I developed tinnitus in January 2012 at the age of 35. I am not sure how exactly. It happened after I had been playing video games for several hours, although the volume was not loud. My doctor said I had a Eustachian tube blockage because my eardrums were "sucked inward." For years after that, the tinnitus was almost always present in one form or another.
My tinnitus has two forms. One is a very high-pitched tone, at least 10 kHz and probably closer to 13.5 kHz. The other is a softer high-pitched hiss. The high-pitched tone bothers me a lot, while the hiss does not.
Because the pitch is so high, I can hear it over practically everything. It makes it seem louder than all the sounds around me. This led me to avoid most sounds that aggravated it, including music, which was very difficult. Even hearing a commercial on TV was enough to set it off.
Fortunately, early on I found some tones online that someone created. One that helped was called "pulse 3," described as a 10 kHz hissing white noise that alternated on and off every two seconds. Playing it would suppress the high-pitched tinnitus, and sometimes the suppression would continue after I stopped the sound. At least until another sound triggered the tinnitus again.
At first it was mostly the annoying type of tinnitus, but over the years it shifted to the less intrusive type. I keep a journal, and even early entries mentioned days when I did not hear my tinnitus at all, even while watching TV. Those entries became less frequent over time. Eventually, by 2024, there were no entries, and only one in 2025. The only time I heard anything was when I was going to sleep, and using a fan or white noise helped with that.
Except for a day or two every few months, my tinnitus was effectively gone. I could listen to music, watch TV, and go to the movies without hearing it. Even when my ears got clogged on a plane, I still could not hear it. I did not hear it at all from April 2025 until November 8, 2025.
That changed last week on the evening of November 8. I had come back from the movies and was cooking dinner when my smoke alarms went off. I have seven linked alarms in my house, so when one goes off, they all do. Usually I just hush the one near the kitchen, but that did not work this time. I ran around opening windows, then finally got a step stool and took down the alarm that had triggered the others. It took about ten minutes. The alarms are supposed to be 85 dB at ten feet, but my ceiling is only about five feet above me, which would mean around 91 dB. The new ones I bought say "85+ dB at ten feet," and they seemed louder. Since I was climbing up to silence them, I was within arm's reach, which would mean roughly 103 dB. I probably had two or three minutes of exposure at that volume.
Immediately after the alarms stopped, the high-pitched tinnitus returned and has been there ever since. I went to an ENT and an audiologist. The audiologist did a tympanogram, which was normal, and a hearing test, which I also passed. There was minor hearing loss at 4 and 8 kHz, but only about 10 dB lower than my 2021 test. The ENT did not examine me at all. He only looked at the test results and said the tinnitus was caused by loud noise exposure. He also thought TMJ might be involved.
I had taken a hearing test on my iPhone in October 2024 and took another one after the alarm incident. The results were similar, which means my hearing has not really worsened since last year. I have not found it harder to hear since the alarm event, so if the alarms caused damage, it is not affecting my hearing. I can still hear up to around 12.5 kHz, although only at high volumes. Since I am 51, this is consistent with age-related hearing loss.
Right now, in addition to the tinnitus, my left ear frequently gets clogged and sometimes painful. I mentioned this to the ENT, but he said the tests did not show any inner ear issues. I convinced him to prescribe Prednisone, which I started 4.5 days after the alarm event, but it has not helped the ear clogging or pain. A heating pad helps somewhat.
At this point I am basically back where I was in 2012. I am avoiding music and TV because they aggravate the tinnitus. Ironically, sitting in mostly silence helps. If I play a short sine tone at around 7.5 kHz, it helps reduce the tinnitus to a manageable hiss, at least until something triggers it again. I hear that hiss constantly, but it is not as bothersome as the high-pitched tone.
I really do not know what to do. It has been so long since I have heard my tinnitus regularly, let alone constantly. I want to get back to how things were, but I do not know how, because I do not remember what led me to that state in the first place. It just seemed to happen. Even my early journal entries mention days when it was not noticeable at all. There has not been a single day this past week when it was not noticeable.
