What does your tinnitus sound like?

[ILikeToBeBesideTheSea]

I'm so worried that I'll never get used to mine as so many different noises/fluctuations. I have different tones in each ear which can fluctuate pitch or come and go intermittently and a general high pitch static sound that feels like it comes from the head but presume it's both ears. Anyone else have changing/fluctuating tinnitus? (Only had it 3 months so far......)

@sabrinathemiddleagewitch Point taken! I spend far too much time thinking/reading about it.

I've had it for 7 years, only my right ear which has a constant high pitch noise. Mine started after I fell over on an icy path and ended up in A&E with concussion. I've learnt to live with it but can wear you down sometimes.

@marmitecake. Thank you for your reply. I'm 35 so probably not menopause related yet!

Mine varies, had it for years.
I put on seaside sounds on Amazon Alexa (tuck the dot under my pillow) which helps at night.

Sorry you've joined this club too, OP. Coming up 20 yrs for me and thought I would never get used to it (I think that's normal for most people) but after the usual investigations/tests/etc to rule out something more sinister, I decided I 'had' to learn to live with it or I would go crazy.

I still have hearing tests yearly and my hearing is very good. Fortunately the hissing sound in my ears is the same in each ear with one slightly louder than the other.

If I don't get enough sleep or getting sick with something else, then the volume ramps up, then subsides as my body returns to it's new normal. Some people say certain foods can set it off, but I haven't found this, maybe I haven't been diligent enough?

Anyway, the one bit of advice I'll give is to try and not 'listen' to the noise, talk about it or give it any thought...this can be extremely difficult, but I've found it works. Also I have a radio and/or music playing 24/7, specially at night, as it fills the silent spaces.

Hope some of this helps?

Mine is a bit like a light aircraft...fairly buzzy and medium pitched I would say. 15 years of so here. Much much worse when I am sleep deprived or very stressed. I use an oasis sound machine and under pillow speakers at night. I would be suicidal without them (was before due to lack of sleep). I also have a fan on overnight now as got worse. Travelling can be a challenge.

@Queengambit chemotherapy can cause it? I am having chemo. Another reason to hate it! Thanks for the suggestion, tho.

@Bloodybridget I've read some of your posts and know your having chemo (sorry should have said that in my earlier post!)

Hoping it all goes well for you

Thanks @QueenGambit, v kind of you.

I have 2 sounds that come and go.

1 is like a watch ticking in my ear, the other is a high pitched tone which is a bit like the long beep on the BBC news theme tune. (The 'beep, beep, beeeeeeeeeeeeep' if that makes sense.)

I've had a touch of tinnitus for years. Since having COVID it's ramped up massively.

Has it got worse lately, I ask because a lot of people who have had COVID report a change in their hearing and Tinnitus?

@Tier10 mine only started 3 months ago and haven't had Covid..... Yet.....

My mum suffers from it badly - she has a constant ringing in both ears which she can literally tune out from during the day due to background noise. Very occasionally, briefly she describes it as turning into a tune playing the girl from Ipanema!!!

We found some very lightweight ear-phones on Amazon for side sleepers so if it starts at night she puts the radio on and listens through the earphones and listens to music - it's less annoying than the tinnitus so she can drop off to sleep

horrible condition.

Mine sounds like an old modem - the dial up kind, high pitched and constant. Agree with PP - your brain sort of filters it after a while and it can become less noticeable. I find myself listening to music a lot though, or a podcast etc. The noise of whatever I'm listening to can drown out the tinnitus noise

Mine varies but rarely in the day does it occur loud enough to interrupt me. I think I've had it so long I auto tune alot and also I rarely sit on a quiet room.

At night it's more constant but as long as the heart beat noise doesn't start too I can sleep mostly through it. Concentrating on it of it's constant helps because my brain is chatty so it kinda focuses

@mineofuselessinformation, good analogy with the grasshoppers! Mine is like that, also like a constant pulsating whine, car alarm sound. I’ve got used to it. At the moment I have Watermelon Sugar on a constant ear worm loop in my head and I welcome the relief that tinnitus gives me tbh 😁

You’ll hopefully learn to live with it soon OP. My brother had a really bad time accepting his and I vowed not to let it affect me in the same way.

@TomorrowIsAnotherDae I've had a watermelon sugar ear worm before! It's that kind of song.....

Mine is more like whooshing and as some else described, that sort of echo after a gig.

Like a PP mine is like a high frequency static type noise. I've had it a good 30 odd years. It's more noticeable now because I've moved to a really quiet location whereas before I was by a main road. You get used to it. Audio books at bedtime are a good friend of mine.