I've had mine for 11 years now. It started out mild and got much worse over the first year or two. It has since plateaued to high-pitched noise. I learned to tune it out most of the time, but occasionally I'd get those sudden extreme attacks that last for several seconds before subsiding to the normal level. Thankfully I've trained myself to cope with it, which as the article author mentions our brains are good at doing. I've been living mostly a normal life, but occasionally I get reminded of it if it's too quiet, or when reading an article like this.
The Organ of the Universe: On Living with Tinnitus
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Re: The Organ of the Universe: On Living with Tinnitus
#42I have a theory that everyone experiences some form of tinnitus, but only some are bothered by it. It's like when you start thinking too deeply about how your intangible mind controls your body, it can be rather suffocating, as there is no escape from the unanswered sense of emptiness that thought can generate. Similarly with tinnitus, once you start focusing on it too much, it feels like like something you can't escape from. I've helped a few of my friends with tinnitus by simply helping them focus on other things (especially when alone).
Re: The Organ of the Universe: On Living with Tinnitus
#43I have a theory that everyone experiences some form of tinnitus, but only some are bothered by it. It's like when you start thinking too deeply about how your intangible mind controls your body, it can be rather suffocating, as there is no escape from the unanswered sense of emptiness that thought can generate. Similarly with tinnitus, once you start focusing on it too much, it feels like like something you can't esc…
Objectively not true, because people go from not having the condition to having it over a period of time. Unless you're contending that they always had it but went from not experiencing it to experiencing it after an especially loud concert or something like that?
Re: The Organ of the Universe: On Living with Tinnitus
#44My tinnitus is usually not bad enough to be bothersome, but when it gets painful, I listen to https://mynoise.net/NoiseMachines/neuromodulationTonesGenera... That's not just noise, it does... something... that provides instant relief. That site also has a great variety of background sounds which you can adjust and combine in myriad ways.
One of the modes on my hearing aids plays "fractal" tones [1] that are fairly effective in quashing my tinnitus in a quiet room (where my tinnitus is the worst).
Re: The Organ of the Universe: On Living with Tinnitus
#45There is a Visual version of tinnitus that goes by the name Visual Snow[1].
I developed both at the same time. The visual snow was maddening and tinnitus is unpleasant. There is apparently a link between the two and seems both are mostly noise artifacts of the visual and auditory systems of the brain. It makes sense that these systems would have some innate noise in the signals.
Eventually I was desensitized to the new baseline noise levels. Kinda like Exit signs at movie theaters, You don't notice until someone points it out.
Re: The Organ of the Universe: On Living with Tinnitus
#46I have a theory that everyone experiences some form of tinnitus, but only some are bothered by it. It's like when you start thinking too deeply about how your intangible mind controls your body, it can be rather suffocating, as there is no escape from the unanswered sense of emptiness that thought can generate. Similarly with tinnitus, once you start focusing on it too much, it feels like like something you can't esc…
Objectively not true, because people go from not having the condition to having it over a period of time. Unless you're contending that they always had it but went from not experiencing it to experiencing it after an especially loud concert or something like that?
Yes sort of. Basically I think people become hyper aware of it, then the hyper awareness may subside and perhaps come back later.
Re: The Organ of the Universe: On Living with Tinnitus
#47I think I've had it my whole life. It's that persistent high-pitched noise - almost like the imperceptably high sound old TVs used to make when they were turned on - when nothing else is making sound. If there's not a lot going on around me I can hear it quite well. I pretty much tune it out and it doesn't affect my quality of life. I sort of understand where the author is coming from. About ten years ago I ended up…
Mine sounds exactly the same! I usually describe it as the sound of "brightness" and it does feel like something coming from inside my head, instead of from the outside word. As many people, I cope with mine by just ignoring it, most of the time. Sleeping has been hard though, since I can remember. Today I resort to some kind of color noise, such as a fan, air conditioner, or white noise apps (brown noise works best)…
About 4 years ago I was listening to a podcast. One host was explaining to the other that he had tinnitus, and what that meant. I still remember how shocked I was when I heard the tinnitus host was in the minority of the population. Never knew what tinnitus was, but had assumed everyone heard a low buzzing noise. I always thought a low buzzing noise was what silence meant.
Re: The Organ of the Universe: On Living with Tinnitus
#48I developed tinnitus in 2009, a neurological "gift" from a case of swine flu. (The other gift was chronic paroxysmal hemicrania, a nightmarish migraine-like condition that threatened to destroy my life until I got it under control with medication.) The tinnitus was exacerbated a few years later after a freak accident while inflating a mountain bike tire. The tire exploded off the rim, more-or-less directly into my ri…
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Re: The Organ of the Universe: On Living with Tinnitus
#49Ultra low frequencies are my problem. When it is quiet (at night), if there is anything generating low frequency waves anywhere around, I may hear it. It feels like an incredibly subtle repeating gentle puff of air entering the ear (which makes sense, given that it's a pressure wave). And unfortunately, one ear is more sensitive to it than the other, which gives me a feeling of uneven pressure from one side of my hea…
What you're describing is spasming of the tensor tempani muscle.
What I'm describing is very location dependent, just as sound waves will be louder depending on your proximity to their half or full wavelength.
I don't doubt there can be internal explanations for some sounds, but what I experience is often dependent on location within a few feet, with some spots being much louder than others. Also, I'm not always the only person who hears it.
Re: The Organ of the Universe: On Living with Tinnitus
#50My tinnitus is usually not bad enough to be bothersome, but when it gets painful, I listen to https://mynoise.net/NoiseMachines/neuromodulationTonesGenera... That's not just noise, it does... something... that provides instant relief. That site also has a great variety of background sounds which you can adjust and combine in myriad ways.
Holy. Crap. I just listened to that for 5 minutes and my tinnitus (which was pretty bad today) just vaporized. I feel like my jaw has relaxed for the first time in weeks. How did I not know about this??
Weird, huh? The sounds are similar to tinnitus in frequency, but since they vary, your brain hears them as musical rather than noise... I guess.