How Do You Do Sound Therapy?

I was just wondering how people actually go about doing their sound therapy.

Do you do it now and then throughout the day, or all day long?

Are you just playing it through external speakers, what about people around you?

Do you try to focus on the sound rather than your tinnitus noise?

No matter what you're listening to is it always best to have the volume set just below your tinnitus noise?

Does anyone have a suggestion for a good sound machine I could use at night?

 

Anyone that has tinnitus should use sound therapy especially at night. Please click on the links below and read my articles on tinnitus.

Michael

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/thread...ise-generators-for-the-tinnitus-newbie.18130/

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/should-i-mask-my-tinnitus.17964/

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/tinnitus-a-personal-view.18668/

 

I was looking at the Sound Oasis machines you recommended to someone else but they seem to have plenty of poor reviews on Amazon. This one though "Sound+Sleep High Fidelity Sleep Sound Machine"(https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002SMJQT4/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1) has pretty good reviews. Do you think this would be a good one to get?

 

I have 3 Oasis sound machines and all are good. Oasis: S-5000, S-650, S-850 . The sound machine that you have quoted isn't an Oasis model but looks good too so the choice is yours.

Michael

 

A Leading tinnitus expert told me that when using wearable white noise generators that the volume should be set in the morning in a quiet room at a level that is as low as possible without needing to strain to hear it and that how loud your tinnitus is should not come into it, and they should not be adjusted during the day.

 

That’s interesting. What if you cannot hear the noise generators after you leave the quiet room? How does that help your brain to focus on a different sound and ignore your tinnitus?

 

Yeah i'm not sure about that either, but the reasoning i believe was that your using the sound to try and help desensitze the brain from both the therapy sound and the tinnitus and that you can't desensitze to a sound that keeps on changing in volume.

Which is why i have been unable to habituate to my new tinnitus, it keeps changing in pitch and volume and location, today is the worst it has ever been and i'm not sure this is viable in the long term.

 

when is still fluctuating it can still go lower or even disappear

 

That is correct.

I have worn white noise generators as part of TRT for 2 years, and still wear them occasionally. They should be put on in the morning and their volume set just below the tinnitus and then left alone. Some people tend to adjust the level (turn them up) when out on the street because the sound of traffic masks the sound of the white noise generators. This is incorrect. If the white noise generators volume is constantly adjusted it will hinder or stop the habituation process.

The brain habituates to the white noise generators when they are left alone and at a constant level. Over time the tinnitus is then pushed further into the background making it less noticeable. If hyperacusis is present the white noise generators will also treat it by desensitising the auditory system.

Michael

 

I hope your right but... it's been 8 months now since it went to severe level and has just continued to get worse, when i said mine changes in volume it's just a change between severe and i can't take this anymore, i don't get any of the good days that people talk about on here.

 

Sorry to hear that your tinnitus has become worse. If it is not an underlying medical problem that has caused it to increase, the other likely cause is "sound". If you have been using headphones, going to places where loud music is played or working in a noisy environment. Tinnitus doesn't usually get worse without something causing it. It might be a good idea to see a Hearing Therapist or Audiologist who's trained in the treatment and management of tinnitus.

Michael

 

Don't worry, you're not alone. Many of us in here have our T stuck in "severe gear" 24x7.

 

I have the same question as @Screamin Ears. How do you habituate to tinnitus that continually fluctuates in volume?

I understand the recommended “set it right under your tinnitus in a quiet room” but for people with fluctuating tinnitus, how does that help once they walk out of that room? When you spend the rest of the day easily able to hear your tinnitus but cannot hear the white noise? I thought the point was to hear both the white noise and your tinnitus. If I can only hear my tinnitus and not the white noise, how can the white noise help my brain ignore the tinnitus?

My tinnitus continually fluctuates up and down to sound. Drive in my car, it’s louder. Walk into my quiet house and it quiets down. Run water in the sink, louder it rings. Turn off the water and it settles down a few seconds later. It’s like a roller coaster all day, every day.

 

Was fine before being unnecessarily put on extended course of antibiotics.

Have seen an audiologist who reckons she knows how to treat tinnitus for months but hasn't helped, currently taking part in a uni study into hearing aids for tinnitus, wore the aids for 14 hours on wednesday and woke up thursday with a massive spike which still hasn't gone away.

 

Thank you for the additional information. Some medicines can make tinnitus worse including the one that you have mentioned. Did you listen to music through headphones prior to the increase in your tinnitus or attend places where loud music is played? Work in a noisy environment? Play computer games using headphones? Go regularly to the cinema? Whilst it's possible antibiotics could be the cause it might be something else responsible for the tinnitus increase.

The Audiologist that you have seen may know how treat tinnitus hopefully she will be able to help you. When using hearing aid/s or white noise generators for the first time. I usually advise people to introduce them slowly to the auditory system as a "spike" can occur as in your case. Try wearing the hearing aid for 1hr or 2hr. Then remove them for the same time. Slowly build up the wearing time over a few weeks until you are able to wear them continuously all day without your tinnitus spiking. I advise that you use a sound machine at night by your bedside.

The fact that you have been prescribed hearing aids means that you have hearing loss. As you know hearing loss can cause tinnitus. Hopefully it will reduce once your auditory system and brain gets used to the hearing aids. This does take time.

All the best
Michael

 

None of the above.

ENT asked a lot of questions when i saw him 8 months ago and believed there was nothing else going on that could have caused it other than the antbiotics.

The audiologist wasn't helpful at all, just told me that having the tv or radio on low in the background will mask it, i told her it doesn't mask it because it's too loud, she was very surprised when i told her that i can hear my tinnitus under the shower with the radio playing.

 

I am a little puzzled by this and don't know what to recommend that might help you. It must be the antibiotics that caused the increase in your tinnitus which is unfortunate. Perhaps wearing white noise generators? Not to mask your tinnitus but to set them below the noise. You could try clonazepam. I know it's a Benzo but it helps me when my tinnitus is severe and you don't have to take it too regularly. Just something to consider trying if the noise gets too loud.

Hope you are able to get some help.
All the best
Michael

 

According to my audiologist yesterday and the fact sheet she gave me the WNG should be worn for at least 6 hours a day but no longer. Initially put the WNG so can't hear tinnitus (I can't still hear mine because it's low pitch) but then reduce the WNG so it mixes and then drop it slightly so that the tinnitus is above the sound of the WNG. It should then be worn for those 6 hours wherever you are irrespective of where you are and what noise there is.