My tinnitus has two forms. One is a very high-pitched tone, at least 10 kHz and probably closer to 13.5 kHz. The other is a softer high-pitched hiss. The high-pitched tone bothers me a lot, while the hiss does not.
Because the pitch is so high, I can hear it over practically everything. It makes it seem louder than all the sounds around me. This led me to avoid most sounds that aggravated it, including music, which was very difficult. Even hearing a commercial on TV was enough to set it off.
Fortunately, early on I found some tones online that someone created. One that helped was called "pulse 3," described as a 10 kHz hissing white noise that alternated on and off every two seconds. Playing it would suppress the high-pitched tinnitus, and sometimes the suppression would continue after I stopped the sound. At least until another sound triggered the tinnitus again.
At first it was mostly the annoying type of tinnitus, but over the years it shifted to the less intrusive type. I keep a journal, and even early entries mentioned days when I did not hear my tinnitus at all, even while watching TV. Those entries became less frequent over time. Eventually, by 2024, there were no entries, and only one in 2025. The only time I heard anything was when I was going to sleep, and using a fan or white noise helped with that.
Except for a day or two every few months, my tinnitus was effectively gone. I could listen to music, watch TV, and go to the movies without hearing it. Even when my ears got clogged on a plane, I still could not hear it. I did not hear it at all from April 2025 until November 8, 2025.
That changed last week on the evening of November 8. I had come back from the movies and was cooking dinner when my smoke alarms went off. I have seven linked alarms in my house, so when one goes off, they all do. Usually I just hush the one near the kitchen, but that did not work this time. I ran around opening windows, then finally got a step stool and took down the alarm that had triggered the others. It took about ten minutes. The alarms are supposed to be 85 dB at ten feet, but my ceiling is only about five feet above me, which would mean around 91 dB. The new ones I bought say "85+ dB at ten feet," and they seemed louder. Since I was climbing up to silence them, I was within arm's reach, which would mean roughly 103 dB. I probably had two or three minutes of exposure at that volume.
Immediately after the alarms stopped, the high-pitched tinnitus returned and has been there ever since. I went to an ENT and an audiologist. The audiologist did a tympanogram, which was normal, and a hearing test, which I also passed. There was minor hearing loss at 4 and 8 kHz, but only about 10 dB lower than my 2021 test. The ENT did not examine me at all. He only looked at the test results and said the tinnitus was caused by loud noise exposure. He also thought TMJ might be involved.
I had taken a hearing test on my iPhone in October 2024 and took another one after the alarm incident. The results were similar, which means my hearing has not really worsened since last year. I have not found it harder to hear since the alarm event, so if the alarms caused damage, it is not affecting my hearing. I can still hear up to around 12.5 kHz, although only at high volumes. Since I am 51, this is consistent with age-related hearing loss.
Right now, in addition to the tinnitus, my left ear frequently gets clogged and sometimes painful. I mentioned this to the ENT, but he said the tests did not show any inner ear issues. I convinced him to prescribe Prednisone, which I started 4.5 days after the alarm event, but it has not helped the ear clogging or pain. A heating pad helps somewhat.
At this point I am basically back where I was in 2012. I am avoiding music and TV because they aggravate the tinnitus. Ironically, sitting in mostly silence helps. If I play a short sine tone at around 7.5 kHz, it helps reduce the tinnitus to a manageable hiss, at least until something triggers it again. I hear that hiss constantly, but it is not as bothersome as the high-pitched tone.
I really do not know what to do. It has been so long since I have heard my tinnitus regularly, let alone constantly. I want to get back to how things were, but I do not know how, because I do not remember what led me to that state in the first place. It just seemed to happen. Even my early journal entries mention days when it was not noticeable at all. There has not been a single day this past week when it was not noticeable.
