How Often Do You Mask?

@Dr. Nagler draws a useful comparison between the heightened acuity of our vision in a dark environment (pupil dilation etc.) and our heightened sensitivity to sound in a silent environment.

That makes sense but I notice something else. A silent environment initially brings T into the foreground. There is nothing else to focus upon so we focus on the sound of our T and it seems ultra-loud. But after lying in bed for a while listening to T while trying to get to sleep, I usually find something strange happening. The central T tone will begin to reduce in intensity. When it recedes, a metallic hiss becomes the dominant sound. This hissing is less bothersome than the high-pitched pure tone. Anyhow, I usually fall asleep pretty soon after that point. I guess this means that my T must have a reactive component. So it seems that the analogy between sight and vision (and how they react to lack of stimulus) is only valid up to a point or is not valid in every case. T is a complex phenomenon as we all know.

 

@Dr. Nagler

thank you for answering this. Appreciated!

 

Thanks RichL....appreciated!! It was a genuine question which Dr. Nagler has kindly answered.
However, I am still waiting for @Jesse Pinkman to prove how I have a negative attitude to Dr. Nagler. He made the statement again and again and I have asked him to qualify this statement. Otherwise Jesse I can accept that you made a mistake and would appreciate an apology from you. Thank you. I will say no more about it.......

 

You are welcome.

Now I have a question for you, OK?

Yesterday you asked me the following question [in Post #14]:

"Please explain why you suggest that we use sound enrichment even when we sleep etc...yet you don't do this."

Then less than an hour later you asked me again [in Post #16]:

"If you can be in silence without it being harmful in any way, then why do you suggest to others that they should always be in a sound enriched environment including when they are sleeping?"

And then some three hours later you asked me to hurry up and answer [in Post #18]:

"any chance of a reply please to my above post and question
much appreciated and looking forward to your early response"

My question to you, @amandine, is: What was the urgency? It's a serious question. To the best of my knowledge I have always responded to your inquiries. But asking three times in the span of slightly over four hours, don't you think that's expecting a little much?

Dr. Stephen Nagler

 

@Dr. Nagler

Fair enough to ask me. Apologies genuine if you felt hassled.......didn't mean to hassle you.
First time I asked you fine
Second time I asked you was to clarify my question to explain why I was asking.
Third time I asked was because someone else had posted and I didnt want my question to get lost along the thread as someone else had already posted in between first and second time I asked.
After that I repeated my question cos I really wanted it to be answered by you a qualified doctor and not by a lay member of this forum. Following on from this same lay member tried to throw the thread off topic so I repeated my question,,,,,,,,, and thank you for answering it.
Reason for asking and urgency is this:
I have been using sound at night cos I understood that it was detrimental to the auditory system to be in silence. I have found it annoying especially trying to find some sound from you tube or other sound i have saved on my laptop. A lot of the time I find it irritating at night to have sound. The only source of noise I have is my laptop. It has been on continually to provide sound all night. The new battery charger on the laptop burned it self out. I had to buy a new one.
So lately I have reverted back to sleeping in silence and sitting in silence in my bedroom. However I have been extremely concerned that I may be causing damage to my hearing.
This condition kind of makes one a bit hysterical sometimes...........not knowing what is the right thing to do in regard to protection from further damage.
By the time yesterday came along I was pretty well worked up - can I sleep without sound or not and I guess I just needed to know if this was causing me damage or not. You said that you sleep in silence but I couldnt understand as you also have damaged ears and auditory system. You said that the hearing is strained by silence but today I understand that is not the case.
So now I know that I can sleep in silence without concerns that it is causing me damage. So fine now with that.......thank you.....
hopefully you can understand my rather badly written post here?

 

@Markku

Ah ok! That's fine then...thanks

 

No need to apologize, @amandine. I didn't feel hassled at all. It takes a whole lot more than repeating a question on a message board to hassle me. I just couldn't figure out what the urgency was.

So if I understand you right, the urgency was that you were curious.

Here's my thinking. There are things that have to do with tinnitus that are outside of your control, and there are things that have to do with tinnitus that are very much within your control. Asking the same non-emergency question several times on a message board before the person to whom you are addressing that question has had a chance to consider the question and compose a response? Now that is something that is very much within your control. I have posted on several occasions about the importance of driving your own bus instead of letting tinnitus drive your bus. Well, it all starts with you!

Kind regards -

Dr. Stephen Nagler

 

@Dr. Nagler
If I may, Id like to explain my theory of why she did this. It may not be 100% true, but Im pretty sure there is some truth to it. I believe she were stressed by my accusations and therefore acted irrationally. She got angry by the accusations and some of the anger floated towards you not answering fast enough. I dont blame her though, anyone can act irrationally under stress, especially with a screaming T.

 

Possibly so, my friend. Possibly so.

Which brings up the obvious question. This is a Support forum. Why accuse her of anything at all?

Dr. Stephen Nagler

 

Good question. My answer would be that sometimes support and accusations are two sides of the same coin. I supported you by accusing her.

 

No I was not curious. I needed to know as I had explained.....I did not want to do anything detrimental to my hearing by staying in silence. That is why I needed an answer and I did want it to get lost in the thread. You had said before that sitting or sleeping in silence does strain the hearing and therefore it was not a good idea. However you have now clarified this.....it does not harm the hearing system...so it therefore does not place a strain on the hearing system. Thank you for your answer.....it was confusing before but now it is clear.............

 

Is that an apology Jesse?
By the way, I was not irrational at all and again you are speaking on my behalf. Please I have asked you not to do this. thank you

 

And you believe that a delay of one day or perhaps two would have made a difference in the grand scheme of things? Like if I didn't answer right then and there, it never would have happened? OK.

Staying in silence does not do anything physically detrimental to your hair cells - but if your goal is habituation, I would try to avoid silence as much as possible. Perhaps download the "Simply Noise" app to your smartphone, and play the pink noise band softly in the background.

Dr. Stephen Nagler

 

Yes that is exactly what i believed.

Dont use a smartphone.....for a variety of reasons...........but will do when i start to use one....
As i said the only noise producing machine i have with me at the moment is my laptop.....
thanks

 

Bringing this back to see if anybody else sits in silence or prefers consistent masking....i know that the reality is nobody can really say what is the correct thing to do but i do notice when i try to just do things in silence it appears to grow louder...i stay calm but i def can tell there is an increase..if it could only stay at the level I initially here it at i wouldnt have a problem but it never seems to work out. I was in a class yeaterday and no mater how hard i tried to just focus on my professors words the silence of the room plus the tinnitus did not work out well...it was only after i began to draw pictures that my T faded a bit to the backround.

 

@Jomo - I prefer to mask, in fact I have to - I hate the sound of it. Sounds like my brain is sizzling in a frying pan.... Ugh, I can hear it now.

 

Most of the time day and night.....lots of love glynis

 

Always at home, it's too quiet lol. I purple noise from an iphone app.

 

After very noisy day we need silent. But we do not have it.