Best Type of Masking Noise

[Kelvin]

I am trying really hard to find a suitable sound to distract me from my T but not having much success.

I undertand form various threads that whatever sound I use it should have a volume below my T level.

My T is a high pitched about 8000hz HISSSSSS. It sounds exactly like Cicadas. It reacts with louder HISSSSSing to the sound of some metallic ( cutlery ) and water ( flushing toilets ) type noises.

Just wondered if anyone with a similar T found a soothing and distracting type of sound ?

Have tried various types White, Brown, Pink etc noise samples but all have made it worse to date.

I know Bass sounds are more comfortable to listen too but not many samples are Bass based.

Any help much appreciated X

 

[racerfish]

I know for my T if the volume is too loud, it definitely makes my T worse, so I keep the volume setting relatively low. As for sounds, I think that's very individual, but I settled on a rain + white noise combo on a sound machine I got from Brookstone that I like. You could also try various apps and hook your phone up to bluetooth speakers which I'm sure would be just as good.

 

[AdamR]

I would suggest playing cicadas or cricket videos. Perhaps even running tap.

 

[Kelvin]

I would suggest playing cicadas or cricket videos. Perhaps even running tap.

But that makes it louder ? It reacts to it.

 

[Kelvin]

I know for my T if the volume is too loud, it definitely makes my T worse, so I keep the volume setting relatively low. As for sounds, I think that's very individual, but I settled on a rain + white noise combo on a sound machine I got from Brookstone that I like. You could also try various apps and hook your phone up to bluetooth speakers which I'm sure would be just as good.

Thanks. Will try some rain.

 

[Steve]

Hi Kelvin. Have you tried the sounds on our audio player?

Main page, scroll a little and it's the green box on the right side.

 

[Kelvin]

Hi Kelvin. Have you tried the sounds on our audio player?

Main page, scroll a little and it's the green box on the right side.

Yes I have, and thanks for that.
I think I must be missing something though, as pretty much any external sound (on a bad day ) seems to make it HISSS worse. Its like you see on films when the cowboy pokes the rattle snake
Bassy sounds are not so bad ( like thunder ) but it reacts badly to anything remotely high pitched i.e white noise, rain, crickets, cutlery, flushing loos etc etc.
Nothing I do masks or hides it on a bad day.
On a good day it doesn't react to external sounds at all.
Weirdest thing I have ever encountered in my 50 years on this planet.
Oh to be gifted...!

 

[InfiniteLoop]

@Kelvin:

My favorite masking is the Impulse noise available at MyNoise.net. I use just the two highest equalizing bars, and that really hides my high frequency T without the usual wall of sound offered by other noises. In general, MyNoise.net in either PC or App version is a great source of masking and sound environments, and basically free.

 

[Steve]

Yes I have, and thanks for that.
I think I must be missing something though, as pretty much any external sound (on a bad day ) seems to make it HISSS worse. Its like you see on films when the cowboy pokes the rattle snake
Bassy sounds are not so bad ( like thunder ) but it reacts badly to anything remotely high pitched i.e white noise, rain, crickets, cutlery, flushing loos etc etc.
Nothing I do masks or hides it on a bad day.
On a good day it doesn't react to external sounds at all.
Weirdest thing I have ever encountered in my 50 years on this planet.
Oh to be gifted...!

I am having a spike at the moment and the tone is the same as you describe, it's almost like an electrical wire running through my head. I'm buggered if I can mask it or effect it with audio like I can with my other tones, although it didn't bother me while I was in the gym today.

It may be related to a cold that's been sitting on me but not coming out, maybe a slight ear infection. I also think it has a physical cause, related to my jaw / neck area. My ears are feeling a bit dulled and I have too much tension around the neck. A few old rugby injuries and an old work one don't help matters around there...

Have you got neck or jaw problems that you know of? And if so could they correlate to the sound?

 

[Kelvin]

I am having a spike at the moment and the tone is the same as you describe, it's almost like an electrical wire running through my head. I'm buggered if I can mask it or effect it with audio like I can with my other tones, although it didn't bother me while I was in the gym today.

It may be related to a cold that's been sitting on me but not coming out, maybe a slight ear infection. I also think it has a physical cause, related to my jaw / neck area. My ears are feeling a bit dulled and I have too much tension around the neck. A few old rugby injuries and an old work one don't help matters around there...

Have you got neck or jaw problems that you know of? And if so could they correlate to the sound?

Thats the noise - like an electric current about 8000hz. Also sounds like Cicadas
Lifetime of neck and shoulder problems - Architect !
Im pretty sure I grind my teeth a night also - Married !
Never had T though before my dental work and then bingo...! Blood, gore and T.

 

[Steve]

Thats the noise - like an electric current about 8000hz. Also sounds like Cicadas
Lifetime of neck and shoulder problems - Architect !
Im pretty sure I grind my teeth a night also - Married !
Never had T though before my dental work and then bingo...! Blood, gore and T.

