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I've had tinnitus in my left ear for about six months now. I was hoping it was the result of an earwax impaction or something, but after having several special

I've had tinnitus in my left ear for about six months now. I was hoping it was the result of an earwax impaction or something, but after having several specialists look at my ears, test my hearing, and getting an MRI to check for tumors, the overwhelming medical consensus of the cause appears to be "I dunno", and at this point I have given up on it being temporary. About 95% of the time, I can fairly easily just tune it out and it's no different than any other background noise. Living in NYC helps, there's a fair amount of constant background noise even in the best of times. I've found that finding 10-hour videos on YouTube of TV static at a low volume can be helpful for the remaining 5%. Still I would really prefer it wasn't there. The ringing in my left ear is still annoying, and I'm only in my mid 30's, so assuming an average lifespan I have anywhere from 40-60 years left to enjoy this constant ringing. I'll play with this thing to see if it helps.

LeoPanthera 1y ago
> 10-hour videos on YouTube of TV static Please consider a local noise generator. Static is incompressible so you're using quite a lot of data.
breendreams 1y ago
I’m basically in the same exact situation as you, only ringing in my left ear. MRI/hearing/etc tests have all shown nothing and I haven’t received any answer for it. I’ve had it for close to a decade now. NYC definitely helps drown it out but life would be better without it.
cnnlives8387 1y ago
I’ve noticed that if I’m eating more salt, don’t sleep well, under a lot of stress, or taking anything that increases my blood pressure or affects vasodilation (supplements, some foods, stimulants, etc.), it causes me to have tinnitus. Loud concerts / music / sound-reducing headphone / noise can do it also.
- tmcz26 1y ago
  Look into Ménière’s disease . I got diagnosed recently and those are all triggers for it. When undergoing episodes I also have vertigo. There’s medication for controlling the bigger symptoms.
tptacek 1y ago
If it helps: I've gone through years of coping strategies and coming to peace with it; it'll probably annoy you a lot less a year from now than it does today. (I had a really rough run in my teenage years, but these days a cure for tinnitus is kind of only academically interesting to me; I mean, I'd do it, but it probably wouldn't change my life much.)
guilamu 1y ago
A message of hope. I got mine in my 30's too. The first week I thought I was going crazy, and this was the end of my life. I was shocked, I couldn't go to work for a whole week. I then saw a doctor who said to me: "Man, I've got tinnitus since 20 years and I barely hear it anymore. The more you accept it, the more it'll fade." A decade later, my own experience is exactly this. I accepted it as one of the body malfunctions that comes with age for everybody. I barely hear it anymore except in extremely low noise situations and it doesn't bother me at all. I wish you well.
- glimshe 1y ago
  It's very much like eye floaters. They are always there, but you can tune them out most of the time.
  - typpilol 1y ago
    Brains crazy I had a slight crack in my windshield right at eye level view. And after a minute of driving I don't notice it at all anymore
    - ricardobeat 1y ago
      We have a projector instead of TV in the living room, and there is a small outlet inside the projection area, top right corner. We can go months without realizing/remembering it's there, until it accidentally matches a shadow or object in a scene... the brain just deletes it.
    - BobbyTables2 1y ago
      The fact we don’t notice our nose is crazy! It’s right in front of us!
  - Alejandro9R 1y ago
    Completely agree. I've had some light/moderate floaters in my left eye which were very noticeable under a white screen, clean walls, or full bright sky in the evening. It came pretty sure because of a very stressful period at 27. Here I am, 31. I have to look for them really really hard to see if they are still there. Only when I have a streak of stressful days and bad night sleep, they will be visible again. It comes without saying that I had to change my life in many, many aspects, not only due to these floaters. A much calmer life, better food, gym, financial security, better friends and people around me, and cultivate a spiritual being in some sense. The mind can be shaped in many many ways it's fascinating.
GioM 1y ago
I have had tinnitus from an infection, which (very thankfully, and I admit very luckily) slowly resolved over a period of years. That said, I have experienced occasional reoccurrence. One thing that helps is I ask my masseuse to concentrate on the sides of my neck- there is a specific muscle that when tense can cause ringing. Does your tinnitus get momentarily worse when you tense your neck muscles?
- tombert 1y ago
  I just tried it, it does not change significantly when I tense my neck muscles.
Aurornis 1y ago
Once the major (though exceedingly rare) problems have been ruled out, the best course of action is to start learning to live with it. It’s not what anyone wants to hear, but it’s the pragmatic approach that works best from everything I’ve seen. The people who become involved in tinnitus forums, support groups, and chasing experimental treatments think they’re helping themselves but they’re really only bringing it to top of mind over and over again. It feels frustrating to give up and disconnect from all things tinnitus related on th internet, but disconnecting is exactly what helps with the process of letting it fall into the background of your life. Constantly bringing it to the foreground and reading about it only makes it worse.
- xnyan 1y ago
  This is how it worked for me. I’ve had it in my left ear for decades, the last time I thought about it was the last time I read an article about tinnitus on hacker news.
- pfortuny 1y ago
  Meditation, despite being a common trope, has helped me accept it too.
- sixtyj 1y ago
  Yes, the best way is to let it fall into background. Just keep going.
- diego_sandoval 1y ago
  In my case, this mindset + SSRIs have helped me tremendously. I didn't want to depend on a drug, but after getting into a really bad, quasi-suicidal mental state, I went to the psychiatrist. I've been on escitalopram for 4 months and it has really helped reduce the distress associated with tinnitus in like 80%. Making an effort to not think about it has also helped. I hope to stop taking the drug at some point and see if the mental improvement persists.
bad_haircut72 1y ago
Im curious did you also experience hearing loss? I started getting tinnitus in my left ear almost 12 months ago, but 12 months before that I started noticably losing hearing in my left ear (with audiology tests to back it up, Im basically deaf in one ear now). Also mid 30s.
- tombert 1y ago
  Nope! I haven't really noticed any significant loss in hearing at a "vibes" level, but I actually got my hearing tested in both ears to be sure, and my hearing is actually slightly better than the average 30-something.
ectospheno 1y ago
I have had tinnitus in my left ear since 2011. You do get used to it. I really only notice when someone says the word or an article on it pops up. I considered setting up some kind of web filter just so I never saw the word again. I notice it now, for instance. To everyone who doesn't have it, wear ear plugs at concerts, be careful when you remove the ear plugs, and use the max volume limiters on your phones. Enjoy your hearing while you have it.
- bluescrn 1y ago
  > I really only notice when someone says the word or an article on it pops up. Oh, exactly this. Haven't thought about mine in months, but as soon as I actively think about the subject, suddenly the high-pitch whine in my left ear is back and louder than ever.
oh_my_goodness 1y ago
I got tinnitus in one ear after using music in headphones to block out other noise. I was probably using the headphones too loud and too often. This happened 15 years ago. It was pretty bad at first. Since then, very slowly, it has mostly "healed" or something. It's still there. But it's much less severe than it was. I also experienced significant hearing loss around the same time. My hearing had always been absurdly good, but that changed over about a year. Now I can hear well enough to get by, but I really miss what I had. Protect your hearing!
- bsimpson 1y ago
  Earplugs are like condoms: They make a sensual pleasure less pleasurable, and they also protect against life-altering consequences.
