Sound Machines and Tinnitus

[Michael Leigh]

Sound Machines

I have recently been asked about the benefits of using a sound machine after someone read my post on another thread, please find it below.

Sound Oasis makes the best sound machines in my opinion and they are specifically designed for people with tinnitus although anyone will benefit using one. The quality of their digital sounds will be far superior to any homemade sounds that you compile if your intention is to use them for sound enrichment.

A sound machine can be used night and day but do their magic best when we are in deep sleep also known as REM. It supplies the brain and auditory system with sound enrichment. Over time, the tinnitus is pushed further into the background making it less intrusive and will make the path to habituation easier.

I have three Oasis models. The S-650 is very popular and the one I usually recommend people buy. It comes with a variety of sounds on two sound cards. Additional cards can be purchased. The S-850 travel, is more expensive and compact. It has 18 on-board digital sounds and doesn't use cards. Some people might be bothered by the clock's blue backlight at night-time. It dims but cannot be turned completely off; the S650 backlight can be set to switch off automatically.

My S-3000 deluxe, was bought over the Internet but has been replaced by the S-5000. Both are similar but have different colours. Silver & black. These models are much larger and sophisticated than the others and can only be mains operated. They use a three-speaker system, that has a subwoofer for increased depth and definition to the sound. According to Oasis, over 140 on-board sound combinations are possible. They have FM/AM radio and an external sound source can be selected via the auxiliary input. There are a host of other features.

The purpose of using a sound machine is to have it playing in the background without drawing attention to itself unlike a radio. For this reason, music mustn't be used at night for sound enrichment, as it will draw the Brain's attention and delay habituation.

In my opinion and the advice of Professor Pawel Jastreboff, developer of TRT. Sound enrichment particularly at night should be used by anyone that has intrusive tinnitus. I would go as far to say, it is imperative to do so if you want to help yourself. Over time you will get used to having sound around you both during the day and night. I find it strange to be in a very quiet room now having used a sound machine for so long.

Michael


PS: Many people have contacted me after they have habituated to their T and stopped using sound enrichment at night, only to find their tinnitus becoming intrusive again. The rule of thumb: avoid quiet rooms and surroundings especially at night by using a sound machine.

 

[Telis]

I have been using sound enrichment at night lately. I have to admit, there is something different about the way my brain/ears feels after some hours of very quiet nature sounds while I sleep. I find that my T feels more like loud static when I wake up vs this high pitched drilling, mind you it reverts back to the god awful normal pitches after about 3o min upon waking.

Maybe I need to try this more, I was turned off masking as any of the colored noises made my T react. The very quiet nature sounds do feel pretty nice.

 

[Michael Leigh]

A sound machine takes time to get used to Telis. The quality of the sound machine is also important. I cannot stress enough that they do their magic when we are in deep sleep REM. Stick with it.

 

[Martin69]

@Michael Leigh @Telis
I never used sound devices during sleep.
Also my wife would not allow.
I can sleep without sound. And I listen to sound all day, but giving my ears some rest in the night.
Do you think sound in the night is really needed?

 

[Phil-O]

@Michael Leigh @Telis
I never used sound devices during sleep.
Also my wife would not allow.
I can sleep without sound. And I listen to sound all day, but giving my ears some rest in the night.
Do you think sound in the night is really needed?

Hi @Martin69,
I thought the same, give my ears a rest. It appears to be the opposite. The lack of sound makes your hearing turn up it's sensitivity. Michael is very T experienced and will be able to explain better. Best wishes Phil

 

[undecided]

A sound machine takes time to get used to Telis. The quality of the sound machine is also important. I cannot stress enough that they do their magic when we are in deep sleep REM. Stick with it.

You seem a bit confused about sleep stages.
REM sleep is not a deep sleep state. The brain is very active during REM sleep.
And all those sound machines seem pointless nowadays. There are tons of free apps for ios and android devices, not to mention some thousands of relevant videos on youtube. Just hook up your phone/tablet to a half-decent pair of speakers and you have 10 times the sound quality of any 'sound machine'.

