Listening to White Noise/Wind Chimes Makes My Tinnitus Worse

Hello!

I'm interested in Tinnitus Retraining Therapy (TRT), so I recently tried listening to white noise through my phone's headphones for a couple of hours at a very low volume. Each time, it increased my tinnitus volume and changed how it sounded for about 24 hours.

Yesterday, I tried listening to wind chimes (from a Spotify playlist) through my phone's headphones for around 20 minutes at a very low volume. Initially, it noticeably reduced the volume of my tinnitus, but then it caused a major spike during the night, which is still present a day later.

Has anyone else encountered a similar reaction? I'm genuinely curious about your experiences and any insights you might have. Why do you think I'm reacting so strongly to these sounds, despite their low volume? I'm eager to hear your thoughts.

Thanks a lot

 

It sounds like reactive tinnitus, which I have. Unfortunately, three years have passed, and it's only worsened. I avoid all headphones. I definitely wouldn't recommend using them anymore.

 

Hi @Arnaudswiss,

You have had noise-induced tinnitus for quite a while, and I will assume that you habituated at some point, but it has now gotten worse. This type of tinnitus will usually remain stable for many years after habituation has been reached. You haven't said whether you had hyperacusis when you developed the noise-induced tinnitus. Since hyperacusis often (but not always) accompanies noise-induced tinnitus, I will assume you had it or still have some remnants of it within your auditory system.

Depending on how severe the hyperacusis is, if it isn't treated or improved by itself, it will usually manifest as spikes in tinnitus, which can become a long-term problem. If you have listened to audio through headphones over the years, even at low volume, this could have caused your tinnitus to become worse. If you have been attending places where loud music is played, such as nightclubs, concerts, or other entertainment venues, this too would risk your tinnitus worsening even when wearing noise-reducing earplugs. Other forms of exposure to loud noise, such as working in a noisy environment, can also make this type of tinnitus worse, even when wearing earplugs.

Stress can worsen noise-induced tinnitus, and an additional underlying medical problem within your auditory system can cause this, which has developed separately from the original noise-induced tinnitus. Therefore, I believe that it's essential for you to be examined by an ENT to have tests to make sure your hearing and auditory systems are functioning correctly. Hearing loss can cause noise-induced tinnitus to become worse, so it's important that you are examined at ENT. If everything is okay, you should be referred to an audiologist specializing in tinnitus and hyperacusis management.

I strongly advise you not to listen to any form of audio through headphones, even at low volume. This includes earplugs, AirPods, headsets, noise-canceling, and bone-conduction headphones. You risk making your tinnitus worse, which you have already experienced temporarily. Noise-induced tinnitus is not something to play around with or to try and treat if you don't know what you're doing because things can change for the worse fast!

TRT is a specialist treatment and is certainly not something one can do by listening to audio through headphones. Ideally, counseling with an audiologist who also lives with tinnitus is required because tinnitus cannot be learned from a book or medical school to any significant degree. It requires in-depth knowledge of how it affects a person's mental and emotional well-being daily. This knowledge can only be obtained by someone who has experienced tinnitus and, preferably, has had it mild, moderate, or severe. Under these circumstances, the counseling will usually be of high quality, which will help remove and demystify the negative thinking often attached to tinnitus and hyperacusis. Over time, the patient can feel more positive about their conditions and life. In addition, sound therapy through wearing white noise generators is usually required, and sometimes medication.

Please do not think white noise generators are the same as earbuds or headphones when white noise is played at low volume through them. They are entirely two different devices, which I have explained at length in previous posts of their difference. The white nose generators will help desensitize the hyperacusis or any oversensitivity within the auditory system over time and slowly push the tinnitus further into the background to allow habituation. Therefore, please see your ENT and an audiologist, as I have recommended.

