Do You Think Some Tinnitus Tones (Not Volume) Are Harder to Habituate Than Others?

[Marie79]

Maybe mine is typical which is why I'm asking. It is not that loud but when I'm trying to sleep it's terrible.

I sometimes get a ring in my right ear that is just a ..ring? It doesn't bother me nearly as much and I think I've always gotten it when I have a hangover or something and it goes away.

The one that I have had since my ear infection is not loud but SO high pitch. Do you think that is why I am having such a problem? Or maybe everyone has it like that. I don't know. It sounds like you are trying to ride a rusty bike and you need to use some WD40 and while its not loud you just want to cover your ears because the high pitch almost hurts?

 

[Telis]

I have the same kind of thing as you describe (good description) but mine is extremely loud, and yeah that kind of high pitch hurts me too.

I also have some lower pitched buzzing as well that I honestly could care less about, it's just a few of the extremely high tones that literly drive me to insanity and distract me to the point that I have a hard time doing even the simplest things in life.

The police riot force in some places use this extremely high pitched noise to disperse crowds, so yeah it is aweful. People run for their lives when these pulses are emitted. If they were lower in frequency they would not have this same effect.

Yes sound quality makes a huge difference, I would say as much so as volume.

 

[linearb]

Personally I do think this, but I also don't think it's very important / useful. The tinnitus you have, is the tinnitus you have. You've just got to deal with it as best you can.

Personally, my tinnitus doesn't change much between when it's really distressing and when I can basically ignore it and lead a pretty normal life -- but other things are different, in terms of how my whole body feels, and what the experience of passing time is like. That is, when I'm in a distress state, I would describe my tinnitus as "bordering on physical pain". When I'm in a more baseline state, I'd describe it as "a background sound". But, the sound doesn't change -- somehow the experience of it does. Hard to describe.

 

[PhilB]

my tinnitus doesn't change much between when it's really distressing and when I can basically ignore it and lead a pretty normal life

That's a very important point about T and I would guess that it applies to many of us. I am also realising that it is not the volume or pitch of my T which fluctuates from day to day. The thing that varies is my ability to deal with it. Some days it feels like the end of the world - other days it feels like something I can easily ignore.

 

[Owen]

That's a very important point about T and I would guess that it applies to many of us. I am also realising that it is not the volume or pitch of my T which fluctuates from day to day. The thing that varies is my ability to deal with it. Some days it feels like the end of the world - other days it feels like something I can easily ignore.

I can relate to the ability to cope changing with mood state, but equally I can be coping and dealing with it well and suddenly it increases massively in volume, drawing my attention to it. I can be engrossed in a film, or doing something practical and all of a sudden it goes through the roof. Equally, I have had it screaming and I'm stressed, angry and upset about it and all of a sudden, the volume just fades to almost nothing and every possible combination of the two. As such, my emotional state has almost no baring on it at all. In some ways I wish it did, at least I would feel like I could have some control over it.

 

[Alue]

I've experienced a few different tones and even pulsate tinnitus, but for me the hardest to get used to (and unfortunately the one that never changes and never goes away) is the ultra high pitched tone that I can hear over almost everything.

 

[dan]

I've experienced a few different tones and even pulsate tinnitus, but for me the hardest to get used to (and unfortunately the one that never changes and never goes away) is the ultra high pitched tone that I can hear over almost everything.

Yes, unfortunately, the most noxious sound of all is the most permanent one...so it seems in most cases.