 

[Telis]

You seem a bit confused about sleep stages.
REM sleep is not a deep sleep state. The brain is very active during REM sleep.
And all those sound machines seem pointless nowadays. There are tons of free apps for ios and android devices, not to mention some thousands of relevant videos on youtube. Just hook up your phone/tablet to a half-decent pair of speakers and you have 10 times the sound quality of any 'sound machine'.

Yeah I agree, a sound machine seems kind of like a thing of the past.

 

[Michael Leigh]

Everyone with tinnitus is entitled to do whatever they want. If they wish to sleep in a silent room without sound enrichment go ahead. If they want to listen to music through headphones then please go ahead. If they choose not to take any precautions when around loud sounds it's entirely their choice, and when their T doesn't improve or get worse then they only have themselves to blame.

There will always be people that want to challenge someone's point of view in forums because that's what they're good at criticizing. Look carefully though, rarely do these people have any good advice or a suggestion to help someone due to their lack of experience on the subject and the inability to express themselves clearly and coherently through writing – at best they can just about manage a three line paragraph and their writing style leaves a lot to be desired. Yes, I've met many that use big words and a vocabulary that's clearly above their intellect in their vain attempt to come across as knowledgeable.

Such people continue to argue and every piece of advice a particular person gives they challenge it with questions like: where is the scientific evidence and medical research? Tinnitus comes in many forms and no two people experience it the same. What works for one person may not for another because we are all unique.

When I first had tinnitus twenty years ago I was in a terrible state, many people may not have this condition as serious as me for I was medically retired from employment due to it's severity. Referring to a comment my Audiovestibular consultant once told me when I asked her to be candid about my condition: "You are the second worst patient that I have met with such severe tinnitus, but I will never give up on treating you".

My advice is based on many years of personal experience and they are only suggestions. If someone is having a difficult time with their tinnitus and want to try some of them they might get some benefit.

Michael

 

[Michael Leigh]

Martin69. Please read the book: TRT (Tinnitus Retraining Therapy) It is available from Amazon. Written by Professor Pawel Jasterboff and Johnathon Hazel. Jasterboff was the developer of TRT. In the book it explains all about the benefits of using sound enrichment at night. How it's important not to sleep in a quiet room. A sound machine can be attached to a pillow speaker for privacy.
Michael

 

[Sailboardman]

If I didn't use a sound machine at night, I'd never sleep. I bought one the day after I recieved my little friend. I actually have three units throughout my home. I'd go insane, sitting in a quiet place for more than a minute!

Mine are simple Hometics units, $20, with battery backup and six nature sound settings. The "summer night" setting is the best for me. It has crickets sounds. Luckily, we have crickets, cicadas and tree frogs, year round here in rural Florida. I spend quite a few hours outside at night, decompressing. They are my, back to sanity angels.

 

[Telis]

There will always be people that want to challenge someone's point of view in forums because that's what they're good at criticizing. Look carefully though, rarely do these people have any good advice or a suggestion to help someone due to their lack of experience on the subject and the inability to express themselves clearly and coherently through writing – at best they can just about manage a three line paragraph and their writing style leaves a lot to be desired. Yes, I've met many that use big words and a vocabulary that's clearly above their intellect in their vain attempt to come across as knowledgeable.

Who are you refurring to? You write these negative posts directed at others because they are critical thinkers, have different opinions than you, or maybe just have questions? This is called a discussion, you seem like you want to be a preacher here, and not have discussions. You come off as dismissive and pretty arrogant.

Maybe if you listened to others, didn't get offended and start spewing out provocative posts as soon as someone suggests something different than you, you might actually learn something.

There are a lot of people (from what I have seen) here at TT that know a hell of lot more than you do, but for some reason you seem to think that you are THE authority on tinnitus, and that nothing that you say should be questioned.

Can't people ask questions or have a different opinion than you without you throwing out jabs? Are we not adults here that can throw ideas/opinions at each other? Maybe we can even disagree with one another without you throwing hissy fit?

 

[linearb]

Such people continue to argue and every piece of advice a particular person gives they challenge it with questions like: where is the scientific evidence and medical research? Tinnitus comes in many forms and no two people experience it the same. What works for one person may not for another because we are all unique.

We're all different, but snake oil doesn't actually work on anyone, and the only way to separate snake oil from things that have an actual physiological effect, is to do research. I am sorry if this is inconvenient for your pet theories, but the reason you will encounter skepticism if you peddle theories without evidence is that very little of human anatomy is well understood or intuitive, and research is the only thing that separates medicine from quackery.

