When I'm in Bed, I Hear a Slight Electric Buzz — Would This Be Tinnitus?

Hello all,

I need some help and/or advice. I’m not sure if I have tinnitus and I can’t find definite answers.

I don’t really have any ringing in my ears. I will get an occasional ring that lasts 2 seconds tops.

What I’ve noticed is that when I’m in bed at night, I hear “something”. It didn’t bother me at first until I started Googling. Now all I do is notice that “something”. It’s more like an electric buzz.

I’ve read there is no true silence which gives me comfort temporarily, but then every site is saying it’s tinnitus.

I'm a very anxious person, so this sound has become distressing. I’m very fortunate that it’s not a screech or worse. At least not for now. I think I’ve had this sound for a long time but I never noticed it until now.

I don’t want to go to an ENT and have them tell me nothing is wrong. I sleep well thankfully and it hasn’t stopped me from living life.

What advice can you give?

 

@wildhoney1214,

I would do everything in my power to get the anxiety under control. I do believe mine was caused in part by anxiety from COVID-19 and quarantine. Do yoga, breathe, walk, pray and talk to friends. Get serious about getting the anxiety under control. Mine was very mild for 3 years and now it is louder from an acoustic trauma. Really take care of yourself.

Best to you~
twa

 

What you have is mild tinnitus. Ringing or a "high pitch" tone is a Lot harder to ignore. Many people experience their tinnitus changing from a high pitch tone tinnitus to a buzz and then to a hiss. You are at a stage that many get to after a year of healing. This means that you haven't hurt your ears as much as most people here. There is a good chance that eventually your tinnitus will become a hiss and then will fade. Ears take forever to heal. Hopefully in a year or two you will have your life back.

Now that you have tinnitus there is a chance that your ears have been compromised and that now it will be easier to hurt your ears compared to back when your ears were healthy. You will want to stay away from concerts and other places where there are loud noises.

You will want to make sure that you don't hurt your ears during this period of vulnerability as your body is healing. You will want to avoid taking ototoxic drugs, avoid microsuction or syringing (performed when you need to clean wax out of your ears; a manual tool should be used), and not let your dental hygienist use an ultrasonic scaling tool on you (a manual tool should be used). For more details, see:

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/thread...eone-else-who-has-tinnitus.26850/#post-307822

 

Welcome to the forum. If you have already noticed this 'something' for a while and you have managed to live life normally, I will suggest you keep living normally and try to distract yourself from paying attention to this sound. You are right that many people without tinnitus do hear 'something' when they are in quiet room and seek out this sound. That is not intrusive tinnitus. So you are just being normal like many without tinnitus. Just rest your heart and focus on other aspects of life and enjoy them as much as you can. All the best to you. God bless.

 

@wildhoney1214

I hope you don't mind me being quite pressing in my advice but I do it for your own benefit.

Please stop googling tinnitus, stop posting on tinnitus forums and eventually stop thinking about it.

Tinnitus is a brain thing, the last thing you want to do is feeding it tinnitus - fuel.

For the future: protect your ears and be kind to other people. Good luck.

 

Thank you all for your replies! I woke up this morning hoping to get some encouraging words. I will try hard to just relax and let it be. I plan on seeing an ENT just to have my hearing checked. I am also a daily at-work headphone wearer so it looks like those will have to go. I am truly sorry for the pain this causes many people. Reading some of these posts show how devastating this can be. Thankfully, this forum can help many people.

 

I would suggest to stop Googling and trying to forget about the sound. Just ignore the buzzing...

 

I had tinnitus like yours for over a decade. It never bothered me. I would actually put in my noise cancelling ear buds and just listen to the very faint tone at work, and it would help me concentrate. I actually thought that's all that tinnitus was, so you should feel very fortunate you have an understanding that it can, in fact, get much worse.

I think where you are at now, you shouldn't have any worries. Just take care of your ears and follow the OSHA guidelines. Wear earplugs to concerts, clubs and sporting events. Also when you are using power tools or machinery. Limit the volume on headphones to half the max volume, or if you can, avoid headphones and earphones altogether (I think that's what eventually made mine worse).

 

Tests/Procedures to Avoid