Poll: Did the Severity of Your Tinnitus Change Over Time?

[Fangen]

@Fangen How does yours react? I get new tones added into the mix every few weeks, it's been an absolute pain :\

(Oh no, diva D.Vas... I bet you don't even notice when the Harmony Orb is already on you! *shakes robotic fist* That seems to be a thing with D.Vas, bless 'em)

Mine can react to certain frequency but also loudness. I replayed Uncharted 2 or 3, and the flashbang sound was horrible, I just wanted to plug my ears. The sound was just screeching in my head and I really noticed that some higher frequencies are just killing me (slowly inside) that I never reacted to before T. Also, like loud humming sound like an airplane gives me a spike as well.

To be fair, I do expect to die (try my best not to) if I dive in, mostly because I try to break up the defense or lure enemies to look the other way and I try to protect my healers as much as I can I don't call out for healing unless there is a pocket healer on a Pharah or even worse, a Hanzo/Genji. I also main Mercy so I know how annoying it is when D.vas fly away behind a corner in really low health and you're like.. BUT I AM HEALING YOU, WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO ME.

 

[Zenyatta]

Mine can react to certain frequency but also loudness. I replayed Uncharted 2 or 3, and the flashbang sound was horrible, I just wanted to plug my ears. The sound was just screeching in my head and I really noticed that some higher frequencies are just killing me (slowly inside) that I never reacted to before T. Also, like loud humming sound like an airplane gives me a spike as well.

To be fair, I do expect to die (try my best not to) if I dive in, mostly because I try to break up the defense or lure enemies to look the other way and I try to protect my healers as much as I can I don't call out for healing unless there is a pocket healer on a Pharah or even worse, a Hanzo/Genji. I also main Mercy so I know how annoying it is when D.vas fly away behind a corner in really low health and you're like.. BUT I AM HEALING YOU, WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO ME.

Ugh, that sounds lovely. This shit is really unpleasant, isn't it?

Ah yes, the infamous "D.VA PLS STAHP I'M TRYING TO HELP YOU DON'T BOOST AWAY NOOO" strat. Never gets old

 

[threefirefour]

That 70 percent is only seven votes as of now. It's not like 7,000 people voted. Everyone whose T got better is not likely spending their days checking TT regularly, so they're quite likely to not see this poll.

When will we stop hiding behind this answer and admit that for most people it will never improve?

 

[Krish230]

When will we stop hiding behind this answer and admit that for most people it will never improve?

Not true at all. For most people it does improve - there are so many people on here who have come and gone, simply because the noise has reduced/they've habituated so they don't feel the need to come back.

There is always a chance it'll improve, no matter how bad it seems at the moment.

 

[threefirefour]

Not true at all. For most people it does improve - there are so many people on here who have come and gone, simply because the noise has reduced/they've habituated so they don't feel the need to come back.

There is always a chance it'll improve, no matter how bad it seems at the moment.

1) I hate the term habituation. Most people on the forum avoid using it around me.

2) it seems ridiculous. If it seems bad, it will probably get worse. Tinnitus usually will get worse, regardless of what you do. You can slow it down but it usually inevitably worsens.

 

[Tinker Bell]

1) I hate the term habituation. Most people on the forum avoid using it around me.

2) it seems ridiculous. If it seems bad, it will probably get worse. Tinnitus usually will get worse, regardless of what you do. You can slow it down but it usually inevitably worsens.

1) Most people of the forum do not agree with your view on habituation.

2) Can you support those statements with statistics? Or are you just making assumptions?

How many people do you personally know with tinnitus? Of everyone I know with tinnitus, not one person has told me it gets worse. That's simply anecdotal evidence so it obviously carries little weight.

But unless you have statistics showing otherwise -- we're left with the statistics that suggest tinnitus and/or the perception of tinnitus improves over time.

 

[threefirefour]

1) Most people of the forum do not agree with your view on habituation.

2) Can you support those statements with statistics? Or are you just making assumptions?

How many people do you personally know with tinnitus? Of everyone I know with tinnitus, not one person has told me it gets worse. That's simply anecdotal evidence so it obviously carries little weight.

But unless you have statistics showing otherwise -- we're left with the statistics that suggest tinnitus and/or the perception of tinnitus improves over time.

1) most people on this forum are wrong

2) my parents who have it said it has gotten worse with age. It usually does. Most people here will say it was better but got worse too.

 

[Tinker Bell]

1) most people on this forum are wrong

2) my parents who have it said it has gotten worse with age. It usually does. Most people here will say it was better but got worse too.

Great. My anecdotal information cancels out your anecdotal information. I know about a dozen people with tinnitus. No one has worse tinnitus. Some have worse hearing, but that's normal for their ages.

