Tinnitus Reaction/Perception

I keep reading in people's posts that tinnitus is just a sound and that it doesn't matter how loud it is, but that how well one copes or habituates to tinnitus is tied to one's reaction to or perception of that sound. My question is: Is anyone else's tinnitus also tied to their circulatory system? It is not classic pulsitile tinnitus (not a whoosher). Meaning that my tinnitus is very-high pitched, it pulses, it is unilateral, and anything that I do that has the potential to raise my heartrate also raises my tinnitus. For example, walking, running, standing up, chewing, breathing, doing dishes, vacuuming, etc. In this case, it does not seem that it can just be tied to reaction or perception. It is tied to everyday movements. How does one habituate to a condition like this? Tinnitus is not a one-size-fits-all affliction and deserves a differential diagnosis.

 

My tinnitus mostly seems like that, just very quiet. I can't figure out where it gets its rhythm from, just total random electrical noises. Right ear only. Only thing I can do is make it sound like one louder steady tone by putting pressure on or using certain muscles, which happens a lot. I've also got steady ultra high pitch tones in both but it's easy to tune those out now.

I have no idea how people manage to survive with louder tinnitus though. I struggle with mild because silence was one of my greatest pleasures in life, and never thought I could lose it. I still spend lots of time in quiet areas trying to recapture the peace I felt before, coming close sometimes.

 

Like which muscles? Yours seems quite similiar to mine.

 

Not sure which one yet, its a vibrating feeling right side just below my ear, inside my neck when I yawn. I can also hear the blood changing flow in my ear as well as the louder tone. It feels like I'm pushing blood at my ear.

I can do it without yawning by tensing that muscle alone. I can't replicate anything like it on my left side though.

 

Is it by tensing on the lower jaw? The bottom of your lower jaw right? Put your finger at the bottom of the lower jaw right after your neck and tense you will feel the muscle move. Can confirm that is the one? If so yours is same as mine.

 

I have a high pitched pulsating hiss in my left ear that gets louder when my blood pressure or heart rate spikes (yawning, climbing stairs, getting up quickly, etc., but not as many triggers as you have), it usually lasts for about 5 heartbeats. Mine also gets louder or quieter with head and jaw movements. It started xmas week 2014 and has gradually gotten quieter and more intermittent, I would say it is about 70% better than xmas week. I also have other hissing in my right ear at times, and more classic tinnitus that is reactive to sounds, also been gradually getting better but still a ways to go. If this feature of your T is recent, then maybe you will see improvement in the coming months.

 

I think it might be a different one. Tensing my jaw in different ways doesn't change my tone. Feels like it's underneath my neck muscles, like I'm squeezing a blood vessel.

 

Mine is similar, though decidedly bilateral and moves around a lot. It does not whoosh, but anything that severely raises my HR/BP amplifies it, and some of the electrical tones seem to correspond to my heartbeat.

Well, I think that what's meant by "reaction is the big problem", is that whatever the nature of your T, it's "just" a sound precept, and the immediate limbic fear response many of us feel, makes it seem scary and distressing, instead of "only" annoying, as with other grating sounds.

I think the wisdom is supposed to be that whatever the cause of T, the toxic thinking and immediate fear response from the limbic system that it creates is responsible for creating (or at least magnifying) the discomfort, so if that reaction can be controlled, you are left with something which is "only" annoying.

I use quotes because obviously it's nuanced, difficult, and it's also much easier to say you're going to change your reaction than to do it. I also think that "reaction" is something we generally think of as a conscious thing, and that's not really true here -- the goal of habituation based approaches is to stop the perception escalation that makes us consciously aware of it in the first place.

Think of -- you are in a car at a red light, waiting for it to turn green. There is another car stopped in the lane next to you, and it's slightly in your peripheral vision. On some level, you have perceived that there is a vehicle there, but if it is not moving and you are not trying to change lanes, you never think about it, and by the time you're a block up the road, the idea that there was ever a car next to you while you were stopped, is gone -- it never registered consciously strong enough to warrant thinking about it in words.