  - deleted 1y ago
    [deleted]
  - tbossanova 1y ago
    You can get earplugs that only lower the sound quality a tiny bit these days. I bought some from the drum shop and they’re great. As you say, $20 or so to avoid lifetime ear damage is a very very good investment. I feel like concerts aren’t quite so loud these days too, maybe audio gear quality is better and the sound engineers don’t feel the need to turn it up quite so loud.
    - jskopek 1y ago
      I’ve also noticed that younger people seem to wear earplugs at concerts a lot more often. I get the feeling there’s been a change in attitude towards hearing protection. My guess is that instagram ads for earplugs and AirPod hearing health features have had something to do with it
      - BobbyTables2 1y ago
        The last time I attended a concert, it was still very loud even with earplugs!
reify 1y ago
I too had exactly the same constsnt ringing in my left ear. I could not get to sleep because the noise was so loud and intense. It reminded me of those spy films where they torture someone playing loud heavy metalcore all day and night. I had a X-ray, ultra-sound and two Consultants had a look. Both said that there was nothing wrong with my ear. No ear wax, no damage, no issues at all. They both mentioned that tense facial and neck muscles may be a cause. As well as the constant ringing, there is a sound like a central eating system, thumping and groaning away, in both my ears too. I initially thought the thumping and groaning was the Mrs snoring. I bought some earloops thinking my ears were too sensitive and I was somehow hearing noises from the houses down the road and the motorway traffic 3 miles away. to no avail, even with the earloops blocking all exterior noise, I still had the high pitched and low piched internal noises. I found a way to reduce the noise. I was laying in bed one night and I was relaxing my jaw when I noticed that if I opened my mouth and let my jaw hang loose all the noises stopped. So over a month or so I tried to train my jaw to be less tense and more relaxed. For me it worked. it was my jaw. I'm 69, so have a few less years years than your good self
hyperpl 1y ago
Another message of hope for anyone struggling with the possibility of having tinnitus: I may not be able to fully recount all the factors but I believe my ears may have had some residual fluid after recovering from covid (my covid symptoms were entirely unpleasant and impacted me differently in many ways). Before my ears cleared up, I took a domestic flight where I actually got vertigo for a few 10s of seconds on ascent. My ENT believes my eardrum expanded to touch the inner ear. The following day I went to a gun range and did skeet shooting for a couple of hours then shot really big guns and sniper rifles. The earplugs I brought myself were likely not adequate and taking them out and putting them in repeatedly in relatively cool weather likely didn't provide the best seal either. That night or the next day I noticed lots of ringing in my ears and I started to become worried when it was still there even after a week. The worst was being in silent meeting rooms at work where it was most noticeable. It was extremely depressing and I nearly lost all hope. I visited 2 separate ENTs and each just sent me re-take my yearly hearing test. They didn't really provide any comforting words other than to take the test and wear hearing protection, etc.. Before the hearing test (~2 weeks after the gun range and flights) I explained everything to the audiologist and he said "Lots of people have various degrees of tinnitus/ringing, just don't think about it. I have it and that's what I do. Don't let it bother you and live your life." Interestingly enough, my audio test came back better than the previous 10 year results and since then I just don't think about it. If I do I can certainly hear it. My only personal takeaway is that the brain and body are very complex and have an arsenal of mechanisms to deal with trauma and that for this particular instance I've been very lucky.
- rwyinuse 1y ago
  I have slightly similar experience. When I was a teenager, I had a random flu shortly before two flights abroad. I didn't feel that sick anymore, but apparently my ears were still badly blocked. On descent my ears would hurt like hell, and I was half-deaf for rest of the day. That was more than ten years ago, and since then I've suffered from moderate tinnitus. I too got used to it, but I would really advice people to avoid flying sick if they can help it (or at least use some meds to unblock your ears while doing it).
manoDev 1y ago
I feel you. Here’s things you can try (in this order): - Cut stimulant use (coffee, energy drinks) and alcohol - Drink plenty of water - Check blood pressure - Talk to a dentist and check if you grind teeth or suffer from jaw stiffness - Supplement Magnesium (chelated/glycinate, 300mg/day) I’m ignoring issues of the ear canal (wax, secretions) since you mentioned it. Studies point to tinnitus being either caused by changes in blood supply on the inner ear, of neurological origin or trauma. These are all measures I took and greatly improved my case (and when I neglect one of those, it comes back).
- tombert 1y ago
  I don't drink alcohol at all and haven't for quite awhile, and my blood pressure is pretty low and hasn't changed significantly. I did try cutting out caffeine entirely for several months (and the tinnitus actually started when I wasn't haven't any caffeine at all). I do very slightly grind my teeth in my sleep, but in this particular case the problem is basically solved (at least at the dental level) because I have mild sleep apnea so I sleep with a plastic mouthpiece every night anyway. I'll look into the magnesium supplements.
  - manoDev 1y ago
    Yeah, caffeine is not the cause per se - the thing is it has both vasoconstriction and vasodilation effects at different times, so it can mess with blood vessels in the inner ear. It totally makes sense if you get tinnitus when you cut caffeine after your body is used to it. Magnesium plays a part on vasodilation regulation as well, and many people are silently deficient on it. It’s hard to detect deficiency w/ blood samples, because the body works hard to keep blood concentration stable. You will know you do if you get muscle cramps or twitches.
- mopenstein 1y ago
  Mine came on when I was about 12 years old and I'm convinced it was brought on by severe anxiety. At the time my life had changed dramatically. My parents split. Moved to an area adjacent to government housing projects, through which I had to travel everyday to school, and I was, by virtue of unfortunately being wrong color, beaten daily by gangs of hooligans. I ended up sneaking through a slightly wooded area like a South American guerilla until they caught me there. I couldn't handle it as I was already a sensitive kid and, the parent I ended up with, the other having gone to jail, was compassionless due to their own horrific upbringing. So I had no way of coping which led to total breakdowns and anxiety attacks. Tinnitus reared it's ugly head soon after which further exacerbated the anxiety. But the correlation is all speculation on my part because my parent only took me to the doctor a year or so later after much complaining. And only for the tinnitus, not the crippling anxiety.
everyone 1y ago
I tried Lenire and it didnt do anything, probably made it worse. Been doing CBT (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy) and I seem to be making some progress with it.
semolinachops 1y ago
I got tinnitus about 4 years ago in one ear. At first I thought it was stress with a new baby, moving house and a busy time at work. I thought maybe it was wax. I saw a few specialists, had hearing tests, MRI and CT, and everything came back fine. Couldnt work it out so I gave up for a bit. Later I went back to my GP and got another referral. This time the consultant asked the radiologist to focus on a specific area. He explained it can show up on a normal scan but unless they know what to look for it often gets missed. That is when they found I have thinning of the bone over the inner ear called superior semicircular canal dehiscence SSCD. I wear sleep earphones at night which have been life changing.
- 3shv 1y ago
  Is this an ad for Soundcore?
  - richwater 1y ago
    Yea i have no idea how that product relates to tinnitus
    - semolinachops 1y ago
      Inadvertent ad removed. Sleeping with tinnitus can be very hard and increases the anxiety. At least it was for me. I found specific sleep earphones worked particularly well at reducing this.
