Quieting/Residual Inhibition of Hissing Tinnitus

[AndrewW]

My "baseline" tinnitus is an annoying hissing static noise which, although not super loud, has a habit of sitting alongside or above other noises in many environments. It's also reactive, so if I expose myself to certain sounds (volumes, frequencies etc.) it quickly turns into a solid high-pitched tone.

I've found that Acoustic Coordinated Reset Neuromodulation (ACRN) therapy (http://generalfuzz.net/acrn/ or the Tonal Tinnitus Therapy app for Android) can get rid of the tonal element quickly and reliably, which offers me some relief.

Has anyone found any sound therapy (app, sound on YouTube etc.) that works to lessen or remove their "hissing" tinnitus, even temporarily?

 

[mikki_]

I have a similar condition and same experience with acrn. But now the hiss is a problem. Perhaps high pitch hiss and acrn at the same time? I have not tried it yet.

 

[AndrewW]

I have a similar condition and same experience with acrn. But now the hiss is a problem. Perhaps high pitch hiss and acrn at the same time? I have not tried it yet.

Does yours move from being a hissing-type sound to a tone in response to sound?

I am currently exploring whether or not there might be a somatic component to the hissing. Ive noticed that neck massage seems to help reduce it and it wouldn't surprise me if stress and posture/computer use played a part in the onset for me. Do you notice a change in the sound when moving your neck or jaw in certain ways?

It's a very strange condition. I find it almost unbelievable how well (and quickly) ACRN works and have been trying exposing myself to "trigger" sounds in conjunction with it, which seems to have some limited effect. If I can find something that's equally effective for the hiss I would be delighted.

 

[alex1975]

Does yours move from being a hissing-type sound to a tone in response to sound?

I am currently exploring whether or not there might be a somatic component to the hissing. Ive noticed that neck massage seems to help reduce it and it wouldn't surprise me if stress and posture/computer use played a part in the onset for me. Do you notice a change in the sound when moving your neck or jaw in certain ways?

It's a very strange condition. I find it almost unbelievable how well (and quickly) ACRN works and have been trying exposing myself to "trigger" sounds in conjunction with it, which seems to have some limited effect. If I can find something that's equally effective for the hiss I would be delighted.

Hi Andrew, my T sounds exactly like yours. When it's quite it sounds like a hiss type sound and as the environment gets noisy, especially when driving on the freeway, being next to a fan or some other white noise it's like a 8500-8800 Hrz sound.
I need to look into this treatment you mention. I don't have an Android so I need to find if that's available on the iPhone...

 

[AndrewW]

Hi Andrew, my T sounds exactly like yours. When it's quite it sounds like a hiss type sound and as the environment gets noisy, especially when driving on the freeway, being next to a fan or some other white noise it's like a 8500-8800 Hrz sound.
I need to look into this treatment you mention. I don't have an Android so I need to find if that's available on the iPhone...

Hey Alex,

If you don't have an Android device, you can try a browser-based version which was built by someone on this forum: http://generalfuzz.net/acrn/. I find that it has a similar effect, though the mobile app is easier to carry around

Does the tone hang around long for you once you remove yourself from the stimulus? Have you noticed any improvement in that "reactive" aspect of it since it started (as I notice you've had it for longer than I have)?

 

[Mister Muso]

HushTinnitus.com works for me once the hissing starts turning to a solid tone. It's almost miraculous, the way it instantly starts to reduce or eliminate the tones leaving my baseline ringing which I can cope with. Sometimes it only has a temporary effect whilst I am using it but other times it will work for hours afterwards.

You do some online hearing tests and it works out the tones customised for your ears, then you pay $20 to download the tones for use any time. Be sure to read the instructions and don't play too loudly.

Best $20 I ever spent!

 

[alex1975]

Hey Alex,

If you don't have an Android device, you can try a browser-based version which was built by someone on this forum: http://generalfuzz.net/acrn/. I find that it has a similar effect, though the mobile app is easier to carry around

Does the tone hang around long for you once you remove yourself from the stimulus? Have you noticed any improvement in that "reactive" aspect of it since it started (as I notice you've had it for longer than I have)?

Thanks for that link!
I did notice improvement on the reactive aspect of it for sure, when I first developed T, I could hear it everywhere including restaurants which was really frustrating and anxiety provoking. I went to a couple of concerts the past two weeks with cheap ear plugs and it has been bothering me more lately. Hopefully it will fade back away as it did before that. The worst part was the first two three months and then I started getting more and more habituated to it. What a sucky thing to have!

 

[mikki_]

Does yours move from being a hissing-type sound to a tone in response to sound?