Ah yeah, hadn't spotted the dental work cause there.

Yes also like Cicada's for me. If I press my jaw back I get an increased, high pitched tone. I had a massage today and it feels like it helped a little, usually I only know after a sleep, never seems to sort it straight away.

Jaw tension is a big factor for me, guessing it may be for you too. Grinding teeth, general tension, finding sometimes during the day I have my teeth clenched. Also if I'm lifting heavier weights at the gym it makes this annoying sound all the louder.

 

[Steve]

@Kelvin I woke up this morning and that noise has pretty much gone. I still have 3 other tones but that irritating buzz has all but disappeared.

Yesterday the massage therapist said I had either T1 or T2 popped out at the top of my spine. She cracked it back in, nothing changed at the tine but after sleeping it has. She did say I need to see an osteopath if it happens again as she isn't really qualified to do that sort of thing.

It may not necessarily be the same thing for you but I would recommend getting it checked out. I'm going to ask someone in the know if they think this type of noise usually correlates to a particular physical cause.

 

[JurgenG]

This one saved my sleep: Sound Pillow app.
I have one on my iPhone and one on my iPad.
One is connected to a speaker and another to a pillow with a speaker inside.

The nice thing about the app is that you can make a mix of sound, and you don't hear it loop.

 

[Kelvin]

@Kelvin I woke up this morning and that noise has pretty much gone. I still have 3 other tones but that irritating buzz has all but disappeared.

Yesterday the massage therapist said I had either T1 or T2 popped out at the top of my spine. She cracked it back in, nothing changed at the tine but after sleeping it has. She did say I need to see an osteopath if it happens again as she isn't really qualified to do that sort of thing.

It may not necessarily be the same thing for you but I would recommend getting it checked out. I'm going to ask someone in the know if they think this type of noise usually correlates to a particular physical cause.

Great to hear buddy...I am convinced my T started with neck, shoulder, jaw problems and the dental treatment just made it noticeable. Will seek a therapists to give me a good rubbing

 

[Ed209]

Ah yeah, hadn't spotted the dental work cause there.

Yes also like Cicada's for me. If I press my jaw back I get an increased, high pitched tone. I had a massage today and it feels like it helped a little, usually I only know after a sleep, never seems to sort it straight away.

Jaw tension is a big factor for me, guessing it may be for you too. Grinding teeth, general tension, finding sometimes during the day I have my teeth clenched. Also if I'm lifting heavier weights at the gym it makes this annoying sound all the louder.

My tinnitus also screams violently loud when I open my mouth wide. That's the somatic element to my T.

@Kelvin, high pitched sounds generally aggregate my T as well. I get a sizzling sensation in my head/ears, so it's probably what people refer to as reactive T on here; which is probably a mild form of H in reality.

I never mask mine, which some say is a bad thing, but it's what works for me. Masking has always caused me more irritation, overall, than relief. When everything's super quiet and I'm in bed I just lie there and go to sleep. My brain is hardened to the cocophany of noise - that's all over my head and ears - to the point that I shut it out/ignore it. I think it's interference on us is hugely affected by our reaction to it. I know we've heard it a million times before but it's 100% true, and I'm well beyond mild T (something I had for over 10 years).

PS, this is not me advising you to not use masking, it's just my experience. I know masking is a valuable tool to a lot of people.

 

[Starthrower]

I am trying really hard to find a suitable sound to distract me from my T but not having much success.

I undertand form various threads that whatever sound I use it should have a volume below my T level.

My T is a high pitched about 8000hz HISSSSSS. It sounds exactly like Cicadas. It reacts with louder HISSSSSing to the sound of some metallic ( cutlery ) and water ( flushing toilets ) type noises.

Just wondered if anyone with a similar T found a soothing and distracting type of sound ?

Have tried various types White, Brown, Pink etc noise samples but all have made it worse to date.

I know Bass sounds are more comfortable to listen too but not many samples are Bass based.



Any help much appreciated X

Wow. As you can read my tinnitus was the result of dental surgery gone wrong back in 2002.

Like you the sounds I use are low bass sounding. I had to find certain songs that had that quality and recorded them and made my own music therapy type of recording. I also found using a cassette tape (yeah the old thing) worked much better for reasons I cannot explain. On the digital players there is this quality of purity in the recording which my tinnitus and brain cannot take.

Any high pitched type of masking or tinny sounding sounds or high pitched violin sounds.....are horrible for me.

I wonder if this is due to nerve damage done to my inner ear?

Good luck and keep searching.

 

[glynis]

I think any music in the day that you like and can relax to Will work best for you as we are all different.
At night its best to have a sound that stays at one level and stays the same like white noise or pink etc but again ,what ever you find relaxes you kept set below your tinnitus like a fan or sea as a example...
Playing songs won't work as you listen out for what song is coming up next and your brain gets over stimulated so best use a natural sound...hope that helps...lots of love glynis

 

[Steve]

I wonder if this is due to nerve damage done to my inner ear?

