About Two Weeks In, High Frequency Tonal Tinnitus

My tinnitus started two weeks ago. It was the weekend, and a few times I noticed "hey, my ears are ringing..." but I sort of ignored it, went about my business, and didn't notice it after a while. This continued for a few days, and I figured that I would bring it up with my doctor during my yearly physical (scheduled for October) if it was still happening.

Well, over the course of 10 days, it got progressively worse. I'm pretty sure it's stopped getting worse for now, but it's at the point that I can hear it pretty much all the time, at least when it is pretty quiet. I need both sound and a task to focus on to get it out of my head, temporarily.

So, I did make an appointment with my physician two days ago. He checked my ears and found nothing (I was hoping that it would be something obvious like an ear infection). He referred me to an audiologist as the next step, and I am still waiting to hear back about that appointment.

In the meantime, I started reading whatever I could, but there is a lot to go through. It doesn't help that there are so many different kinds of tinnitus... Whenever I hear of some success story or treatment, I'm not sure if it even would apply to the type of tinnitus that I have.

Mine is tonal tinnitus. I tried to measure the frequency and landed on around 15,250 Hz (though it's hard to distinguish the frequencies up that high). I looked into the notched therapy but it doesn't look like it works so well with very high frequency tinnitus (I can't even hear the sound that would be "above" the notch). I'm listening to noise at night and that works OK (no way I could sleep without it).

So, yes. I'll keep reading. But, if anyone has experience with coping with high frequency tonal tinnitus, or has any resources that you could point me to, I'd be very thankful for any responses.

 

Hi @Aaron44126, and welcome. I am sorry that you find yourself here (I'm glad you found us, I am sorry that you needed to find us).

I would highly recommend seeking out posts by @Michael Leigh. He is very knowledgeable about this subject and provides a lot of excellent advice.

To get you started, read the following article by him:

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/tinnitus-a-personal-view.18668/

 

Make sure to use sound enrichment (something else for you to listen to besides T). The sounds of crickets work well for high pitch T.

 

I'm glad that I found you too... When I set off on the "research phase" (just two days ago), I thought about how cool it would be if there was some kind of web forum just about tinnitus... And then I ran into you guys pretty quickly and was like, "Oh, there it is." It looks like this will be a good resource.

Sigh. Yes, I have been playing with different sounds, and I did notice that crickets seems to work really well for masking, honestly better than anything else that I have tried. Before tinnitus, I hated the sound of crickets. Now, it seems like it might be my saving grace.

 

Several years ago I had a chance to visit the town of Hilo on the Big Island in Hawaii. There, the sound of frogs (which sound exactly like crickets) was deafening at night. I hated it. But it all worked out for the best. Now I am reminded of Hawaii every time I go to sleep and turn my sound machine on...

 

Audiologist appointment was today...
My hearing test came back perfect, so they had no real suggestions other than add background noise to keep my brain from focusing on the sound.

I have an ENT appointment for September 19 (so far off...). But, I'm sort of resigned to just dealing with it.

 

Hey Aaron,

I have to say, your situation sounds exactly like mine. About two weeks ago I started to hear a high-frequency ringing in my ears. Went to Urgent Care, the ER, and even had a CT done on my brain. They didn't find anything.

I just wanted to let you know that you're not alone in dealing with this, and from what I can tell so far, this forum is filled with a ton of kind and understanding people that are willing to help.

If you don't mind me asking...what have you been using to help you sleep exactly? Sleeping has been my biggest challenge so far.

 

Sleeping wasn't a huge issue for me until this past Sunday. The noise was getting louder by the day and finally interfered with my sleep...

I've been getting through the past few days by using a combination of noise. I've been using the TMSOFT "White Noise" app (http://www.tmsoft.com/) which I actually used for quite a while before tinnitus. It has a number of different ambient sounds.

Before tinnitus, I always loved to sleep to brown noise. It's like white noise but it emphasizes the low frequency, and the low deep sound really helped to lull me to sleep. It doesn't work with high-frequency tinnitus, though... The low frequency brown noise doesn't cover up the shrill ringing at all.