Sound enrichment is clearly psychologically useful to a good number of people here, and I think it should be fine and reasonable to discuss it without resorting to controversial or questionable stuff like Jastreboff's theories.

 

[Irish]

Martin69. Please read the book: TRT (Tinnitus Retraining Therapy) It is available from Amazon. Written by Professor Pawel Jasterboff and Johnathon Hazel. Jasterboff was the developer of TRT. In the book it explains all about the benefits of using sound enrichment at night. How it's important not to sleep in a quiet room. A sound machine can be attached to a pillow speaker for privacy.
Michael

I was about to buy one of the Sound Oasis Sound Machines but now that I think about it, my other half will also give out stink to me if I have a sound machine playing all night!
So I think I need to get some of these pillow speakers too, cheers for the info Michael.

 

[Cor]

Hey all, so what are people here using for noise generators in the bedroom? Am thinking of a Bluetooth speaker with an old iPhone so I can play whatever sound I prefer at that moment.

 

[aot]

Hey all, so what are people here using for noise generators in the bedroom? Am thinking of a Bluetooth speaker with an old iPhone so I can play whatever sound I prefer at that moment.

I just use the Relife sound app through my Android phone's speaker.

 

[Bill Arsenault]

I use my old iPhone so that I am not constantly wearing down the battery on my primary phone.
Sucks having to carry two phones- but I often have to utilize masking even outdoors now- mostly at night when things are a bit quieter.
So two phones it is.

 

[Uklawyer]

@Michael Leigh, hello and thanks for all the support you provide to users of this site. Just a quick question:

I see you recommending Sound Oasis sound machines, but they do not seem to get as good reviews as other sound machines on Amazon. Any idea why that might be? For instance, the LectroFan seems to have far better reviews overall than Sound Oasis devices. Have you tried other ones? How do they compare?

Best.

 

[Brandon Wong]

@Michael Leigh, I'm on my 8-9 week of a loud noise exposure (high pitch left, middle and lower octave right) and have been using masking all along since the 2nd week.

At first on Spotify rain and wave sounds. They were on rather high during the first week.

Then on Dreamegg rain and thunder sounds... I moved to crickets and then white noise as the high pitch one slowly went louder.

I bought a LectroFan Mini and used white noise... and since it was a quite small I hanged it above my head on very low volume. Otherwise the rest of the sleep sound therapy were usually on my left.

After a while, the high pitched tinnitus moved to my right. I wonder if this has anything to do with leaving the noise machine on my left or either hanging above my head. Also it seems that I can sleep without masking and do wake up to a slightly less buzzy morning. Wonder if this make sense.

Kindly awaiting your advice. Thanks.

 

[Michael Leigh]

@Michael Leigh, hello and thanks for all the support you provide to users of this site. Just a quick question:

I see you recommending Sound Oasis sound machines, but they do not seem to get as good reviews as other sound machines on Amazon. Any idea why that might be? For instance, the LectroFan seems to have far better reviews overall than Sound Oasis devices. Have you tried other ones? How do they compare?

Best.

Hi @Uklawyer.

Thank you for your kind comments.

Twenty five years ago when I first got tinnitus there weren't many sound machines on the market, now there are an abundance to choose from. My first was bought from the BTA called the Sound Ball and is still available to buy from various outlets. It was a good machine for £20 and thankfully the price hasn't increased much. When I heard about Sound Oasis, it was time for an upgrade and was pleased their machines are specifically made for people with tinnitus. I have three models and thoroughly pleased with them. I haven't tried any other brand so cannot compare.

I think all the sound machines listed on Amazon including the LectroFan, will do a splendid job providing sound enrichment throughout the night until morning, so don't think it matters much which model you buy. If you require using it with a sound pillow, make make sure it has a 3.5mm jack to facilitate this. All Oasis sound machines are fitted with a 3.5mm jack to output sound to an external pillow speaker.

Hope this helps.
Michael

 

[Michael Leigh]

I bought a LectroFan Mini and used white noise... and since it was a quite small I hanged it above my head on very low volume. Otherwise the rest of the sleep sound therapy were usually on my left.

