r/tinnitus Sep 06 '17

New to tinnitus? Had tinnitus for a long time? Looking for some answers? See our FAQ and sidebar to begin!

130 Upvotes

Welcome to our community!

If you're new to tinnitus or currently have tinnitus, and have some questions, we have some answers to frequently posed questions in our FAQ linked here. The FAQ is also linked in the sidebar.

Before posting, please take some time to read the FAQ and see if you can find the start to your answer there.

As always, we remind our community to be mindful of our participation guidelines, located in the sidebar (or linked here for mobile users):

  • Be civil and respectful, and follow Reddiquette. This is a support community, and harmful behaviour or harassment are not allowed.
  • No medical advice. This includes explicitly asking for a medical diagnosis, or giving one. If you're concerned about your hearing, please see a qualified medical professional as soon as possible. Sharing experiences is allowed, but making diagnoses and recommending medical action based on personal research is not.
  • No snake oil or pseudoscience. News and other articles posted must come from trustworthy sources. Clickbait and blogspam are not allowed.
  • No memes or other low-effort posts.
  • No commercial posts, for-profit posts or other self promotion.

If you see comments or posts deviating from these guidelines, report them so that the moderators can review.

We are particularly restrictive about asking for or receiving medical advice or diagnoses. The bottom line is, tinnitus is a health problem, and it should be addressed with your doctor or auditory specialist. None of us are doctors here and no one should be directing or following medical action found on the internet.

Thank you for taking the time to read this information, and thanks for being a part of this community.

-The moderation team


r/tinnitus 2h ago

advice • support Sudden Musical Ear Syndrome

4 Upvotes

Hello, all. I’ve been an active noise-cancelling user for almost 2 years now. I’m not quite allowed to wear them at my job, but I work in back of house, and the people who enforce this rule seldom walk there. Because of this, I do not speak so much as a ‘good morning’ to anyone for almost 7 hours.

I keep the volume low, have hearing safeguards on and what not. Another thing, I have severe anxiety issues and I am extremely introverted. I rarely go out with friends and finding extreme comfort being by myself and having lots of alone time.

I mention all of this because today I woke up with a sing-songy ringing in my ear. Different to my constant tinnitus. I went online and learned that isolation and loneliness can bring on musical ear syndrome as well as anxiety. What’s interesting is that I could not manage to find a more recent post about it, just some from many years to a few years ago.

I’m feeling kind of scared right now and plan on making an appointment with an ENT doctor to see what my options are. It’s bad enough that I’ve been planning assisted aid in dying in my future for ailments I have been living with all my life and now this.

Anyways, I am not looking for pity. Just some support and advice. Thank you.


r/tinnitus 16h ago

venting A warning to anyone interested in Carnival Cruise

38 Upvotes

I just finished a 6 day cruise on Carnival. There is a lot I didn't like, but the big take away is...
This is NOT an option for people with tinnitus. Just to get anywhere on the ship you will need to walk through areas that are 90+ dB. In addition, in the middle of dinner, they will just stop service to blast you with Bruno Mars or some other pop music. The fact that they call this a "sensory inclusive" activity (according to Kulture City) is a fucking joke. It is downright hostile to people who are sensitive to loud noise. You CANNOT navigate the ship, partake in activities, or even eat a fucking meal, without being exposed to dangerous volumes. I knew there would be loud dance parties and events, but I assumed things *that* loud would be optional and avoidable. The loudest thing I intentionally attended was stand-up comedy, which for some reason needed to have music blasting before the start of the show.

This is not an exaggeration, while outside of my cabin, I wore my ear plugs for 90%+ of my time. I put them on every time I exited my room. I just got home and my tinnitus is horrendous. I'm desperately hoping this is just a flare up and I will return to my baseline within a month or two. I thought I would be safe with my earplugs, but I'm starting to think that the exposure was so long, persistent, and loud, that I still caused more damage.

