Quiet Room That Drives — Even Non-Tinnitus Sufferers — Mad

[SteveO]

Some of you will know about this. Im tempted to do something like this, it may convince my brain, when it starts hearing my own blood move in my body, that the ear ringing is part of that internal noise. Not for the volume its randomly set it at.... (hey could make everything worse)

Interesting anyway given, what many of us know, how the brain works. A super quiet room, will drive anyone insane.

http://news.discovery.com/human/life/worlds-quietest-room-will-drive-you-crazy-in-30-minutes.htm

But there is no true silence. We cant miss it.... it never existed.

 

[SteveO]

Thinking about it seriously for a minute. A VERY quiet room, so you can hear yourown organs. T will be ringing away, but its volume will be now seem louder, vs the surroundings. As the brain starts focusing on internal organ noises (as new and scary) it may shift focus (but shift it to a new "issue" which will actually be too quiet to hear in normal sound environment). In short, this is a new level to "habituate" to. Not just "silence" like your bedroom.

Hmmmm.

If in a super quiet room, for days (theortical)... could your entire hearing range drop down a leve (as it adjusts to this new world of internal organ sounds and zero external noise). T would say, still be elevated, but come down the same % as your entire hearing. But when you come out, the whole world would seem super loud. Ears would adjust back... but I wonder if you could almost trick the brain into leaving the T in its depressed state. (Hearing would surely adjust to new negative almost sound environemnt, T stays higher, but would comed down to the new brain level of low volume. You come out, almost like the world now has whacked up two hearing aids in your head... but T should stay behind

(it would, in theory, be like a hearing aid in your ear, pushing up volume, to try and mask T. Only vs increasing the sound via the hearing aid, you pull your entire hearing / brain hearing ability DOWN via adjustng it to this new negative sound room. Then coming out again... )

On the flip side surely this is highly dangerous for people that may have mild, even undetected T, who could go in the chamber, here it loudly, panic, brain suddenly laebels it, thus whacks up the panic and volume, and boom.

 

[Karen]

Interesting food for thought, SteveO! I like your theory of the tinnitus being depressed and possibly staying that way. I wonder what some of our doctors, such as Dr. Nagler, would think of this theory. Maybe you could run it by one of them.

I agree that a very quiet room would seem to be dangerous to someone with mild tinnitus. After exposure to the quiet, I agree that they would probably experience what the brain would perceive as louder tinnitus.

 

[Kathi]

It is something to think about. I think @Karen is right--people with mild tinnitus might freak out if they were in a silent room for too long. The brain might perceive it as a threat and then on it goes...but I do wonder about the people who have to plug their ears to hear the tinnitus and then freak out. Why do they plug their ears to hear it if they don't hear it normally? Maybe because it's an alien sound and they get too focused? Maybe I'm just jealous.