Severity of Tinnitus

Does hearing T in one ear mean your tinnitus isn't that server? And why do people hear tinnitus in both?

 

nobody knows why we have it in both or in one.

 

I know why I have it in both - acoustic trauma. But in one ear it's worse than the other. I would not say that T is one ear means it's less severe than T in both. Depends on how loud it is and how the person reacts to it.

 

The severity is rather subjective. It's how much it bothers you or how difficult it is for you to cope. One person could have very loud constant T and another might have T that isn't as loud or constant but they don't cope as well as the other person For whatever reasons. You can't really judge how another persons T is as to severity. Only your own and how it makes you feel.

 

@Kyle Cullen, counterquestion: when you lose one of your legs instead of both does this mean you can still walk the walk?

And how bad is bad? Personally, I believe it's all about volume and frequencies.

Why? There are T patients that can't hear their T when being outdoor. The normal ambient sounds cover their T. Of course, not everybody is that fortune. Those with **killer reactive T** can hear it over everything!
So there is a difference when someone whispers into your ear or uses a megaphone.

 

Well said NiNyu.

 

You have this belief; people who have worked with hundreds or thousands of tinnitus patients and done brain imaging to look at correlations between tissue loss in different parts of the brain and distress invariably have a slightly different opinion, to say the least.

Volume is obviously a factor in distress. So is frequency. Saying that those are the only -- or even the most important - factors, is not something which can be substantiated based on the data available to date.

 

What sort of accoustic trauma are you are exposed to?

 

A very hot .357 Magnum load out of a 2" snub nose revolver in a small enclosed space with very little acoustic damping.

 

So your T is in both ears? Does your T flutuates as in certain days is loud and certain days is lower? Is it reactive meaning does it compete with the rise in the surrounding?

 

Both ears. About 11.5 kHz tones in my left ear, probably and 8 kHz square wave type tone in my right ear.

Sometimes I can hear it while I'm driving, often don't notice it. A loud sound may cause my ears to ring, but my T doesnt seem to react to many things, at least that I can notice. Sometimes it's loud, sometimes it's not.

 

@linearb, really? That's highly fascinating. So these *people who have worked with hundreds of thousands of T patients* how many of them have they cured with their knowledge and skillset?
If the answer is **zero** then your comment is just another fart in the wind.

Let me be clear here, those people that done **brain imaging** of T patients and claiming now that T is everywhere in the brain are full of bullsh*t. Why, cos the brain is perpetually active! Everywhere! Unless you are brain dead, of course. Hence, all their fancy data is useless correlation of brain activities.
Besides, all this *research* is highly speculative. It gets us, **sufferers**, nowhere.

 

@NiNyu , why dont u answer my pm?

 

Hi Kyle,

I can't speak to why people get it in ear or the other or both, I just don't have that background, but I imagine there are some here who might have more educated opinions, even if no one knows.

With regard to severity, if you go to an audiologist, they'll measure the severity of your tinnitus based only on your reaction. If it's as loud as a jet engine, but you aren't too bothered about it, it's mild. If it's a barely audible hiss and the person is suicidal, it is severe etc. They make a differentiation between loud and severe and quiet and mild and I would agree that one does not necessarily beget the other. Someone with loud or quiet T can be calm, or extremely troubled. Only the individual knows what is in their head, so you have to say for yourself where you feel your T fits at this point.