mrblah 1y ago
this is anecdotal and not medical advice, but i reduced my tinnitus symptoms by ~90% by taking therapeutic doses (1200-1800mg/day) of benfotiamine (fat soluble form of vitamin b1) over the course of a month and a half. i was taking it for unrelated nerve pain and was very surprised that my sense of smell and hearing also remarkably improved, to the point where i needed to reduce the long standing 'known' audio levels of all my various listening gadgets a few clicks. the ringing was a little worse for the first couple weeks, but then reduced a couple more weeks, then almost completely stopped 1 day. from what i gather, high doses of the fat soluble form of vitamin b1 can repair nerves and is used as first line therapy in some countries for neuropathy, chronic pain and even alzheimers. i'm sure it won't help everyone, i can't even find any solid research on tinnitus and benfotiamine, but putting this out in the ether since it is a cheap and relatively safe thing to try, i was completely surprised by this nice off-label side effect (it did help with my nerve pain as well). there is much more research based evidence on benfotiamine therapy for other nerve problems, and it follows that hearing and smell would also be affected, it's all nerves, good luck edit * adding if you are taking high doses of benfotiamine, you should also be taking magnesium with it, i just took zma (zinc, magnesium and b6) at bedtime *
- OutOfHere 1y ago
  Even 80 mg of benfotiamine a day is too potent for me, giving me anxiety. 40 mg is more tolerable. I do take plenty of magnesium, zinc, and P5P. Be careful taking the basic non-P5P form of B6 because it risks causing serious neuropathy in the long term. Benfotiamine is more for managing damage from high glucose. I acknowledge your experience, but if your nerve damage is not from metabolic concerns, I am skeptical. Why not use lipothiamine or occasionally sulbutiamine instead for this purpose?
  - mrblah 1y ago
    the older i get, and more in tune with my body i become, the more i'm thinking everything is connected to metabolism... it is, after all, the primary thing life does as it relates to energy. the b vitamins, and specifically b1 is a precursor/cofactor in almost every metabolic pathway. i only high dosed it for a couple months, just taking 150mg with ala daily now, but my tinnitus that i've had for 20 years is gone unless it gets triggered by movie or video game sound design during explosion or gun fight scenes (ugh)
victornomad 1y ago
I started having tinnitus in both ears 10 months ago. I don't know the exact cause, but I started noticing it during a job-related burnout and a series of work-related events that significantly increased my stress levels. It was so bad to the point I had to abruptly quit my job (FYI, freelancing without a safety net sucks). My doctor gave me pills to help calm my brain and the noise, especially during the night. I also have hypersensitivity, so having a constant noise ringing was not ideal :/ Luckily my ENT doctor recommended that I do multiple things at the same time: - tinnitus retraining therapy (TRT), listening to white noise ~4 hours a day - going to a therapist - daily meditation - daily exercise - reducing salt, chocolate, coffee, etc. The hissing is still there, but I can now ignore it most of the time. I started to see life a bit differently since then. Things that disrupt your life can happen so suddenly... I'm still trying to find a job, but I lost a lot of confidence and developed a bit of a trauma since I don't want to experience burnout again :/
- mouse_ 1y ago
  You can do it. It will be easy once you start.
- butlike 1y ago
  Did they really suggest white noise? I imagine it was pink or brown noise? As I understand it, white noise is the only damaging one since there's no "falloff" to the PWM, it's just "white" or "black," so the spikiness of the modulation can be damaging.
  - victornomad 1y ago
    The point of the white noise in TRT is not masking the tinnitus so it is not played loud. The white noise must be played below the level of the tinnitus, so one can hear both sounds simultaneously. Doing so, in theory, the brain learns to reclassify the tinnitus as an unimportant signal (noise).
sixtyj 1y ago
Kids told me that I am losing my hearing. So I went to hearing lab. When I told doctor that I have tinnitus in left ear for almost 10 years, he recommended lorazepam in tough times… that it works. :)
- gridspy 1y ago
  Note - Lorazepam is one of those drugs which causes dependance if you use it regularly. If you find you need it often, get a substitute which is safe to use all the time.
  - johnisgood 1y ago
    So... what? Everything causes dependence one way or another. What is the point of a substitute to "use all the time". It even reads funny to me. I would like you to explain what you meant by that. And what would you recommend as a great substitute of benzodiazepines (that are effective AND safe to use at all times)?
    - posix_compliant 1y ago
      Parent comment is right. I’ve used Lorazepam to treat tinnitus. It’s not worth it. In the long run it raises your base anxiety level. Currently I’m experimenting with Tizanidine.
      - johnisgood 1y ago
        That does not make parent right. It might not be worth it to you, it might be worth it to someone else. I would still like to hear about this substitute that is both effective and can be used "all the time". Tizanidine causes "dependence", too, by the way. Funny you mention Tizanidine, because that is what I want to try as well for my MS-related muscle spasticity. Alprazolam works, but I have been using it for years and it would be great to finally get off of them. It does not last long either, and longer acting benzos don't work for me for some reason. I tried diazepam, which was supposed to be just perfect, but it did not work at all. :( In any case, hoping tizanidine will work for me, we will see. Let me know if tizanidine works for your tinnitus though, my mom has been "suffering" from it for a long time now.
epolanski 1y ago
I'm in your situation. 38, came out of nowhere few months ago, seen any kind of doctor, I hear this 24/7 whistle in my ear. Being in silent rooms or trying to sleep is hard.
- jskopek 1y ago
  It’s been repeated a lot in this discussion, but don’t loose hope. I had a very similar situation and for a while felt like I might not be able to keep living with this condition. A few months later I suddenly realized that I wasn’t thinking about it anymore, and then I had to start straining to notice it. The brain does adapt over time
Towaway69 1y ago
I had tinnitus before I knew it was tinnitus - I thought it was normal. I literally thought that everyone had a constant sound in their ears. It was not until someone explained that they had tinnitus and told me their symptons that I suddenly realised that I too had tinnitus. Since then it's become harder to ignore it but on the other hard, its nice to know that it's not normal and that others can truly hear nothing - something I do wish I could do: hear nothing. I did recently discovered that head under water helps to reduced the sound. Acceptance has been my treatment for years, I hear it when there is mental downtime. So it does keep me busy (mentally) so that I don't hear it - ironically tinnitus motivates me to do stuff!
- technothrasher 1y ago
  I've had it as long as I can remember. Like you, I thought it was normal. When I was a little kid I thought that was what the Simon & Garfunkel song "The Sound of Silence" was talking about. Since I suspect I've had it since birth, it doesn't bother me. It's just something that is. I feel bad for the folks who get it later in life and have trouble with it. My neighbor got it a few years ago and it keeps him up at night sometimes.
  - mynameisash 1y ago
    > Since I suspect I've had it since birth, it doesn't bother me. It's just something that is. I feel bad for the folks who get it later in life and have trouble with it. 100%. I remember being rather young - maybe 5? - and listening to the deafening sound of ringing in my ears when laying in bed. Never knew that quiet was supposed to actually be quiet. I wish I didn't have it, but I've literally never not had it, AFAIK. Possibly unrelated: I can fall asleep within a minute of laying my head down, almost every single day. Built-in white(ish) noise machine?
pests 1y ago
Same situation, basically went away a year later on its own. Every once in a blue moon or when I’m at the boundary of wake|sleep or sleep|wake I’ll kinda hear it again but I find if I just acknowledge the sensation, move on and continue what I was doing - it’ll be days or weeks until I remember it even happened. Focus on it less.
