My Tinnitus Is Being Picked Up in Other Sounds

[Marie79]

So if I put the air conditioning on I seem to focus on the high pitch part of the noise. If I am in the kitchen the fridge is doing that. If I am listening to music it is doing that.

I don't think the T is getting louder as if I go into a silent room away from the fridge I don't hear it as loudly.

Same thing with masking music. It like picks it up then I take the headphones off and it is pretty low.

WTF?

 

[matt89]

Sounds like a mix of reactive T with mild hyperacusis for higher frequencies.

 

[linearb]

Your brain is a big filter, and at any given time you're ignoring 99% of the sensory data that's available to you. These processes are largely subconscious, but work in feedback loops with your conscious attention. A trivial example: if you do a 10 minute body scan meditation you will instantly become aware of all kinds of sensations in your body that you were not consciously aware of.

If your attention sits on your tinnitus for a period of time, you train your brain to pay more attention to that part of the audio spectrum, internal and external.

 

[Marie79]

Sounds like a mix of reactive T with mild hyperacusis for higher frequencies.

oh no please god no. what does this mean now? what do I do?

 

[Marie79]

Your brain is a big filter, and at any given time you're ignoring 99% of the sensory data that's available to you. These processes are largely subconscious, but work in feedback loops with your conscious attention. A trivial example: if you do a 10 minute body scan meditation you will instantly become aware of all kinds of sensations in your body that you were not consciously aware of.

If your attention sits on your tinnitus for a period of time, you train your brain to pay more attention to that part of the audio spectrum, internal and external.

do you think it's reactive T and hypercausus?

 

[PaulBe]

Marie that is exactly what I have. Some days it doesn't, and I think that slight changes in tinnitus frequency (for whatever reason) take it into the band where it presents also as a variant of hyperacusis. On bad days its like the tinnitus sounds like a cutting tool, and almost crosses into having a tactile sensory quality. On those days it seems like my whole frequency band has been altered by an amateur at the central mixing desk, and the low end drops away with the high end exaggerated.

 

[Marie79]

Marie that is exactly what I have. Some days it doesn't, and I think that slight changes in tinnitus frequency (for whatever reason) take it into the band where it presents also as a variant of hyperacusis. On bad days its like the tinnitus sounds like a cutting tool, and almost crosses into having a tactile sensory quality. On those days it seems like my whole frequency band has been altered by an amateur at the central mixing desk, and the low end drops away with the high end exaggerated.

How do you mask this?

 

[matt89]

oh no please god no. what does this mean now? what do I do?

Reactive T means that your T becomes more noticeable when you hear a certain frequency or rather a sound which contains a certain frequency. Usually higher frequencies are affected. This happens because the damaged hair cells which also cause T cannot process this certain frequency correctly anymore and are overreacting.

Hyperacusis means that you hear a certain sound/frequency much louder and therefore more uncomfortable as usual. Like reactive T this is also caused by damaged hair cells which cannot process a certain frequency correctly anymore. Hyperacusis will become better over time, your brain has to learn again how to desensitize towards the certain frequency.

In many cases T comes along with hyperacusis and/or reactivity.

 

[linearb]

do you think it's reactive T and hypercausus?

I'm not a doctor. That said I don't have reactive T or hyperacusis and I can relate to what you are describing.

 

[PaulBe]

How do you mask this?

I don't. Nothing really works. White noise maskers takes on the same characteristics. You can try using a low frequency sound which is better, but it doesn't really change anything and I can't work with headphones/earbuds on. You'd just have to trial-and-error it to find something.