Exposed to Too Much Silence — Tinnitus Spiked, Habituation Gone

I have gotten some level of habituation of my tinnitus.

However I was working for several weeks in a place too much quiet and my tinnitus tone got higher and my habituation went to zero.

Could the tinnitus tone change because of working in places too quiet?

 

I'm only 5 weeks in, but I have noticed if I spend 2 days in total quiet, it does seem to get louder the next day, and hyper-acusis comes back somewhat.

I think the ears need a bit of healthy daily sound to heal somewhat.

 

Are you over protecting?

 

I was working from home several days. It was not in purpose the overprotection.

 

I don't think this is a permanent increase. Perhaps you hearing it more because it was so quiet and then you were thinking about it more which ramps it up.

Once you get back to work it should pass.

 

I;m going through the same thing somewhat...i broke my habituation by obsessing over it and now i hear it everywhere

 

Really? It's the opposite for me. If I spend days in a quiet place my tinnitus seems lower and more tolerable, but if I spend too much time in moderately noisy places it often gets worse much more bothersome.

 

I think it's different for everyone, for me my T is quieter the more noise i expose it to (but not too much noise or it will damage my ears.)...but if i sit around too much in quietness my T becomes very "present" and i go crazy. That's why i have the TV on all the time set at a decent level and/or go to the grocery store every other day.

 

I am sorry to hear this @coffee_girl as you have been doing so well. Habituation can happen again. Try diverting your attention to other things that you like doing, using low level sound enrichment whenever possible and especially at night. Some people do not use sound enrichment at night which is not a good idea. Sound enrichment at night isn't meant to assist or encourage sleep. It is to supply the brain and auditory system with low level sound so that the brain, does not increase it's background activity and also the tinnitus if it hears silence, as the brain and auditory system do not switch off.

Michael

 

Quiet rooms and surroundings are not good for anyone with tinnitus. Whenever possible use low level sound enrichment to help prevent the brain from increasing its background activity, which will also increase the tinnitus. This is especially important at night, when it's very quiet. It is a good idea to place a sound machine by the bedside for sound enrichment.

Michael

 

@coffee_girl
I expect you have tried meditation
(or deep relaxation.)
If you sit / lay quietly, ask your tummy to take over your breathing for you, it will assume it’s own natural rhythm and calm you down.

Have no background sounds on and no masking.

The idea is to hear your own sounds, but without listening to them.
By means of purely natural diaphragmatic breathing you may drift off into a lovely meditational doze, where there is no anger, no emotional response to anything.
By hearing your sound in an atmosphere of comfort and peace you may find that you acclimatise to it more easily.

It does work for me.
I’d love to think it would work for you.
Forgive my interruption.
Dave x

PS - this way, silence will cease to be your enemy.
Of course I realise that we are all very different, and our approach to things will also be different.
I just thought it may ??? help you.
xx

 

I avoid as much silence as possible at home (window open, TV and computer on). My hyperacusis quickly disappeared because of that I think. My tinnitus does not seem to spike because of the noise. On the contrary, it fades easily when exposed to noise.

So maybe you should avoid total silence for now? I'm kinda new (1 month in) so I'm not an expert and each case is different of course!

Take care. You can do it again!

 

Consider yourself lucky then. I don't mean that in a derogatory way, but having to avoid even moderate noise is a real pain. Even if it likely only means a temporary spike, it's just not worth it.

I agree, though, it's different for everyone. That's why a one size fits all approach with tinnitus or hypearcusis will never work.

 

This is one of the most frustrating aspects for me. I wake up most mornings to fairly quiet tinnitus. As the day goes on and I’m exposed to more sounds the tinnitus increases. As a result I’m happier in quiet spaces. Trying to mask with sound makes tinnitus louder. It’s like the tinnitus demands to be the loudest thing in the room. I’d love to get to the point where this is maskable. In a 65 dB room I’m miserable. It’s making the days I work the most stressful days I have. I don’t know how to make this better.

 

I've been reading this forum over the past 29 months, and I have never read about this happening to anyone else. I have read about it changing for the worse for no apparent reason...

 

Hi Michael I was thinking the same way that you need some sound so your brain doesn't crank the volume up. But according to this theory TRT should work then but we know that that is not the case. TRT is not effective. Also if you have hearing loss and you use hearing aids that give back auditory input your brain is missing that should at least quieten the tinnitus a bit. Again we know that this is not the case. I and many people here on Tinnitus Talk have hearing loss and using hearing aids doesn't make any difference to the tinnitus loudness. Not only that but hearing aids make it even worse for me. This is so unfortunate as it is show us that we still don't know much about tinnitus. And we never will.

 

Working in quiet place have nothing to do with the tinnitus increase.

 

I think the spike is lowering but I am too obsessed over it.

 

+1 for silence improving tinnitus/hyperacusis, and noise exposure worsening it.

 

This tinnitus spike is fading out but very slowly. The anxiety on the other side is higher than ever. My English is very bad but I would try to explain what I think produced this spike. The day before the spike begun I was in a site similar to a bank (it was a pretty small site) where you have to take a number to be attended and wait to be called. The speakers that announced what number will be attended sound pretty loud (75 - 80 dBs), I was using my earplugs so I wasn't worried at all, however, when I was being attended, I have to pull out the earplugs to hear what the employee was saying to me and during that time at least 3 times the speakers sound loudly for other numbers to be attended and the speakers were in the ceiling room above me. (I haven't found where the speakers are)

I was so habituated that I was able to read boring books in complete silence and sleep sometimes without masking. Right now I am almost as the beginning. In the CBT they taught when I think the tinnitus will be worst, that was distorted thinking, not a fact. Now when I think my tinnitus will be worst for me is a fact not distorted thinking, so now I am more afraid than ever.

 

But you've said that your spike is reducing??

 

Yes, I think is lowering.

 

https://7sage.com/forums/discussion/13516/tinnitus-special-accommodations-and-bring