Tinnitus Maskers? Are They Helpful or a Waste of Money?

I woke up with hope yesterday morning. However that was short lived since anxiety is a horrible witch.

I know it's only been a month for me , but everything is leading to my tinnitus being a permanent thing.

My dad was diagnosed with labyrinthitis 15 years ago. He got a very very case of it which left him with chronic and residual symptoms, including his tinnitus. He’s very much okay with it now. He doesn't even notice it majority of the time and he can sleep in the middle of anything. LITERALLY anything. Throw him in the middle of a war zone area and he’ll sleep like a baby , so he never really struggled with it much.

I managed to get a last minute ENT appointment for this Wednesday coming. However, my heart tells me that my silent days are over

Has anyone tried the tinnitus maskers. Are they helpful? Do they mask the tinnitus to a level of comfort or is it a total waste of money?

 

@fatima

White noise generators formally known a maskers, should not be used to mask tinnitus. If tinnitus is masked or covered up so that it can't be heard, the brain will having difficulty habituating to the tinnitus. The volume of the white noise generator/masker, should be set just below the tinnitus. White noise generators can be very helpful in learning to cope with tinnitus. However, it is advisable to be under a care of a Hearing Therapist or Audiologist that is trained in the treatment and management of tinnitus. Two white noise generators should be worn to keep the auditory system in balance. Some people prefer to build-up the wearing time of the white noise generator slowly. One or two hours on and the same off. Slowly increase the wearing time over a few weeks until a maximum wearing time of 8 to 10hrs is achieved.

Please click on the link below and read my post: new to tinnitus what to do.

All the best
Michael
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/new-to-tinnitus-what-to-do.12558/

 

Thank you Michael. That was very helpful.

 

I found my masker to be helpful, even when my T was at its loudest. The idea is not to drown out T, it is to give you something else to listen to, besides T. When you first turn the sound machine on, you might feel horrible about still being able to hear T (this happens mostly when your T is a high-pitch tone; the sound of crickets works the best for a high-pitch tone T). Don't turn the machine off, as within 15 minutes you will be able to stop focusing on T, and begin focusing on the sounds produced by the masker.

 

Did you have any issues with communication and such. The cricket noise didnt disturb you at all ? And How many hours did you wear yours for ?

 

They are very helpful. I used them a little at the start, but now I don't need them....
I probably didn't use them correctly in that I had the audiologist set the level so my tinnitus was masked.
I have mild-ish tinnitus so complete masking is my preferred method of coping.

 

How did you get your tinnitus?

 

Before I forget, when I was talking about "a masker", I was talking about a sound machine like
https://www.amazon.com/Sound-Oasis-S-550-05-Therapy-System/dp/B002P8MDXC/

No. I had been worried about having to ask people to repeat themselves and then to have to surprise them by having to take out one of the plugs, but I ended up never having to do that.

When I was visiting Hawaii, I spent several days at a hotel (in Hilo) where I had to listen to crickets at night. I hated it at the time, but hearing the cricket noises made by the sound machine reminded me of my time in Hawaii, and in the end I didn't mind the sound Too much.

I would have the machine on, all night long (so 6-8 hours). Like I said, I was talking about a sound machine. I forgot that maskers that are like hearing aids also exist.

 

They were very helpful to me and still can be if I get in the mood where I want to listen to something else. I have heard that they can interfere with habituation though. I have also been taking a supplement called Lithium Orotate lately which seems to be helping with anxiety.

 

I usually use my ipad and turn on waterfalls on. It usually works for me. White noise spikes up my T for some reason.


Hawaii is a lovely reminder. Its crazy how the brain notices outside noise and quickly ignores it , while T becomes such a pain and takes a while to get used to. The brain is meaaaaan!

I will have to wait for mine to hopefully go away, (5 months to go) however im saving for maskers from now , just incase.

 

Try
https://purrli.com/

 

I dont think my anxiety will ever let me habituate to T. Not for another 10 years anyways.

 

How cute is this!!!!

 

https://purrli.com/
@Jazzer I think this is one tinnitus masker you would definitely like.
Thank you @Bill Bauer .
love glynis

 

Lovely idea glynis.
Usually my Annie goes to sleep with me.
When I drift off she then jumps up on the window ledge to sleep, but joins me again in the morning when she sees me stirring.
She’s my little sweetheart.

 

Maybe it depends on the kind of tinnitus and the kind of masking sound.
My hearing aid has "white noise" as masking sound implemented, - but
the "tinnitus" in my left ear is more or less white noise, too.
My impession: The white noise of the hearing aids makes my tinnitus worse.

On the other hand: One aim of a masker is to create an affective indifference to the tinnitus.
Perhaps they can be helpful in this regard...

 

White noise makes mine worse too. Not sure why. I love white noise. Its calming and its very quiet and they say it literally the same sound a baby hears when he’s in the womb. ( no wonder i feel calm with it on) , but it always spikes up my T

 

I work in a quit office. I have a little water fountain thingy. My life would be impossible without it. I also sleep with a window open to hear the crickets chirp. And I sleep with a fan, but I slept with a fan before I had tinnitus.

 

YUMMY cat and great pic!

 

I love anything with water sounds. So soothing. I am currently sitting in my quiet room with my waterfall sound. Trying my best to keep it below T sound.
I found it difficult to use a masker to sleep at the beginning of my T. But now i cant even sit in my room without one.

 

I was using a 10 hour long water sound on my work computer, my wonderful wife went and got me an actual fountain and it is soooooo much better. Sound quality and aesthetics.
This is the exact one I have.




https://www.walmart.com/ip/HoMedics...035&wl11=local&wl12=5913231&wl13=1080&veh=sem

 

Ooooohhhh i can already imagine the amazing sound it makes from here.
I have yet to feel better from all this dizziness going on and hopefully get my doctors approval to go back to work. luckily i work in an open office so i would never worry about it being quiet during the day. Its crazy how before T i would kill for a quiet office. Now a quiet room scares me.

 

Yes. Best of luck.

 

@fatima
I don't know how I got my tinnitus, I wish I did....
could have been related to pregnancy, I'm not sure.

 

Worst kinda T is T that just invites itself in to your ear. Must have been frustrating for you. Wishing you the best. Hope it doesnt bother you so much.

 

I’m finally about to start TRT.

For practice, I’ve been listening to pink and white noise. I didn’t listen to it very loud but now I’m having my worst baseline T spike in 4 months.

Am I doing something wrong? Is white/pink noise not for everyone? Isn’t that what TRT therapy is?

 

I think its very personal.
My T reacts to White, Pink and Brown noise - along with flushing toilets and plates / cutlery 'clanking'.
Mt T finds them all intently irritating and increases its level of hissssss. It reacts !
Maybe it relates to where the hearing damage is....who knows !!!
I find bass sounds more soothing.
I think you have to experiment and see what suits your T.

 

That’s the thing. My reactive T used to react to pink and white noise....so I never used it. Now my reactive T doesn’t react to white noise. HUGE accomplishment that took 4 months.

But now white noise aggravates my baseline T......or maybe it always did but now I’m noticing it because the super loud reactive T is gone (well I still have reactive T but it’s just not as bad)