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That’s true. As much as I want to be there with my family members, I probably would not have been at ease.

I didn’t go myself. I did have my kids wear Peltors and my wife wear foam earplugs.

For the last two years (including this year), my wife and kids have gone to see 4th of July fireworks without me. I stayed home for fear of worsening my tinnitus. Do you think it's safe for a person who already has tinnitus to attend a fireworks show with double protection (e.g., Peltor X4a's...

I really hope it gets better with time for you. I have an air purifier in all of the main areas of my house. The extra noise really helps me. Just an idea to throw out there.

I no longer wear noise generators, but when I did wear the generators, here is something I did. Rather than using the built-in masking function, what I did was to stream masking noise from my phone via Bluetooth, using the myNoise app. This allowed me to experiment not only with the masking...

Personally, I think there is no difference between in-ear maskers and earbuds. Noise is noise, and if both devices are playing at the same loudness (i.e. decibels), then both are equally safe. FWIW, if you're finding that the maskers are causing a spike, try a lower volume. We also know that...

I definitely wish everyone here the best; wish I had some advice. I do still notice my tinnitus a reasonable amount, but not when I'm doing any kind of activity, and when I do notice it, it generally doesn't bother me (it's more like something that's there).

I'm mostly doing better these days, as of ~1 year ago I stopped using my hearing aids (which played white noise). I do still mask in quiet spaces (e.g., I have air purifiers in every room of my house, which are only there for ambient noise rather than for air cleaning purposes). I also play...

Honestly, I would use foam earplugs anywhere with loud, amplified music. It doesn’t sound as good, but much lower risk IMO.

@GBB, hope you’re getting by with at least some improvement these days.

Update at 26 months. Still doing fine except for a recent spike, which was caused by going to a birthday party at a lounge with a DJ playing. I was wearing musician’s earplugs (NRR 14 dB), but apparently the NRR wasn’t high enough. Thankfully the spike lasted only a week, and is now gone (I was...

I was using white noise, and still do so every night (though I no longer feel the need to mask during the day). I use the myNoise app for iPhone for this. MyNoise let’s you customize the sound with frequency sliders, so that you can experiment and find something that’s effective for you without...

I was actually able to mask right away (never had reactivity).

Yes, I’m pretty much doing fine these days in all respects. 2 months in is still very early, and I totally know what you’re going through. With time, you should see some reduction in the noise level as well as some habituation to it.

22 month update. I'm now doing mostly fine, even without hearing aids (which I used to wear). One thing that' s helped is going back into work, rather than working from home. The office is more lively and so there is more natural distraction and background noise than sitting at home in my...

How noticeable depends on the day (there is some natural fluctuation), if I’m having a spike (in which case, definitely yes, though I’ve not had many spikes lately), and also how noisy the environment is when the sound is removed (is there a fan on or any natural sounds?).

At least in my case, the noise has not made my tinnitus worse. The amount of white noise and amplification I use is reasonably mild, nowhere near dangerous levels. For example, the white noise is almost certainly no louder than 40 dB, which should be safe to hear continuously.

20 month update; my tinnitus continues to be mild enough as to not really bother me. I do still wear hearing aids (which play white noise and also amplify slightly), and I also am using external white noise when at the workplace and when sleeping.

Yes, the earplugs are EarPeace, available on Amazon.

Good news, it seems like the spike has gone down.

The earplugs I have accept different filters. Not all of the filters fully seal the ear opening (some of them leave a tiny opening).

I had a single cavity drilled last Tuesday, and ever since then, my tinnitus seems to have spiked up. The spike is not beyond other spikes I’ve experienced in the past, but very annoying nonetheless. Very much hoping it dies down, as the sound was (IMO) nowhere near levels which should cause...

It’s hard to tell whether I’m seeing actual improvement or getting used to it more. But I do think I’m doing better overall now than a few months ago (I’m 18 months in).

I decided I like the hearing aids better, so I switched back to those.

I'm using Phonak hearing aids.

Update at 18 months. Over the past month, my tinnitus has actually been pretty mild, such that it's not detracting from my quality of life much at all. Let's see if it stays this way.

I flew a 6.5 hour flight yesterday. I wore both foam plugs and also Peltor X4A's. Even with double protection, the ride was louder than I would have liked, but my ears are completely fine after the flight (no better or worse than usual). Also, some might ask me if it was boring just sitting...

@tinmandan, did you try the patches? If so, how did they work for you?

It’s been 17 months for me, so honestly I’m not counting on more improvement. I’ll take it if it comes though.

Water masks mine also. Though I can’t live my life sitting in the bathroom with the faucet on, lol.

I’m beginning to think my high frequency tinnitus must be pretty loud, else I wouldn’t hear it in almost all environments. All of my other tones are tolerable and somewhat maskable, but this one tone is completely insane. I don’t see how I’m ever supposed to be okay with this.

I guess I'm trying to quantify the benefit of an additional $X research dollars. I thought that "the speed with which the $X will accelerate the first treatment" seemed like a useful way to quantify the benefit. If that is not a good way to quantify the benefit, what is a better way?

An update here: I decided I will tell my parents, because I am visiting them soon and I want to wear my hearing aids during the visit. However, I will not tell them the absolute full extent of how tinnitus affects me. This is because I simply don't want them to feel sad about what happened, or...