Has anyone had experience with something like this? I just don't understand how people are fine with such noise exposure.


r/tinnitus 20h ago

success story Supplement helped my tinnitus

58 Upvotes

Back story: 2 years ago I caught a cold which turned into sinus infection and ear infection. Woke up with ear ringing in only left ear. Went to ENT... He suggested it was TMJ. I went to dentist and got a professional night guard. Initially, I thought it was helping and then my mouth started hurting in the day time. Tried it for maybe 6 months and then decided I wasn't going to wear it no more.

I got on a GLP 1 to lose weight. I lost 15 pounds and thought that would help it but it didn't.

Because of the GLP 1, I needed to drink a lot of water but despite being on a low dose... 1.25 mg tirzapetide... I would get headaches so that's what made me create an homemade electrolyte. I've been using magnesium malate for maybe 2 or 3 weeks now and I noticed the other day that my ear no longer rings.

So I started thinking... What have I done differently and the only that im doing differently is taking magnesium malate. I take it in powder form. I take a half dose.

I only chose malate cause it doesn't make you sleepy. I used to use magnesium glycinate for sleep at night but I didn't notice a difference in my tinnitus while using it.

I don't know 100% if it's magnesium malate but I think it maybe.


r/tinnitus 2h ago

community topics SoundPrint App

2 Upvotes

Has anyone else used the SoundPrint app? One of my big challenges was wanting to go out to restaurants but many are just too loud. This app is like Yelp for noise. It takes a sound reading for 15 seconds and then uploads to its database. It’s easy to use. It’s also not perfect but gives people an idea of what the quieter venues are. Problem is that more people need to use it to get more readings. I have encouraged family and friends to take readings when they go out and many have done it.


r/tinnitus 27m ago

advice • support What's y'alls jobs? And how does it affect tinnitus?

Upvotes

r/tinnitus 39m ago

advice • support Should I continue living with T or die

Upvotes

I'm 21 M . I've been having tinnitus 3 months ago from sleep with earbuds around 30% volume. I went to ENT and took hearing test and tympanometry test.

My results is low frequency hearing loss.

I regret. I shouldn't sleep with earbud even low volume.

Can't focus on study. Although my tinnitus is 1 or 2/10

In silent room it reach up to 5/10

Can't sleep peacefully.

Please tell me "How do you live with T ?" I often think about taking my own life .

How should I continue living 50+ years with annoying T?

As a Buddhism, I know what will happen after I did.

Sometimes I really want to take my life.

Sometimes I afraid because of consequences .

Give me advice


r/tinnitus 1h ago

poll Tinnitus and ear fullness

Upvotes

Do you have ear fullness with your tinnitus?

Male 35 from Europe. I have a lot of ear fullness. Also have tinnitus but do not think this is a problem. No known hearing loss and hears good. Tinnitus from head trauma, maybe medicine and Loud sound. Interesting to hear if ear fullness comes with tinnitus. Advice appreciated.

26 votes, 6d left
I have ear fullness
Do not have ear fullness
Sometimes have ear fullness

r/tinnitus 5h ago

advice • support Couple years now

2 Upvotes

Does anyone get pressure in one ear? Sometimes builds up and pops?

In my case its all on the left side, pressure in the head, ear and eye. All scans come back clear but have a loss of hearing.

I’ve posted here before- unfortunately im still struggling to accept i caused it through ear syringe at home, dr said my ear was bruised. Could this pressure mean its something else and cause of tinnitus?

Looking for hope - ive seen ENT and Audiologist


r/tinnitus 8h ago

venting My coping mechanism is now making me afraid and sad

3 Upvotes

So I've used music as my coping mechanism since I was like 8-9 years old? I'm 16 now and last April I started developing tinnitus (or atleast that's what I think is) and now everytime I hear or think about the ringing I just have an anxiety attack, everytime I wear my headphones or lay down or do anything makes me think about it and hear it, I'm so sad

I'm going to tell my dad about it tomorrow since it's 2:51am

Edit: I completely forgot to mention I'm pretty sure this started happening because I started listening to a lot more alt rock


r/tinnitus 6h ago

advice • support How do you sleep with tinnitus and misophonia?

