How Do You "Measure" the Volume of Your Tinnitus?

[Lizards]

Ever since this started, I've been looking for ways to gauge the volume of my tinnitus to see if it was improving.

I've been mostly using the fan in my bedroom as a metric. During the first couple of days, I could hear it over the fan on its highest setting while sitting right in front of it. I would designate that as a "10". Now it's only slightly audible while I sit at my desk, roughly two or three feet away from the fan, which I would consider closer to a "4".

I understand that this is an entirely subjective experience, and every tinnitus sufferer has a different threshold for what they consider "intrusive". I know some people can hear theirs while outside, and I've even read stories of people who could still hear their tinnitus over the roar of a plane taking off. To those people, I'm sure my level of tinnitus would be much lower on their scale.

I'm just curious to see how other people perceive their tinnitus and at what level, if any, they'd consider it tolerable.

 

[WillBeNimble]

I got a decibel meter and measured what it takes to mask it.

 

[Rogi Cetpla]

Ever since this started, I've been looking for ways to gauge the volume of my tinnitus to see if it was improving.

I've been mostly using the fan in my bedroom as a metric. During the first couple of days, I could hear it over the fan on its highest setting while sitting right in front of it. I would designate that as a "10". Now it's only slightly audible while I sit at my desk, roughly two or three feet away from the fan, which I would consider closer to a "4".

I understand that this is an entirely subjective experience, and every tinnitus sufferer has a different threshold for what they consider "intrusive". I know some people can hear theirs while outside, and I've even read stories of people who could still hear their tinnitus over the roar of a plane taking off. To those people, I'm sure my level of tinnitus would be much lower on their scale.

I'm just curious to see how other people perceive their tinnitus and at what level, if any, they'd consider it tolerable.

I just input white and/or pink noise using my iPhone EarPods and notch up the volume until it masks my tinnitus... have always done this since the onset of my tinnitus which has enabled me to precisely measure its evolution over the years.

 

[CAgirl]

When did yours decrease? Mine is so loud I can hear it outside. I keep hoping the volume goes down. It's just too intrusive and I'm constantly on edge. 5 weeks out from an acoustic trauma.

 

[Lizards]

When did yours decrease? Mine is so loud I can hear it outside. I keep hoping the volume goes down. It's just too intrusive and I'm constantly on edge. 5 weeks out from an acoustic trauma.

It started to quiet down a couple of weeks after the initial trauma, but I didn't start noticing any meaningful improvements until the 2.5 month mark. I still have bad days, but it's never returned to the volume it was initially.

 

[Thuan]

Initially, I just use my volume control and see what volume setting it takes from the same white noise sound file. I still have the same phone, same music player, and same sound file. Initially, when my T was mild, I was able to mask it at volume 1 or 2. When it spikes, volume 3 or 4. This measurements were when my tinnitus was mild.

As of now, I don't really measure it anymore as I find it pointless. However, I have bought a sound meter, but I'm not sure how accurate or precise the gadget is. It records outside noise as 50-55 dB when the street is clear of heavy traffic or void of neighboring AC noise. On bad days, I can easily hear it outside clearly. On good days, I faintly hear it if I focus on it.

So anyone who can easily hear it outside, is at least 50 dB imo.