Do You Know Other People Who Have Tinnitus?

I know a lot of people with T

• My dad
• Two of my cousins
• Two close friends (one got it from being in the army, the other blames years of gigs and nightclubs)
• Loads of musicians I know (no way of giving an exact number)
• A few strangers I've met (Two at a Round Table event, and another at my friends bar)

I'm sure I'm forgetting some, but I come across people with T (of varying degrees) all the time. I will usually strike up a conversation with people about it; if there's a reason.

This epidemic is only going to get worse unless more education is introduced around hearing health. Everyone today is either glued to their iPods, or relentlessly blasting their ears through other means.

 

???

That's an odd way of looking at it. If you did that test on me it would be the whole ten minutes. You are asking someone to actively monitor their T by doing that, when what you need to do is the exact opposite.

 

I know quite a few people with tinnitus, and a few days ago I learned that a family friend has severe hearing loss, hyperacusis and tinnitus like me. I had NO idea. She always has a smile on her face, is genuinely a cheerful person. She described it, and it was exactly like mine in how it rings louder to loud noises, how it seems to take over the entire head, and how hearing is distorted in one ear.

She's had it for nearly 20 years, yet lives her life going on vacations, spending time with kids, and doing things she loves.

She talked to me about how upset she felt when it first happened, and everything she said was exactly how I feel now. I cried. After being criticized and essentially mocked on TT for suggesting a person can live their life with severe tinnitus and hyperacusis . . . it was such a relief to realize that I already know someone who is doing just that!

She gave me so much hope that somehow, I'm going be okay.

 

I know a lot of people with tinnitus. All of them manage to cope with it. I am the only one who is unable to live with it.

 

@Frédéric
Well, your T might be different in volume, amount of tones, type of tones, the t in the head or ears or both
You can live it with, you are still alive

 

Only 1 person, my uncle. He has mild T, two tones.
So I don't have nobody in real life that truly understands me. Besides that I have very severe H.
I've never heared of t and h before I got it

 

Apparently my dad has it and so do some of my coworkers, but it's pretty tolerable for them. It must be mild - I've had mild tinnitus for like five years and I didn't give a shit util it became intrusive.

 

My uncle, my dad's friend and that's about it.
Not many people get T. it seems, even my sister who goes to raves and hardcore festivals doesn'nt know anyone who has it, and the music there is loud!

 

If your sister isn't careful she could soon develop tinnitus. It might be a good idea to advise her about wearing earplugs.

 

Yes she wears earplugs. She knows how much i'm suffering with T. She is extra careful now.

 

Good. Also tell her even though she is wearing earplugs they are not 100% safe. One still has to be careful of loud sounds. If external sound is loud enough it can still reach the inner ear by bone conduction. This is when sound will penetrate the skull and reach the inner ear.

 

I understand. I just don't understand why so many people don't develop any T. even after being exposed to very loud music for years and years and some people get it after just one incident.

 

We are not all the same. Don't think that people that go to loud clubs, raves and listen to music through headphones haven't got tinnitus. They probably have but it is masked by everyday external sounds. Late at night when it is very quiet then they will hear tinnitus if they listen for it. By the time the tinnitus becomes loud enough it will be un-maskable then the brain will hear it. I had tinnitus for a long time and didn't know it. I would hear ringing in the night and dismiss it as nothing. In the morning it would be gone as it was masked by daily sounds. One day I heard it loud and very intrusive. It was caused my listening to music through headphones for many years.

 

I think there is a genetic component that makes some people more susceptible, much like with vision.

I wore glasses before I turned eight, so I was not surprised when my oldest child needed glasses early too. Meanwhile, my other child seems to have inherited my spouse's genes and has great eyesight. Both kids treated their eyes the same in terms of strain, proximity to screens, vitamins, etc. but one has vision problems and the other does not.

Also like vision, it's almost inevitable that some hearing problems will happen in old age. It's rare to find a 90 year old with perfect eyesight, likewise it's rare to find a 90 year old with perfect hearing.

Ironically, my 90 year old grandpa has excellent hearing. He had tinnitus from being a military veteran. Said it was horrible, but one day (like almost 30 years after it started) it just went away. Really hoping I have inherited those genes!

 

My dad has it, it's moderate. He's 100% habituated. A guy at work has it, it's probably moderate to. He's 100% habituated to. My mom has mild t.

 

I have this problem with my wife big time. My dad understands only cause he has t to.

 

@MJv : thank you for your support. You are right, I am still alive, but I am only surviving. I don't think it's a question of loudness, pitch or localization of tinnitus.

