Tinnitus Loudness Scale?

I'm 2-3 under normal circumstances, and 7-9 if I am severely stressed out, overtired, or heavily fixated on my tinnitus.

So, for me, whether or not I can perceive the sound over background noises is a product of my attention processes, and not the other way around.

"Loudness" is kind of a weird concept; these sounds are internally generated and have no real db value associated with them.

 

I don't know how loud my T is on a scale but it bothers me 24 7 no matter what I'm doing. My mind can be on it or not, doesn't make a difference, I hear it loud and clear. Also nothing really masks it, noise seems to just make it louder.

 

@linearb , every sound we hear is being interally processed and perceived no matter the db. That being said, you could try to mask your T and check the db value of the masking device. Thus getting some values of loudness.

I'm with @Telis every sound makes it just louder. And it is already LOUD!

 

@NiNyu and @Telis Any sounds just made my T louder too. I think it is because I was getting active inputs from the cochleovestibular nerve. What have you tried for masking?

 

@svintegrity , in my case I think the neurons (left) create painful noises in the range of the offline frequencies, and I have plenty of them!, and as soon as my healthy ear (right) hears any sound(s) in the same frequencies the noise gets boosted up right through the skull. Worse, it stays on that increased level for hours to come!

So far I tried to mask with wind, water, rain, 4hz isochronic pulses, plane ambient sound, cat purr and womb sounds. But most of the time it doesn't help. T gets louder and louder and louder..

..I really should consider some meds.

 

@NiNyu Yes, I had the same experience with my healthy ear. I tried all of the masking sounds you mention too, only making the T louder. I even tried two different kinds of masking hearing aids. Are you sleeping at all these days? What meds are you considering? If you can find a combination that will work for you, it will give you a leg up. I am pulling for you!

 

@svintegrity , sleep.. sleep eludes me greatly. Though I'm craving for it since it's the only safe place that feels sane and reasonable to me. This world here has become all pain. A sad world. I do lie in bed for hours wanting to open the door to my new world REM sleep. And it hurts. It hurts so much. The door is heavily guarded and always locked. I don't have the key nor do I have any weapons or tools and my body is just too weak. Eventually after hours and hours of toss and turn and endless tears the guards fall asleep and I can sneak up to pickpocket the key to my new world. I open the door and slowly enter. I drift off. And I never want to leave this place. This beautiful place. Never! Time is strange in dreams, you know. But everything is possible with a calm mind and a genuine smile on your face. But as you know, time is very strange in there and not long before the guards of hell will awake from their dark, gloomy slumber and find the door behind them open. Determined they enter my new world, find me and force me back to pure purgatory. I do wake up in pain. In hell. Of course, this happens innumerous times till I can't find the way back to my new word. REM Sleep. But I don't want to get up. No I am way too weak. Way too damaged. I lie there.. for a long time thinking, 'Why?' No! I really don't want this anymore! I'm fed up. I had enough. I'm done. This ain't nature anymore. F*ck hell !!! -- I'd better leave this place for good. There's nothing left for me to enjoy -- here.

What meds do I consider? I'd like to try morphine. The more the merrier, as they say. Perhaps mighty Morpheus can fight off those guards? Maybe free me of hell?

 

@NiNyu Your words are powerful. I really feel for you. I wish there were something I could say or do help ease your burden. Please know that I do understand the pain and suffering you are experiencing, as I have been there. I am still at times. You are right on target when you say that "anything is possible with a calm mind and a genuine smile on your face." I have had a challenging day here, and I have tried to keep a calm mind. Not always easy, but essential. My words seem so trivial after what you have written here, but please know that I understand the deepness of your feelings, of your pain. Your rawness is evident. Would you consider any meds that have a different purpose other than morphine? Perhaps something to help get you over the hump? To help you sleep in the short-term? My heart goes out to you.

 

Opiates can be ototoxic; morphine definitely makes my ears ring more prominently.... of course, you tend to stop caring about it.

 

My Tinnitus started in 01/2015. No medical cause was found. I have perfect hearing (no hearing loss). In my right ear I hear an "cricket/morse-code"-sound at 1450hz", in my left hear there is a constant tone at 4000hz. In general, I can't hear my Tinnitus when I am outside my apparment. I need to plug my ears to hear it.