After a while, the high pitched tinnitus moved to my right. I wonder if this has anything to do with leaving the noise machine on my left or either hanging above my head. Also it seems that I can sleep without masking and do wake up to a slightly less buzzy morning. Wonder if this make sense.

Kindly awaiting your advice. Thanks.

Hi @Brandon Wong.

You are in the early stages of noise induced tinnitus and it will change a lot. Try not to be too alarmed as this is normal. Carry on using the sound machine at night keeping the volume low. Please go to my started threads and read the posts below. If you are able to print them please do so rather than reading on a screen. You will absorb and retrain the information better. Habituation takes time and requires patience and positive thinking which will come with time. Take things easy and try not to worry. I advise you not to use any type of headphones even at low volume.

Take care
Michael

New to Tinnitus, What to Do?
Tinnitus, A Personal View
Will My Tinnitus Get Worse?
The Habituation Process
How to Habituate to Tinnitus
Tinnitus and the Negative Mindset
Acquiring a Positive Mindset
Hyperacusis, As I See It.

 

[RAA]

@Michael Leigh, hello and thanks for all the support you provide to users of this site. Just a quick question:

I see you recommending Sound Oasis sound machines, but they do not seem to get as good reviews as other sound machines on Amazon. Any idea why that might be? For instance, the LectroFan seems to have far better reviews overall than Sound Oasis devices. Have you tried other ones? How do they compare?

Best.

In regard to sleep don't forget to try having no sound enrichment at all. From onset I tried so many different types of sound enrichment from different devices but it made me worse. Quite a few of us here just seem to have got better from giving our ears a rest from sound throughout the night, and the tinnitus got a lot better (even though I never believed it will) - what a condition this is!

 

[Brandon Wong]

@Michael Leigh, do you have any experience with using bone conduction headphones for this purpose on a day to day basis?

I changed my noise machine to a low frequency white noise and it seems to not spike my high frequency tinnitus as much when I wake. This does mean that I do sleep with obviously hearing my high frequency tinnitus.

 

[Uklawyer]

@Michael Leigh, thanks for the advice - much appreciated.

@RAA, thanks - that's interesting too. I don't particularly like having to listen to sound at night: a fan was okay but I think I get a bit of distortion with it on now. But when I sleep in silence I always wake up with tinnitus and it really pisses me off. So hard to know which is better.

How is yours doing now?

 

[Michael Leigh]

@Michael Leigh, do you have any experience with using bone conduction headphones for this purpose on a day to day basis?

I don't have any experience using bone conduction headphones but have corresponded with people that do. They have told me their tinnitus increased using them. For some the tinnitus reduced to its previous baseline level when they stopped using the bone conduction headphones but others were not so fortunate, as the tinnitus remained at the increased level.

Anyone that has noise induced tinnitus and uses any type of headphones, risks making their tinnitus worse even when used at low volume. Some people with noise induced tinnitus are not affected by headphones but many are.

Michael

 

[DaveFromChicago]

To Whom It May Concern:

Are these "sound machines" external, i.e. no different than box fans or air conditioners?

If this is in fact the case, this is yet another painful example of Michael Leigh's clueless, superannuated (which means "obsolete through age or new technological or intellectual developments") advice.

Is this a relic of Jastroboffean methodology?

To all of the rest of you that have been accepting Michael Leigh as the Go-To Authority on these matters:

A device that is eminently superior is the hearing aid/white noise generator offered by the Company Widex Zen.

Just like a hearing aid, when inserted they can generate four levels really full, soothing white sound (and you can monitor these levels with a small remote control device.)

I can still hear a portion of my tinnitus (the more so during the intensity of a spike) no matter how loudly I turn on an external sound generator; when my tinnitus ear is flat against the pillow, such muffling makes it all but useless.

Since the Widex Zen is lodged inside the Ear Canal, the tinnitus sound is almost always entirely overladen by this white sound, (and is that ever a pleasurable sensation, which has been a godsend for my sleeping.)

They are built very sturdily and for me will accommodate the weight of my head (and have a plastic extension for keeping them in the ears.)

I purchased them in July 2015 for $3,150.00. Hell only knows what they cost now, (and I may nonetheless consider the purchase a new pair just to see if any design advances have improved their performance), but what price is to be placed on that rare something that acts to buttress your sanity against this condition?