In fact I found a video about Doctor Yves de Koninck :

Éclaircir les mystères de la...

(but sorry the video is only available in French, so I found these links in English which are less relevant) :
https://neurophotonics.ca/yves-de-koninck-top-10-2013-le-soleil
https://ydklab.org/news/discoveries

This Doctor explained and proves that we are not chemically on an equal footing about the ability to abstract pain.
Please note : he is not specifically speaking about tinnitus (It is we who make the hypothesis that tinnitus is a pain).

 

I believe some types of T are caused by a virus and that virus can spread so be careful around people if you're suffering from colds etc. My own problems emerged after an evening in a loud bar with someone who kept speaking into my ear to be heard. Unfortunately they also produced a mist of saliva every time they spoke. I could feel the stuff on my face.

 

@Frédéric
I disagree with you. Intrusive T can get to the poiny where it is unbearable. Do you really think every T is the same?
And do you believe we are making T like pain? Sorry, but what a ridiculous view of point. I heard exactly the same from a hearing specialist and I was shocked because he made that comparison.
I think, we as sufferers are the best prove of what's real or not.

 

@Blue28
Maybe worth a watch for you

 

@MJv : sorry, but it seems that you have mistaken all my point of view. Maybe it is due to my limitations in English.

I never told that tinnitus is the same (for all). On the contrary, there is an infinity of tinnitus in terms of level, frequency (or type of noise), localization, etc. I said (and studies confirm this) that there no correlation between all these characteristics and the distress experienced by the tinnitus sufferers. For example my tinnitus is mild (since I matched it with an audiologist : around 25 dB), but to me it is very intrusive, it actually drives me crazy. I can relate that : I can pay attention to it everywhere, whatever the surrounding noise level. So yes, my tinnitus is intrusive.

I also said that tinnitus is a real pain by itself (as to be ranked as the same type of back pain, etc.) Don't you think that ? Maybe I have misunderstood your point of view. I wanted to release (with the links above) that this ability to bear pain (ie. tinnitus), which is different from one person to another, is to day chemically proven.

 

On the first point of view I didn't understand, now I do.
I can't believe someone with 1 hiss low sound @ 15 db can experience the same distress as another person with 4 dif type of sounds in ears and head @ 70 db.
Maybe there are other factors involved for you that make it intrusive, it's just a guess...

They compare T to phantom pain. I really don't get this claim.
Sometimes science proves certain things, but I am the sufferer and I am the proof of my distress. And so many more on this forum. For example: TRT has a succes rateof 80%. Where are those proves coming from?
Here on the forum there are maybe just a few people that did TRT.
The point I want to make clear is that science knows a lot but t and h are a big mystery still.

 

@Frédéric
There are similarities between T and chronic pain, also hypothesis.
I don't see T the same as pain. Do you experince it as the same?

https://www.audiology.org/sites/default/files/journal/JAAA_11_03_01.pdf

 

It is often compared to phantom limb pain because T is thought to be, in many cases, a maladaptive plasticity phenomenon resulting from the lack of input to the brain (from hearing loss), which is similar to the lack of input from a limb that doesn't exist anymore.

 

I partly understand the comparison. There are similarities and also hypotheses in the neural plasticity but also differences that need more deep research.
But do you feel that your T causes the same pain as back pain?

 

No, I don't think it's the same kind of pain. It wasn't the same kind of pain either when I had severe H.

I don't think the theories that draw a parallel with a phantom limb are trying to postulate that they are the same kind of pain: I think they are just trying to hypothesize on the underlying mechanisms and their similarities.

 

I found this link :
https://www.iasp-pain.org/Taxonomy

and the definition of pain :
An unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage, or described in terms of such damage.

It could have been a good basis of discussion between us about the definition of pain. But I browsed all the items, and unfortunately, senses (vision, hearing, olfaction...) are excluded (I wonder why). So conditions like tinnitus, hyperacousis, visual snow, phantosmia etc. are not recognized. Even phantom limb pain is not mentionned. I am confused and disappointed. Or may be I missed something.

 

Quite a lot, and every day I meet more. Just now I heard from a client which I've known for two years that he has it as well.

 

Does your T cause you chronic pain?

 

Sometimes when I see people blasting music out of their headphones, especially if I know them, I tell them how dangerous it is what they are doing. I tell them what it feels like, and I explain what they are doing to their hearing. Sometimes they react well, sometimes they don't. But at least it gives me peace of mind to know that I did everything in my power to make sure that they don't get tinnitus.