How Is the Level of Your Tinnitus Measured?

[rpalmquist]

I've seen many posts where people describe the "level" of their T. Things like "8 at 4000 Hz". How is that measured, did you have a test done?

 

[Amber]

I've seen many posts where people describe the "level" of their T. Things like "8 at 4000 Hz". How is that measured, did you have a test done?

It's a made up scale. 1 to 10. Subjective experience.

One person's 10 is another person's 2.

You can find out your tinnitus frequency by online tools:

http://www.audionotch.com/app/tune/

 

[bill 112]

I have no idea how they measure it,nothing really matches my frequency or T noises and any frequencies they play I'm too sensitive to them no matter what they are.

 

[Rubenslash]

And doesn't work for some, I am sure my T covers a whole bunch of frequencies.

 

[VRZ78]

For levels a 1 or 2 is usually a T heard in a quiet room like under 40 db and 10 is unmaskable tinnitus that is louder than everything you hear I guess

 

[rpalmquist]

Thanks everyone. I guess I'll call mine a 7. I hear it basically all the time (unless I'm really focused in on work or maybe watching a great movie), but can mask it with sound machines.

 

[devonlee]

You can find out your tinnitus frequency by online tools:

http://www.audionotch.com/app/tune/

That is the coolest app ever. I literally just posted a thread about this and then solved my own question. My tinnitus tone is 12000 Hz which seems to be a lot more high pitched than most people here.

 

[Alue]

For the AM101 trials they put us in a sound booth and determined our sensory level then had us match our T to a tone they played. We repeated this several times to show consistency. So that would be dbsl. If you don't determine sensory level and do it in a sound booth I think it's rather meaningless.

Alternatively you can say minimum masking level. Which isn't the same as actual tinnitus level, but it does roughly show how loud it is.

My own personal (arbitrary) scale is:
1-3 very mild tinnitus - can only be heard in quiet places.
4-6 moderate tinnitus - can be heard outside, while driving, etc. but is still maskable with consistency.
7-8 loud tinnitus - very hard to mask, only very loud noises mask it (which are probably damaging for your ears if heard for a long period of time). The shower may mask it.
9-10 Extreme tinnitus.

 

[Sam Bridge]

For the AM101 trials they put us in a sound booth and determined our sensory level then had us match our T to a tone they played. We repeated this several times to show consistency. So that would be dbsl. If you don't determine sensory level and do it in a sound booth I think it's rather meaningless.

Alternatively you can say minimum masking level. Which isn't the same as actual tinnitus level, but it does roughly show how loud it is.

My own personal (arbitrary) scale is:
1-3 very mild tinnitus - can only be heard in quiet places.
4-6 moderate tinnitus - can be heard outside, while driving, etc. but is still maskable with consistency.
7-8 loud tinnitus - very hard to mask, only very loud noises mask it (which are probably damaging for your ears if heard for a long period of time). The shower may mask it.
9-10 Extreme tinnitus.

What does outside mean though? In a busy street? In a field with nothing around?

 

[Lilah]

How does everyone measure their T? I either go to a silent room (closet or bathroom) or plug my fingers in my ears. Is plugging my fingers in ears an accurate way to measure it? I do get more anxious doing this.

 

[GregCA]

How does everyone measure their T?

One standard method that medical staff uses is to do a pitch match with a reference signal of a known pitch. That works if your T is tonal, or almost tonal.

 

[OnceUponaTime]

Again, lets not forget the emotional response to tinnitus. Some people may only hear it at bed time and consider their lives ruined forever. Meanwhile others can have severe intrusive tinnitus and can live with it just fine.

We can control our emotions. Just sometimes easier said than done.

Once