The app lets you mix in different sounds, so in addition to the brown noise, I mixed in crickets (which cover up the tinnitus ringing) and also "heavy rain" (the rain pitter-patter keeps my brain from focusing on just one sound without being too terribly distracting). Those three sounds mixed together have allowed me to sleep.

Maybe play with something like that and see if you can find a sound that works for you.

This afternoon, I noticed that the sound in my head has changed somewhat. Instead of a constant high frequency tone, it is more of an oscillating tone which sounds sort of cricket-y itself. Whatever it is, it is much less annoying, I think that sleep tonight will not be as difficult.

 

During the initial days when I needed constant masking for my ultra high pitch T, I found among the high frequency sounds, cricket was not high enough frequency for my T during the bad spikes. Cicadas, heavy rain, shower, even squeaky faucet offer higher pitch sound frequency. Crashing waves are good too but there are pauses among waves that let the screaming T raises it ugly head. Cicadas is high enough pitch but honestly it sounds just as annoying as T, lol. So sometimes, I like to mix these up using different web sites combining the sounds. If I found the sounds not pleasant enough, I would add in some bird sounds to try to make it more soothing.

 

Doing better today. I don't know what it is, but something has clicked in my head.

I can still hear the tinnitus, it is still high-pitched ringing most of the time — though there have been some changes in the sound periodically which is strange. Last night it sounded more "wavy" than constant for a while with gradual pulses in the volume level. Today, it is back to just plain old constant ringing, and it is still pretty loud, especially when I am in a quiet area.

Anyway... the level of annoyance that I get from it has been cut significantly. I'm not having much trouble putting it aside and focusing on what I need to do. And it's easier to have a positive outlook.

I think that I'll be able to get through the day without masking it (except for sleeping) for the first time in a while. I wouldn't say that I have "habituated" — it's still ever-present and I think about it often — but I'm starting to think that maybe eventual habituation is possible, for the first time.

I'm not sure how I achieved this. I've been taking steps to stay relaxed as much as possible. I've been getting a bit more exercise than normal (nothing extreme... I just go outdoors — which helps with the noise — and walk a mile or so, a few times a day). I think that a bit part of it, though, is that I've come to terms with the idea that it's going to be a long-term issue and I'm no longer holding on to the idea that there will be a quick fix and I just need to find it.

Of course, I will still follow up medically until I hit a dead end. Of course I'd love for it to go away, but if nothing else, I want to make sure that this isn't a sign of some bigger problem that needs to be dealt with.

A problem that I still have is that my appetite is severely diminished. I can only eat the bare minimum of what I need to not be hungry, nothing sounds good, so I'm sure that I'll be losing some weight (and I'm already more on the underweight side). This has been the case for maybe five days now, and I hope that it also goes away soon...

 

So, like I mentioned, I was doing much better today and I was pretty happy with myself. It started to hit me pretty hard again at around 7 PM, and the depression started to come back a little bit too — but I guess this is just a reminder that the road to... wherever I will end up that is positive... is not a short one.

Still, it was a better day than yesterday, and it's been a while since I could say that.

 

I'm right there with you man. It's good to hear that you're positive. I can honestly say that I've never felt "depressed" until this hit me, but I'm also determined to see the positive in this experience. Keep your head up and stay strong!

 

I'm am glad that you are doing better. I am sorry that you are struggling with depression; you will find that many of us here share your struggle. And, unfortunately, tinnitus does not seem to help. And, depression and tinnitus seem (for some) to exacerbate each other.

Just hang in there. It will get better.

 

Alright, so after a good day, here I am up at night... The noise has been kicked up a notch and it's messing with my sleep. I decided to just roll with it and stay up for an hour or so before trying again. I took some Benadryl so hopefully that will help.

