High-Pitched Dog Whistle on Top of My Normal Tinnitus — Getting Worried, Can This Go Away?

I haven't used Tinnitus Talk in about a year but recently things have taken a turn for the worse and I could really use some support.

So about a week ago, I started hearing a very high pitch dog whistle in my left ear accompanying my tinnitus I've been used to for 2 years. I started worrying maybe I didn't have strong enough earplugs for my band practice, or maybe this was caused by the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine I had about a month ago.

I noticed it 4 nights in a row and tried to shake it off. Then on Father's Day, my sister took me on an hour car ride to my dad's and back where her boyfriend played moderately loud music the whole way. In hindsight, I wish I brought my earplugs(I was in the back). On the way back, I controlled the music and let it be quieter however my sister annoyingly blasted it it for less than a minute because she was arguing and thought it'd be funny to stop the argument. I woke up the next morning and I'm pretty sure that new tone has become much more noticeable. I have taken some NAC and Magnesium everyday since but it isn't going down.

I'm very worried this minor incident has left me with a tone that is very hard to ignore or mask. Is there a chance this new tone can just go away? My original tinnitus started in my right ear due to minor syringing damage and I thought my left might be safe but now it's quite loud and I feel like I'm back at the start. I just want some hope that this can be temporary. This wasn't my fault.

 

Hi, sorry to hear you're experiencing a setback. I also did this to myself (it was solely my fault), playing music too loud in the car. It gave me spikes which have still not fully settled down, and this was back in January of this year.

Unfortunately any exposure to loud music is putting your ears at risk of further damage from tinnitus and hyperacusis, even with earplugs. I know how much it sucks - I've played in bands for 25+ years prior to tinnitus, but for the past two years I have put all concerts and band practices on hold. I was just thinking this year might be the year I tentatively start things up again, until my setback in January.

NAC and magnesium seemed to help me first time around. I haven't really got in the routine again of taking them this time, but things are still slowly settling down (I hope).

I'm playing at a friend's wedding next month - just myself on my keyboard, plus a singer and a violinist. So we'll see how that goes. Obviously going to wear earplugs and if necessary headphones. I'll set up the sound system myself, so that I have no one to blame but myself for any feedback screeches that may occur, as that sound was the cause of some of my most troublesome tones two years ago - wind-chime noises which never stop and get louder when I yawn or turn over in bed. I've learned to suppress/ignore them through mindful breathing together with herbal remedies (Sleepeaze from Boots in the UK).

Best of luck with your progress.

 

Oh, definitely.

It's pretty common for tinnitus to 'spike', or for a new sound to come in temporarily. I've had this happen a couple of times, but it has always gone away again. Sometimes it goes away quickly, sometimes it can take a few weeks.

Keep protecting your ears from loud noise, and stay calm if you can. It's very, very likely to be temporary.

I hope you feel better again soon.

 

Thank you so much, I needed to hear that. Sending an internet hug

 

Quick q, for specifically new tones, is it normal for them to take weeks to subside? And did they occur from noise in your case?

 

I got a new reactive squeaking tone after the COVID-19 vaccine. Hopefully it can go away as it’s very annoying lol.

 

I have gotten new tones to come and go, there are the dominant ones that are always there, but not all new tones stay. I wouldn't be too worried about something you can't really control, move on and don't think too much about it. I would use a sound machine and instead of trying to mask it just focus your attention away from it onto other sounds.

 

Yes, one instance in particular was from a very loud wedding party. I also find that stress can trigger spikes.

I guess each situation is different; sometimes when I have a new tone it only takes a few days to disappear, other times, a few weeks. When I was in the same situation as you in the past, I searched for people going through the same and then checked on their progress. I found it very reassuring that in the majority of cases, the issue completely resolved.

That's why I wanted to reassure you that it is certainly very probable for it to go away - although nobody feels that way at the time!

 

Like everything else with tinnitus, it’s a case by case basis. I had a garbage compactor incident that gave me a new tone in my right ear that lasted months.

Another incident with an extremely distorted speaker at a fast food restaurant gave me a new tone in my left ear that lasted for about 8 hours. I guess the important thing is that in both instances they did go away.

 

In my experience, and from what I've heard; yes, it can take weeks for new tones to subside. I've had tones develop because of dropping things on the floor, and after a few weeks they seem to mostly subside. Oftentimes it can be very subtle when we experience fading. Your tone could be permanent though, but chances are that it may get a lot softer with time, hopefully completely diminish.

 

Looks like you are another COVID-19 vaccine victim.

Did you have fleeting tinnitus occurrences before?

Your tinnitus might subside once the vaccine effect is over.

 

When will the vaccine wear off though?

 

I have got a dog whistle tinnitus after the Pfizer vaccine, it is driving me nuts.

 

Me too. Same sound. Same vaccine. Sometimes it fluctuates up and down in pitch like a car alarm.

 

I have a dog whistle too since a couple of days. I hope that it subsides for us.

 

How is everyone's post vaccine whistle now? Mine is as bad as ever still, a month on from this thread.

 

I thought mine was getting better until 3 days ago when it came back with a vengeance.

 

Everything got better until a couple of weeks ago when I got sick and it transformed into an electric buzz higher pitch after my ears got mucked from the cold.

 

I feel for you. I have the dog whistle/jet engine thing going on too. It has come and gone over the past two years but it’s never been this loud or sustained as it’s been the last two weeks. While it’s bilateral, I experience it mostly in my right ear, which is clearly the loudest.

I have not had any noise trauma.
I have not been COVID-19 vaccinated yet.
I have taken all kinds of nasal antihistamines, decongestants, wearing my retainers at night, heating my TMJ joints. Nothing helps and I can’t find the cause of this. I’m having a hearing test on Thursday although I’m sure it will be unremarkable, as my hearing was last tested in April after I started getting this sporadically and my hearing was fine.

Ugh. I am praying it resolves for all of us.

 

That sucks. I hope it’s just temporary for you.

 

Thank you. It was super quiet yesterday. Back up today.

 

Some hope there.

 

True, but waking up with my heart in my throat every morning wondering what kind of day it is going to be really stinks. Or worse yet, it starts out really quiet and then by lunchtime it is screaming. I have had tinnitus related to hearing loss, which fortunately resolved, but it wasn’t like this. It was not volatile or fluctuating. I couldn’t modulate it with my jaw or the turn of my neck or chewing like I can with this. Maddening. Just maddening. I am only alive for my kids.

 

Do you have hearing loss? Hearing aids?

 

I’ve had some measurable hearing loss in my left ear but considered mild. However, at my last hearing exam in May, everything in the left ear measured within normal limits. Right ear fine. But at the end of the day, 5 dB one way or the other is the standard deviation and the tests are highly variable. I have two frequencies in my left ear that are now right at 25 dB, the cut off for normal hearing.

I learned today that I have three higher frequencies in the right ear that have now experienced a threshold change. They’re going to give me a short dose of steroids. But they are all within normal limits of hearing. I was told today by my ENT that I actually have really good hearing for my age, which is 54. I always thought people started to have hearing shifts in their 60s but evidently it starts in your 40s. Unless of course, do you have a noise trauma.

 

Does the squeak sound like basketball players when their shoes are on the court?

 

It can at times yeah, lol.

 

Mine sounds like a combination of a dentist drill and the ultra high pitch car brakes you hear in car parks sometimes.

 

Yes at times.

 

If I didn't have this, my quality of life would be so much better. I hear it over S and Sh's when people talk its a constant painful reminder.