mft_ 1y ago
Exactly the same story for me: right tinnitus just started one day in my 30s; examination, hearing test, MRI all normal. ENT specialist exhausted his diagnostic options then suggested ginger tablets. It rarely bothers me (although it’s always there) but obviously there’s a cause and I’d like to find it. I have a suspicion it may be somehow related to neck anatomy and/or postural factors (it sometimes seems to worsen slightly with particular positions) in bed but beyond that I’m at a loss.
wppick 1y ago
Try experimenting with diet like cutting out/down on sugar or salt and see if it makes any difference. There's no strong evidence that EMF can cause tinnitus but would be interesting to test that out somehow too (camping/cabin trip in a radio free zone?)
geophile 1y ago
I got tinnitus in my late 20s. Forty years later, it's still there. Research into the causes, and treatments, has been disappointingly slow. I would really like to experience total silence at some point, but that seems very unlikely.
WanderPanda 1y ago
I have a strong Tinnitus on one ear after an ear surgery for 8 years now. And I usually don‘t notice it for months at a time, even though it is there all the time (thanks for reminding me :p) So it’s not as bad as it might feel in the beginning. I‘m mostly bothered by my hearing being generally impaired by it. It sits at ~9kHz but it somehow still makes it significantly harder to comprehend voices.
- r2ob 1y ago
  how did you came with ~9kHz number? I want to know my own LoL
  - cpeterso 1y ago
    Just search online for tinnitus tone generator tests.
  - rclkrtrzckr 1y ago
    I had mine measured a few years ago. I had given some headphones in a quiet room, with a low frequency sinus wave on it. Whenever I said I could hear the tone clearly, they increased the frequency. At one point, the tone blends with my tinnitus tone, that's the whole magic. They then measure the current volume in dB, just by increasing/decreasing the tone's volume. I'm on 12kHz, vacuum cleaner level.
semitones 1y ago
Remarkably, our experiences are _incredibly_ similar. Left ear, about a year, got all those tests done, specialists don't know other than "that's tinnitus for you - if I had a cure I'd be rich", 98% of the time I tune it out, I live in NYC, early thirties. If you ever find something that works for you, please reply here @tombert, I'll do the same :)
- ay 1y ago
  Back at some point on HN, I saw https://generalfuzz.net/acrn/ https://generalfuzz.net/acrn/ - and it seems to be useful at least temporarily - in my and others' anecdata. FWIW.
  - dahart 1y ago
    Was going to post this too, I bookmarked it after seeing it on HN and I use it often. Yeah it seems to help me a bit. It seems handy just to identify tinnitus tones, when you have clear tones (I not not everyone with tinnitus does). I’d be interested to hear from anyone who’s had more than moderate success with ACRN. I already posted another comment, but will mention here for GP that the ‘White Bursts’ noise generator on mynoise.net is where I’ve experience the strongest tinnitus reaction. I can audibly hear the tinnitus drop with every cycle, and after listening to it for a few minutes, my tinnitus is quieter for maybe a half hour, then it comes back later.
neonsunset 1y ago
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emeril 1y ago
maybe see "Won-Taek Choe" - he's a legit smart hearing specialist ENT on UES that said, prob nothing to do other than wait and hope for the best really when i had tinnitus following an ear infection years ago, it lasted several months and gradually went away but I always had at least white noise around me and some people say "notch" therapy can be helpful...
BobbyTables2 1y ago
I first got pretty bad tinnitus about 10 years ago while still fairly young. Didn’t go to concerts, shoot guns, hammer nails, or any activity typically associated with hearing loss. At one point it was so loud, it would drown out the sound of a dryer when right next to it. This was party from impacted earwax but still pretty bad after cleaning. Hearing test showed substantial high frequency loss (well above speech frequencies) A few suggestions: 1) Listening to light music helped me stop focusing on it. 2) Tried Taurine. Unsure if it helped, didn’t hurt. Make sure you aren’t low on Vitamin D. That alone causes enough other problems too. 3) Make sure you don’t clench teeth or have dental issues. I think that might be able to aggravate the nerves. It never went fully away but I’m no longer overtly conscious, just faint in the background. Always aware of light pressure/muffled feeling in affected ear. Changes were slow and gradual but did happen. Doesn’t bother me much anymore. Do miss the “sound of silence” but light background music while working is enjoyable .
jv22222 1y ago
I have found notch therapy to be quite helpful. It's basically where you tune a note to your exact tinitus pitch and then create white noise that has every khz EXCEPT your pitch. Then you listen to the notched sound at about the same level or slightly higher than your tinnitus. So, basically your "tinnitus" is notched out of the sound. The theory is it can retrain your brain to not produce the fake sound. I also just find it helps to alleviate the symptom. My own tinnitus is 15khz which is annoyingly high. And I suspect the reason why tools like Tinnitus Neuromodulator don't help much in my case.
- cpeterso 1y ago
  There are expensive apps and devices to create notched music or white noise. Fortunately, there are also free YouTube videos with noise notched for different frequencies. Identify your tinnitus frequency using one of the web-based tone generator tests, then find and bookmark the video notched for your frequency. I like “tinnitusreliever610”. TBH, I haven’t found the notched noise to be any more relief than full spectrum white or pink noise. https://youtube.com/@tinnitusreliever610 https://youtube.com/@tinnitusreliever610
stubish 1y ago
Did you have Covid a short while before noticing? One of the not uncommon but under reported side effects is permanent hearing loss, which associated fallout such as tinnitus.
butler14 1y ago
Another message of hope: I'm mid-late thirties and had the exact same. Daily tinnitus from December 2024 through to around August 2025. I went through MRI etc to no avail. Then one day I felt something (extremely deep in my ear) just 'release', like a tube unblocking or pressure equalising. And the sound went away and (fingers crossed) hasn't come back since. This was after daily issues for 8-9 months solid.
IndySun 1y ago
There are lots of interconnecting bits inside and around the ear, and with that in mind... Can you try something? Find a very quiet place, one where you do hear the tinnitus. Move your jaw as far to left, and then to the right, and notice if the tinnitus stops, changes, or alters at all. Next, get a firm hold of your earlobe of the tinnitus ear, and pull and hold it away and at various angles from your head; you can do this earlobe move separately or in combination with the jaw movements. Do any positions improve the tinnitus?
nobleach 1y ago
I'm on that same journey. 8 months ago, I was sitting at my desk and all of a sudden my left ear just went out. The ringing was there. I figured the same that it was wax. I've always had wax issues with that ear that require a doctor's office visit. (trying the home kits has only made it worse!) But this time the doctor came in, looked in the ear and said, "there's no wax at all in that ear". What followed sounds much like your journey. Visits to ENT, CT Scans - waiting on an MRI to ensure there's no tumor... All the while I went from having great hearing to having to say, "say that again" all the time.
thekurst_ 1y ago
I've had it for years in one ear as well as measured and diagnosed hearing loss in the same ear. At first it would come and go and then it became permanent. In my experience, I barely notice it on a day-to-day basis. What I have noticed is that it's worse/noticeable when after a night of drinking and if I'm tired/stressed.
nswest23 1y ago
I am pretty sure I've had it my entire life and for a long time I just thought it was the background noise of the universe. Never bothered me till I figured out that wasn't the case.
mjsabby 1y ago
I got it at 39, still have it, you'll be fine.
xtiansimon 1y ago
Have you had dental work recently? Do you have a stiff neck? I’ve heard from other here that inflammation from dental work caused their tinnitus.

