Define Severe Tinnitus?

[Denny]

Simple way of defining it maybe . Does it interfere with normal daily functions?
Sleep etc...??

 

[dan]

@dan , it's not if you "say" I am debilitated by the scratch from my fall that would define the severity of the wound. It is the wound's true, actual affect on your quality of life and ability to function normally that would define whether or not the scratch is in fact debilitating.

Right, so....if that scratch has driven me into depression and all I can think about is getting rid of the scratch (but its a very stubborn chronic scratch), such that it interferes with my ability to function?

 

[Mpt]

here's a test for if you currently experience severe t:

would you give up both legs in order to be T free for the rest of your life?

would you take part in an operation with 25% change of death, 75% chance of tinnitus cure?

- if you answer yes to either you have severe t

 

[Tenna]

@Zimichael I wish everyone would read what you wrote as is clears out some misconceptions that are pretty important in providing helpful guidelines to fellow sufferers. Great post, great credibility too.
@dan there you go

 

[Zimichael]

Tenna... Hey thanks for the above. And yeah, I'm stalling on writing about this 'difference' of T, v. T + H, as it will no doubt be detailed and longish. Ha, ha...I seem to have poor ability to keep things that are important to me brief and cursory!
However, the subject really does need some discussion and differentiation. I do believe the confusion creates potentially more suffering for those who don't realize the differences. Like me! I never even knew about hyperacusis until 2006 even though I had had tinnitus by then for over half a century. Golly, I even must have had some H in 1980 too but back then = no internet and much ignorance on plain old T let alone H.
Hell, I only found out about the potential for worsening H with 'over-protection', on this site, when I joined 6 months ago! Though I have some "issues" with that particular point needless to say.
So yeah...Sigh! I should get my typing (pecking) fingers warmed up. I just needed your shove.
Thanks!

Take care, Zimichael

 

[Magpie]

Tenna wrote:
I came to think about how severe tinnitus is defined. It seems as if there's a general consensus of severe t as being loud. Correct me if I'm wrong, that's the general impression I've gotten from everywhere. However one with an incredibly high vol t can practically not care and one with a very mild t can be on the verge of suicide.
So how is its' severeness actually defined?
If one is truly unbothered by a a very high t can that be considered severe? If one only has t in the silence but is unable t sleep and gets depression/anxiety, is that considered severe?

You will get different answers from different people of course because almost everybody at some point thinks their T is severe. IMO it gets down to whether you can mask it, whether you hear it 24/7, the frequency of it, whether you have additional symptoms: pain, fullness, hyperacusis etc... Fact is the volume isn't that high it's only a few db's above your hearing threshold at the very worst. I have read many times somebody say they feel suicidal yet their T is quite mild as they only hear it in a quiet environment. I regard my T as severe as I do many others that I have shared posts with over the years and I read posts where I feel tinnitus isn't severe based on what the person writes and anxiety and fear are the reason why they feel their tinnitus is severe. I've seen several examples of that here and elsewhere and I know with good professional counselling those people should do well and IMO they should avoid this board and any other tinnitus board as they are a constant reminder of their tinnitus regardless of how severe or otherwise it is.

 

[Mike34]

I have a horrible low hum/drone generator like noise in my right ear, for over 2 years now.
Also recently my left one started having higher pitch ringing.
If I could choose I would pick the last one over the drone.
Hum noise has almost a physical feeling to it.
I don't see me ever habituating to something like that or let alone being able to ignore it.
So I would say severity also depends on the noise itself.

You're the first person I've seen post this - EXACT same description I give my humming/buzzing feeling, even down to the "almost physical feeling". Have you ever attempted to diagnose what the humming actually is? Is it part of T? I also have Hyperacusis.

Weird thing is - If I plug my ears, my vibrating goes away. Also, I can feel something in my inner ear fluttering pretty often, feels like a muscle spasming. Maybe tensor typmani myoclonus or staedius myoclonus?

 

[valeri]

@Mike34

I went through the same process as everyone else here in terms of diagnosis.
I guess it's just another tinnitus noise, it's horrible.
Also Mike, I experienced some improvement with chiro treatment, nothing lasting but definetly some on/off improvement.
Nothing else helped.

 

[Mark McDill]

I came to think about how severe tinnitus is defined. It seems as if there's a general consensus of severe t as being loud. Correct me if I'm wrong, that's the general impression I've gotten from everywhere. However one with an incredibly high vol t can practically not care and one with a very mild t can be on the verge of suicide.
So how is its' severeness actually defined?
If one is truly unbothered by a a very high t can that be considered severe? If one only has t in the silence but is unable t sleep and gets depression/anxiety, is that considered severe?

