New Tone in Addition to My High Pitched Tinnitus — Sign of It Getting Worse?

Dr Nagler, I'm sorry to bother you.

This is a new development. (As in, this happened in the last 24 hours.) And to be honest, I'm panicking a little bit.

A few times yesterday I noticed a low, droning frequency overtake my usually high pitched tinnitus. It only lasted a few seconds so I didn't think anything of it at the time.

But last night it came back really strong, on top of my usual tone. As in, I heard both at the same time. It kind of sounds like a refrigerator. It was so distracting that I had to take some ZZZQuil in order to sleep.

I use a mixture of white noise and rain sounds to sleep. Having tested last night and this morning, this frequency can be heard over it. (Though this morning I only heard the new frequency whilst playing the white noise.)

Is my tinnitus worsening? Is this yet another hurdle I'll have to jump so that I don't go crazy?

 

You are not a bother at all. If your tinnitus bothers you, your tinnitus bothers me. But you don't bother me; it's your tinnitus that does. That's why the Doctors' Corner exists!

Seems to me that your tinnitus is changing. Life is dynamic, not static. Most things in life change over time. Sometimes the changes are temporary; sometimes they are permanent. But the fact that your tinnitus is changing is ... NORMAL. And it is certainly not a sign that your tinnitus is getting worse.

As I have come to see it, the severity of your tinnitus is related to the degree to which your tinnitus affects your life at any given point in time regardless of its loudness, pitch, timbre, pattern, etc. The fact that your tinnitus seems to be changing has much less to do with its severity than how the change is affecting you on a day to day basis. Right now the change in your tinnitus seems to be upsetting you somewhat. Hopefully this bit of reassurance will help put a stop to that!

All the best -

Stephen M. Nagler, M.D.