LeoPanthera 1y ago

> 10-hour videos on YouTube of TV static Please consider a local noise generator. Static is incompressible so you're using quite a lot of data.

breendreams 1y ago

I’m basically in the same exact situation as you, only ringing in my left ear. MRI/hearing/etc tests have all shown nothing and I haven’t received any answer for it. I’ve had it for close to a decade now. NYC definitely helps drown it out but life would be better without it.

cnnlives8387 1y ago

I’ve noticed that if I’m eating more salt, don’t sleep well, under a lot of stress, or taking anything that increases my blood pressure or affects vasodilation (supplements, some foods, stimulants, etc.), it causes me to have tinnitus. Loud concerts / music / sound-reducing headphone / noise can do it also.

tmcz26 1y ago
Look into Ménière’s disease . I got diagnosed recently and those are all triggers for it. When undergoing episodes I also have vertigo. There’s medication for controlling the bigger symptoms.

tptacek 1y ago

If it helps: I've gone through years of coping strategies and coming to peace with it; it'll probably annoy you a lot less a year from now than it does today. (I had a really rough run in my teenage years, but these days a cure for tinnitus is kind of only academically interesting to me; I mean, I'd do it, but it probably wouldn't change my life much.)

guilamu 1y ago

A message of hope. I got mine in my 30's too. The first week I thought I was going crazy, and this was the end of my life. I was shocked, I couldn't go to work for a whole week. I then saw a doctor who said to me: "Man, I've got tinnitus since 20 years and I barely hear it anymore. The more you accept it, the more it'll fade." A decade later, my own experience is exactly this. I accepted it as one of the body malfunctions that comes with age for everybody. I barely hear it anymore except in extremely low noise situations and it doesn't bother me at all. I wish you well.

glimshe 1y ago
It's very much like eye floaters. They are always there, but you can tune them out most of the time.
- typpilol 1y ago
  Brains crazy I had a slight crack in my windshield right at eye level view. And after a minute of driving I don't notice it at all anymore
  - ricardobeat 1y ago
    We have a projector instead of TV in the living room, and there is a small outlet inside the projection area, top right corner. We can go months without realizing/remembering it's there, until it accidentally matches a shadow or object in a scene... the brain just deletes it.
  - BobbyTables2 1y ago
    The fact we don’t notice our nose is crazy! It’s right in front of us!
- Alejandro9R 1y ago
  Completely agree. I've had some light/moderate floaters in my left eye which were very noticeable under a white screen, clean walls, or full bright sky in the evening. It came pretty sure because of a very stressful period at 27. Here I am, 31. I have to look for them really really hard to see if they are still there. Only when I have a streak of stressful days and bad night sleep, they will be visible again. It comes without saying that I had to change my life in many, many aspects, not only due to these floaters. A much calmer life, better food, gym, financial security, better friends and people around me, and cultivate a spiritual being in some sense. The mind can be shaped in many many ways it's fascinating.

GioM 1y ago

I have had tinnitus from an infection, which (very thankfully, and I admit very luckily) slowly resolved over a period of years. That said, I have experienced occasional reoccurrence. One thing that helps is I ask my masseuse to concentrate on the sides of my neck- there is a specific muscle that when tense can cause ringing. Does your tinnitus get momentarily worse when you tense your neck muscles?

tombert 1y ago
I just tried it, it does not change significantly when I tense my neck muscles.

Aurornis 1y ago

Once the major (though exceedingly rare) problems have been ruled out, the best course of action is to start learning to live with it. It’s not what anyone wants to hear, but it’s the pragmatic approach that works best from everything I’ve seen. The people who become involved in tinnitus forums, support groups, and chasing experimental treatments think they’re helping themselves but they’re really only bringing it to top of mind over and over again. It feels frustrating to give up and disconnect from all things tinnitus related on th internet, but disconnecting is exactly what helps with the process of letting it fall into the background of your life. Constantly bringing it to the foreground and reading about it only makes it worse.

xnyan 1y ago
This is how it worked for me. I’ve had it in my left ear for decades, the last time I thought about it was the last time I read an article about tinnitus on hacker news.
pfortuny 1y ago
Meditation, despite being a common trope, has helped me accept it too.
sixtyj 1y ago
Yes, the best way is to let it fall into background. Just keep going.
diego_sandoval 1y ago
In my case, this mindset + SSRIs have helped me tremendously. I didn't want to depend on a drug, but after getting into a really bad, quasi-suicidal mental state, I went to the psychiatrist. I've been on escitalopram for 4 months and it has really helped reduce the distress associated with tinnitus in like 80%. Making an effort to not think about it has also helped. I hope to stop taking the drug at some point and see if the mental improvement persists.

bad_haircut72 1y ago

Im curious did you also experience hearing loss? I started getting tinnitus in my left ear almost 12 months ago, but 12 months before that I started noticably losing hearing in my left ear (with audiology tests to back it up, Im basically deaf in one ear now). Also mid 30s.

tombert 1y ago
Nope! I haven't really noticed any significant loss in hearing at a "vibes" level, but I actually got my hearing tested in both ears to be sure, and my hearing is actually slightly better than the average 30-something.

ectospheno 1y ago

I have had tinnitus in my left ear since 2011. You do get used to it. I really only notice when someone says the word or an article on it pops up. I considered setting up some kind of web filter just so I never saw the word again. I notice it now, for instance. To everyone who doesn't have it, wear ear plugs at concerts, be careful when you remove the ear plugs, and use the max volume limiters on your phones. Enjoy your hearing while you have it.

bluescrn 1y ago
> I really only notice when someone says the word or an article on it pops up. Oh, exactly this. Haven't thought about mine in months, but as soon as I actively think about the subject, suddenly the high-pitch whine in my left ear is back and louder than ever.

oh_my_goodness 1y ago

I got tinnitus in one ear after using music in headphones to block out other noise. I was probably using the headphones too loud and too often. This happened 15 years ago. It was pretty bad at first. Since then, very slowly, it has mostly "healed" or something. It's still there. But it's much less severe than it was. I also experienced significant hearing loss around the same time. My hearing had always been absurdly good, but that changed over about a year. Now I can hear well enough to get by, but I really miss what I had. Protect your hearing!

bsimpson 1y ago
Earplugs are like condoms: They make a sensual pleasure less pleasurable, and they also protect against life-altering consequences.
- deleted 1y ago
  [deleted]
- tbossanova 1y ago
  You can get earplugs that only lower the sound quality a tiny bit these days. I bought some from the drum shop and they’re great. As you say, $20 or so to avoid lifetime ear damage is a very very good investment. I feel like concerts aren’t quite so loud these days too, maybe audio gear quality is better and the sound engineers don’t feel the need to turn it up quite so loud.
  - jskopek 1y ago
    I’ve also noticed that younger people seem to wear earplugs at concerts a lot more often. I get the feeling there’s been a change in attitude towards hearing protection. My guess is that instagram ads for earplugs and AirPod hearing health features have had something to do with it
    - BobbyTables2 1y ago
      The last time I attended a concert, it was still very loud even with earplugs!

