The sound of silence tinnitus
I grew up in a noisy household. As the oldest of eight, you can just imagine how noisy it might get. I can deal with it, tune it out even, but I do not thrive on noise. It’s the quiet corners that I prefer. So … it was quite disconcerting when, about eight years ago, I started hearing a strange sound in my head.
I remember the exact moment I first heard it. I had been working from home for a few years, not because of COVID, but because I had started my Catching Health blog and was also doing some freelance writing. The house was very quiet, which I was used to and appreciated, but suddenly there it was — a low hissing sound.
That must be what silence sounds like, I thought. I actually found it rather amusing and went on with my day. That night as I started to drift off to sleep, there it was again. A low hiss that seemed to reside in the middle of my brain. I put my hands over my ears and nothing changed. Head under my pillow, still nothing. I finally went to sleep and when I woke up the next morning, it was still there. Same pitch, same volume.
I don’t believe the sound has changed one iota since it first caught my attention. I can hear it right this minute as I’m writing. I’m at my coworking space in downtown Portland. One other person is in the room with me and she’s working at her computer with her headphones on. There’s a spin class going somewhere in the building. I can hear the faint sound of their music. A few moments ago, a firetruck screamed by. All those sounds come from outside my head. As I said, the constant low hiss seems to originate inside my brain. Does that make sense? It can be maddening. Because it never changes!
Tinnitus cures? Nope
Of course, because it’s who I am, on day two I began doing extensive research. Apparently, I had tinnitus. Although I prefer the long-i sound of tin-eye-tus, the preferred pronunciation is with a short i, emphasis on the first syllable.
The information I found was not reassuring. According to the American Tinnitus Association (ATA), “There is currently no scientifically-validated cure for most types of tinnitus.”
I suppose I should have found it comforting that I am far from alone. Again from the ATA “The U.S. Centers for Disease Control estimates that nearly 15% of the general public — over 50 million Americans — experience some form of tinnitus. Roughly 20 million people struggle with burdensome chronic tinnitus, while 2 million have extreme and debilitating cases.”
I have to say, every time I turn around I bump into a fellow tinnitus sufferer. I guess most of us suffer in silence — well, in low hissing, buzzing, whistling, clicking, and other annoying sounds.
My research took me to all kinds of websites and YouTube videos that promised me relief. I took the bait and listened through earphones to high, high, high pitched sounds, waterfalls, the wind, bells, white noise, pink noise, binaural beats. I tried resetting my 8th cranial nerve by tapping against a ridge in the lower part of my skull. I underwent hypnosis, which was a highly positive experience, in general, but the annoying sound and my inability to cope with it persisted.
Tinnitus expertise
Finally, I went to an audiologist who specializes in tinnitus. We started with a hearing test, which confirmed that I had a tiny bit of hearing loss in the far upper register. The audiologist told me that many, but not all people with hearing loss develop tinnitus. From what I’ve read, it’s the body’s way of filling in the gap in the auditory cortex of the brain that is caused by hearing loss — it fills it in with another sound.
Have you ever experienced hearing loss and a ringing in your ears after attending a loud concert? In most cases, it’s only a temporary case of tinnitus. That marvelous body of ours fills in the gap caused by the hearing loss with a new sound and then resets everything back to normal. If you scroll down this page to the comment section, you will see one from Daniel Krell. I encourage you to read it because he talks about the permanent damage that can be done because of noise exposure.
It’s not uncommon for musicians to develop tinnitus, along with members of the military who have been in combat situations. And the rest of us? Hearing loss, even a tiny bit, seems to be the main connection. Underlying health issues can also be a cause, so it’s a good idea to get a thorough checkup, just in case.
The audiologist I saw suggested special hearing aids and a program that would retrain my brain to help cope with the constant ringing. Both were quite expensive and I was also nowhere near ready to start wearing any kind of hearing aid.
What has happened in the last few years is that I simply got used to the noise. I can go all day and not “hear” it. I can also call it up in a split second, usually when I’m falling off to sleep or talking, thinking, or writing about it — like right now.
Treatments
Since we’re on the subject, I decided to see if anything new was available in the way of treatments.
Here are some current treatment options:
- Masking
- Listening to a sound or a tone that masks the sound in your head. I tried that before but figured it wouldn’t hurt to try it again. First of all, I found a website that helped me identify the frequency of my tinnitus. It’s10,000 HZ, which is pretty standard (and high-pitched). Then I listened to an audiotape of a sound at the same frequency for about 10 minutes. I was shocked because there was no noise in my head immediately after. Only lasted about 5 seconds, but still! I think that’s par for the course, but maybe if I listen regularly, the silence will last longer and longer.
