Sleeping without Masking Tinnitus

Recently started sleeping without using ambient sounds for masking.

Currently using only my big clock on the wall. Such a relief to sleep in an almost silent room first time in 8 months.

Tinnitus is very quiet. I hear mild static noise in both ears plus a very quiet whoosh/electric buzz in right ear but it almost does not bother me at all. The sound of the clock masks it perfectly.

Mild burning sensations and spasms in the head are still present but I can't call these sensations pain anymore. Just discomfort.

8 months in with my tinnitus and hyperacusis. Holding on, staying strong, hoping for the better.

 

That's great! My baseline tinnitus is like that - unfortunately it continues to fluctuate throughout the day. I'm starting to believe it's caused by the way I position my head, along with jaw movement. Those are the only things I have no control over but yesterday it increased as I sat up in bed.

I haven't used sound enrichment as ice always found it annoying tbh, but I'm glad you're there now!

 

@Vassili this seems like great progress as only a few months ago you were completely unable to mask yours, right?

Such good news!

 

My tinnitus has no relation to head positioning or jaw movement but it can sometimes increase in volume a little bit may be because of my blood pressure or after being in a noisy environment. I had an experience like that many times. It increases in volume for a couple of minutes and then goes down again. I'm glad that my baseline goes quieter and quieter with time, slowly disappearing, I hope.
I too think that sound enrichment is annoying. I'm so glad that I've reached this stage. I feel blessed.

Thank you for kind words. Let's hope that we will recover completely.

 

Hey, @tbuzz89.

I can say that things started to increasingly improve for me only after 6 months. Before that my masking was more like concentrating on other sounds for distraction because my ears reacted to all sounds. After that masking slowly became masking in a real sense. At the moment my ears like to react to the sound of my laptop cooling. So 2 nights ago I tried to go to sleep but my laptop was constantly cooling because of the Summer heat, I guess, and I couldn't start sleeping because my ears were reacting so I just turned off my laptop and brought a clock from another room. I thought that I would give it a shot, I wanted to try and sleep in an almost silent room. And it all ended up surprisingly good. Clock masked my tinnitus very well, I had a good sleep and in the morning I felt that my ears had a good rest and even felt better. I've slept without masking three nights now and I have a feeling that it also helps me to heal along with protecting my ears. Time will tell.

 

@Vassili in my case it's not usually noise. Might be a factor of course, but it fluctuates like this even in silence/very quiet rooms. The other day I sat up in bed and it got louder so

Maybe blood pressure and flow is an issue too. I've been having so many persisting, vague symptoms too but so far no clue why.

Either way I had to try sound therapy for my insomnia years ago and nope, just wasn't for me.

 

@ASilverLight it would've been hard for me not to know the exact reason why I have my condition. At least I know that my suffering is a result of a really loud rehearsal with a band. It makes it easier this way for, at least psychologically. I hope that you will find the reason why you got your tinnitus.

It took a while for me to find the right masking sounds. In the end I've chosen fireplace sounds with hissing and cracking but it got annoying with time because I never slept with masking before not once in my life, well may be with an opened window. But now I'm over it and my big clock is my best friend now, that's for sure.

 

@Vassili reading your posts are so inspiring. I also had an acoustic trauma (2+ weeks ago) and am going through a really tough time with it. I have electric buzzing, hissing, popping, several other high and low pitched tones in m my ear. My ear feels raw and angry too. I can hear it all day and I have been so scared that this will always be my life now. Also barely sleeping and tough to eat, etc. Feel anxious 24/7. It’s never-ending torture. Your posts give me hope. Thank you.

 

So jealous of this honestly...

 

I can understand what you are going through. Hold on.

 

I generally sleep in silence or with earplugs, but we used a fan a lot last week because we had a guest, and I noticed that my ears were a lot louder than usual when I woke up.

I don't know how long this effect lasts, because I tend to lose focus on my tinnitus pretty quickly once I am awake, but I have the general sense it does amp it up for some period of time. We're talking ~50-60db levels so I am not concerned this is damaging, it seems like it's just overstimulating something. I don't love it.

 

Hi, @linearb!

I usually listen to my tinnitus before going to bed and decide what I am going to use for masking. If my tinnitus is quiet enough, I'll use a clock. If a clock sound does not help then I'll use nature sounds, usually water or fireplace. In the morning my tinnitus is slightly louder but then settles down and after becomes worse in the evening. But sometimes in the evening it's also quiet.