I'll be waiting for your statistics on it getting worse.

 

[threefirefour]

Great. My anecdotal information cancels out your anecdotal information. I know about a dozen people with tinnitus. No one has worse tinnitus. Some have worse hearing, but that's normal for their ages.

I'll be waiting for your statistics on it getting worse.

Alright. What thread are we on? 53% say it never got better or it got worse. It will more likely not improve than improve.

 

[Tinker Bell]

Alright. What thread are we on? 53% say it never got better or it got worse. It will more likely not improve than improve.

Your source is this thread? An unscientific poll of people on a tinnitus forum, which does not accurately represent the overall tinnitus population.

Any credible sources?

 

[threefirefour]

Your source is this thread? An unscientific poll of people on a tinnitus forum, which does not accurately represent the overall tinnitus population.

Any credible sources?

>firsthand evidence doesn't mean anything

Right. Awesome. Look the fact it often stays with people their whole lives and stays the same or increases should speak volumes. Look up chronic tinnitus. We both know it won't go anywhere and it will probably just get worse. I wish it weren't true, we all do, but you are the worst person you could lie to. Never lie to yourself.

 

[Dmitriy]

In my 4th week. I feel like it's getting better 1 iota at a time, with change almost not noticeable. I also feel like I take 3 steps forward and then 2 steps back in my healing process.

 

[threefirefour]

In my 4th week. I feel like it's getting better 1 iota at a time, with change almost not noticeable. I also feel like I take 3 steps forward and then 2 steps back in my healing process.

That's awesome. Wish you the best in healing. Hope it goes away.

 

[Markku]

Of everyone I know with tinnitus, not one person has told me it gets worse. That's simply anecdotal evidence so it obviously carries little weight.

Mine has gotten worse twice for no discernible reason. The second worsening brought on another annoying tone. Before my worsening, I was able to mask mine much more easily than now. Now I hear it above all the regular daily noises except the shower.

One of our earlier surveys years ago contained this result:

The sample size wasn't the largest back then, and of course the results in these things can be a far cry from real life outside of tinnitus forums - obviously these places are populated by people who are struggling...

So nobody please think yours is going to automatically get worse.

 

[threefirefour]

Mine has gotten worse twice for no discernible reason. The second worsening brought on another annoying tone. Before my worsening, I was able to mask mine much more easily than now. Now I hear it above all the regular daily noises except the shower.

One of our earlier surveys years ago contained this result:

View attachment 13507

The sample size wasn't the largest back then, and of course the results in these things can be a far cry from real life outside of tinnitus forums - obviously these places are populated by people who are struggling...

So nobody please think yours is going to automatically get worse.

That's awful. I hope it goes down someday nobody deserves this

 

[Tinker Bell]

Mine has gotten worse twice for no discernible reason. The second worsening brought on another annoying tone. Before my worsening, I was able to mask mine much more easily than now. Now I hear it above all the regular daily noises except the shower.

One of our earlier surveys years ago contained this result:

View attachment 13507

The sample size wasn't the largest back then, and of course the results in these things can be a far cry from real life outside of tinnitus forums - obviously these places are populated by people who are struggling . . .

So nobody please think yours is going to automatically get worse.

Thank you for posting this. Did the poll further differentiate how long respondents had tinnitus? I think that can be a key piece of information. My opinion on whether it's better may be very diffferent a few months after onset versus 20 years from now.

And you're right, I think the nature of this site colors many of our polls. TT is a great forum, but it is more likely to attract people anxious and depressed about tinnitus. Ask struggling people if their health condition is better versus people who are unfazed by it, and we're likely to get different answers.

I'm very sorry to read your tinnitus got worse. It's awful when nothing masks it. Mine is very high pitched with hearing loss, and when I first came here I was actually surprised to read some people cannot hear it in the shower. That actually depressed me to know.

 

[GregCA]

And you're right, I think the nature of this site colors many of our polls. TT is a great forum, but it is more likely to attract people anxious and depressed about tinnitus. Ask struggling people if their health condition is better versus people who are unfazed by it, and we're likely to get different answers.

Yup. Massive sampling bias when you run a poll on a site like this.

 

[Bill Bauer]

That 70 percent is only seven votes as of now. It's not like 7,000 people voted. Everyone whose T got better is not likely spending their days checking TT regularly, so they're quite likely to not see this poll.

I agree that the data in this case is what statisticians refer to as "censored data." This implies that the probability of improvement we see in this poll gives us a Lower Bound for the true probability. In other words, the true probability of improvement is higher than 53%. It can't be lower than 53%...

If the trauma that led to your T is likely less severe than the trauma that caused T for an average respondent, then your chance of observing an improvement is even higher.