I've been sleeping with earbuds attached to my phone for noise but I'm concerned that it's not really a smart thing to do, given that this could still be an ear issue... I do need the sound to be right next to my head, on both sides, and I also don't want to bug my wife. I was looking into sound pillows but I'm concerned that it will only give good sound on one ear. So I was looking around and I just purchased a "SleepPhones" headphone headband thing. Reviews seem mixed but a lot of people love it (there's a TT thread about them as well...). It won't arrive until Sunday, but I'll post back with the how I like it... I can always return it if it is not helpful.

 

Hope you get some sleep. I actually just bought the sound pillow, but after seeing the headband...I just bought that as well. Thanks for the heads up.

 

Nice... Mine is shipped already (from Amazon) and will arrive tomorrow --- ahead of the originally estimated Sunday --- I'm excited to check it out.

Yesterday, I watched the "Back to Silence" video which was interesting. I don't think that it will be a miracle cure for me by any means, but I have been using some of the techniques to try to separate my feelings about the tinnitus from my reaction. I think that it is helping me cope. Doing pretty good today so far.

[Edit] I guess TinnitusTalk throws in an Amazon reference link whenever you mention that site...

 

I've found that if I can get at least 5 hours of sleep, then my day is very manageable. Of course, the high-pitched sound sucks, but I'm finding that with some sleep I can kind of tune it out from time to time. That's giving me hope that "if" this continues, I can start to habituate.

It sounds like you're going to get headband before I do. I'm definitely excited to hear how it works for you as well.

 

Hi @Ben In SD

If I were you I wouldn't use any form of headband type headphones if your tinnitus was caused by "loud noise". In any case I still wouldn't use them even at low volume.
All the best
Michael

 

@Michael Leigh Thanks for the heads up. What if my tinnitus wasn't caused by "loud noise"? I actually had a hearing test this morning and the audiologist said that I'm losing my hearing. I asked him about the sleep pillow and the headband and he didn't seem to think that they would be a problem. I appreciate the concern though. What are your thoughts on it?

 

HI Ben,

ENT doctors, Audiologists and Hearing therapists, know about the anatomy of the ear most know very little about tinnitus. Although to be fair, some Audiologists and Hearing Therapists were born with tinnitus or acquired it at some time in their life, so will know about this condition. In my opinion, your Audiologist is telling you what S/he thinks you want to hear.

I used to counsel someone that had tinnitus with hyperacusis. I advised her not to use headphones even at low volume. However, she followed the advice of her Audiologist who said: headphones can't do any harm as long as the volume is kept low. This person's tinnitus and hyperacusis increased significantly and she was crying to me on the phone. Just imagine hearing someone in such distress and you're unable to do anything apart from listen and trying to offer words of comfort.

It is true some people with tinnitus are not adversely affected by headphone use but, it's something I don't advise. Just read some of the posts in this forum, from members that habituated to their tinnitus and it was low. They returned to headphone use, keeping the volume low and their tinnitus increased and won't return to baseline. It is a risky business. You have to ask yourself each time you use those dangerous things: Do I feel lucky?

I wish you well
Michael

 

My audiologist outright suggested a sleep pillow or headband (but recommended against something like earbuds). However, I have seen your cautionary posts elsewhere @Michael Leigh, so I've been weighing this through carefully. In my case, my tinnitus was not caused by loud noise and my hearing exam came back perfect. (Actually I guess I can't totally claim that my tinnitus was not caused by loud noise, as I don't have the cause identified yet, but I haven't been around anything loud remotely recently.) I really need the noise to sleep... I'm going to proceed with the headband (low volume) and stop right away if I notice any negative change.

 

I wish you the best of luck, although I wouldn't take such a risk. Much better to use a standalone "sound machine" However, it is your choice.

Michael

 

Celebrating some good news this afternoon.

First, I had a moment that lasted for a minute or two after I came back in from an outdoor walk, where I could barely hear the tinnitus. I was super excited. It didn't last, but it's the first time that I have experienced that (indoors) in several days. (Hopefully not a one-time thing.)

Second, I've been on the ENT cancellation waiting list, and today they moved my appointment up from September 19 to August 29 (three weeks sooner).

