Annoying Head Tinnitus: A Symptom of Anxiety?

[Paulmanlike]

Okay, so we are here because we all have tinnitus.

So mine is 24/7 in my left ear. Sometimes its bearable and sometimes its piercing. I'm not sure if the actual volume changes or my perception of it changes. Anyway, I would say I am habituated and that's not to mean I don't wish for a cure, but I no longer have such strong emotions over it. I've accepted it's there.

What I want to talk about is my other tinnitus. This one is in my head. Sometimes I don't relate this to my tinnitus that has always been in my ear.

Now I know 'noises' in the head are all attributed to tinnitus, but this one definitely fluctuates. When I am tired, anxious and stressed it appears louder. Usually I wouldn't hear it so much in traffic, but I did before. The thing is that I suffer with anxiety.

Is anybody here an anxiety sufferer who has experienced this 'head noise' at varying degrees? I found one website that suggested prolonged anxiety can create head noise - mine sounds air escaping from my head (of course I still hear my unilateral tinnitus as well). According to the website, it's an anxiety symptom.

It's not a particular tinnitus noise that we all know and it's not distressing; rather annoying (my tinnitus was distressing in the past before I started accepting it).

I would just like to add, I went for a hearing test as I wanted to see if there were any changes. He said he was not allowed to test my hearing because he couldn't even see my ear drums with all the wax that was fresh. I literally had them irrigated 3 months ago!! They're not allowed to test the hearing in case audiologists abuse the results and sell hearing aids to impacted wax users.

 

[Kendra]

That's odd? Why wouldn't they say to just clear the wax out before the hearing test? I hope this resolves for you. I know anxiety can make my tinnitus spike and be worse and it goes down, though it may take a while.

 

[Andrea Rings]

After a period of debilitating anxiety (probably due to chronic stress and adrenal fatigue), I began to hear the "head noise" you mentioned. The tinnitus started in my right ear on August 4, 2019 (high pitch screeching train breaks/tea kettle whistle). On September 29, 2019, I could hear it in my left ear - but it was lower in pitch and volume - and it was more like it was coming from my head, or the left side of my head. Here are some articles that have helped me understand why I may be suffering from this noise.

Anxiety and Tinnitus
https://www.calmclinic.com/anxiety/symptoms/tinnitus

Hyperstimulation, Anxiety, Anxiety Symptoms
https://www.anxietycentre.com/anxiety/hyperstimulation.shtml

Ringing in the ears (tinnitus) and anxiety
"Because it can take time for the body to recover from the effects of chronic stress, you might need to work at stress reduction for a while before results appear. It's also important to address your anxiety issues so that they don't continue to stress the body. Unaddressed anxiety issues is one of the main reasons why anxiety symptoms, including ringing in the ears (tinnitus), persist."
https://www.anxietycentre.com/anxiety/symptoms/ringing-in-the-ears.shtml

 

[wwtsai]

I had a spike earlier this month and for the first week I didn't have any issues with it. The week after though, I couldn't sleep one night and that seemed to have triggered some massive anxiety and now I'm having a lot of difficulty falling asleep. I also do have a tone in the back of my head that sounds like a loud droning fan which shows up when I'm trying to fall asleep. It's hard to address the anxiety when it's about the tinnitus and vice versa.

 

[spedgas]

I've put a lot of thought into anxiety and my tinnitus. I'm about a week away from two years with this. From day one my tinnitus is only heard in my head. A few times a week I get fleeting tinnitus in one ear or the other lasting maybe a minute at most. When this happens the head tinnitus stops and the only ringing I hear is in whichever ear it chooses at the time. Then the fleeting tinnitus stops and returns to the center of my head. It amazes me every time.

For 30 years prior to this I had poorly controlled daily anxiety I refused to acknowledge. My wife saw it everyday and tried to help, but I just didn't acknowledge it. I was thriving despite it and in some cases probably because of it.

I don't know if I can attribute my tinnitus to anxiety alone, but I've really started to explore it's influence.

The differences in my tinnitus are easily noticeable depending on the anxiety and stress of the day. At this point the best defense I have is controlling my anxiety.

I'll continue to explore the connection here. For now it's all I've got.

 

[Zaccq]

Is the tinnitus "in your head" high pitched bilateral tinnitus, over 8khz?

I ask because higher pitched noises are more difficult for our auditory system to track the position of - a classic example is a high pitched fire alarm being difficult to isolate which room it is coming from.