- Mar 3, 2016
- 2
- Tinnitus Since
- 02/2016
- Cause of Tinnitus
- headphones at high volume, only thing I can think of.
Greetings all.
About 10 days ago I realized I had morse code beeping discretely in my right ear, something I've intermittently experienced since 2012, no big deal I figured, I've long since gotten used to it and it always went away within a day.
The next day I woke and realized the high-pitched CRT TV-type noise I've had forever (both ears) was suddenly more intense, at least that's how I subjectively perceived it. This made me wonder what was going on and then I realized that the likely culprit for this sudden, persistent onset of sound was likely the couple of months at the end of last year when I had been blasting music loudly through headphones. I know, I'm a fool for not actually researching this before, I can't stop kicking myself for it.
Anyway, I did find it odd that T would suddenly appear like this well over a month after I'd last blasted the headphones (no acoustic trauma since, no ototoxic meds) but because what I was experiencing was very mild and not disrupting my sleep I didn't worry too much. Still, I kept reading about T and the various ways people try to relieve it.
That eventually led me to a thread on reddit describing the finger-snapping instant relief technique I'm sure many of you are familiar with, where you cover your ears with your palms and snap your index fingers into the base of your skull, it gives some people a few moments of silence. I figured what the hell and tried it. Didn't work from what I could tell. I tried it again and again. I even tried a similar rhythmic ear-tapping method described further down in that same discussion. I basically spent a couple of minutes doing this.
When I was done I realized there was now a new noise in my head, something approximating a higher-pitched test tone in both ears, tho stronger in left. That was 2 days ago and that noise is still there. Like the other 2 older noises its not very loud, I can't hear it during the day or when outside and its really only an issue when it comes to sleeping.
That first night was a nightmare, I didn't sleep a wink, I just lay there tormented, cursing myself for having needlessly worsened my hitherto very tolerable T and contemplated the horrors that now potentially awaited me, I didn't even get out of bed or eat the next day, I was just so miserable and felt so hopeless, I'm sure you all know the feeling.
However, last night was much better. I downloaded an ocean waves white noise FLAC and played it on a loop all night above my head. I struggled for a while but eventually somehow managed to relax and block out the new noise and fall asleep, repeatedly, eventually getting some well-needed rest. Upon waking I couldn't even detect the new tone, it was like it had been pushed into the background and only by actively seeking it out would I hear it again.
During the day I'm surrounded by the humming and whirring of tv, fridge, computer, etc so its not a problem there, but I'd be lying if I said I'm not dreading bedtime tonight, what if last night was a fluke and I won't be able to sleep again? I'm a real mess if I don't get enough rest, the prospect of struggling like that potentially for the rest of my life is utterly terrifying.
Anyways, what I'm wondering now is what does all this mean for me? Why is my T seemingly so easily altered? Namely, why was mere finger-snapping enough for a new tone to be introduced into my head? Why was I able to block it out last night with relative ease? Can I expect this to get better or worse? What can I do in the meantime? Are there better ways of masking available?
Thanks.
About 10 days ago I realized I had morse code beeping discretely in my right ear, something I've intermittently experienced since 2012, no big deal I figured, I've long since gotten used to it and it always went away within a day.
The next day I woke and realized the high-pitched CRT TV-type noise I've had forever (both ears) was suddenly more intense, at least that's how I subjectively perceived it. This made me wonder what was going on and then I realized that the likely culprit for this sudden, persistent onset of sound was likely the couple of months at the end of last year when I had been blasting music loudly through headphones. I know, I'm a fool for not actually researching this before, I can't stop kicking myself for it.
Anyway, I did find it odd that T would suddenly appear like this well over a month after I'd last blasted the headphones (no acoustic trauma since, no ototoxic meds) but because what I was experiencing was very mild and not disrupting my sleep I didn't worry too much. Still, I kept reading about T and the various ways people try to relieve it.
That eventually led me to a thread on reddit describing the finger-snapping instant relief technique I'm sure many of you are familiar with, where you cover your ears with your palms and snap your index fingers into the base of your skull, it gives some people a few moments of silence. I figured what the hell and tried it. Didn't work from what I could tell. I tried it again and again. I even tried a similar rhythmic ear-tapping method described further down in that same discussion. I basically spent a couple of minutes doing this.
When I was done I realized there was now a new noise in my head, something approximating a higher-pitched test tone in both ears, tho stronger in left. That was 2 days ago and that noise is still there. Like the other 2 older noises its not very loud, I can't hear it during the day or when outside and its really only an issue when it comes to sleeping.
That first night was a nightmare, I didn't sleep a wink, I just lay there tormented, cursing myself for having needlessly worsened my hitherto very tolerable T and contemplated the horrors that now potentially awaited me, I didn't even get out of bed or eat the next day, I was just so miserable and felt so hopeless, I'm sure you all know the feeling.
However, last night was much better. I downloaded an ocean waves white noise FLAC and played it on a loop all night above my head. I struggled for a while but eventually somehow managed to relax and block out the new noise and fall asleep, repeatedly, eventually getting some well-needed rest. Upon waking I couldn't even detect the new tone, it was like it had been pushed into the background and only by actively seeking it out would I hear it again.
During the day I'm surrounded by the humming and whirring of tv, fridge, computer, etc so its not a problem there, but I'd be lying if I said I'm not dreading bedtime tonight, what if last night was a fluke and I won't be able to sleep again? I'm a real mess if I don't get enough rest, the prospect of struggling like that potentially for the rest of my life is utterly terrifying.
Anyways, what I'm wondering now is what does all this mean for me? Why is my T seemingly so easily altered? Namely, why was mere finger-snapping enough for a new tone to be introduced into my head? Why was I able to block it out last night with relative ease? Can I expect this to get better or worse? What can I do in the meantime? Are there better ways of masking available?
Thanks.
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