Is This Head Tinnitus?

[New Guy]

A few weeks ago I thought I heard a low noise. Almost like machinery rumbling. It was faint, not a constant tone, kind of up and down. The noise was below the sound of my eee tinnitus and crickets. I dismissed the noise as the boiler in the basement and went on with life.

Today I turned off my truck with my earmuffs on and heard the same noise. It gave me a bit of concern but then I remembered people talking about something called head tinnitus.

As I write this post I can hear it again, in my left ear (the ear with less tinnitus). It's almost a warbling noise that's not very loud but feels like it has some substance to it. I don't really know how else to describe it.

Has anyone else experienced something like this?

 

[-serotonin-]

What makes head tinnitus different than any other tinnitus? I thought it was all basically in the head due to unnecessary activation of the auditory cortex?

 

[Mellow7]

Hey @New Guy , great to hear from you again. It's been a while. Hope things are treating you well.

I have had some experience with 'head T'. It is tinnitus that you cannot attribute to one ear in particular. You know how most signals seem to originate in one of our ears, but sometimes they could also be perceived as if coming from your brain. In essence, all tinnitus physically comes from the brain, but I feel like the plasticity of the brain generally assigns the tinnitus to one of the ears, as that is where the conversion process of sounds start (probably the ear with the most damaged hair cells).

It really depends on where you feel like this warbling is 'located' or where you 'hear' it. I think I know the type of tinnitus you are describing very much, but it should not necessarily lead to a head tinnitus diagnosis. And even if it did, it doesn't make it a worse diagnosis than 'ear tinnitus' is.

Don't forget that tinnitus is liable to a lot of change in the early months. I feel like mine is stabilizing after almost a year. Just keep taking care of the very precious hearing you have left (even if you don't have any perceptible hearing loss).

 

[New Guy]

Thanks @Mellow7 , that's not head t then. Possibly a new tone or a tone that was there all the time that I can hear now.

I hope things are going well, and getting quieter, for you too.

 

[DebInAustralia]

A few weeks ago I thought I heard a low noise. Almost like machinery rumbling. It was faint, not a constant tone, kind of up and down. The noise was below the sound of my eee tinnitus and crickets. I dismissed the noise as the boiler in the basement and went on with life.

Today I turned off my truck with my earmuffs on and heard the same noise. It gave me a bit of concern but then I remembered people talking about something called head tinnitus.

As I write this post I can hear it again, in my left ear (the ear with less tinnitus). It's almost a warbling noise that's not very loud but feels like it has some substance to it. I don't really know how else to describe it.

Has anyone else experienced something like this?

I had this same faint engine noise for 4 years. It seems to have disappeared since my stem cells last year...

 

[New Guy]

@DebInAustralia

Glad to hear the noise went away for you! Progress is always a good thing.

Has your t improved since stem cells?

I caught the noise again this morning. I only noticed it for long enough to notice it and then forget about it. Probably 5 minutes in all. No earmuffs on I just noticed the warbly noise in the left ear under my eee/hissy/crickety t.

I'm going to see if there's any pattern to it. All I can think of is it's some kind of fleeting t like thing. I only seem to notice it for a short duration and I hope it stays that way or goes away.

 

[DebInAustralia]

@DebInAustralia

Glad to hear the noise went away for you! Progress is always a good thing.

Has your t improved since stem cells?

I caught the noise again this morning. I only noticed it for long enough to notice it and then forget about it. Probably 5 minutes in all. No earmuffs on I just noticed the warbly noise in the left ear under my eee/hissy/crickety t.

I'm going to see if there's any pattern to it. All I can think of is it's some kind of fleeting t like thing. I only seem to notice it for a short duration and I hope it stays that way or goes away.

Thanks ...

My tinnitus has definately improved but I think this is probably due to habituation...

I no longer have spikes either.