- Modified-Sound / Notched-Music Devices — I hadn’t heard of these before. They’re considered medical-grade devices, and they play specially modified sounds that emphasize specific frequencies and tones.
- Hearing aids — read more information here.
- Distraction
- An external sound that distracts your attention from the internal sound
- Habituation
- I think hypnosis would fit into this category, also cognitive-behavioral therapy. They try to help you cope with or get used to the sound so that it isn’t front and center all the time.
- Neuromodulation
- Neurons in the tongue are electrically stimulated, which activates neurons in the auditory system. Sounds are added to the mix and apparently, the process can rewire the part of the brain associated with tinnitus. Another option I hadn’t heard of before, but it’s not FDA approved, so not available in the United States yet. You’ll find more information here.
There are also some other experimental therapies available, such as deep brain stimulation (like what is used for people with Parkinson’s Disease), transcranial magnetic stimulation, and others. You can read about them here.
Any advice, anyone?
I have to admit that this is a rather self-serving blog post. I’m hoping that someone will have some useful information to pass along to me and the rest of us with tinnitus. Is there anything you have ever done or used that made your annoying sound go away? For more than five seconds?
Thank you!
Ugh, I’m right there with you. I think mine started after I took an anti-anxiety med for awhile during a tough period in my life a few years ago – reading about it, tinnitus can be a side effect of that particular med. If I had known that, I never would have taken it.
An audiologist told me everything that you found out. It’s kind of depressing to think I will have this noise in my head the rest of my life. The only thing that has helped at all is listening to recordings of crickets, because the frequency of their chirps must be close to my tinnitus noises.
Do you have the name of the website that identifies the tinnitus frequency and also how to find the matching audio tapes?
Thanks for the article!
You are welcome! This is the website I used: https://www.tinnitracks.com/en/matching#. Looks like they also offer a treatment course. If you try it or another, let us know how it goes. I also just found this on the American Tinnitus Association website. I have not watched the video or downloaded the workbook yet, but it looks interesting, so I probably will. Let me know if you do and find anything helpful. https://www.ata.org/progressive-tinnitus-management-program
Oh Diane I’m so sorry you suffer from this too. I have had it for over 3 years. I can be so focused on other things that I forget it, but also certain foods can trigger it to become louder.
Can you please send the website where you can identify the frequency?
I’m not sure what brought mine on but it was when I was taking quite a bit of ibuprofen for another health issue. I’ve since read one of the side effects of ibuprofen use is….ringing in the ears. It doesn’t say tinnitus but that sounds like an admission that it can be brought on by this drug. So please take with caution — anyone who does or doesn’t have tinnitus already.
Hmmm, good to know. This is the website I used. https://www.tinnitracks.com/en/matching#. It has you listen to a series of tones. Wear headphones. I’ll be curious to know your frequency. Have you seen an audiologist?
I’m going to dispute the hearing loss/sound replication theory, mostly because I sing soprano and can replicate the tones my tinnitus creates. (One at a time: it’s a wicked dense tone cluster) That is to say, I don’t seem to have lost the ability to hear these tones IRL; I’ve just become limited in my ability to not hear them in my head. No cures/suggestions. More troublesome under stress is all I’ve noticed. And “replacement sounds” just add to the noise. Good luck!
Thanks, Carlene. My tone seems to be just one note. As I mentioned, the frequency is 10,000 HZ. I can listen to a recording at that frequency and the interesting thing is the noise inside my head disappears (or seems to) while I’m listening. I tried listening to other frequencies and that doesn’t happen. When I tried it the other day, when the recording ended, there was no tone in my head for a few seconds. Unfortunately, it now seems louder that it was before, or maybe it’s just that I’ve been giving it a lot of attention lately.
Have had the problem for nigh on 15 years.
But mine is not a consistent sound, and at points its varying tonalities create near-musical patterns…differing musical styles.
Kind of like you have a concert going on inside your head. Mine is always the same tone. Are you able to ignore it when it happens?
At 73 I’ve now been hearing this noise for 54 years. It began slowly, quietly, intermittently. My tinnitus is now steady, loud, constant. The best advice I give is learn to ignore it as you seem to be doing. Though loud, I am rarely aware of this noise in my head. Basically, I refuse to allow it to interfere with my life.
Wow! 54 years. It started early for you. You don’t remember any specific trigger? I appreciate your attitude very much.