It is interesting that I have experienced the same thing from time to time, that now appears to be directly linked to this spinal alignment from various injuries I've had. I wonder if we are talking about the same nerve? Is your related sound a buzzing / cicada / electrical crackling type at higher pitch?

I'm creating a survey at the moment to look a little deeper into the physical relationship we have to tinnitus. I'm hoping to be able to tease out a lot of these relationships and get a better understanding. I'll add a question on dental work.

 

[Starthrower]

Steve this link has some info.
https://www.mayfieldclinic.com/PE-Glossopharyngeal.HTM

I have always had the non-stop noise of screeching metal in my brain immediately following my dental surgery. At times in the beginning it was also that vibration of air hissing out of a teeny hole in the ear drum sound. It was so awful in the beginning stages and for one year. I also developed hyperacusis. And I was house bound for an entire year. I was unable to drive or even go to the grocery store.

It kinda is weird to talk about those days. Now I am back into life and doing regular things again. But remember it has been 15 years now. There are a few days when I have the "set-back" feelings. I ride it out. Get back up dust off my ass and move forward again.

It isn't so much a ringing or the eeeeeeeee sounds.

Back then I did so much research on this. I put it all away a few years back now.

It would help to include dental work as an option to discuss. But, as I found most "experts" will dismiss this cause for various "educated" reasons. But I know - because it happened to me.

 

[Steve]

It would help to include dental work as an option to discuss. But, as I found most "experts" will dismiss this cause for various "educated" reasons. But I know - because it happened to me.

I still feel despair at some of the responses we hear to people like us in the past and all too often to patients today. I was never asked about any associations to mine in the times I sought medical help.

There are so many different things going on at the cause level for tinnitus, physical associations either as a cause or becoming associated are pretty big. On a simple question from the survey last year we had 38% who had jaw or neck problems. I think that when we ask deeper questions about the physical links we will likely find a higher number.

Hopefully this will help us all to look to the physical and understand that at least here is a way we can maybe help.to make some improvements for ourselves.

 

[Kelvin]

My tinnitus also screams violently loud when I open my mouth wide. That's the somatic element to my T.

@Kelvin, high pitched sounds generally aggregate my T as well. I get a sizzling sensation in my head/ears, so it's probably what people refer to as reactive T on here; which is probably a mild form of H in reality.

I never mask mine, which some say is a bad thing, but it's what works for me. Masking has always caused me more irritation, overall, than relief. When everything's super quiet and I'm in bed I just lie there and go to sleep. My brain is hardened to the cocophany of noise - that's all over my head and ears - to the point that I shut it out/ignore it. I think it's interference on us is hugely affected by our reaction to it. I know we've heard it a million times before but it's 100% true, and I'm well beyond mild T (something I had for over 10 years).

PS, this is not me advising you to not use masking, it's just my experience. I know masking is a valuable tool to a lot of people.

Wow that all sounds very familiar.

Mine is exactly a you describe 'sizzling'. I call it hissing, but sizzling or fizzing are also great descriptions. It feels like it is in my head rather than my ears.

External high pitched and water sounds make it hiss / fizz louder.

Its exactly like when you take a first gulp of a fizzy drink - that odd sensation the carbonated gas produces in your head

Like you...I lie in bed listening to the Sizzling Symphony and at some point my brain ignores it and I sleep.

Haven't found any sounds that help and have stopped worrying that I am missing something.

When its really reacting I usually put on some UK RAF ear defenders I bought at a military surplus store £10 labelled as 'Peltors' and used apparently when working around jets. They take out the reactive part but the head 'fizzing' carries on in my head.

Such a damn odd thing to get used too, but thanks so much for your help. Its kind of reassuring to know your not the only one and not losing the plot !

Sizzle brother from another mother !

 

[Kelvin]

Wow. As you can read my tinnitus was the result of dental surgery gone wrong back in 2002.

Like you the sounds I use are low bass sounding. I had to find certain songs that had that quality and recorded them and made my own music therapy type of recording. I also found using a cassette tape (yeah the old thing) worked much better for reasons I cannot explain. On the digital players there is this quality of purity in the recording which my tinnitus and brain cannot take.

Any high pitched type of masking or tinny sounding sounds or high pitched violin sounds.....are horrible for me.

I wonder if this is due to nerve damage done to my inner ear?

Good luck and keep searching.

Yep I can only tolerate bass sounds when its really bad.
I never had T pre-dentist but did have neck problems and teeth grinding.
Not sure quite what happened but something did.
I didn't think a nerve was damaged in my case at it was a simple filling.
I did however endure some pretty brutal jaw forces and that damn high psyche drill for about Thirty minutes.
Then BINGO ! Blood, gore and hissing...
I hope you find some peace buddy.