I have always had tinnitus in both ears, for as long as I can remember. I recall pretty clearly being fairly young, like 7 or 8, sitting in bed, hearing the little rings behind all the white noise as I lay in bed at night. I thought it was normal to hear this ringing. Funny, recently I read a story about a woman who was told in her 50s that the ringing in her ears that she had all her life was tinnitus and she thought it was just a normal thing that everyone heard. I'm sure we're not alone in that though.

The last couple of years, my tinnitus gotten a little bit louder, even though I don't expose myself to loud sounds much these days. Within the last year, even louder. Sometimes, I will come up from the basement where my office is, at the end of the day, and it'll be dead quiet in my house and my ears will be ringing like I just got back from a show and hadn't put earplugs in. This might sound awful and terrifying, but the honest truth is, I barely even pay attention to it. I've had it for so long, it's just natural for me to tune it out. So, sometimes I really notice it, but only after awhile, if I have nothing else on my mind, but then I'll completely forget about it.

I went for a hearing test last year and another one this year. I have above average hearing for my age, in fact statistically I have better hearing that people 20 years younger than me, and I'm almost 50. There is a consistent dip in the 4k range for both ears, though the last time I went in (about two months ago), the technician said I have asymmetrical hearing. Very mild, thankfully. I don't really notice at all. One thing that was difficult this last go around was hearing the sounds over my tinnitus.

There have been huge advances in the study and treatment of tinnitus within the last decade, and some really significant findings even in the last two years. There's been a discovery of a connection in the frontal cortex with tinnitus rings, that's kind of like a feedback loop, considering that tinnitus rings are essentially the hearing damage equivalent of phantom pain you would feel in your amputated arm. It's not really understood completely yet, but the theory is if you can somehow disconnect the feedback loop, you could remove tinnitus.

That being said, there's cognitive therapy for those who cannot live with tinnitus. The therapy essentially helps you tune it out. So, I don't think I really need it. However, there's some new technology that's available to go even further: it essentially tunes your brain to the tone in your ears to dull it, though it will never go away. I've brought this up with my ENT, who happens to have studied under a doctor who specializes in tinnitus. I ran this by her mentor and she verified that it is legit, as well as provide another piece of technology to look into.

This is the one she sent me - https://levomedical.com/
And this is the one I came across that she verified - https://neosensory.com/product/neosenso ... -tinnitus/

I don't know how much the Levo system costs, but you have to go through a doctor to get it. The Neosensory Duo, however, you can purchase/rent strait from them. I'm considering trying the Duo this year. Insurance does not cover tinnitus, unfortunately. You're kind of on your own there.

However, I have discovered that I have another type of tinnitus in my right ear, and this one is a real problem. It's Pulsatile tinnitus, and it's a problem because hearing high pitch noises tends to make my ear fizz and distort, with a slight physical sensation, along with a pressure, kind of like the feeling of the air pressure change in an airplane. Sometimes, the air pressure change happens when bending over or laughing for too long. Along with the pressure change is a pulsating sound - the sound of my pulse. Sometimes my hearing will go out temporarily in that ear.

I recently got an MRI and two CT scans, because sometimes this is caused by a benign tumor that grows in the ear canal (it's actually quite common and also linked to asymmetrical hearing). I just got my test results and while it's great to know I don't have any growths in my head, there's absolutely no evidence of what is causing the pulsatile tinnitus. Sometimes, this is due to high blood pressure, but I don't have high blood pressure either. It's really awful to have something wrong with you and find no evidence of what the problem could be. If it were a growth, my options would have been radiation, possibly surgery. But, I think my only option left is to just live with it. The only mechanism that seems to work is wearing really good earplugs. I have gone to a few shows over the years, but I have to wear earplugs the whole time, even when the music isn't happening. Just the sound of a crowd in a small room can set it off, which means I also have to wear earplugs in restaurants or out in public if there's not very good acoustic treatment. Band practice is really difficult, I can't really play live in front of amplifiers or it'll eventually set it off through the earplugs. So, band practice is actually at home, through amp pedals and vdrums, into headphones, where I can make sure the volume is really low.

My quality of life has suffered, but I wouldn't say that it's made life miserable. I just need to have earplugs on me all the time, and if my ear gets set off, plop an ear plug in and go about my business.

My left ear issue is still there but much less than at the start of this thread. About a year ago maybe.. don't remember the circumstances too well (may have been high) but all of the sudden I felt/heard a squishy sound in that area, almost like something was dislodging a bit. It lasted several seconds. It was weird and maybe a little.. satisfying? So perhaps that helped a bit, or maybe I've just gotten used to it to the point of barely noticing or caring.

penningtron wrote: Wed Feb 21, 2024 6:41 pm My left ear issue is still there but much less than at the start of this thread. About a year ago maybe.. don't remember the circumstances too well (may have been high) but all of the sudden I felt/heard a squishy sound in that area, almost like something was dislodging a bit. It lasted several seconds. It was weird and maybe a little.. satisfying? So perhaps that helped a bit, or maybe I've just gotten used to it to the point of barely noticing or caring.

Are you prone to ear infections? Or, have you ever looked into it being a fungal infection?

Not prone to ear infections, but I have had plenty of sinus stuff in my life. A few doctor visits pointed to something going on behind the ear drum, but I haven't gone as far as a MRI yet.

penningtron wrote: Thu Feb 22, 2024 10:18 am Not prone to ear infections, but I have had plenty of sinus stuff in my life. A few doctor visits pointed to something going on behind the ear drum, but I haven't gone as far as a MRI yet.

I would recommend doing some imaging. Even if they don't find anything, it's worth knowing that you don't have a growth or arterial blockage.

Had tinnitus for about 30 years. It doesn't particularly bother me, but what does bother me is listening to quiet talkers when there's ambient noise. Am considering hearing aids if there are ones that can actually help with directional amplification.

I still listen to loud music, knowing I'm further damaging my hearing, just because I love loud rock.

twelvepoint wrote: Thu Feb 22, 2024 1:07 pm Had tinnitus for about 30 years. It doesn't particularly bother me, but what does bother me is listening to quiet talkers when there's ambient noise. Am considering hearing aids if there are ones that can actually help with directional amplification.

I still listen to loud music, knowing I'm further damaging my hearing, just because I love loud rock.

Hearing aides are definitely a tool used to help with tinnitus in this way.

A couple weeks ago I came down with a pretty bad head cold/sinus infection. Sore throat, hoarse voice etc. Two days after that started and all of a sudden my left ear feels muffled. Like in ten minutes it goes from normal hearing to like 25%, accompanied by some ringing. Decided to go to urgent care because I don't want to risk my hearing. Doctor figures the ear stuff is related to the cold/whatever, prescribes amoxicillin for the ear infection.

Two weeks later the hearing loss is better but not nearly back to normal. Yesterday I saw an audiologist. She tells me that the hearing issues are probably SSNHL and not directly related to the original infection and she wished the urgent care doc would have caught that. Cool. Starts me on Prednisone right away which is two weeks after issues began, unsure how much that delay will impact possible recovery. I get a hearing test next Tuesday after which time I might get direct steroid injections.

Reading other posts in this thread has been encouraging but I still have anxiety about how a limited recovery may affect my ability to play and enjoy music. Seems to affect mainly high frequencies but I won't know for certain until after Tuesday's test. Acoustic drums aren't an issue (we use machines) but my guitarist can be fairly loud and effects heavy, and certain frequencies resonate strangely in my bad ear and cause everything to sound slightly out of tune. I'm sure I'll try to keep doing music in some (possibly quieter) form but I'm feeling disappointed and frustrated.