I have had tinnitus for at least 15 years. There are days when I notice it, and days when I don’t. I am a retired Speech Language Pathologist, so I am well trained in aural anatomy and understand where it is coming from. Thus, I don’t try any of the external “fixes.”. I try not to read about it because it makes it worse for a few days and increases my anxiety. Of course, I hear it now when I am reading your blog. The masking with a mimicking sound, and the neuromodulation both sound promising. I didn’t know there was a website that would help ID the frequency. I am lucky that I can ignore it but would give anything if something worked to make it stop!!
Cathi, for the past few days mine has seemed louder than usual. I think it’s because I’ve been researching, writing, and talking about it. It makes me really appreciate how far I had come in not noticing it as much! I hope the hissing simmers down soon.
It would be good to go back to your comment about leaving a loud concert with ringing in your ears, and add some important information. Exposure to sound loud enough to cause even temporary ringing is doing damage to your hearing. This is unnoticed as it goes on but the damage is cumulative, over the years, and speeded up with more exposure, even exposure to short, loud noises (hammering, gunshots, quick chainsaw jobs) and prolonged exposure to loud noises that are not loud enough to cause ringing. Resultant hearing loss shows up in the high frequencies and is accompanied by tinnitus, which is caused by damaged inner ear cells. Many people are unaware of the hearing loss and then it seems to come on quickly: I’ve had many mill workers and loggers come to see me and say, “Doc, I need the wax cleaned out of my ears because I can’t hear well, lately.” And I examine them and have to tell them that there’s no wax in their ears, then gently tell them that this will be permanent. And I strongly recommend they use hearing protection; the hearing loss will continue to get worse with continued loud noise exposure.
I’ve had tinnitus and hearing loss for decades and am religious about using hearing protection when mowing the lawn, vacuuming, using power tools, even hammering a few nails into a board; and I use earplugs in musical events that are too loud (yes, I still hear and enjoy the music, but don’t leave with temporarily increased tinnitus, or additional hearing damage. I keep earplugs in my toolbox, on my workbench, and on my dresser, so there’s no excuse for not using them when needed.
Daniel, thank you so much for this information. I will add a line to the post that encourages people to scroll down and read your comment.
I have had tinnitus for over 25 years and for many years fell into the category of learned to live with it, but over the years it became more intrusive affecting sleep and concentration. I hear my tinnitus everyday, generally all the time. I now have hearing aids as a result of hearing loss over the last several years, but they are equally as important as a tool to treat my tinnitus. I can use a special program to “wash out” my tinnitus which is very effective. I can also play music or listen to a book on tape through the Bluetooth connection with my phone (headphones work equally well for this) which also helps to distract my brain. In addition to improved hearing, I now have tools that help throughout the day to manage times where the tinnitus is invasive. Having a great audiologist on my team has made all the difference. For the first time in 25 years I have been able to manage the tinnitus.
I’m happy to read that you’ve finally found a way to manage your noise. Does the special program give you different sounds to listen to or specific tones matched to the frequency of your tinnitus? Is your audiologist in Portland?
I am 69 and can’t remember not having this sound in my ears. I wasn’t bothered by it until I had a sudden hearing loss a few years ago and learned what it was! My hearing improved and it isn’t something I notice when I’m busy – but right this minute it is loud and annoying!
Jane, Loud and annoying because you’re talking about it! That’s what happens to me, at least. When I’m busy, I can go for a long time and not notice it, but when I’m trying to drift off to sleep, it can take center stage,
I have had this problem for over 30 years. I originally thought it may have been caused by a fall I took ice skating with my kids and knocked myself out for a short time but have been told not likely. Hissing is the perfect word to describe the sound. The pitch does go up and down for me but never goes away. Never!!
I recently heard of the ibuprofen theory and it very well could be my cause. When I was younger Advil was my drug of choice. I have learned to live with this but I hate it. I am going to search the website you provided. Thank you and best wishes.
Good luck, Linda. Let me know if you find something that helps. My email is diane@dianeatwood.com.
Hi Diane, I empathize completely!
