Glossary of Tinnitus Sounds

[MrT]

I've been on this forum for a few months now, and I noticed that people use different terms to define the sound of their T (e.g. fluttering, buzzing, tonal, etc.). I find myself a bit confused at times because I don't know how to describe the sounds that I hear so I thought it could be helpful to give definitions to these terms. I don't know if this has already been done, but nothing came up when I searched for it.

Personally I hear two different types of T.

Hissing: I hear high-pitched cicadas in both ears. This seems to be the most general form of T sound that people hear and I'm assuming this is what people mean when they say they hear a hissing. I have also found this form of tinnitus to be far less intrusive then my second form of T.

Tonal: In my left ear, I hear a low volume high-frequency tone. Which amplifies to what my brain will perceive to be 50-60 dbs. during bedtime and in the morning. I've heard people describe their T as the sound you could imagine being emitted by an alien spaceship or the emergency broadcast signal. I am assuming this is a subset of the T that is classified as tonal.

I was hoping other people could chime in and add to this glossary so we could have each sound more clearly defined for the whole community.

I'm relatively new to this, so my current classifications could be incorrect. If the veterans on this forum want to help me reclassify them, please feel free.

 

[SoulStation]

Tone + Shhh... Or sss.... That's about it. yay!

 

[MrT]

Tone + Shhh... Or sss.... That's about it. yay!

Could you describe your tone a bit more? For example, is it like an emergency broadcast signal, dial tone, whistle?

 

[SoulStation]

Could you describe your tone a bit more? For example, is it like an emergency broadcast signal, dial tone, whistle?

Whistle. 3.9 kHz

 

[Anthony Hunt]

Maybe thats it, the sounds we hear are coming from Aliens trying to contact us and only some of us are sensitive enough to hear them
Seriously though my T is an 11.4KHz tone and sometimes when I am stressed a second one at a lower frquency which goes when I relax.

 

[Martin69]

High-pitched around 15.75 kHz like an old CRT TV.
It is not tonal like a beep, but a head sound. If it is sometimes milder, it comes more from the left side/ear than from the right side.
If it is very loud, I have 2-3 high-pitched tones oscillating in my head - catastrophic T.

 

[Nick the Swede]

A sizzling wooshing sound that often is very close to a bad water pipe that you can hear from your neighbours if living in an apartment, pretty high freq and climbs above most everyday noises.

 

[Carlos1]

audio gram shows a 4k hz loss so I would assume my T is at 4k also have a low hum sound
Combine that with TMJ on left side

 

[MrT]

OK so I've categorized then sub categorized some of the sounds so far.


Tonal: A steady constant tone of sound in one or both ears. Tonal T is described as having a variety of different sounds depending on frequency and pitch.

The sounds have been described as being similar to: the emergency broadcast signal, whistling, the sound a vacuum being run on the other side of a wall, or the hovering of an alien spaceship.

Hissing: This seems to be the most common sound of tinnitus. A hissing noise heard in one or both ears. Hissing T does not maintain a single uniform tone, but rather it delivers a mixture of frequencies akin to broadband noise.

The sounds have been described as being similar to: broadband noise, a shhhhhh sound, the sound of water running through a neighbors pipe, or the sound emitted by an old television.


I'm having trouble finding the edit function, if someone would be kind enough to direct me towards it I will repost this up top. Also, if anyone has a form of T that hasn't been mentioned, fits outside of these two categories, or both, feel free to let me know.

 

[mgoettsch94]

I've had my T since I was 13. It's definitely hissing, and it's really high pitched. I tried to figure out exactly where, I think it's around 20 kHertz. I've had for almost 8 years now, and it's thankfully not super loud. I can ignore it throughout the day until I'm somewhere quite, or if I've had caffeine. I don't know why, but for some reason it makes the ringing louder.
I've always described it as ringing- but after reading this, I think it is a lot like a high-pitched cicadas.

 

[MrT]

I've had my T since I was 13. It's definitely hissing, and it's really high pitched. I tried to figure out exactly where, I think it's around 20 kHertz. I've had for almost 8 years now, and it's thankfully not super loud. I can ignore it throughout the day until I'm somewhere quite, or if I've had caffeine. I don't know why, but for some reason it makes the ringing louder.
I've always described it as ringing- but after reading this, I think it is a lot like a high-pitched cicadas.

Yes, I think a lot of people use the word ringing as a default because colloquially ringing is synonymous with tinnitus. However, I think a much smaller group, if any, actually hears something that could be described as ringing (at least by definition).

You also reminded me that I forgot to add the sound of cicadas as a subset of hissing. Could anyone point out how to edit posts?

 

[BryceJ]

I rarely hear a high pitched bell-type ringing.

What I hate is the insect sound--on and off--cicadas in my ears.

 

[truesilence]

Yeah, I get the alien space ship!!! Wish the space ship would take me away and then then ET would cure me of T !

 

[Cheza]

I think of hissing as snakes hissing and cicadas as trilling cicadas. The pitch is lower than what I hear, but a good example is the first cicadas audio (Summer Cicadas singing) on soundsnap.com: http://www.soundsnap.com/search/audio/cicadas/score

An example of hissing: http://www.soundsnap.com/search/audio/steam+radiator+apartment/score

Another example of hissing: http://www.soundsnap.com/search/audio/snake+pit/score

Tea kettle is the third sound on this site: http://youreardoc.com/sounds-tinnitus/

I have the tea kettle sound overlaying cicadas. My tea kettle sound, however, is a bit softer and more diffuse. I always hear it in the front center of my head. At other times it turns into a squeal, like when you squeeze the neck of a balloon and slowly let the air out. Sometimes it turns into a trill sound, like an endless telephone ring.