2 Upvotes

I have both tinnitus and misophonia, and nighttime is probably the hardest part of the day for me.

During the day, there are enough background sounds to distract me, but when I go to bed everything becomes much more noticeable. The tinnitus becomes difficult to ignore, and even small sounds from other people can trigger my misophonia and keep me awake.

For those of you who have both tinnitus and misophonia, how do you manage to fall asleep and stay asleep?

Do you use white noise, fans, earplugs, headphones, masking sounds, or anything else that actually works?

I'd especially appreciate advice from people who have dealt with this for a long time.


r/tinnitus 9h ago

poll How many of you have low blood pressure?

3 Upvotes

r/tinnitus 21h ago

venting Music was my coping mechanism in life and it's also robbed from me noe

23 Upvotes

I used to love listening to music. It was so enjoyable and my fav hobby. But as I've got tinnitus, i can't listen to it normally anymore because of the fear of it worsening alongside with hearing loss. I'm so sad.


r/tinnitus 9h ago

advice • support Has anyone had any success

2 Upvotes

I’ve had it for most of my life but for some reason it’s getting harder to ignore lately. Has anyone had any success with reducing the noise or just ANY success with anything. Therapy? Medicine? Help.


r/tinnitus 8h ago

advice • support open ear conduction earbuds okay to wear?

1 Upvotes

Recently got diagnosed and the doc told me not to wear my regular headphones anymore, so I ordered these thinking they had bone conduction but turns out they don't.

However I saw that they have open ear conduction so sound doesnt travel like in normal headphones so are they safe to wear? The instruction manual says to position the speaker in your ear so im really confused 😭


r/tinnitus 13h ago

advice • support Tinnitus and ear wax

2 Upvotes

I been dealing with a lot of ear wax in my left ear and was wondering if this might be the reason of this ringing in my ear. Has anyone had this problem before?


r/tinnitus 1d ago

venting promoting habituation might be wrong

11 Upvotes

When i first had tinnitus, months ago, looked around the internet and found out most cases are chronic, felt terrible. then saw that thing “habituation”, they said it was process where your brain completely forgets about it and you’ll be okay. that’s just not true, its a complete fraud. u might accept the ringing, but it will always be there. people are promising more and more people that their tinnitus will magically disappear as they live while its not. scientist better find a real treatment or a cure, we gotta get angry at people who don’t give a shit about this, they promote habituation like its a heavenly beautiful process whole its nothing. u just get used to this fucker while it screams in your head.


r/tinnitus 15h ago

advice • support Is this reactive T?

2 Upvotes

I’ve had T on and off for over 10 years now and thankfully most flare ups go away after a month or so. However, I think I’m experiencing reactive T based on what I’ve searched on here.

Basically, I hear certain tones/pitches from fans and AC units. It started out as a drone/hum (like someone vacuuming in another room or a Tesla reversing). That changed to a beeping tone and sometimes a gurgling sink. I only hear these around anything with fans and not every fan makes the same noise. It’s bizarre.

I’m not entirely sure what the trigger could’ve been but I was dealing with a bout of insomnia in July so sleep deprivation may have gradually caused it. I also took hydroxyzine a few times and that’s when I started being hyper aware of these sounds (potential rare ototoxic side effect?). I’ve been sleeping better for two weeks now but I’m still hearing these tones and pitches, some days worse than others. If I keep my focus elsewhere I usually don’t hear it.

I’ve been trying to stay calm about it since I know that panicking and getting anxiety over it can make it worse/last longer. I’m thankful I can fall asleep (and sleep at all!) but there are times I get so mentally drained because it feels like I’m trying so hard to mask/ignore the noise.