 

So, for the second day straight, I made it through the bulk of the day dealing with the tinnitus and not using masking sounds. By the evening, it was getting to me, so I turned my crickets/water/noise masking sound back on and it helped.

Now, I spent some time looking for other ways to mask the noise. We have a few box fans so I tried them all and found the loudest one (by far) to be a "Lasko" model 3733 box fan. I put it on the highest speed in the living room. I totally can't hear the tinnitus with the fan running. I don't even have to be very close. (Yeah, the fan noise itself is sort of obnoxious, but nothing in comparison.)

So, I'm just sitting hear with my mind clear, it's like the first true break I've had in quite a while. It didn't take me long to start feeling like myself again. I'm going to try having it on for sleeping as well.

@Ben In SD, if you end up with masking hearing aids, I'm very interested to hear how they work for you... I fear that masking is the only way that I'll be able to handle this long-term.

I purchased another Lasko fan of the same model from Amazon (I don't want to be stuck without this option if this one breaks). The one I have is quite a few years old. I hope that they haven't made them quieter. It's going to take two weeks to arrive, but I will report back... I also bought a smaller not-so-quiet desk fan to use at work, it will be here Sunday so I will have it for the work week.

Will continue experimenting with sounds. The best is still high-pitched, it doesn't have to be very loud to mask the tinnitus. Crickets (real ones), or running water.

 

That is excellent, I am happy for you.

 

I'll definitely let you know how it works out. I have my appointment this Tuesday, so I'm thinking that he'll prescribe them since the audiologist recommended the hearing aids.

Glad to hear you're finding some relief as well. I'm starting to mentally accept this as long term, but I'm just taking it one day at a time.

I also found a local support group in my area...from this forum none the less. I just did a quick search of my city and was able to connect with people. I'm hoping that having people to actually meet with and talk to that have gone through this will be very beneficial to my overall mental state...ya know?

 

Weekend update...

I give up. I've been masking the tinnitus. Pretty much all of the time.

I found that my crickets/rain/noise mix is effective at masking the tinnitus, even at very low volume. I'm using earbuds (Apple AirPods, which are not ones that have rubber/foam the close off the ear canal which I would be super wary about using). With the volume set to the minimum detectable level (two clicks above silent for me), the tinnitus is masked. In fact, I think it's been becoming a more and more effective mask as time goes on. Yesterday, I could often hear the tinnitus if I listened for it, but today it is pretty much totally gone. So, I've been walking around with earbuds in. They allow sound in from outside without any problem, so I can easily carry on a conversation, watch TV, or whatever.

Although I had a decent Wednesday/Thursday/Friday in terms of coping, I didn't realize how high-strung I was until I was able to go for a couple of days totally not thinking about it. I feel like myself again. I realize that masking can delay habituation, but I'm OK with that for now... I'd rather deal with one thing at a time and I do not need trying to habituate on top of the emotional roller-coaster that the last 10 days has been. I feel like now, I can deal with the tinnitus on my own schedule instead of its.

I'm not sure if I'll be able to habituate anyway. I'm someone who has always been bothered by sounds. Last year at work I made the facility manager call in the HVAC guys *three times* to fix a "whoowhoowhoo" noise that the AC unit near my desk was making, that no one else could hear unless I pointed it out and they stopped to listen really hard, but it was driving me nuts and interfering with my productivity. Maybe my tinnitus is mild if it is so easily masked, but it was still total torture, about the worst sound that I can imagine.

Sleeping is still a bit of a challenge. I don't want to sleep with earbuds in. I tried my box fan on Friday night for sleeping. It did mask the tinnitus pretty well, but I could still hear it in the ear that I had down on the pillow, and also, the fan is plain loud. Not a problem during the day when I'm just trying to get away from the tinnitus noise, but not so great for sleeping. My "SleepPhones" headband arrived yesterday, and I gave that a try at night. I really do like the headband --- the sound quality is better than I imagined (but not as good as "proper" headphones). The speakers are a bit tedious to insert and remove for cleaning. I do like how you can adjust the sound by adjusting the headband to just move the speaker closer to or further from your ear. Anyway, my sound mix didn't work so great with the headband so I didn't sleep so great with it. I made a new sound mix today specifically to use with the headband... I'll give it a go tonight and we'll see.