I’ve had unilateral tinnitus for 10 years. I awoke with it and sudden onset sensori-neural hearing loss, which was really traumatic. In my case, as things were ruled-out, it was deemed to be either virus-caused or an underlying auto-immune factor. I’ve tried pink noise, binaural sound, various supplements … you name it! Nothing has been very effective really. Mine is a constant loud hissing in my right ear, along with 90% hearing loss on that side. My left ear is good and I take good care of it!! It took me a long time to adjust but I recommend: Always have earplugs with you to protect from loud noises; manage stress & get good sleep*; (*melatonin has helped me and a supplement called *Zyflamend Nightime… if I’m sleep deprived/stressed my tinnitus is significantly worse); get regular audiology check-up’s … for health of both ears!; get regular physicals… prioritize your self-care… don’t over-function! I got better at letting people know about this and I choose seating and locations to best support my hearing. I cherish quiet places. I meditate. I express gratitude for my good ear! This was a real wake-up call for me to see that my brain and auditory system are vulnerable and I need to take good care of myself.
Thank you so much for the good advice, Judy. My noise seems to be in the middle of my head, but sometimes more on the right. Also, I appreciate being reminded about gratitude — for all the things that are good and working well.
My tinnitus started with an allergy flareup many years ago. I recently read a medical article (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21859051/) which states “Melatonin is associated with a statistically significant decrease in tinnitus intensity and improved sleep quality in patients with chronic tinnitus. Melatonin is most effective in men, those without a history of depression, those who have not undergone prior tinnitus treatments, those with more severe and bilateral tinnitus, and those with a history of noise exposure.” I read a similar article about a trial was run using 3mg Melatonin daily for 90 days that had positive results. I am about 40 days into my melatonin test of this theory. While I am sleeping well, I have not noticed a difference in the intensity of my tinnitus. I worry about tinnitus because in my research, I also read that there is concern about dementia being caused by long-term tinnitus in some people.
Ruth, Too bad about the melatonin, but great that you’re getting a good night’s sleep. I hadn’t heard about the tinnitus/dementia link and it sure got my attention. I found this on a website that reviews science news/eduction: https://healthfeedback.org/claimreview/tinnitus-isnt-a-sign-of-brain-death-even-though-it-arises-in-the-brain-no-cure-for-tinnitus-currently-exists/. If accurate, it’s reassuring.
Wow, you often cover issues that I can relate to, but this time you really hit home. I’ve been dealing with tinnitus for 6 or 7 years now, and mine is like yours in that it is one steady tone. I often describe it as that noise that high-tension wires make.
I also did a bunch of research and sought out an auditory specialist, to no avail. The doctor told me there isn’t really a lot of research going on in the medical field and that it isn’t a priority condition, which I found disappointing because I believe it has far-reaching mental health implications.
Although some days in the past have felt like the never-ending noise would drive me insane (especially when watching tv shows or movies with certain similar sounds – that’s the worst for me), I believe that I’ve come to deal with it most effectively through mental gymnastics.
I have trained myself to focus on other sounds in the environment when the tinnitus is really bad, and I have a series of mental exercises I do if the sound is keeping me from falling asleep. Sometimes it’s easier to work with some music playing quietly in the background. Tinnitus still bothers me – more on some days than others – but I don’t feel like it’s going to push me over the edge anymore.
Thanks for being so open and real! – Mary Ellen from SJC
You are welcome! I am grateful that when I’m working, I can usually forget about it, except for right this minute because I’m thinking about it! When I find the time, I paint and can really dive into what I call the zone. That’s when I’m able forget about all the worries that are swirling around. I need to do that more.
I don’t remember exactly when my Tinnitus started, but I’m 63 and it’s probably been 15 years. I’ve read everything, tried everything, experienced all of the challenges and frustrations that others have posted here. I even tried giving up coffee after reading some years ago that it might help – to no avail. I’m just thankful that my tinnitus is not disabling. I’ll just add a few of my coping strategies. I work from home now and I always keep music playing at a low volume. Silence is the enemy for me. I’m on a lot of conference calls throughout the day and try never to use headphones, opting to use the computer audio instead. Headphones seem to make it worse, and I worry that wearing them will exacerbate my hearing loss.
Good luck to everyone coping with this.
Paul, mine has ramped up and I thought it was because I’ve been focusing on it lately, but I also wore some heavy duty headphones a couple of days to listen to some interviews and also, to a tone that was supposed to lessen the tinnitus! No more of that, and I will try playing music in the background when I’m working from home. Thank you for the tips.
Whooshers.com
Hi,
I recently read your article in the BDN. I offer neurofeedback brain training to clients in Aroostook County and recently worked with a client who experienced great relief from tinnitus. Neurofeedback works by gently training brain waves that are dysregulated into more normative patterns. The “gushing” my client described went away, and she woke with a quiet mind. She also reported being able to be comfortable in larger gatherings like church and could sing along without it bothering her which she had been unable to do for quite some time. Neurofeedback is another treatment to add to your toolbox where people can find relief.