Using your Tinnitus-Loudness Scale my one (both ears) is a

2/10 in average (normal day / lets say 95% of the year)
3/10 on "bad days".
5/10 (Once; after doing some exercise (Karate))

Note:
I can supress the right ear tinnitus completely by closing my nose and building up pressure. I don't know why? any tips
- I am sorry for typing errors, i am german.

 

I feel like maybe you need 3 numbers here...

-loudness itself
-maskability (not necessarily tied to loudness)
-emotional affect

 

Or maybe we could move away from measuring our t?

 

Mines a 2 but i still use brown noise to mask it at night . I cant hear it at all throughout the day only in complete silence and when i focus on it its gets to a 4 or 5

 

I can not scale my T on that scale.

I would say volume wise my T is a 4, but distress wise it is an 8 as i need masking to sleep and that it causes me a certain amount of distress overall.

 

I think that's why doctors often measure tinnitus based on its impact. Or at least the audiologists and ENTs that I see have. They don't ask how loud it is, they ask how it impacts me: am I able to sleep, read, watch TV, enjoy time with my kids, etc.

Of course, I have had a few take one look at my audiogram and comment that my tinnitus must be very loud and high pitch -- so maybe they feel there's no reason to ask.

 

Do you have any sound on while watching tv? E.g. White noise

 

No. With my hearing loss, I feel like my good ear gets overwhelmed when there are too many sounds. Like if my kids are both talking at the same time, I can't understand either of them. Or if we go to a restaurant, everything jumbles together. I used to be able to focus my hearing. Does that make sense?

I think white noise in just my bad ear would be okay, but my good ear gets annoyed with white noise.

 

everyday it's different. Today a 1, sometimes 2... Thank God.

 

7, hear it always, can't relax anymore. I'm the CEO of a big company and that's the only reason I'm still going.

 

This happens to me also, exactly the same.

 

I feel like mine ranges from a 2-5

 

I'm new member have Tinnitus since May 2017, it's been only three months, but especially the first month it was hell now it's just as loud but I'm starting to cope with it,
I would definitely say that on the scale I'm usually between 6 and 9 since I've had it I never had it below 6, most of the time is an 8 but when it goes to 6 I feel like im living again.
The only thing about the scale I never used Masking

 

Same here. Interesting how this works.

 

2-3

 

My tinnitus is a solid 8, I’d say, but for whatever reason I never really had any troubles falling asleep, however, I just don’t feel rested anymore, even if I get enough sleep. Whenever I have a big spike, I’ll have a couple of nights where I wake up due to the tinnitus being louder, but my body gets used to the higher volume/intensity pretty quickly. Also, I never mask my tinnitus.. Sometimes I’ll have some music on in the background, but if I’m e.g. working on a project for college, the tinnitus usually doesn’t bother me. It extremely bothers me, however, when I have to study or read something.

 

I really do not care for that scale. In terms of volume on the scale, mine is an 8 or 9. I can hear it over everything because it reacts with a louder ring to everything.

However, in terms of emotional distress, I feel like I fluctuate. Sometimes my anxiety is very mild and sometimes severe. So sometimes I can ignore it and sometimes I can't, depending on my emotional state and its volume.

 

I feel you on the emotional distress!

 

I feel like there should be two scales -- sound volume and emotional state -- and the scores of those combine for an overall score.

But ultimately, comparing tinnitus does not matter. If it bothers someone, then it bothers them and it doesn't matter the volume.

 

Exactly! you made an excellent point!

 

Is the chart in the below thread the one people use for reference of the tinnitus noise on a scale of 10?

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/tinnitus-loudness-scale.6873/



Is there some other scale that people use when they say 4/10 or whatever?

From this chart, in the first few weeks, I had most days at 6 some 4's, and at best at night was a 2 (but could be higher). I could also hear in loud rooms (7), though the loud room was "louder" - it's just impossible to mask 10kHz noise with room noise.

But I wonder what other chart or reference is in use...or if this is the main one.

Thankfully it seems to be quieter now, but I want to try to get a grip on the scales in use.

Thanks