Since my initial acoustic trauma, I've had 3 small incidents of loud noise. One was when my son popped a small balloon near me. This set off a spike. Another was when I was gathering firewood outside. I found a stick which was too long, and I broke it in half with my foot. My tinnitus spiked...

I was not suggesting to cover up my tinnitus completely. I was more characterizing the effectiveness of water sounds as a sound enrichment, by saying that "a slight faucet masks it completely." Well, the volume of a fountain can be adjusted by moving it closer or farther away :) Though my real...

The title of this thread says it all. Has anyone been able to habituate to tinnitus with white noise generators (WNGs), but not without? In my case, WNGs make this condition easier to deal with. I’ve been using them at almost all times (except sleep) over the past 4 months. With WNGs, I am at...

Hi folks, I am trying to get a sense of how expensive it would be to meaningfully speed up research into tinnitus. For example, suppose we asked this question: How many dollars would we have to throw at tinnitus research in order to speed up delivery of the first *real* treatment by 1 year...

Hi folks, I have a high frequency tinnitus which is extremely annoying, but which is masked very effectively by even a slight running water (e.g., a barely running faucet). Given the above, in order to help my ability to concentrate at work, I am considering getting a small tabletop fountain...

Hi folks, I’ve read about people habituating to tinnitus over different time frames. 1 year, 1.5 years, 2 years, etc. Is there some upper limit past which, if I haven’t habituated by then, then I’m very unlikely to ever habituate? Like if it’s been 5 years and I’m nowhere near habituated by...

What is meant by “static”? In my case, I have mid frequency sounds which are clearly tonal, and a high frequency sound which could be described as “static,” though I believe it is also tonal rather than broadband. In my case, after 17 months it’s the high frequency noise that really gets to me.

I made the decision to donate because Tinnitus Talk has helped me more than any other resource. Specifically: It's been invaluable having a place to discuss different treatments and coping strategies, e.g. white noise, hearing aids, strategies for working, sleeping, habituating, etc. This is...

I think I've determined the same. In my case, if I try to mask the high-frequency tinnitus with a high-frequency white noise, it seems like it just makes the tinnitus "angrier." Worse than not masking it at all. And the high-frequency white noise is very annoying to hear in its own right. My...

I’ve noticed this also, specifically during and after meetings where there is a lot of back and forth: Tinnitus Level Is Reduced After Work Meetings

FWIW, I am still trying to figure out which of the best masking programs is best for my high-frequency tinnitus: (1) No masking at all (2) In-ear maskers (3) Bone conduction headphones At least anecdotally, I'm finding that in louder environments (e.g. outdoors, in a mall, etc.), (1) is...

Is yours fully masked in most restaurants and malls? In my case, I can typically hear my high-frequency tinnitus in these environments, which is pretty annoying.

I originally started wearing hearing aids simply as in-ear masking devices. However, I then decided to use a little bit of amplification as well, largely because I tried using amplification and found it to be helpful.

When you are habituated, what % of your conscious energy are you supposed to spend “not paying attention to the sound?” I feel like I’m at 50% right now.

Anyone else try Lidocaine in the past 1.5 years?

Lately I’ve felt like I’m in a state of suspended animation. I am technically alive, things happen to me and I respond to them. But I am no longer in the driver’s seat of my life.

Yes, this is me.

@Michael Leigh, I actually use earplugs quite sparingly, e.g. typically for 2 hours a week or less.

Very interesting that some people get no spike at all from earplugs. When I wear earplugs, my tinnitus is extremely loud while the plugs are in, and it remains loud for a good while after removing the earplugs. In addition, I think the higher volume while wearing earplugs just gets my mind...

One other challenge I have is: I feel like I still have some PTSD following the acoustic trauma incident. The event was a show by a live acoustic-instrument band, with sit-down meal and drink service. I was always very diligent about wearing earplugs to concerts. I have a pack of earplugs in my...

I found that when wearing earplugs, my tinnitus will spike up to a higher level, and this persists for a while after removing the earplugs. By some later time, my tinnitus will be back to baseline. Have others experienced this? If so, how long does it take your tinnitus to normalize after...

I haven’t tried any medications. As for the COVID-19 vaccine, it had no effect, positive or negative.

Has anyone here done a direct comparison between in-ear maskers and bone-conduction headphones, to see which you like better? I am trying to do such a comparison now, and here are pros I see for the in-ear maskers vs. the bone-conduction headphones: In-ear maskers: More discreet Battery life...

@kingsfan, thanks for your note. Unfortunately these days, I can hear my tinnitus much of the time in outdoor environments. I originally wrote "I have never noticed my tinnitus outside." However, that was out on the streets of NYC, which is a lot more noisy than typical outdoor environments...

@drivera2592, how are you doing these days?

@Simon85, thanks for your note. For what it's worth, I have gotten past the stage where I am monitoring my tinnitus continuously. For example, intentionally going into a quiet place (e.g. a closet) to see how loud it is, asking myself whether it's louder or quieter than yesterday, etc. I am no...

I think fluctuation does make it harder to habituate. However, if we could choose between "always loud" and "sometimes loud, sometimes quiet," I think we would all pick the latter.