Tinnitus Is Better in Silent Rooms

Hi. I’ve had tinnitus now since mid December and I’ve found that being in a room with the TV on makes it louder?

In fact, my tinnitus reduces quite a lot when I’m in a dead silent room and any noise whatsoever triggers it and makes it louder. Why is that?

I’m only 21 and really want this to go away because if it gets louder by the TV, what’s it going to do in a nightclub even with earplugs in?

I got my tinnitus from an ear wax build up and ear infection.

 

Is it louder while the TV is on? Or later? This might be a form of reactive tinnitus.

I think going to nightclubs even with earplugs in is a risk not worth to take for a tinnitus sufferer.

 

Hi, yes, I think I have reactive tinnitus. And I understand that but I’m only 21, I have my life to live and obviously I will not go to a nightclub with earplugs in if I still have this but to have to suspend that part of my social life is going to cause a huge depression because of how young I am. It’s much easier to avoid loud sounds and be ok with not having a dance when you’re 50+.

 

I absolutely understand, I'm in my very early 30s and I needed to give up basically my life.

Anyway, to be on a more positive note, I have a friend irl who had screaming tinnitus due to ear infection, which went away after 2.5 months. She lives a perfectly normal and happy life without any hearing issues.

 

That's reactive tinnitus. It gets louder in the presence of sound. The louder the sound is the more your tinnitus will scream. It can be temporary.

 

I wish that was me, mine reacts to the tv so badly but barely reacts to the car radio, it’s so weird. I just need my normal life back.

 

The reactiveness can be temporary, or the tinnitus? My tinnitus was caused from ear wax build up.

 

Both can be temporary. If your tinnitus is recent you have a chance of overcoming it. The reactiveness sometimes improves over time too.

 

Do you know how long? Or could anybody add some success stories here or @ somebody into this that hasn’t got reactive tinnitus anymore and it completely went away?

My tinnitus started around mid December btw.

 

My ears pop when I’m in the car quite a lot.

When I touch my left ear (the one with the ringing), it creates a whoosh sound that I can physically feel. And sometimes when I shout, I get that whoosh sound too?

 

My tinnitus was reactive for some time but it changed and the reactivity disappeared, but I still have tinnitus.

Tinnitus is quite unpredictable and individual. I think it is nastier if it is caused by noise damage.

 

Hi Sophie,

Just wanted to say I'm in the same boat as you: 25 and imagining how this is going to impact my life once the world goes back to normal if the tinnitus doesn't go away (concerts, movies, hell even going to a baseball game worries me). Mine also started from an ear infection, with the ringing starting back on December 1st, and while I say it has gotten better, it's still very much there. Like yours, it gets worse when watching TV/listening to music a bit too loud and is better in a quiet room.

Would you say that, since this started, it's gotten better/reduced in volume? If so, try and remind yourself that while yes, the noise is still there, it's much better than it was. If it's still the exact same as when it started, you may want to see a doctor to have them check if the infection is lingering and that may be why there have been no improvements. I've noticed that mine seems to have gone from a true ringing, to a buzz, and now is more of an electrical hiss noise. Has your noise changed at all?

Have you also looked into things that might make it worse/spike it? For me, that was taking Aleve or Sudafed, as well as drinking regular soda (I usually do diet, but really needed the sugar to stay awake at work!). It was horrible for about a day and a half before it went back down to its "normal" level. Try and track if you have any triggers aside from noise.

As someone told me when I made my first post on here, this is going to be a bit of a rollercoaster while your ear recovers. There will be good days and bad days. Just yesterday, I could barely hear it all day and thought "holy shit, is it finally done??" while today I think it was tripped by the music in the car being a little too loud on the way to work, so it's been buzzing more. Being back in my quiet office has calmed it down again, though, which is a relief. I'm realizing that my tinnitus has been reactive since December, and the sensitivity has calmed down, so maybe in a few more weeks' time yours should calm down as well?

I'm sure you're sick of reading/hearing this, but time is your friend here. Just try and stay positive, as lame as that is!

 

My tinnitus is exactly like that too. In quiet rooms it doesn't bother me that much, but it is very annoying when watching tv.

 

Hi Brittany. Yes, mine sounds exactly like yours! The only difference is that I get a whoosh and a physical feeling of it in my ear sometimes when I talk and always when I press around my ear. The doctor gave me a decongestant to see if it helps. I also have a steamer

 

In my personal opinion get educated all you can about tinnitus. Tinnitus Talk is a great place to start.

I’ve been telling my own daughters right around your age to protect their ears. It just isn’t worth the risk.

You don’t want bad tinnitus or hearing loss. Look at all the people really suffering on this forum.

You have a long life ahead of you and you want it to be enjoyable. Ear protection wasn’t preached as much when I was young but I sure wish I paid more attention.

Please learn how to have fun while protecting your ears. Take care.