I'm also aware that there is some risk to using earbuds or the headband in terms of making the tinnitus worse. I'm very cognizant of this and I've been looking for any signs. I went for a few hours this afternoon without masking and it sounded just like Friday afternoon.

I'm going to work on finding the "minimum viable" masking sound for my tinnitus. I'd rather not be listening to crickets all of the time. I will begin by purchasing the Moses/Lang tinnitus masking CD from the OHSU Tinnitus Clinic (hopefully it arrives by the end of the week) and seeing if any of the tracks on there work for me. I also purchased and received a somewhat noisy desk fan to use at work, it seems to mask the tinnitus pretty well, so I won't need to be wearing earbuds for the bulk of the day (my coworkers will just have to deal with it, but they've been totally supportive, I don't think that it will be a problem).

 

I was looking to purchase the Moses/Lang tinnitus masking CD from the OHSU Tinnitus Clinic. Well, their phone number is disconnected, and when I called the main OHSU office I was told that the clinic is closed and referred to the ENT department. I have a note into them to find out if the CD is still available but I'm not very hopeful.

My research has led me to the DTM system (or more recently, "Tinnitus-Minus") from Audiobionics, which supposedly has tracks that work even better than the Moses/Lang CD. Actually this DTM system was originally a set of CDs, but more recently it is available as a standalone device, including a special speaker and set of earbuds that can produce accurate high-frequency sound which can help with the masking. The web site says "coming soon" for the products, there's no way to buy it from there at the moment, but I got in touch with Mike Petroff directly and was informed that this is temporary, because they are launching a new model in two weeks or so. (A past version of the site at the Internet Archive shows some pictures of a previous version of the device...) Another Tinnitus Talk user who has the device put the price at $600-700.

As for sleeping. I was able to sleep well with the headband with some crickets and flowing water sounds. First good night sleep in over a week.

 

@Aaron44126 I have to say...you are tenacious when it comes to finding a solution. Through your research, you've actually opened my eyes to additional and helpful solutions and I'm super thankful for that. Seriously.

I'm also excited for the Audiobonics system and am definitely going to give that a shot once it hits the market. From what I understand, it's a stand alone masking device for tinnitus?

My headband came in the mail today, but I'm a little hesitant to use it based off of what I've heard within this forum about earbuds and music close to the eardrum. But you said it worked well for you last night?

Anyways...glad to hear you got some sleep and thanks again for the heads up on all of these products!

 

I've now had two consecutive good nights sleep thanks to the headband. I totally understand why one would be hesitant to use it and I think that you should weigh it through carefully (maybe even bring it up with the ENT, today is your appointment right?). I've been looking for any signs that it could be negatively impacting my tinnitus but there are none so far. (Granted, I still don't have a cause for my tinnitus.)

The sound I have playing is a mix of running water, with crickets and a few different kinds of noise running in the background. I think that it sort of sounds like being in the woods with a streaming running nearby. I can still sort of hear the tinnitus over the noise but all of the different sounds prevent my brain from paying much attention to it, falling asleep is easy. The volume does not have to be very loud, and I've even placed the speakers in my headband a little bit away from my ear so that I can hear it well (hopefully safer).

I'll PM you a link to the sound that I am using if you would like to try it.

Anyway, this is what I tend to do... Non-stop research until I find a solution to my problem. (Just, normally it relates to some sort of computer/technical problem, not a problem in my head...) I've been thinking and I'm not sure if I want to use masking or TRT as my primary long-term strategy. I need to read up more on TRT, which I plan to do today... And I'm not buying anything expensive until after I follow the medical options through completely (and my ENT appointment is still two weeks away).