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Can you provide a link for the 50 dB NRR hearing protection?

Shower, dishwasher, vacuum cleaner, and noisy restaurant environments are around 70 dB. In the UK, the officially accepted threshold for ear or hearing damage begins at 90 dB. If your ears are already damaged, I believe that sound levels below 90 dB can still cause further harm. Audiograms are...

@NormySan, did you consider wearing earplugs and earmuffs to the concert? Do you think that would have made a difference?

If you have a severe case of tinnitus, you are wasting your time speaking to so-called “experts.” Severe cases are rare, and an audiologist or ENT may not even encounter one in their entire career. If you have multiple noises and your tinnitus easily worsens from further noise exposure, then...

Good definition of 'reactive tinnitus' in your 8th paragraph. Although, as you infer, it's not a medical term, the phrase certainly is a good description of what the sufferers experience.

Did you wear any kind of ear protection?

Since you have hearing loss across a wide range of frequencies, this results in multiple tinnitus tones that combine to sound like white noise, which is what you’re hearing. You won’t be able to identify a single specific frequency for your tinnitus because it consists of several different...

It was likely the sound of the heavy rain rather than air pressure that caused the worsening. Perhaps check the weather forecast and wear earplugs at night if needed.

If you go for a nap during the day, does your tinnitus quieten?

@Badger55, when you drive with double protection, how does it affect your tinnitus?

You will need to provide the sources for this information, since you claim it references tinnitus reduction through DBS.

Interesting, these last two posts from @BuzzyBee and @MindOverMatter. They present completely opposing viewpoints on reactive tinnitus. What is even more interesting is that both come from experienced sufferers. When tinnitus sufferers cannot agree on their experiences and how to manage them...

There is no mention of tinnitus or hyperacusis in this article. High-energy ultraSOUND focused on the brain, I think, would more likely present danger for tinnitus/hyperacusis.

A hearing test or a hearing aid will not help reactive tinnitus. In fact, they can have the opposite effect. The tones from a hearing test, which may be played up to 100 dB if required, are likely to make tinnitus worse, possibly causing severe spikes or even permanent worsening. A hearing...

This is reactive tinnitus. Your brain is trying to fill in the sound gaps from the damaged hearing cells, but it is not doing a good job of it.

So your tinnitus became reactive, and you managed to calm down to a better place? You've said nothing of how you achieved this. Has your reactivity changed at all?

I think reactive tinnitus is caused by damage-beyond-damage. Your brain hears a lot of different frequencies from 'traffic-noise'. The brain is perhaps filling in the spaces for the numerous frequencies you have lost hearing, hence the reaction. This is similar to how the blindspot in your...

Has vacuuming with earmuffs on ever affected your tinnitus before?

I quoted @Rainer, saying his statement was crucial (post #7). You then wrote (in your next sentence): My question for you @MindOverMatter; how can you tell a person that they "don't know" what they are talking about when all they've done is quote from a person that you "agree with"?

The above is the most crucial paragraph of this entire thread.

If you read my posting, you'll see I am referring to NON-audible frequencies, beyond that of human hearing and therefore beyond that of a decibel (sound) meter.

EMF exacerbates tinnitus, that's my opinion. I've said this in a previous posting. TMS treatment will be extreme EMF.

This is a good success story for tinnitus resolution. It’s especially encouraging, as it shows that tinnitus can reduce over time, the hope of every person who lives with it. Thank you for sharing your experience in such detail and for updating regularly. I wish you well.

It’s as if your tinnitus has a delayed reaction to noise exposure, or rather to the artificial amplification of noise. This often happens to those with reactive tinnitus. It’s interesting that the hearing aids are making your tinnitus worse. Can you turn the volume down a bit? Do the hearing...

@Bashy74, have you tried listening to other music?

Does the music/songs ever change?

This is typical rhetoric from a therapist when it comes to severe tinnitus. No therapy from anyone will change your tinnitus. There is a common narrative that “normal” sounds will not cause further damage to your already compromised auditory system, including the inner ear and cochlea. I...

@locoyeti, could you describe what your tinnitus sounded like when it first started, and what it sounds like now?

Yet another so-called “new” tinnitus sufferer posting for the first time. I’m not interested. I’m not reading it. There’s no evidence you ever had it—not even a single previous post.

@ScG2023, I noticed you have started four threads since January 2025, sharing information about your condition and asking questions, but you have only responded in one of the threads that received replies. Just a bit of advice: try to keep your story in one thread and respond to the replies you...

