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Tinnitus is a difficult topic because it’s a catch-all term for several different conditions that cause ear noise. There’s even a category of tinnitus for sound

Tinnitus is a difficult topic because it’s a catch-all term for several different conditions that cause ear noise. There’s even a category of tinnitus for sounds within the ear that can be objectively heard by someone other than the sufferer - This is known as “objective tinnitus”.

starkd 4y ago
>> There’s even a category of tinnitus for sounds within the ear that can be objectively heard by someone other than the sufferer - This is known as “objective tinnitus”. This doesn't make sense. If it can be heard by someone else, its by definition an aural stimulus event and not tinnitis.
- dahart 4y ago
  That was my first thought as well, but it’s a thing. One of those times I learned the definition of a word wasn’t exactly what I thought it was (or, more precisely that the commonly used definition of a word actually needs a technical/clinical qualifier to be complete, such as “subjective” in this case, because other qualified definitions exist). https://www.medlink.com/articles/objective-tinnitus https://www.medlink.com/articles/objective-tinnitus “Objective tinnitus is a perceived sensation of sound that occurs in the absence of external acoustic stimulation, but it can also be heard by the examiner (eg, by placing a stethoscope over the patient's external auditory canal). Objective tinnitus can occur either from perception of an abnormal somatosound or abnormal perception of a normal somatosound. Objective tinnitus is much less common than subjective tinnitus, but it often has an identifiable cause and may be curable, whereas subjective tinnitus is often idiopathic and is seldom curable.”
- robwwilliams 4y ago
  The ears are capable of generating sound. See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otoacoustic_emission https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otoacoustic_emission The main function of this system is to protect the ear from loud sounds—noise canceling and/or modulate sensitivity as a function of spectrum.
bitL 4y ago
So it's like "anxiety" - a catch-all term when doctors have no clue.
- kirubakaran 4y ago
  If I were a doctor and I had no clue, I'd definitely have anxiety.
- jrace 4y ago
  Kind of, Tinnitus refers to the symptom not the cause.
karmakaze 4y ago
I have both. I can hear blood rushing around my ears where the sound varies from windy/water rushy sounds to faint very high-pitched sounds. Then when I exert myself physically (e.g. get up suddenly after not moving a long while) there can be a kind of thud followed by very loud high (but not very high) frequency ringing. Once that happens regardless of how idle I am it doesn't go away for hours. Sometimes it just creeps up slowly from nothing in particular. The first kind mostly don't notice and forget it's there, the other is very distracting so play music or white-noise. Strangely I don't know that either of them interfere with falling asleep. It may very well be that I just don't even try to sleep unless tired and quiet, can't tell--I don't do it consciously. Lately I usually start something on Netflix or YouTube without autoplay so perhaps that's what I accidentally found to work.

starkd 4y ago

>> There’s even a category of tinnitus for sounds within the ear that can be objectively heard by someone other than the sufferer - This is known as “objective tinnitus”. This doesn't make sense. If it can be heard by someone else, its by definition an aural stimulus event and not tinnitis.

dahart 4y ago
That was my first thought as well, but it’s a thing. One of those times I learned the definition of a word wasn’t exactly what I thought it was (or, more precisely that the commonly used definition of a word actually needs a technical/clinical qualifier to be complete, such as “subjective” in this case, because other qualified definitions exist). https://www.medlink.com/articles/objective-tinnitus https://www.medlink.com/articles/objective-tinnitus “Objective tinnitus is a perceived sensation of sound that occurs in the absence of external acoustic stimulation, but it can also be heard by the examiner (eg, by placing a stethoscope over the patient's external auditory canal). Objective tinnitus can occur either from perception of an abnormal somatosound or abnormal perception of a normal somatosound. Objective tinnitus is much less common than subjective tinnitus, but it often has an identifiable cause and may be curable, whereas subjective tinnitus is often idiopathic and is seldom curable.”
robwwilliams 4y ago
The ears are capable of generating sound. See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otoacoustic_emission https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otoacoustic_emission The main function of this system is to protect the ear from loud sounds—noise canceling and/or modulate sensitivity as a function of spectrum.

bitL 4y ago

So it's like "anxiety" - a catch-all term when doctors have no clue.

kirubakaran 4y ago
If I were a doctor and I had no clue, I'd definitely have anxiety.
jrace 4y ago
Kind of, Tinnitus refers to the symptom not the cause.

karmakaze 4y ago

I have both. I can hear blood rushing around my ears where the sound varies from windy/water rushy sounds to faint very high-pitched sounds. Then when I exert myself physically (e.g. get up suddenly after not moving a long while) there can be a kind of thud followed by very loud high (but not very high) frequency ringing. Once that happens regardless of how idle I am it doesn't go away for hours. Sometimes it just creeps up slowly from nothing in particular. The first kind mostly don't notice and forget it's there, the other is very distracting so play music or white-noise. Strangely I don't know that either of them interfere with falling asleep. It may very well be that I just don't even try to sleep unless tired and quiet, can't tell--I don't do it consciously. Lately I usually start something on Netflix or YouTube without autoplay so perhaps that's what I accidentally found to work.