- Mar 18, 2018
- 6
- Tinnitus Since
- 1970
- Cause of Tinnitus
- Hearing loss and loud noise exposure
New to this site - hoping for some input
Having suffered from tinnitus for many years, I finally found a place to share my symptoms and learn from others suffering from this constant annoyance.
My story - Way back in the late 60's and early 70's I worked in a very noisy environment with no ear protection (pre OSHA). The "fix" back then was to use cigarette filters in your ears. Since I was never a smoker, I never tried that.
One machine in particular had a very high pitched whine. I recall hearing a gurgling in my inner ear if I moved my head around while running that machine. I found out much later that that was the fluid in my inner ear and the violent movement was damaging my hearing. Even though I had moderate hearing issues since childhood, the tinnitus didn't start until after the noise exposure and has been continuous since then - over 50 years. I learned to live with it and got pretty good at ignoring it. Multiple mid-range tones mixed with a high pitched whistle have been my constant companion. I fall asleep by using the tinnitus as background noise as I sing songs in my head - don't laugh, it works for me!
I began wearing hearing aids in the 90's and just recently purchased my 4th pair ($3400 - OUCH!) This is the reason I am here. For some reason, I am having a severe distortion problem with these new aids. I have had them checked and rechecked by my long time audiologist who I trust completely. With all the bells and whistles these new aids have, she can't seem to get them adjusted to compensate for this distortion. Until I started reading the posts on this forum, I had never considered that the tinnitus itself might be causing the distortion.
I guess I need to know if anyone else has had an issue with hearing aid distortion due to tinnitus. And, why would it only crop up with these new - high tech - hearing aids?
Having suffered from tinnitus for many years, I finally found a place to share my symptoms and learn from others suffering from this constant annoyance.
My story - Way back in the late 60's and early 70's I worked in a very noisy environment with no ear protection (pre OSHA). The "fix" back then was to use cigarette filters in your ears. Since I was never a smoker, I never tried that.

One machine in particular had a very high pitched whine. I recall hearing a gurgling in my inner ear if I moved my head around while running that machine. I found out much later that that was the fluid in my inner ear and the violent movement was damaging my hearing. Even though I had moderate hearing issues since childhood, the tinnitus didn't start until after the noise exposure and has been continuous since then - over 50 years. I learned to live with it and got pretty good at ignoring it. Multiple mid-range tones mixed with a high pitched whistle have been my constant companion. I fall asleep by using the tinnitus as background noise as I sing songs in my head - don't laugh, it works for me!

I began wearing hearing aids in the 90's and just recently purchased my 4th pair ($3400 - OUCH!) This is the reason I am here. For some reason, I am having a severe distortion problem with these new aids. I have had them checked and rechecked by my long time audiologist who I trust completely. With all the bells and whistles these new aids have, she can't seem to get them adjusted to compensate for this distortion. Until I started reading the posts on this forum, I had never considered that the tinnitus itself might be causing the distortion.
I guess I need to know if anyone else has had an issue with hearing aid distortion due to tinnitus. And, why would it only crop up with these new - high tech - hearing aids?