Recent content by Dr Nick

Hi Jambo, The hum has reduced, but it still bothers me, as it comes and goes. Sometimes it feels like a low-frequency beat that is almost constant. The car tends to amplify it, so I bought an electric car. However, most of the low-frequency energy comes from the interaction between the cabin...

It hasn’t been great, and I’m not sure if COVID-19 was responsible. However, I keep having “accidents” with loud sounds. Eleven days ago, I was using a fairly loud vacuum cleaner while wearing noise-canceling headphones (with no audio playing). When I stopped cleaning, I was horrified to hear...

Hi Alex, You are not to blame. However, I completely understand how difficult it is not to feel that way. When it is at its worst in the small hours, I often find myself wishing I could turn back time and make a different choice. Over time, I have come to view this as part of a broader...

When I read your post, I had to check whether I had written it, as you are almost exactly describing my own experience. I have had tinnitus since around 2010 and have experienced two major spikes. The first occurred in late 2012 and was caused by letting a toilet seat drop in a small ensuite...

I have not had an MRI because of my highly reactive tinnitus - even a short drive can cause days of low-frequency booming. However, I believe that my noise-induced tinnitus is compounded by somatic tinnitus, as I often experience the same as you describe. This morning, I awoke to screaming...

My recent relapse with tinnitus started back in April after noise exposure at a bar, where a DJ was playing far too loudly (why aren’t there laws to prevent this?). The tinnitus appeared about 18 hours later and manifested as a 13 kHz tone in my left ear. Initially, I experienced nightly panic...

Thanks, Benjamin. It’s interesting that your low-frequency tinnitus behaves like high-frequency tinnitus in that residual inhibition works, whereas my low-frequency tinnitus behaves in the opposite way—it gets stimulated by bass sounds. Once stimulated, it doesn’t remain at a constant amplitude...

Many thanks, Della. I'm sorry to hear that you're still suffering from this after a decade. I've been doing the same as you—wearing ear protection in similar situations. Deep bass from speakers and the rumble from car suspension (especially over potholes) are particular challenges, as I...

My experience with low-frequency tinnitus (around 68Hz) began a little over two months ago, following a relapse of high-frequency tinnitus (13 kHz in the left ear, 2 kHz in the right) about six months ago. It seems similar to what others have described; a low drone that sometimes varies in...