What's Your Tinnitus Loudness Match (Minimum Masking Level)?

If you've been tested by an audiologist, what is your tinnitus loudness match?

My tinnitus loudness match was 14 dB above the threshold for hearing (15 dB?).

 

I don't remember, but it was more than 14 dB over threshold, by some margin.

Unsure how much it matters; the only thing that bothers me is the really high pitch stuff. I have lower pitch tinnitus that's louder that I don't care about.

 

Yeah my tinnitus is about 14 kHz. That's high pitch and so bothersome. I don't know if 14 dB over threshold is mild or moderate. I mean any form of tinnitus sucks.

It seems only a few people on here have truly mild tinnitus.

Anyone else have their tinnitus loudness matched?

 

http://audiology-mass.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/2012-Mass-Acad-Tinnitus-PDF-handouts.pdf

According to this 0-3 dB = easy to mask, 4-10 dB = masking may be intrusive, > 10 dB = difficult to mask.

Mine is 14 dB SL... so it's considered difficult to mask. They said most tinnitus is 6-7 dB SL. That's why no one takes it seriously. Most people have a tinnitus that is easy to mask and is only 6-7 dB SL.

 

Measuring tinnitus loudness is frankly quite pointless and a total waste of time as it means absolutely nothing in the grand scheme of things. What is important and absolutely fundamental, is how tinnitus affects a person's "mental and emotional" wellbeing, this is where it's at. I will assume you have to pay for such a test and this it's what it's about. Health professionals out to make a quick buck charging people for unnecessary procedures and tests. Proper treatment is needed and at the right time. Approximately six months after tinnitus onset if it was "noise induced" and the patient doesn't have any additional problems such as: pain in the ears, deafness, dizziness etc.

Many people habituate within six months to a year. However, some people may find the habituation process difficult. Therefore, counselling, sound therapy, medication or relaxation therapy can help. One or a combination of these treatments can beneficial.

Michael

PS: Tinnitus should not be masked or covered up so that it can't be heard with another sound. Anyone that does this risk their tinnitus becoming worse and in most cases, will find habituation more difficult near on impossible to achieve. The brain cannot habituate to tinnitus unless it can hear it. Using white noise generator, one or two; the white noise set slightly below the tinnitus can be helpful in treating Tinnitus and hyperacusis if it is present.

 

I see that you are new to tinnitus and that your tinnitus is low? At the moment you have nothing to concern about as you will fully habituate in time. Carry on as you are using sound enrichment at night and well done.

If you want to know more about habituation. Please go to my "started threads" and read my post: The habituation Process.

All the best
Michael

 

Mine is hard to determine nowadays as the loudness is variable, it is mild but it gets all the way to moderate when it spikes and that happens pretty often (several times a day), when it's moderate I can hear it over most background noises, especially as it's 14kHz high pitched. When it's mild, I seldom hear it. More often than not, it's at moderate level however.

When it initially started however, it was severe for 23 days, with a stable SL of roughly 60 to 65 dB (closed to 65), and was extremely debilitating. Then on the 23rd day, it just went to mild, it stayed that way until I stopped prednisone, then it went to moderate, I still rather not take prednisone than having it go back to mild, the side effects for this drug can be pretty nasty.

Loudness is only part of the issue however, how someone reacts to the noise may have a much more significant impact to how significant of an impairment the tinnitus brings. That said anything louder than 30 dB is what I would consider severe tinnitus, when taking into account SL alone as that would likely have a significant impact on your ability to focus.

Tinnitus has however more to do with how much distress it brings and how debilitating it is, than how loud it actually is.