I do not believe there is a condition called reactive tinnitus, although some people do. It was a terminology made up in tinnitus forums many years ago and had become commonplace on social media sites. Reactive tinnitus is nothing more than hyperacusis, which is attached to tinnitus. It affects people differently, and thus, no two people will experience it the same. Most people who experience a reaction to sound originally developed tinnitus from noise trauma. It can improve by itself, but ultimately, the treatment is counseling and wearing white noise generators. It can improve with self-help using low-level sound enrichment using a sound machine. More information about sound enrichment is mentioned in my posts below in the thread: I Have Noise-Induced Tinnitus, What Should I Do? Please click on the link below to access this thread.

Please print and read all the posts in the list, which can be found on my started threads. It is important that you print the posts and take your time reading them instead of reading them on your phone or computer screen. This way, you will absorb and retrain the information much better.

I wish you well,
Michael

I Have Noise-Induced Tinnitus — What Should I Do? | Tinnitus Talk Support Forum

 

This is reactive tinnitus. Avoid headphones and white noise. They will likely aggravate it.

 

Thanks a lot for your insights!

In Switzerland, TRT is not widely spread, and it's hard to find well-trained audiologists. Therefore, I've been reading several books about TRT, and I'm considering purchasing white noise generators.

As my primary concern is not to worsen my situation, I've been looking for advice about introducing TRT in my daily life, specifically how to gradually introduce white noises. The books I read only mention listening to white noise for as many hours as possible each day. I want a more gradual approach. Do you have any thoughts on that?

Thanks!

 

I do have thoughts on the way white noise generators should be used and have written about them many times in Tinnitus Talk. I have wrongly been accused by some people of making their tinnitus and hyperacusis worse, who say they have followed my suggestions on using white noise generators and sound enrichment. I vehemently reject these accusations. If they had followed my advice correctly, their tinnitus and hyperacusis would not have worsened.

I have received positive feedback from many people I have helped who have used white noise generators as part of TRT and are also under the care of an audiologist specializing in tinnitus and hyperacusis management. Many people who have followed my advice on using sound enrichment have said they found it helpful.

I do not recommend buying white noise generators to treat yourself without being under the care of an audiologist specializing in TRT. Regular counseling with the audiologist is essential to TRT and should not be dismissed. Without it, you may not have any improvement in your tinnitus and hyperacusis management. However, I understand your difficulty finding an audiologist specializing in TRT.

You have had noise-induced tinnitus for quite a while, and therefore, you have your experience to draw on to help you habituate again should you decide to buy white noise generators yourself. I say again, it is not something I advise you to do.

You are already aware that it's important to try and have a positive mindset because tinnitus and, to some extent, hyperacusis, are an integral part of our mental and emotional wellbeing and cannot be separated from it. If I were in your position, then I would print all the posts mentioned in the list that can be found on my thread:

I Have Noise-Induced Tinnitus — What Should I Do? | Tinnitus Talk Support Forum

It is important to print the posts, place them in a folder, and refer to them often. This will help reinforce positive thinking, as they are a form of counseling. I would also try to direct my thoughts to starting a new hobby or interest.

If I were to use white noise generators, I would introduce them slowly. The pace would depend on how severe my tinnitus and hyperacusis (if present) are.

For example, I would set the volume of the white noise generators below the level of the tinnitus and wear them for just 1 or 2 hours, then remove them for the same duration. After the elapsed time, put them on again, setting the volume below the tinnitus, and wear them for another 1 or 2 hours. If I noticed any irritation in my tinnitus or hyperacusis, then I would reduce the wearing time to thirty minutes or one hour at a time. Some people can only manage wearing white noise generators for 5, 10, or 15 minutes, then slowly increase the wearing time.

I would continue doing this on days one and two throughout the first week. I would do the same for week two, then gradually increase the wearing time. I would want to achieve a total wearing time of 6 to 10 hours per day, and many people under the care of an audiologist accomplish this. At night, white noise generators shouldn't be worn while asleep. Instead, a sound machine should be placed by the bedside, setting the volume slightly below the tinnitus.