Not really. However, being in a loud restaurant can increase the volume, e.g. hiss or single note would increase its volume. But even this is not consistent. Sometimes volume would increase and in other times it would not.

I am currently exploring whether or not there might be a somatic component to the hissing. Ive noticed that neck massage seems to help reduce it and it wouldn't surprise me if stress and posture/computer use played a part in the onset for me. Do you notice a change in the sound when moving your neck or jaw in certain ways?

Yes. But I think this is very common even many deaf people can generate sounds with neck jaw movement.. I am bit skeptical will this lead to anything useful for me. I have been stretching jaw and neck, and getting / doing massages. They feel nice and help me relax. As I relax tinnitus is less of a problem.

It's a very strange condition. I find it almost unbelievable how well (and quickly) ACRN works and have been trying exposing myself to "trigger" sounds in conjunction with it, which seems to have some limited effect. If I can find something that's equally effective for the hiss I would be delighted.

Strange is also the word I would use. I still have very little understanding what causes the day-to-day variation.

This morning the "hiss" noise kept disappearing several times when I tried to tune for it. So I had to wait for couple of minutes for it to return. What is below is the closest I could get
https://mynoise.net/NoiseMachines/p...00000000000000072999&m=&d=-1.0000057351416043

 

[mikki_]

My "baseline" tinnitus is an annoying hissing static noise which, although not super loud, has a habit of sitting alongside or above other noises in many environments. It's also reactive, so if I expose myself to certain sounds (volumes, frequencies etc.) it quickly turns into a solid high-pitched tone.

My hiss is also often pulsating. Specially, the low volume hiss is nearly always pulsatile. High volume hiss less so. Is this also same for you?

My hiss is also louder when I lie down. When I get up it is lower.

So this has led me to speculating that maybe the single note is the "real tinnitus". While the hiss is just hearing my blood flow. When the hiss is louder and not pulsating then maybe my hearing neurons are simply over reacting to the sound of my blood flow (amplifying the lower hiss).

 

[RishRamsey]

Hi @AndrewW, at what frequency do you listen to at the ACRN? My tinnitus sounds like yours but I am having a difficult time identifying the frequency.
Also, how do you use it? On speakers? And for how long?

Thanks in advance.

 

[AndrewW]

Hi @AndrewW, at what frequency do you listen to at the ACRN? My tinnitus sounds like yours but I am having a difficult time identifying the frequency.
Also, how do you use it? On speakers? And for how long?

Thanks in advance.

Hi RishRamsey,

I've created a few different ones: 1250hz, 4250hz and 9000hz. 4250hz is what I use most often, but I occasionally find the others to be helpful too as the tinnitus can change from day to day (and hour to hour). Using headphones seems to be the most effective, but I am reluctant to use them for long periods of time as many on this site recommend against the use of headphones in general.

I do suspect a somatic link with my tinnitus for a number of reasons (e.g., chin tucks result in a short but quite loud fizzing noise in my left ear) and have noticed that focusing on good posture/reducing computer time seems to help a little with the reactivity. I'm hopeful that I can treat the reactivity as 99% of my suffering is a result of it

 

[CAgirl]

This describes my tinnitus exactly. A loud hissing sound I can hear over almost everything. Very intrusive. I'm 11 days in after acoustic trauma from a neighbors LOUD fireworks. I had no warning as I always wear earplugs. Is there a chance it will improve?

 

[IntotheBlue03]

This has been my experience EXACTLY with ACRN. I'm currently using the Tinnitus Angel app and this video created for high frequency tinnitus sufferers like us.

Do you know your tone range? Mine is 14-15 kHz and sounds like an old CRT TV but lessens to a hiss after listening to some neuromodulation tracks. I cannot sleep without the one below.

I am having a difficult time finding high frequency neuromodulation videos outside of Art of Zen on YouTube and the GeneralFuzz ACRN web page.

Is HushTinnitus no longer a thing?

 

[DebInAustralia]

This has been my experience EXACTLY with ACRN. I'm currently using the Tinnitus Angel app and this video created for high frequency tinnitus sufferers like us.

Do you know your tone range? Mine is 14-15 kHz and sounds like an old CRT TV but lessens to a hiss after listening to some neuromodulation tracks. I cannot sleep without the one below.

I am having a difficult time finding high frequency neuromodulation videos outside of Art of Zen on YouTube and the GeneralFuzz ACRN web page.

Is HushTinnitus no longer a thing?

Check out General Fuzz ACRN:
https://generalfuzz.net/acrn/

Look at:
Living With Tinnitus: A Practical Guide to Understanding, Treating, and Coping with Tinnitus

It has a chapter on DIY neuromodulation - highly recommend.