Is Head Tinnitus More Serious Than Ear(s)?

[Luman]

I'm new to this and really don't know much. I cannot hear tinnitus in my ears, it's in my head.

However, some people seem to have worse symptoms than I do, in their ears.

Is one more serious than the other, or is this just impossible to answer?

Sorry if I sound negative, just not coping that well today. Thank you.

 

[Tinker Bell]

I have severe hearing loss. Sometimes I hear my tinnitus in my ear and sometimes it takes over my entire head.

Whether one way is worse than the other is probably a matter of opinion. But for me personally, I prefer it to stay in my ear. I hate when it takes over my head.

 

[Onsdag]

How can you distinguish head tinnitus from ear tinnitus?

 

[Luman]

How can you distinguish head tinnitus from ear tinnitus?

I don't know, but the prospect that head tinnitus (whatever it's called) is the worst kind just scares the living daylights out of me.

 

[Tinker Bell]

How can you distinguish head tinnitus from ear tinnitus?

I can very clearly tell when my tinnitus sounds like it's originating from my ear versus when it seems to bounce around my entire head.

 

[Bill Bauer]

When it is a quiet head T, it Might be what you hear when your T fades too much for you to hear it in your ears. So it Might be the last stage of healing, before you get to hear silence again.

 

[Luman]

Late at night, after being up all day without a nap, sometimes I have 99% quiet. But, I never hear it in a way that I can say it's in an ear.

 

[Bill Bauer]

Late at night, after being up all day without a nap, sometimes I have 99% quiet. But, I never hear it in a way that I can say it's in an ear.

Sounds like you are on the verge of being healed (although it might still take months for this to materialize).

 

[Alue]

The only T that bothers me is my ultra high pitched head T. I can feel it in the back of my head. It's subjective, so it's hard to say which is worse, but this head T drives me crazy sometimes.

 

[Luman]

Sounds like you are on the verge of being healed (although it might still take months for this to materialize).

I certainly hope you're right, Bill. Having an hour or two of relative silence in my head is very relaxing.

I still get some minor pains in both ears, not at the same time, a couple of times a day, but I don't know if that has much to do with anything. Maybe it's a sign of healing, who knows. The whole thing has been quite unsettling to say the least, and I've been through a few traumas in my life.

 

[Bill Bauer]

The whole thing has been quite unsettling to say the least, and I've been through a few traumas in my life.

If you live in New York, would you say that you are exposed to a lot of noise at places like the subway? This might be evidence against my hypothesis that one should avoid moderately loud noises to promote healing, or this might explain why it is taking you so long to heal...

 

[Luman]

If you live in New York, would you say that you are exposed to a lot of noise at places like the subway? This might be evidence against my hypothesis that one should avoid moderately loud noises to promote healing, or this might explain why it is taking you so long to heal...

I've been wondering about it. When the T first came on bad, in the beginning of August, the train station at 42nd St. was so bothersome that I had to go upstairs to wait for a train, away from the platforms. I took an outdoor subway the other day, in Brooklyn, and it wasn't bad, but 42nd Street in Manhattan is below the ground, with numerous lines running on many tracks. I will be travelling there again on Tuesday this week, and plan to wear my Etymotic earplugs, or maybe just a pair of soft foam ones. There has been improvement, my ear nerves went completely wacko for a few weeks. It was a novelty for the first few days, hearing different tones and frequencies - not "fun" by any stretch, but when it didn't abate much after a week I began to get concerned. I'd say that there's been improvement, but I don't want to over-analyze or quantify it, or it will drive me crazy. I'm also trying the back to silence method, found elsewhere on this site, it sounds very logical, and my reactions to the T have gone down a bit, over the ten days since I've started.

 

[Samantha R]

@Luman
My tinnitus is in my head, not my ears.
I used to get spikes after a nap in my ears, and I'd take the head tinnitus any day over the ears. Even when I get fleeting tinnitus in my ears, it's so much more noticeable than the head tinnitus.
I guess it depends on the pitch and volume of the tinnitus no matter where you are hearing it.

 

[Tinker Bell]

My head tinnitus is very loud. My ear tinnitus reacts to the volume of my environment, always competing to be louder than everywhere else. On the plus it's quiet in quiet rooms, but that is when it seems to slip from my ear into my head and turns up the volume until it's difficult to even think.

 

[TheDanishGirl]

I really dont know the difference...my T is in both ears and therefore I feel the noise more in my head.
When it is bad it feels like it is all around my head

 

[Michael Leigh]

I really dont know the difference...my T is in both ears and therefore I feel the noise more in my head.
When it is bad it feels like it is all around my head

The sensation that you are feeling is known as bilateral tinnitus. This when the noise is experienced in the head and both ears. I also have it.

Michael

 

[glynis]

I really dont know the difference...my T is in both ears and therefore I feel the noise more in my head.
When it is bad it feels like it is all around my head

I have sever Bilateral Tinnitus and impacts on my concentration as well as the sound itself.
Nortryptaline helped my head tinnitus but not my ears.
Love glynis x