 

I keep reading in people's posts that tinnitus is just a sound and that it doesn't matter how loud it is, but that how well one copes or habituates to tinnitus is tied to one's reaction to or perception of that sound. My question is: Is anyone else's tinnitus also tied to their circulatory system? It is not classic pulsitile tinnitus (not a whoosher). Meaning that my tinnitus is very-high pitched, it pulses, it is unilateral, and anything that I do that has the potential to raise my heartrate also raises my tinnitus. For example, walking, running, standing up, chewing, breathing, doing dishes, vacuuming, etc. In this case, it does not seem that it can just be tied to reaction or perception. It is tied to everyday movements. How does one habituate to a condition like this? Tinnitus is not a one-size-fits-all affliction and deserves a differential diagnosis.

Anybody that tells you tinnitus is just a sound and that it doesn't matter how loud it is obviously has very mild tinnitus. IMO you are better off ignoring people who write that.

My T ramps up after exercise but it always settles down again. Most people have a somatic component to their tinnitus so chewing, stretching the jaw, jaw movements can affect tinnitus briefly.

Clashing of dishes that causes distress can suggest a degree of hyperacusis.

Tinnitus definitely isn't a one size fits all condition and I would say that proof of that is that many treatments are not universally successful for everyone that undertakes them. For example read some the conflicting reports on Neuromonics, TRT and other sound therapies.

 

@Magpie I agree with you. I am one of the people who has posted about Neuromonics. I have had severe hyperacusis since using it. My neuro-otologist says that the reason jaw movements and pressures can change tinnitus briefly is because it changes the impedence of the nerve in the inner ear. I do not have a "reaction" to the T as most people say, perhaps because of 30 years of meditation. But because it is tied to my circulatory system, anything that raises my heart rate raises my tinnitus. Therefore, it is not something to habituate to like someone with hearing loss can. I do not have significant hearing loss. I think the constant loud high-pitched pulsing makes habituation next to impossible, especially when every movement increases the T. I have been dealing with this high-pitched car alarm in my head for over a year, but it is getting worse instead of better over time. I agree with @James P that silence was one of my greatest pleasures in life.

 

I also agree with @Magpie - volume matters. The idea that we can obey a single doctrine and find the same relief is not feasible. Everybody has their own triggers and reactions so it really has to be about what you feel and what works for you - no existing therapy even tries to claim a 100% success rate,

The reaction is a huge thing without a doubt. Mine is pretty loud and I am reasonably habituated; I don't react to it and I don't let it control my emotions. The thing is though that volume is still a factor to me, especially given that it spikes frequently and is reactive to sound.

I am sitting and working in silence at the moment and my tinnitus is very loud. I am not happy about it and am different as a person if it is quieter. It makes me react whether I admit it consciously or not.

 

@Steve Yes, volume matters!

 

i was the same way, i fished in our local lake and enjoyed the sounds of water, which helpes alot now to mask T, but i also enjoyed quietness, and i have been robbed from my silence, i hate T and i had already habituated, now im having a problem, it raised its sound due to otitis, but thanks to that the Doctor told me i have had this otitis for a long time (2yrs) but it just recently worsen and the results were devastating loud tinnitus, but im in treatment for now, antibiotics, inflammation meds and Ginko Biloba, im getting my treatment in Mexico and my ENT is awsome, he has Tinnitus patients and undrrstands the problem, but im trying what Danny Boy said sulpiride and trobalt, he has been cured from tinnitus due to infection, thats what i think i got, my ENT wilk decide that though.

 

My tinnitus is like yours as well and it became much worse over time. I recently got a diagnose of palatal myocloneus (after 6 years) and get botox injections in my palate. This may or may not your problem but to me your problem sound like a muscle/tension related issue. Running, and hard physical labour, does help me a lot to manage my tinnitus as well. The odd thing with this kind of pulsatile and movement related tinnitus is that there is no logic in what may or may not help and for me I put it down to an overactive (stressed) nervous system that may react in a rather unpredictable way. I'm currently looking into muscle spasms and dystonia in relations to some chemical compounds.