Over time, the white noise generators help desensitize the auditory system so it becomes less sensitive to sound, and the hyperacusis usually reduces. At the same time, the tinnitus is treated, as the brain will habituate to the white noise generators and slowly push the tinnitus into the background so it becomes less noticeable. This treatment can take up to 18 months, so it's not a quick fix.

Regular counseling with the audiologist helps to demystify and remove the negative thinking often associated with tinnitus and hyperacusis. Contrary to some beliefs, white noise generators can completely cure hyperacusis or reduce it considerably. The same can be achieved naturally or using self-help techniques described in my post, Hyperacusis, As I See It, on my started threads.

Some people have very severe and painful hyperacusis. These people should be under an ENT and audiologist specializing in tinnitus and hyperacusis treatment.

Talk to your GP/PCP if your tinnitus makes you feel low.

All the best,
Michael

 

I wouldn't bother with TRT (Tinnitus Retraining Therapy) with all the time and expense involved, along with possible worsening, and it is ineffective vs. standard of care in a study:

→ Tinnitus Retraining Therapy Is Ineffective, Latest Study Finds

 

I thought reactive tinnitus was when it immediately increased with external sounds and then decreased back to baseline when the external sounds were removed?

 

Some people's reactive tinnitus does act that way; some have latency.

 

I think my tinnitus might be reactive then.

 

On a good day, mine will go back down. On a bad day, the noise will trigger it and stay elevated until the next day. Sleep usually resets it.

But yes, fan noise, white noise, and running water all make it worse. And it's so frustrating to be told over and over to listen to those noises when, for eight years, they've been making it worse.

 

What is exactly the "standard of care"?

Thanks!

 

The study explains it. There is a link in the other thread, but here is a direct link:

 

Standard of Care is your doctor telling you tinnitus is just a noise, you're depressed, anxious, stressed, and prescribing an SSRI, or if you have hearing loss, a hearing aid.

 

You have previously asked me for advice on TRT, and I have given it to you. I will provide more advice; whether you wish to follow it is entirely up to you.

When severe, tinnitus can be a very debilitating condition. For this reason, I have written posts like Tinnitus and the Negative Mindset, Acquiring a Positive Mindset, Tinnitus and Negative Counseling. They can be accessed on my started threads, and I strongly advise that you print and refer to them often, as they will help reinforce positive thinking.

People like @RunningMan are negative thinking regarding tinnitus. If you want your tinnitus and life to improve, my advice is not to correspond or read his negative posts. The reason is that his thoughts will soon become your thoughts. My comments about his negative mindset towards tinnitus and treatments like TRT are not personal attacks against him; I am just trying to help you. As I have previously said, tinnitus is integral to our mental and emotional well-being and cannot be separated from it.

Many people like @RunningMan are quick to post links that say studies show TRT is ineffective against tinnitus. What they don't tell you is the many people who have been helped by TRT, CBT, counseling, and different types of medication for tinnitus. I know this, for I have corresponded with such people in Tinnitus Talk over the past ten years. I have talked to people on the telephone who have had success with TRT and CBT, and, from the counseling, I have given some of them.

@RunningMan and others like him expect TRT, CBT, and other tinnitus treatments to cure the condition completely; anything less than this is a failure. Often, they are against using any medications for tinnitus, which has proven to help manage the condition. They expect counseling and white noise generators to do all the work in treating a person with tinnitus, but that is not the purpose of TRT. It is designed to show you a way through to help you cope with the condition. That is why it is called Tinnitus Retraining Therapy. To help retrain your mind to a different way of thinking with tinnitus. To think more positively. The patient has to have an open mind and try to help themselves. I mentioned this to you in my previous post: to direct your thoughts toward starting a new hobby or interest. Anything that helps bring positivity into your life so you don't think your future is impending doom and gloom.

Again, my comments about @RunningMan are not personal. Read his post history, which is filled with negativity. Comments like: once you have tinnitus, it won't improve; it gets worse for everyone, and no treatments are effective. There are many treatments for tinnitus, but these people want cures, not treatments, to help them live with tinnitus.