reify 1y ago

I too had exactly the same constsnt ringing in my left ear. I could not get to sleep because the noise was so loud and intense. It reminded me of those spy films where they torture someone playing loud heavy metalcore all day and night. I had a X-ray, ultra-sound and two Consultants had a look. Both said that there was nothing wrong with my ear. No ear wax, no damage, no issues at all. They both mentioned that tense facial and neck muscles may be a cause. As well as the constant ringing, there is a sound like a central eating system, thumping and groaning away, in both my ears too. I initially thought the thumping and groaning was the Mrs snoring. I bought some earloops thinking my ears were too sensitive and I was somehow hearing noises from the houses down the road and the motorway traffic 3 miles away. to no avail, even with the earloops blocking all exterior noise, I still had the high pitched and low piched internal noises. I found a way to reduce the noise. I was laying in bed one night and I was relaxing my jaw when I noticed that if I opened my mouth and let my jaw hang loose all the noises stopped. So over a month or so I tried to train my jaw to be less tense and more relaxed. For me it worked. it was my jaw. I'm 69, so have a few less years years than your good self

hyperpl 1y ago

Another message of hope for anyone struggling with the possibility of having tinnitus: I may not be able to fully recount all the factors but I believe my ears may have had some residual fluid after recovering from covid (my covid symptoms were entirely unpleasant and impacted me differently in many ways). Before my ears cleared up, I took a domestic flight where I actually got vertigo for a few 10s of seconds on ascent. My ENT believes my eardrum expanded to touch the inner ear. The following day I went to a gun range and did skeet shooting for a couple of hours then shot really big guns and sniper rifles. The earplugs I brought myself were likely not adequate and taking them out and putting them in repeatedly in relatively cool weather likely didn't provide the best seal either. That night or the next day I noticed lots of ringing in my ears and I started to become worried when it was still there even after a week. The worst was being in silent meeting rooms at work where it was most noticeable. It was extremely depressing and I nearly lost all hope. I visited 2 separate ENTs and each just sent me re-take my yearly hearing test. They didn't really provide any comforting words other than to take the test and wear hearing protection, etc.. Before the hearing test (~2 weeks after the gun range and flights) I explained everything to the audiologist and he said "Lots of people have various degrees of tinnitus/ringing, just don't think about it. I have it and that's what I do. Don't let it bother you and live your life." Interestingly enough, my audio test came back better than the previous 10 year results and since then I just don't think about it. If I do I can certainly hear it. My only personal takeaway is that the brain and body are very complex and have an arsenal of mechanisms to deal with trauma and that for this particular instance I've been very lucky.

rwyinuse 1y ago
I have slightly similar experience. When I was a teenager, I had a random flu shortly before two flights abroad. I didn't feel that sick anymore, but apparently my ears were still badly blocked. On descent my ears would hurt like hell, and I was half-deaf for rest of the day. That was more than ten years ago, and since then I've suffered from moderate tinnitus. I too got used to it, but I would really advice people to avoid flying sick if they can help it (or at least use some meds to unblock your ears while doing it).

manoDev 1y ago

I feel you. Here’s things you can try (in this order): - Cut stimulant use (coffee, energy drinks) and alcohol - Drink plenty of water - Check blood pressure - Talk to a dentist and check if you grind teeth or suffer from jaw stiffness - Supplement Magnesium (chelated/glycinate, 300mg/day) I’m ignoring issues of the ear canal (wax, secretions) since you mentioned it. Studies point to tinnitus being either caused by changes in blood supply on the inner ear, of neurological origin or trauma. These are all measures I took and greatly improved my case (and when I neglect one of those, it comes back).

tombert 1y ago
I don't drink alcohol at all and haven't for quite awhile, and my blood pressure is pretty low and hasn't changed significantly. I did try cutting out caffeine entirely for several months (and the tinnitus actually started when I wasn't haven't any caffeine at all). I do very slightly grind my teeth in my sleep, but in this particular case the problem is basically solved (at least at the dental level) because I have mild sleep apnea so I sleep with a plastic mouthpiece every night anyway. I'll look into the magnesium supplements.
- manoDev 1y ago
  Yeah, caffeine is not the cause per se - the thing is it has both vasoconstriction and vasodilation effects at different times, so it can mess with blood vessels in the inner ear. It totally makes sense if you get tinnitus when you cut caffeine after your body is used to it. Magnesium plays a part on vasodilation regulation as well, and many people are silently deficient on it. It’s hard to detect deficiency w/ blood samples, because the body works hard to keep blood concentration stable. You will know you do if you get muscle cramps or twitches.
mopenstein 1y ago
Mine came on when I was about 12 years old and I'm convinced it was brought on by severe anxiety. At the time my life had changed dramatically. My parents split. Moved to an area adjacent to government housing projects, through which I had to travel everyday to school, and I was, by virtue of unfortunately being wrong color, beaten daily by gangs of hooligans. I ended up sneaking through a slightly wooded area like a South American guerilla until they caught me there. I couldn't handle it as I was already a sensitive kid and, the parent I ended up with, the other having gone to jail, was compassionless due to their own horrific upbringing. So I had no way of coping which led to total breakdowns and anxiety attacks. Tinnitus reared it's ugly head soon after which further exacerbated the anxiety. But the correlation is all speculation on my part because my parent only took me to the doctor a year or so later after much complaining. And only for the tinnitus, not the crippling anxiety.

everyone 1y ago

I tried Lenire and it didnt do anything, probably made it worse. Been doing CBT (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy) and I seem to be making some progress with it.

semolinachops 1y ago

I got tinnitus about 4 years ago in one ear. At first I thought it was stress with a new baby, moving house and a busy time at work. I thought maybe it was wax. I saw a few specialists, had hearing tests, MRI and CT, and everything came back fine. Couldnt work it out so I gave up for a bit. Later I went back to my GP and got another referral. This time the consultant asked the radiologist to focus on a specific area. He explained it can show up on a normal scan but unless they know what to look for it often gets missed. That is when they found I have thinning of the bone over the inner ear called superior semicircular canal dehiscence SSCD. I wear sleep earphones at night which have been life changing.