Tenna
I remember at the onset of T my audiologist detailed a scale as follows: mild, moderate, severe, extreme, and profound. Then it was given a caveat of 'intrusive'; ergo the diagnosis 'severe and intrusive' T. The intrusive component related to how the patient perceived their T and how much it negatively effected their life (focus, anxiety, depression, motivation, etc.). I was diagnosed with extreme/profound and intrusive T (it sucked).

mild: T not noticeable in ambient noise (30-35 db)
moderate: T noticeable but easily masked by low white noise (fan running, etc)
severe: T noticeable even with medium white noise (but can still be masked)
extreme: T noticeable even with loud white noise (difficult to mask)
profound: T noticeable all the time (cannot be masked)

At one time they were pumping 60 db white noise into my ears (programmed to mask my specific T) and my T was screaming right through (60 db white noise is the highest allowable). Now my T is estimated to be down to the 40-45 db range and since I've habituated I no longer consider it intrusive.

Not sure how scientific (this information); just thought I'd share...

Mark

 

[MattK]

mild: T not noticeable in ambient noise (30-35 db)
moderate: T noticeable but easily masked by low white noise (fan running, etc)
severe: T noticeable even with medium white noise (but can still be masked)
extreme: T noticeable even with loud white noise (difficult to mask)
profound: T noticeable all the time (cannot be masked)

Wow... on this scale, I'd be considered severe most of the time. In the last week, for some reason my T has gotten quietter, but generally speaking, I have a really hard time masking it. I generally don't consider myself a "severe" case though, because based on what people like @dan and @Telis describe, I can't say mine is nearly as bad... but then again, theirs is also compounded by H, which sounds even worse than T itself.

 

[Mike34]

@Mike34

I went through the same process as everyone else here in terms of diagnosis.
I guess it's just another tinnitus noise, it's horrible.
Also Mike, I experienced some improvement with chiro treatment, nothing lasting but definetly some on/off improvement.
Nothing else helped.

Thanks. In my case, I can't feel it when my ears are plugged, even with regular earphones. That means mine has a physical component to it and it's either tied to temperature or pressure or something else. One person suggested when I plug my ears I can't feel the vibration from whatever muscle is causing it. Seems plausible but I'm seeing an ENT soon about it (+ TRT training) and I'll let you know.

 

[Popeye]

here's a test for if you currently experience severe t:

would you give up both legs in order to be T free for the rest of your life?

would you take part in an operation with 25% change of death, 75% chance of tinnitus cure?

- if you answer yes to either you have severe t

I don't agree, as a person may have thoughts of death more inviting then what you speak. I have severe and would only go with continuing the fight.

 

[Telis]

Wow... on this scale, I'd be considered severe most of the time. In the last week, for some reason my T has gotten quietter, but generally speaking, I have a really hard time masking it. I generally don't consider myself a "severe" case though, because based on what people like @dan and @Telis describe, I can't say mine is nearly as bad... but then again, theirs is also compounded by H, which sounds even worse than T itself.

Yes you are right, H makes things way way worse. The isolation is tough to take as anything can be painful, even a conversation. Having said that what makes my case severe is the fact that my T changes from second to second. My T flies around my head scratching and screeching at ever changing positions and volume but always painfully high pitched. This is impossible for me to get used to. The volume part is important to some degree but I attribute my severity to this other factor. I actually have other very solid tone, it is extremely loud and high pitched and I am almost over it, I realized the other night that it doesn't startle me, it doesn't change. It's the same, it's just there and I deal with it. The bouncing random shrieks are what really put me on edge. This is what is holding me back.

 

[1MW]

ely affects one's quality of life" Sums it all up.

You described what I experience! Alternating days with High freq buzzing. In my opinion this type of T is a symptom. Read up on MSG's in processed foods, mono sodium glutamate, its a neurotoxin defined as an excitotoxin. Its a food additive thats in everything processed in some form or alias such as "yeast extract" or "natural flavors". Its terrible for you especially if you have T. Theres a thread on here too. If your body is flooded with this toxin it causes the brain to fire off killing nerve cells. My theory is sleep regenerates these brain cells giving us a normal T day and consuming MSG's in excess kills them off again, hence the high freq buzzing days. I was dumbfounded when i had discovered whey protein powder drinks where full of it in the form of glutamtic acid. I had been drinking a 1.5 serving every morning for a year. For the past 4 days since stopping ive only had one high freq day.

I have similar symptoms but i have another theory more convincing.
Auditory system has a lot of reservoirs if you consume all redudancies from incremental neurological damage a slight change in temporary threshold shifts aggravate the symptoms.
A child 10 years when go in club loud music has only for 1 min T after that.
A man 30 years without T and good hearing after club loud music has T for 5-6 hours.
So i think if you permanent auditory thresholds shift down then the temporary give you huge symptoms
because temporary thresholds all always worse than permanent.
You can measure the permanent thresholds only after good sleep and no noise exposure.
You can measure the temporary thresholds after sound exposure tiredness of day etc.