Sadly, some people can be so overwhelmed by the severity of tinnitus that they commit suicide. These people are not negative thinking. They have been brought to their knees with the unrelenting cacophony of noise of tinnitus in their head and ears and are unable to cope. I completely understand this and feel incredibly sorry for them.

The late @Allan1967 committed suicide. I corresponded with them many times in Tinnitus Talk and talked to him three times on the telephone. His passing affected me for quite a while. He wasn't a negative-thinking person, but his life was in complete turmoil with severe tinnitus.

You do not want to complicate your life further by corresponding and reading negative comments about tinnitus and treatments for the condition. There is a way to deal with tinnitus, and many people can live their lives with it even when it is severe. Certain medications can reduce the severity of tinnitus to make a person's life more tolerable. Is this ideal? Perhaps not, but they can help. The current treatments for tinnitus are counseling, medication, and sound therapy. These treatments can be incorporated into TRT, CBT, Relaxation therapy, and Mindfulness. Again, these treatments are not cures but have helped many people. However, people like @RunningMan are quick to dismiss this because they only want to focus on negativity. Please try and not become one of these people.

Some people who have said they have had TRT have had nothing of the sort. TRT must be administered correctly. It requires regular counseling with an audiologist for two years and wearing white noise generators in the manner I have previously said. They should be introduced slowly. Ideally, the audiologist should live with tinnitus, and many of them do. They were either born with tinnitus or acquired it at some time. My audiologist was born with tinnitus. I found her to be a very good tinnitus counselor.

As I have said, counseling, white noise generators, and medication cannot do all the work. The tinnitus patient has to adopt an open mind and incorporate positivity into their life. This is why it is vitally important to avoid negative thinking people.

I wish you well,
Michael

 

I was surprised and disappointed to see the multiple personal attacks on me in a post from @Michael Leigh (not a real name) filled with misinformation about me. I think he should speak for himself, not me when he gets it so wrong.

My thoughts are based on facts and practical, realistic expectations. They are not negative thinking.

My reference to study information that shows that TRT isn't effective is to help people save time, money, and disappointment. That's a positive thing, and I'm not the only one stating this. Others here, such as @Travis Henry and @gameover, will even say @Michael Leigh's advice is dangerous. Some people have called out @Michael Leigh for their worsening conditions.

If TRT were that helpful or actually lowered tinnitus compared to the standard of care, you would see many Tinnitus Talk members promoting TRT. The secret would be out. But that isn't happening. Hmmm. I wonder why that is. The only people promoting it seem to be those involved in providing the service.

@Michael Leigh said it helped him when using it for years, but he likely just got used to his moderate tinnitus over time, as others have called him out for. And even after all that time to recover and after years of TRT, and repeating the treatment after setbacks, he's not truly habituated. He's still popping Clonazepam to ease his tinnitus and bought another gimmicky electrical tinnitus product lately (Cleanhearing Sono) because he's been struggling with his tinnitus after buying new audio equipment, which he created a thread about here on Tinnitus Talk. He called his tinnitus "horrendous". So, TRT doesn't even appear to have been a good solution for the very guy who keeps talking about it, so he's buying gimmicky electronic devices claiming to reduce tinnitus.

References:

• https://www.tinnitustalk.com/posts/705767
• https://www.tinnitustalk.com/posts/704036

That is absolutely false. I don't expect a cure and never speak about there being a cure for tinnitus. I am optimistic about the Susan Shore device, but I wouldn't call it a cure. It's a treatment.

I never stated that medication can't be effective in treating some symptoms of tinnitus, such as anxiety and insomnia. I have taken some myself, with mixed results. I think someone should consider it rather than suffering. That's not the same thing as TRT, and @Michael Leigh conflates the two in his support of TRT.

I've said that tinnitus can improve over the short term, such as after a sudden noise trauma, but generally gets worse as you get older. Statistics on tinnitus confirm that. Of course, there are always exceptions so that I won't say "everyone." I often advise people to protect their ears and avoid loud noises so that they don't get worse while waiting for a treatment that actually works to reduce the volume of tinnitus.