3shv 1y ago
Is this an ad for Soundcore?
- richwater 1y ago
  Yea i have no idea how that product relates to tinnitus
  - semolinachops 1y ago
    Inadvertent ad removed. Sleeping with tinnitus can be very hard and increases the anxiety. At least it was for me. I found specific sleep earphones worked particularly well at reducing this.

mrblah 1y ago

this is anecdotal and not medical advice, but i reduced my tinnitus symptoms by ~90% by taking therapeutic doses (1200-1800mg/day) of benfotiamine (fat soluble form of vitamin b1) over the course of a month and a half. i was taking it for unrelated nerve pain and was very surprised that my sense of smell and hearing also remarkably improved, to the point where i needed to reduce the long standing 'known' audio levels of all my various listening gadgets a few clicks. the ringing was a little worse for the first couple weeks, but then reduced a couple more weeks, then almost completely stopped 1 day. from what i gather, high doses of the fat soluble form of vitamin b1 can repair nerves and is used as first line therapy in some countries for neuropathy, chronic pain and even alzheimers. i'm sure it won't help everyone, i can't even find any solid research on tinnitus and benfotiamine, but putting this out in the ether since it is a cheap and relatively safe thing to try, i was completely surprised by this nice off-label side effect (it did help with my nerve pain as well). there is much more research based evidence on benfotiamine therapy for other nerve problems, and it follows that hearing and smell would also be affected, it's all nerves, good luck edit * adding if you are taking high doses of benfotiamine, you should also be taking magnesium with it, i just took zma (zinc, magnesium and b6) at bedtime *

OutOfHere 1y ago
Even 80 mg of benfotiamine a day is too potent for me, giving me anxiety. 40 mg is more tolerable. I do take plenty of magnesium, zinc, and P5P. Be careful taking the basic non-P5P form of B6 because it risks causing serious neuropathy in the long term. Benfotiamine is more for managing damage from high glucose. I acknowledge your experience, but if your nerve damage is not from metabolic concerns, I am skeptical. Why not use lipothiamine or occasionally sulbutiamine instead for this purpose?
- mrblah 1y ago
  the older i get, and more in tune with my body i become, the more i'm thinking everything is connected to metabolism... it is, after all, the primary thing life does as it relates to energy. the b vitamins, and specifically b1 is a precursor/cofactor in almost every metabolic pathway. i only high dosed it for a couple months, just taking 150mg with ala daily now, but my tinnitus that i've had for 20 years is gone unless it gets triggered by movie or video game sound design during explosion or gun fight scenes (ugh)

victornomad 1y ago

I started having tinnitus in both ears 10 months ago. I don't know the exact cause, but I started noticing it during a job-related burnout and a series of work-related events that significantly increased my stress levels. It was so bad to the point I had to abruptly quit my job (FYI, freelancing without a safety net sucks). My doctor gave me pills to help calm my brain and the noise, especially during the night. I also have hypersensitivity, so having a constant noise ringing was not ideal :/ Luckily my ENT doctor recommended that I do multiple things at the same time: - tinnitus retraining therapy (TRT), listening to white noise ~4 hours a day - going to a therapist - daily meditation - daily exercise - reducing salt, chocolate, coffee, etc. The hissing is still there, but I can now ignore it most of the time. I started to see life a bit differently since then. Things that disrupt your life can happen so suddenly... I'm still trying to find a job, but I lost a lot of confidence and developed a bit of a trauma since I don't want to experience burnout again :/

mouse_ 1y ago
You can do it. It will be easy once you start.
butlike 1y ago
Did they really suggest white noise? I imagine it was pink or brown noise? As I understand it, white noise is the only damaging one since there's no "falloff" to the PWM, it's just "white" or "black," so the spikiness of the modulation can be damaging.
- victornomad 1y ago
  The point of the white noise in TRT is not masking the tinnitus so it is not played loud. The white noise must be played below the level of the tinnitus, so one can hear both sounds simultaneously. Doing so, in theory, the brain learns to reclassify the tinnitus as an unimportant signal (noise).

sixtyj 1y ago

Kids told me that I am losing my hearing. So I went to hearing lab. When I told doctor that I have tinnitus in left ear for almost 10 years, he recommended lorazepam in tough times… that it works. :)

gridspy 1y ago
Note - Lorazepam is one of those drugs which causes dependance if you use it regularly. If you find you need it often, get a substitute which is safe to use all the time.
- johnisgood 1y ago
  So... what? Everything causes dependence one way or another. What is the point of a substitute to "use all the time". It even reads funny to me. I would like you to explain what you meant by that. And what would you recommend as a great substitute of benzodiazepines (that are effective AND safe to use at all times)?
  - posix_compliant 1y ago
    Parent comment is right. I’ve used Lorazepam to treat tinnitus. It’s not worth it. In the long run it raises your base anxiety level. Currently I’m experimenting with Tizanidine.
    - johnisgood 1y ago
      That does not make parent right. It might not be worth it to you, it might be worth it to someone else. I would still like to hear about this substitute that is both effective and can be used "all the time". Tizanidine causes "dependence", too, by the way. Funny you mention Tizanidine, because that is what I want to try as well for my MS-related muscle spasticity. Alprazolam works, but I have been using it for years and it would be great to finally get off of them. It does not last long either, and longer acting benzos don't work for me for some reason. I tried diazepam, which was supposed to be just perfect, but it did not work at all. :( In any case, hoping tizanidine will work for me, we will see. Let me know if tizanidine works for your tinnitus though, my mom has been "suffering" from it for a long time now.

epolanski 1y ago

I'm in your situation. 38, came out of nowhere few months ago, seen any kind of doctor, I hear this 24/7 whistle in my ear. Being in silent rooms or trying to sleep is hard.

jskopek 1y ago
It’s been repeated a lot in this discussion, but don’t loose hope. I had a very similar situation and for a while felt like I might not be able to keep living with this condition. A few months later I suddenly realized that I wasn’t thinking about it anymore, and then I had to start straining to notice it. The brain does adapt over time

Towaway69 1y ago

I had tinnitus before I knew it was tinnitus - I thought it was normal. I literally thought that everyone had a constant sound in their ears. It was not until someone explained that they had tinnitus and told me their symptons that I suddenly realised that I too had tinnitus. Since then it's become harder to ignore it but on the other hard, its nice to know that it's not normal and that others can truly hear nothing - something I do wish I could do: hear nothing. I did recently discovered that head under water helps to reduced the sound. Acceptance has been my treatment for years, I hear it when there is mental downtime. So it does keep me busy (mentally) so that I don't hear it - ironically tinnitus motivates me to do stuff!

technothrasher 1y ago
I've had it as long as I can remember. Like you, I thought it was normal. When I was a little kid I thought that was what the Simon & Garfunkel song "The Sound of Silence" was talking about. Since I suspect I've had it since birth, it doesn't bother me. It's just something that is. I feel bad for the folks who get it later in life and have trouble with it. My neighbor got it a few years ago and it keeps him up at night sometimes.
- mynameisash 1y ago
  > Since I suspect I've had it since birth, it doesn't bother me. It's just something that is. I feel bad for the folks who get it later in life and have trouble with it. 100%. I remember being rather young - maybe 5? - and listening to the deafening sound of ringing in my ears when laying in bed. Never knew that quiet was supposed to actually be quiet. I wish I didn't have it, but I've literally never not had it, AFAIK. Possibly unrelated: I can fall asleep within a minute of laying my head down, almost every single day. Built-in white(ish) noise machine?

pests 1y ago

Same situation, basically went away a year later on its own. Every once in a blue moon or when I’m at the boundary of wake|sleep or sleep|wake I’ll kinda hear it again but I find if I just acknowledge the sensation, move on and continue what I was doing - it’ll be days or weeks until I remember it even happened. Focus on it less.

mft_ 1y ago

Exactly the same story for me: right tinnitus just started one day in my 30s; examination, hearing test, MRI all normal. ENT specialist exhausted his diagnostic options then suggested ginger tablets. It rarely bothers me (although it’s always there) but obviously there’s a cause and I’d like to find it. I have a suspicion it may be somehow related to neck anatomy and/or postural factors (it sometimes seems to worsen slightly with particular positions) in bed but beyond that I’m at a loss.

wppick 1y ago

Try experimenting with diet like cutting out/down on sugar or salt and see if it makes any difference. There's no strong evidence that EMF can cause tinnitus but would be interesting to test that out somehow too (camping/cabin trip in a radio free zone?)

geophile 1y ago

I got tinnitus in my late 20s. Forty years later, it's still there. Research into the causes, and treatments, has been disappointingly slow. I would really like to experience total silence at some point, but that seems very unlikely.

