3 ms·

Ask HN: People with tinnitus how do you block sound when you sleep?

3 points by mettamage 4y ago

I came up with a ridiculous method myself. It works, but I wonder if other people came up with other things. What I can't do: * Earplugs If I do that then the earplugs will get into my ear whenever I sleep on my side. This aggravates the tinnitus sound. What I can do: * Earplugs + Airpods Max with ANC off The earplugs will not get into my ear because the shelf surrounding my ear from the Airpods Max protect it. ANC needs to be off because when I side sleep, the microphone that is meant for ANC goes in some feedback loop and then I hear all kinds of beeps. If I lay on my back I can put ANC on. That's my method, I'm looking to improve it to either block more sound. I'd also be happy with to block as much sound as I do now while lying more comfortable. Having an Airpods Max on is slightly less comfortable than without. With that said, I'd argue that this method is also really helpful for people without tinnitus since it blocks more sound than just earplugs alone. The passive noise cancellation from having a shelf around your ear from a headphone blocks a lot of low frequency sounds it seems. In any case, how do you do it?

ThrowITout4321 4y ago
I understand that tinnitus is due to an issue inside the ear. How do ear plugs help since they block the outside noise?
- rantallion 4y ago
  > The passive noise cancellation from having a shelf around your ear from a headphone blocks a lot of low frequency sounds it seems. Covering their ears helps block the low frequency sounds. Yeah, they're not describing tinnitus at all, just some ambient noise that annoys them at night.
- mettamage 4y ago
  Perhaps I didn't explain things fully and/or clearly. I never mentioned that I'm trying to block tinnitus. What I did describe was preventing from aggravating my tinnitus when the earplugs penetrate more into my ears due to lying on my side. Tinnitus itself cannot be blocked, at best it can be masked. I do not have a problem with my base level of tinnitus. I have a problem when my tinnitus sounds 10 times as loud due to it being aggrevated when something is pressing on my ear. There are more noises than simply tinnitus. There are car sounds, airplane sounds, random people sounds, all kinds of sounds. These sounds could not be blocked previously. The reason they could not be blocked is because if I'd block them solely with earplugs, then while all kinds of outside sounds would be blocked my tinnitus sound would be way worse which would render the point of blocking outside sounds as pointless.
News-Dog 4y ago
Tinnitus can be a symptom of a medical issue, check with your Doctor. : https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tinnitus https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tinnitus
- mettamage 4y ago
  In my case, it clearly developed after going out too much. I remember the night where it developed, which was right after a night out.
elmerfud 4y ago
Short answer, I don't do anything because it has become the noise floor of life. Longer answer. A long time ago when I realized that I had this but didn't understand what it was or that it was a named phenomenon I kind of assumed that everyone had this. Between the tinnitus, asthma and various other physically discomforting issues in my life led me to the discovery of some of the core principles of what is known as mindfulness today. This idea of becoming keenly self aware of your body of your state of being of yourself in your surroundings. Being able to process massive amounts of sensory input without a being overstimulated by it. This is what has allowed me to take things like tinnitus and simply incorporate this constant extra stimulation and not have it disturb other aspects of my life. I am keenly aware of it being there, always, but it is as if it's the noise floor. This is what works for me and this general approach is what I take toward many issues that come up. I found that discipline of the mind works the best for me and is adaptable to many different situations.
tunap 4y ago
I cannot sleep with anything on, or in, my head. Low volume, natural water sounds or classical music(sans vocals) from satellite speakers is my best solution for blocking ambient & tinnitus sourced noise. Also, may or may not apply: I have found desisting my intake of 'Super K' supplement(K2 / K1) has decreased my tinnitus by a large order. Without a proper way to measure it, I'd guess it is a 60 - 80 % decrease.
moistly 4y ago
I just put a second pillow over my head.
- mettamage 4y ago
  Haha, that's what I used to do. It works reasonably well :)