Instead of whatever you get for 20 Pounds, just remember that hoary but still absolutely true adage that You Get What You Pay For.

My audiologist said that these were the best for this sort of white noise masking out of all of the brands of hearing aids they represented.

Oh, and unlike Michael Leigh I am not a paid shill for Widex as he appears to be for TRT.

I'm just a regular customer recommending them.

 

[Romano]

I am neutral as for the Michael Leigh vs Dave from Chicago dispute.

I am going to give TRT a try very soon with a local expert in TRT. I just wonder what kind of tinnitus it is that I am suffering from.

When I wake up in the morning, it sounds crazy, so loud and annoying high-pitched noise. When driving or riding a bus, I can still hear it - I don't care on the bus but it annoys me when driving as it takes away the pleasure of driving. I cannot hear my tinnitus in pubs or restaurants at all.

I don't get it - the engine noise, especially old crappy buses have very loud engines and I can still hear tinnitus over the engine.

I need a masking device that would simulate restaurant sounds. Also, I noticed that crickets played from speakers are annoying. Real crickets in nature sound like heaven.

I wonder if the best sound machines can simulate real nature sounds, as YouTube and mobile phone apps definitely cannot simulate nature sounds. I can hear very artificial, electric sounding sea waves, electric crickets, electric streams etc.

I contacted a friend who is a sound engineer and asked him about the quality of sounds like myNoise but he could not help or explain where the loss of sound data is when compared to real nature sounds.

 

[Michael Leigh]

I am neutral as for the Michael Leigh vs Dave from Chicago dispute.

I have no dispute with the person you mentioned in your post, but he does with me and for this reason, was placed on my ignore list many months ago. This person was a constant irritant whose only purpose was to cause trouble and I don't visit this forum for that.

Since you want to give TRT a try, I suggest you go to my started threads and read the posts that I am going to mention below. My advice is to print them because it's a lot to read and you will absorb and retrain the information better. TRT is not a quick fix nor is it a cure for tinnitus. You have to back it up by reinforcing positive thinking as counselling with a TRT therapist cannot do all the work. When done correctly, TRT can be very effective.

New to Tinnitus, What to Do? Tinnitus, A Personal View, The Habituation Process, How to Habituate to Tinnitus. Tinnitus and the Negative Mindset, Acquiring a Positive Mindset, Can I Habituate to Variable Tinnitus? Will My Tinnitus Get Worse? Hyperacusis, As I See It, What Is TRT and When Should It Be Started? From Darkness into Light, The Complexities of Tinnitus and Hyperacusis, Is Positivity Important?

I wish you all the best,
Michael

 

[DaveFromChicago]

I am neutral as for the Michael Leigh vs Dave from Chicago dispute.

I am going to give TRT a try very soon with a local expert in TRT. I just wonder what kind of tinnitus it is that I am suffering from.

When I wake up in the morning, it sounds crazy, so loud and annoying high-pitched noise. When driving or riding a bus, I can still hear it - I don't care on the bus but it annoys me when driving as it takes away the pleasure of driving. I cannot hear my tinnitus in pubs or restaurants at all.

I don't get it - the engine noise, especially old crappy buses have very loud engines and I can still hear tinnitus over the engine.

I need a masking device that would simulate restaurant sounds. Also, I noticed that crickets played from speakers are annoying. Real crickets in nature sound like heaven.

I wonder if the best sound machines can simulate real nature sounds, as YouTube and mobile phone apps definitely cannot simulate nature sounds. I can hear very artificial, electric sounding sea waves, electric crickets, electric streams etc.

I contacted a friend who is a sound engineer and asked him about the quality of sounds like myNoise but he could not help or explain where the loss of sound data is when compared to real nature sounds.

As I said before, Michael Leigh is as much of an expert on this condition as Dr Pepper is a real Doctor.

Our American Writer John Cheever called Astrology "A sanctuary for fools."

This could be applied as well to TRT.

Given what has been discovered about the effects on the brain from PTSD, TRT is as obsolete as are black and white television sets.

My purpose is not to "cause trouble."