WanderPanda 1y ago

I have a strong Tinnitus on one ear after an ear surgery for 8 years now. And I usually don‘t notice it for months at a time, even though it is there all the time (thanks for reminding me :p) So it’s not as bad as it might feel in the beginning. I‘m mostly bothered by my hearing being generally impaired by it. It sits at ~9kHz but it somehow still makes it significantly harder to comprehend voices.

r2ob 1y ago
how did you came with ~9kHz number? I want to know my own LoL
- cpeterso 1y ago
  Just search online for tinnitus tone generator tests.
- rclkrtrzckr 1y ago
  I had mine measured a few years ago. I had given some headphones in a quiet room, with a low frequency sinus wave on it. Whenever I said I could hear the tone clearly, they increased the frequency. At one point, the tone blends with my tinnitus tone, that's the whole magic. They then measure the current volume in dB, just by increasing/decreasing the tone's volume. I'm on 12kHz, vacuum cleaner level.

semitones 1y ago

Remarkably, our experiences are _incredibly_ similar. Left ear, about a year, got all those tests done, specialists don't know other than "that's tinnitus for you - if I had a cure I'd be rich", 98% of the time I tune it out, I live in NYC, early thirties. If you ever find something that works for you, please reply here @tombert, I'll do the same :)

ay 1y ago
Back at some point on HN, I saw https://generalfuzz.net/acrn/ https://generalfuzz.net/acrn/ - and it seems to be useful at least temporarily - in my and others' anecdata. FWIW.
- dahart 1y ago
  Was going to post this too, I bookmarked it after seeing it on HN and I use it often. Yeah it seems to help me a bit. It seems handy just to identify tinnitus tones, when you have clear tones (I not not everyone with tinnitus does). I’d be interested to hear from anyone who’s had more than moderate success with ACRN. I already posted another comment, but will mention here for GP that the ‘White Bursts’ noise generator on mynoise.net is where I’ve experience the strongest tinnitus reaction. I can audibly hear the tinnitus drop with every cycle, and after listening to it for a few minutes, my tinnitus is quieter for maybe a half hour, then it comes back later.

neonsunset 1y ago

[dead]

emeril 1y ago

maybe see "Won-Taek Choe" - he's a legit smart hearing specialist ENT on UES that said, prob nothing to do other than wait and hope for the best really when i had tinnitus following an ear infection years ago, it lasted several months and gradually went away but I always had at least white noise around me and some people say "notch" therapy can be helpful...

BobbyTables2 1y ago

I first got pretty bad tinnitus about 10 years ago while still fairly young. Didn’t go to concerts, shoot guns, hammer nails, or any activity typically associated with hearing loss. At one point it was so loud, it would drown out the sound of a dryer when right next to it. This was party from impacted earwax but still pretty bad after cleaning. Hearing test showed substantial high frequency loss (well above speech frequencies) A few suggestions: 1) Listening to light music helped me stop focusing on it. 2) Tried Taurine. Unsure if it helped, didn’t hurt. Make sure you aren’t low on Vitamin D. That alone causes enough other problems too. 3) Make sure you don’t clench teeth or have dental issues. I think that might be able to aggravate the nerves. It never went fully away but I’m no longer overtly conscious, just faint in the background. Always aware of light pressure/muffled feeling in affected ear. Changes were slow and gradual but did happen. Doesn’t bother me much anymore. Do miss the “sound of silence” but light background music while working is enjoyable .

jv22222 1y ago

I have found notch therapy to be quite helpful. It's basically where you tune a note to your exact tinitus pitch and then create white noise that has every khz EXCEPT your pitch. Then you listen to the notched sound at about the same level or slightly higher than your tinnitus. So, basically your "tinnitus" is notched out of the sound. The theory is it can retrain your brain to not produce the fake sound. I also just find it helps to alleviate the symptom. My own tinnitus is 15khz which is annoyingly high. And I suspect the reason why tools like Tinnitus Neuromodulator don't help much in my case.

cpeterso 1y ago
There are expensive apps and devices to create notched music or white noise. Fortunately, there are also free YouTube videos with noise notched for different frequencies. Identify your tinnitus frequency using one of the web-based tone generator tests, then find and bookmark the video notched for your frequency. I like “tinnitusreliever610”. TBH, I haven’t found the notched noise to be any more relief than full spectrum white or pink noise. https://youtube.com/@tinnitusreliever610 https://youtube.com/@tinnitusreliever610

stubish 1y ago

Did you have Covid a short while before noticing? One of the not uncommon but under reported side effects is permanent hearing loss, which associated fallout such as tinnitus.

butler14 1y ago

Another message of hope: I'm mid-late thirties and had the exact same. Daily tinnitus from December 2024 through to around August 2025. I went through MRI etc to no avail. Then one day I felt something (extremely deep in my ear) just 'release', like a tube unblocking or pressure equalising. And the sound went away and (fingers crossed) hasn't come back since. This was after daily issues for 8-9 months solid.

IndySun 1y ago

There are lots of interconnecting bits inside and around the ear, and with that in mind... Can you try something? Find a very quiet place, one where you do hear the tinnitus. Move your jaw as far to left, and then to the right, and notice if the tinnitus stops, changes, or alters at all. Next, get a firm hold of your earlobe of the tinnitus ear, and pull and hold it away and at various angles from your head; you can do this earlobe move separately or in combination with the jaw movements. Do any positions improve the tinnitus?

nobleach 1y ago

I'm on that same journey. 8 months ago, I was sitting at my desk and all of a sudden my left ear just went out. The ringing was there. I figured the same that it was wax. I've always had wax issues with that ear that require a doctor's office visit. (trying the home kits has only made it worse!) But this time the doctor came in, looked in the ear and said, "there's no wax at all in that ear". What followed sounds much like your journey. Visits to ENT, CT Scans - waiting on an MRI to ensure there's no tumor... All the while I went from having great hearing to having to say, "say that again" all the time.

thekurst_ 1y ago

I've had it for years in one ear as well as measured and diagnosed hearing loss in the same ear. At first it would come and go and then it became permanent. In my experience, I barely notice it on a day-to-day basis. What I have noticed is that it's worse/noticeable when after a night of drinking and if I'm tired/stressed.

nswest23 1y ago

I am pretty sure I've had it my entire life and for a long time I just thought it was the background noise of the universe. Never bothered me till I figured out that wasn't the case.

mjsabby 1y ago

I got it at 39, still have it, you'll be fine.

xtiansimon 1y ago

Have you had dental work recently? Do you have a stiff neck? I’ve heard from other here that inflammation from dental work caused their tinnitus.