 

I also get a physical feeling in my ear sometimes. It almost felt like when you have soda in your mouth, and it bubbles/crackles? That seems to be gone now though which is a relief. I hope the decongestant and steamer provides some relief for you!

 

Hey @sophielynch,

I've been reading research articles on this condition since my symptoms started about a month ago. It seems like the majority of cases do resolve within a few months to a couple of years. That said, tinnitus is fascinating and annoying in that it doesn't follow any rules, and the more we pay attention to it, the longer it seems to hang around. This is because it seems to be a disease/condition that runs amok with our state of mind.

From what I've read, folks who get over this have somehow found a way to "put the noise in the background" and not fix their attention on it. And the quicker we can do that, the sooner this will end. It's not easy for me to do, but I'm working on relaxing and putting my attention elsewhere, like working out, skiing, whatever healthy thing that puts me in a better state of mind.

Work hard to stay positive! Better times are coming! As for the night-clubbing thing, I'm going to be very careful about staying far away from the speakers from now on.

Wishing you all the very best!

 

Do you know if it just stopped one day or if it got gradually quieter as the weeks went on?

 

Hey there @sophielynch!

I found your post and figured I'd reach out given we have very similar situations.

I was actually quite happy to come across this post as we have incredibly similar circumstances. My tinnitus started randomly in early November, a few days later I was diagnosed with an outer ear infection and given an anti-bacterial ear spray that helped to reduce the tinnitus initially. Since then, it's reduced a lot more to the point where I only hear it in silent rooms and it's a stable tone.

I know it can feel disheartening when you're lost in the confusion of it all, so I wanted to check in with you and see how you're coping. I've visited an ENT and arranged for a wax removal myself, but I'm not sure how much it's going to help. I'm currently just trying to push on and hope that with time it will go away entirely.

Wishing you the best!

 

Hi, yes, that’s really helpful, thank you!

Does your tinnitus seem to get louder at all and then get quieter? Just randomly?

 

Not that I'm aware of. Admittedly I'm making a conscious effort not to monitor it during the day, as I find that leads to my anxiety rising - but I can confidently tell you I haven't noticed any fluctuations or reactivity at all. It stays at the same volume level and doesn't spike in response to noise.

Take heart in the fact that progress is slow and laborious. For myself, the volume of my tinnitus has gradually reduced over a period of weeks/months and has always remained stable when reaching a quieter baseline. How long have you had your tinnitus for?

 

@sophielynch, hey Sophie! How are you doing? Have you had any improvements?

 

@sophielynch, not sure how you re doing these days but just to say that I've gone through a phase of reactivity to the point that I was scared to get out of the house. Everything sounded so loud and different. I was avoiding my own fridge! I still have a tiny bit of it but it doesn't bother me so much. It took me about 1.5 month to get it to this v low level. Just wanted to post it as I remember when it started I was devastated as I love being outdoors.

 

Yea mine is better in a quite room or outside in the garden. I watch TV with some Sony noise-cancelling headphones.

Places where there's a lot going on is a nightmare for me. That does my head in.

 

I've been in that situation too. Normally, you would think that silent rooms are bad for tinnitus since that's all you will be left with - tinnitus. But I remember that I could relax much more in a quiet room. TV, fans or other sounds would make it worse and more annoying. With time that went away and now it doesn't matter if the room is dead silence or not.

Some form of reactive tinnitus/hyperacusis I suppose.

In a way, this actually helped me habituate faster. Since I couldn't use background noise when trying to sleep since my tinnitus would just react and become much worse, I was "forced" to sleep in quiet room with no external noises. So my brain just got trained to learn to cope with the tinnitus I have. Nowadays when I sleep and hear my tinnitus, it doesn't even bother me to 1%. It's a part of me, like my foot.

 

Interesting. Saw this thread come up and have to agree, I have had a change for the better over the last couple of weeks and it seems to have coincided with me no longer playing any sound enrichment while I sleep. I would not really describe my tinnitus as reactive during the day time with no specific ambience noise/music/TV/talking etc setting me off - my tinnitus just makes noise when it wants no matter if it's quiet or noisy, but when I sleep it seems like my ears want to rest and not hear anything while I sleep now.

Since onset last year I have only been scraping through with around 5 hours sleep most nights with lots of different sound enrichment, would almost always wake with raging tinnitus around 3 or 4 am but I'm now getting around 6-7 hours each night for last 2 weeks. Just hoping this continues.

 

Same with me. Even if my tinnitus wasn't reactive, I had better results lying in the quiet hearing my tinnitus than having cricket sounds or any other background sound on.

And as I said, when I hear my tinnitus at night, it doesn't irritate me or piss me off the slightest. Even those nights when my tinnitus rings louder than usual, it literally doesn't bother me at all.

My brain doesn't see tinnitus as a foreign invader anymore, it's become an ally. Strange but it's true.