Let me give you just one example of Michael Leigh's inexcusably irresponsible advice:

He had recommended Magnesium Citrate. I mentioned this to my wife, who was a Hospital Surgical Tech for 32 years.

She notified me that this is used to completely void a patient's bowels in preparation for surgery.

If you took this, you would soon have absolutely no control over voiding your bowels no matter where you were.

Michael Leigh's insufferably pig-headed, know-it-all approach apparently made him unaware of the advisability of Googling a Supplement's side effects before recommending it (and if you do, my Wife's comments will be confirmed).

There are those who nonetheless have an unconditional fealty to him, but this phenomena is not that unusual (consider Jim Jones's adherents at Jonestown, Guyana).

 

[GuitarMan]

To Whom It May Concern:

Are these "sound machines" external, i.e. no different than box fans or air conditioners?

If this is in fact the case, this is yet another painful example of Michael Leigh's clueless, superannuated (which means "obsolete through age or new technological or intellectual developments") advice.

Is this a relic of Jastroboffean methodology?

To all of the rest of you that have been accepting Michael Leigh as the Go-To Authority on these matters:

A device that is eminently superior is the hearing aid/white noise generator offered by the Company Widex Zen.

Just like a hearing aid, when inserted they can generate four levels really full, soothing white sound (and you can monitor these levels with a small remote control device.)

I can still hear a portion of my tinnitus (the more so during the intensity of a spike) no matter how loudly I turn on an external sound generator; when my tinnitus ear is flat against the pillow, such muffling makes it all but useless.

Since the Widex Zen is lodged inside the Ear Canal, the tinnitus sound is almost always entirely overladen by this white sound, (and is that ever a pleasurable sensation, which has been a godsend for my sleeping.)

They are built very sturdily and for me will accommodate the weight of my head (and have a plastic extension for keeping them in the ears.)

I purchased them in July 2015 for $3,150.00. Hell only knows what they cost now, (and I may nonetheless consider the purchase a new pair just to see if any design advances have improved their performance), but what price is to be placed on that rare something that acts to buttress your sanity against this condition?

Instead of whatever you get for 20 Pounds, just remember that hoary but still absolutely true adage that You Get What You Pay For.

My audiologist said that these were the best for this sort of white noise masking out of all of the brands of hearing aids they represented.

Oh, and unlike Michael Leigh I am not a paid shill for Widex as he appears to be for TRT.

I'm just a regular customer recommending them.

I've read a lot of things posted by Michael Leigh that sound like unsubstantiated guesswork. When I did research on those claims of his I found zero information to confirm them.

Anyway, on to sound machines, whether they help or not seem to depend on the type of sound your tinnitus produces. Mine is a relatively high-pitched (10.5 kHz) whistling tone in my left ear. Standard white noise, which contains a wide frequency range, does nothing. What does work to mask it is higher pitched sounds. At night I go back and forth between an app called ReSound Relief that contains all kinds of masking and calming sounds and my own custom made sound files. From the ReSound Relief app I use a combination of crickets and a waterfall. The cricket sounds are high pitch enough that they do mask my tinnitus enough that I can sleep.

Another alternative is something anyone can do for free and is what I sometimes use instead of ReSound Relief. There is a program called Audacity that's designed to be a relatively simple and basic audio editor. One of the things you can do with it is generate white noise and using its built in EQs you can turn that white noise into other types of noise like brown, violet, etc... I EQ out most of the lower frequencies that do nothing for me and leave the higher frequencies that mask my tinnitus.

Another thing you can do with it is create your own audio notch therapy soundfiles. Whether this works or not is up for debate and I can't make any claims one way or another but for me it did seem to work initially. I used to listen to it for 30 minutes a day and after a couple of weeks it did help me habituate. But I didn't keep it up and now the tinnitus tone is as annoying as ever. Although I'm also trying a bunch of other things including Acamprosate and it's very possible that something else I'm doing is what's making it worse.

Like you, I also found that one of the problems with sound machines or masking at night is that when my left ear is on the pillow, the masking sound does nothing. I've had to train myself to sleep with my left ear uncovered so I no longer sleep on my left side with my left ear on the pillow.

 

[bobvann]

As I said before, Michael Leigh is as much of an expert on this condition as Dr Pepper is a real Doctor.

No. Dr. Oetker.