What sounds are you exposing to?

It is an option, you're just choosing not to take it.

It is unfortunate to hear that even with double protection, you still experienced a noise exposure. Bone conduction is a very real phenomenon. When you are outside doing everyday activities, does double protection usually shield you from noise exposure?

You are taking a risk by continuing to use headphones, even at a low volume. There is a real possibility that your tinnitus could worsen with continued use. No one can give you a definite answer, as everyone’s experience is different. What is certain, though, is that you will not enjoy...

Move now.

A tinnitus sufferer buying a sound system like that is simply INSANE. It is as if you are asking for your condition to get worse. Heed the warning and return it to the store before you end up deeply regretting it.

The short spoon scoop. That will make the earwax removal in your right ear more difficult. Gravity is a great thing that does half the work for you. Do not scoop anywhere near the eardrum. It is thinner than paper, and it sits about 2.5 centimeters from the entrance of the ear. You do this at...

If you read my posts, you will realize that I am advising this cannot be done in a single session. Olive oil only softens the surface of the earwax it comes into contact with. As a result, that softened wax can then be gently scraped out using a curette attached to an ear camera. After the...

Read these two postings: https://www.tinnitustalk.com/posts/717450 https://www.tinnitustalk.com/posts/717556 Irrigation may (if not likely) make you worse.

If you find a way, please let me know how. Thanks.

@kingsfan, what do you mean by a 'rural nightmare'? Isn't that better than an urban nightmare?

I don't think you have a psychological problem, you have a severe tinnitus problem. You have physical damage in your ear, which has caused hearing loss and consequently tinnitus. You are a severe case because your tinnitus easily (potentially permanently) worsens from normal noise exposure and...

Have you considered wearing earplugs or earmuffs when there is a risk of that kind of exposure?

Visiting an ENT is a waste of time; they cannot help and may even make things worse. A hearing test could also worsen your condition. It is up to you how much you want to engage with sound, or avoid it. You will have to live with the consequences of any worsening of your tinnitus.

This seems very simple. If you want to avoid continuous worsening, then you’ll need to consider avoiding all the noise that clearly makes it worse. Even with ear protection, sound still travels through the skull—this is called bone conduction—to the inner ear.

Everyone assumes that hair cells only respond to frequencies within the audible range. But I think there is a real possibility that hair cells also respond to other frequencies, such as those emitted by Wi-Fi or electromagnetic fields from electrical appliances. Perhaps tinnitus sufferers...

@timsmith, were you not wearing earplugs when next to traffic?

@Regis, your 2) "Wind noise reduction headphones" are EARMUFFS, not headphones. Please read this if you are unsure of the difference.

@Ralphie, same question, do you think earplugs and earmuffs would help reduce the chances of tinnitus spikes in those settings you frequent?

@Strife_84, do you think it would have helped if you had worn both earplugs and earmuffs during your visit to the bar and club?

There is definitely an irony here. I thought you were leading up to encouraging the original poster (the psychiatrist) to tell others in their profession that the standard treatments are not only unsuitable but also patronizing. As it turns out, you have essentially asked them to take a dose...

Who?

If your tinnitus continually changes, won't that make it more difficult for the brain to habituate and ignore it?

Some users have reported that their tinnitus worsens when using the ANC mode on ANC headphones. This issue has been debated in another thread. Essentially, if you see the term “phones,” it indicates that the device produces noise, so caution should be exercised. From a technical perspective...

I have often read on this forum where people use these two words almost interchangeably, as if they refer to the same thing. For complete clarity, I will explain the difference: Headphones contain small loudspeakers and are used for private listening to audio, such as music. Some believe that...

Just one post, proving that they ‘were’ a tinnitus sufferer at some point in the past would be enough to ‘determine their legitimacy.’ A success story without ‘some’ evidence of the success is essentially contradictory.

You'd do well to researc it and learn. You can't hear external sounds AT ALL with earplugs in? This is a most irresponsible act of ignorance, considering the damage the original poster has suffered and what others have experienced from bone conduction due to "air soundwaves." Consider...

Harsh lesson, but well learned. Let others learn from this experience.

This is a typical response from someone writing a success story. It does not say anything specific about the tinnitus. Let me put it to you directly, without any of the “got better,” “not thinking about it,” or “mentally better” talk: Do you still hear your tinnitus? (Yes or no will suffice.)...

Stop doing the HBOT.