in your face” despite being the same volume by the end of my ears healing. Aether noise on the other hand sounds multi tone, not a buzz or a hum. I have not yet managed…

The audiologist I went to said tinnitus is anything you can hear that doesn't have an external source. In his case, he's always been able to hear his own heartbeat.

Re: I have tinnitus. I don't recommend it

#203

I've got the typical high-pitched ringing kind that I've had for as long as I can remember, along with pulsatile tinnitus that developed several years ago, meaning I can hear a whooshing sound in my ears to the rhythm of my heartbeat. When I tell people about the pulsatile tinnitus, I like to joke and compare it to the heartbeat from Edgar Allen Poe's story "The Tell-Tale Heart." Luckily neither of these tinnituses b…

I'm embarrassed to say I spent the first week or two with my pulsatile tinnitus fascinated by how rhythmically the wind was gushing through the trees outside my bedroom window. At some point I must have rolled over, the whooshing noise switching sides along with my left ear, and realised the noise was not coming from outside at all. About 6 months after onset it disappeared as quickly and mysteriously as it first app…

Glad to hear yours disappeared! From what I understand, the pulsatile variety is usually linked to something physical in the ear, unlike regular tinnitus. It's definitely the case for me, as one of the most interesting things about mine is that I can make the sound completely disappear by pressing on my carotid artery (e.g. if I were to take my pulse). That little detail helped soothe the anxiety by realizing that it's just something funky in the blood vessels around my ear.

Re: I have tinnitus. I don't recommend it

#204

I've got the typical high-pitched ringing kind that I've had for as long as I can remember, along with pulsatile tinnitus that developed several years ago, meaning I can hear a whooshing sound in my ears to the rhythm of my heartbeat. When I tell people about the pulsatile tinnitus, I like to joke and compare it to the heartbeat from Edgar Allen Poe's story "The Tell-Tale Heart." Luckily neither of these tinnituses b…

Here's a better alternative to YouTube noise loops: https://mynoise.net/noiseMachines.php

Neat, thanks for the link!

Re: I have tinnitus. I don't recommend it

#206
lift your hand to your hear and cover you ear with your fingers placed on the spot between the base of your skull and neck

then start drumming

thump thump thump thump a couple of times

will quiet it down a bit

then white noise machines at night if it's getting to you, until it doesn't

Re: I have tinnitus. I don't recommend it

#207
post #202

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But that isn’t tinnitus right? I noticed mine right around the same time and I call it the “aether noise”. To me, regular tinnitus (which I also had for a few days after concerts) could be matched and recreated with a tone generator, and is much more “in your face” despite being the same volume by the end of my ears healing. Aether noise on the other hand sounds multi tone, not a buzz or a hum. I have not yet managed…

The audiologist I went to said tinnitus is anything you can hear that doesn't have an external source. In his case, he's always been able to hear his own heartbeat.

On that note, I can usually hear my heartbeat after any mild physical effort. Like a short brisk walk or waking up a flight of stairs very quickly. I’m not very athletic or fit, perhaps that could be a contributing factor. Not all the time though - if that is what your audiologist meant, that’s very cool.

Re: I have tinnitus. I don't recommend it

#208

I get a weird transient tinnitus where my hearing drops out in one ear or the other for about 15 seconds, and is replace by a tone, which slowly fades as my hearing comes back. It sometimes happens multiple times per day, and sometimes not for weeks at a time. I've seen a couple specialists about it, but no known cause. I also notice a low-level tinnitus when I'm in very quiet places. I keep white noise machines arou…

I got this after chemo. It hasn't gone away and probably never will, but it's not so bad. Unfortunately I lost a lot of hearing, too. Turns out platinum is quite bad for the ears.

Same here. Some days are worse than others. Like some of the other comments, I notice it most when tired or stressed. But it is constant. Chemo also gave me optical migraines, that show up most along with the increased tinnitus. Glad you're still here!

Re: I have tinnitus. I don't recommend it

#210

Took 1-2 years before I went a single day without thinking about tinnitus after I gave it to myself playing drums. I was so happy to be smashing those punk drums in the first rehearsal of this band. I remember exclaiming afterwards to one of my bandmates, "Wow my ears are ringing! That was awesome!" He said, "Ya, mine have been ringing for 30 years." My heart immediately sank knowing what I had just done. I spent a l…

> I remember reading this story about some woman in a scandinavian country who chose medical-assisted suicide because hers was so bad.

I think you are thinking of Gaby Olthuis. Her story is at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QzQ6kSqBOao

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