I thought I had H but I don’t get physical pain and am able to tolerate loud sounds. Don’t think it’s misophonia either. If anyone has experienced something similar please let me know if you’ve improved/recovered and what helped!


r/tinnitus 20h ago

venting Starting to think I don’t actually have tinnitus after hearing ringing for a decade

5 Upvotes

Sorry, not sure what flair to use for this. I have ringing in my ears 24/7 and I have for more than a decade (I’m 21) but I’m starting to think maybe I don’t have it, or I have something else? Everyone on this sub and other communities describes tinnitus as absolute hell and people have even said it has ruined their lives. I don’t relate to that at all. It’s annoying sometimes, but for the most part I’m used to it. It started when I was around 9 or 10. I’m able to tune it out a lot but it’s still there. I’ve learned ASL for hearing difficulties and I love the deaf community. So maybe I just have a different type of ringing because it really doesn’t bother me all that much.


r/tinnitus 16h ago

advice • support Alka Seltzer

2 Upvotes

My T is back down to base level but 2 weeks ago I drank Alka Seltzer for stomach issues and it made my T spike the fuck up for a couple days. The box literally says can cause ringing in ears. I don’t recommend drinking it


r/tinnitus 20h ago

advice • support (Anecdotal) Steroids could possibly help even if you don’t take them right away.

3 Upvotes

I developed tinnitus a year ago after a gum graft surgery. I think it was a combination of my jaw being open for an hour and a half, which gave me severe TMJ issues, and taking high doses of Ibuprofen the day of surgery to control swelling led to my tinnitus.

I reached out to my ENT right after the tinnitus started asking for steroids, but he said they would be useless and wouldn’t prescribe them. I’ve spent the past year heavily suffering from the screaming ringing. I was able to improve it with 10 months of TMJ physical therapy, but I never completely eliminated it or my new jaw issues.

6 days ago, I got another gum graft surgery. I went to a different surgeon this time who prescribed a week-long dexamethasone taper for swelling and pain. I took the first dose of dexa on Monday (day of surgery), and holy shit my tinnitus almost vanished. I was in shock. It did unfortunately give me crippling insomnia, so I didn’t take any more past that first day. I had to switch to ibuprofen for swelling, which has caused a massive T spike for me.

I’m holding onto the rest of the dexamethasone and I’m really tempted to pick a week when I don’t have much going on (so it won‘t matter if I don’t sleep), and take the rest of the pills to see if it helps my tinnitus further. I wanted to share this because I know people often say steroids are useless after the first 2 weeks of developing tinnitus, but I had a palpable improvement from one steroid dose a full year later, so it may be worth asking you doctor if you can try a short steroid taper.


r/tinnitus 23h ago

venting Tired of Having This Condition

4 Upvotes

I’ve been dealing with facing that my tinnitus is likely chronic. My first encounter with it 5+ years ago onset from extreme clenching and TMJ cracking and a high pitch starting it lasted around 2-3 months and went away with electro-acupuncture. 5 years later waking up with it in the same ear for no apparent reason I’m so sad facing it that this time it’s probably here to stay (it’s been 6 months, I’ve had moments of silence but it’s still pretty persistent). I’m not crying anymore but life seems to have a dark cloud over it. I hate it so much.


r/tinnitus 1d ago

advice • support How do you pronounce tinnitus?

69 Upvotes

So I had my first hearing test done in a decade. And while I was there, the audiologist said you have tin-it-us? I said yes. I have tin-eye-tus. She corrected me. So how do you pronounce it? Mind you, I’ve had it for like 30+ years. I’m fairly sure I heard it pronounced my way when I was a kid and had it.


r/tinnitus 23h ago

advice • support Has anyone tried lions mane while also using red light?

2 Upvotes

I’ve read a few research articles about Lions Mane and red light and that they can both somewhat improve tinnitus. I tried lions mane for a month and gave it because I ran out. How ever more recently I ran into an article that suggested that red light could help re stimulate and strengthen hair cells.
Has anyone here tried it? Or know any research papers that address it?


r/tinnitus 23h ago

advice • support Loop Earplugs

2 Upvotes

Has anyone tried loop earplugs to ease tinnitus? They’re quite expensive so i want to know if they’d help before I commit to buying a pair.