Super High Frequency Tinnitus — Above 15 kHz

[Pabl692]

Hi,

So, I figured that one of the tones in my head seems to die down in a quiet room. That's fair enough. Also, that tone seems to be easily masked.

But tonight I've began to hear another much much higher frequency. Definitely above 15 kHz.

I find that when I listen to masking tracks on the web, the tinnitus also increases its volume too, so I can hear it above pretty much anything. It also seems to get a lot louder when I put the TV on etc...

Can anyone else relate? Is this a result of hearing loss?

I found that my hearing drops off around 16500 Hz. I'm 26... not sure if this is bad.

 

[JohnAdams]

My tinnitus is very high frequency as well. Like higher than all natural sounds.
And yes, I'd say bad.

 

[Michael B]

I find that when I listen to masking tracks on the web, the tinnitus also increases its volume too, so I can hear it above pretty much anything.

I've been listening to cricket sounds as a masker for a long time. Now I'm beginning to think it's actually increasing my T (?) so I'm in the process of weening off it. Time will tell.

 

[Alex Matyjasek]

I've also got high frequency T. Crickets have done lots of good for me. It completely wiped it out but for a while now I don't use it for making when I go to bed at night. Got enough with the heater eventhough I can still hear it clearly. I find it strange that it increases your T when the volume theoretically on your masker is a little bit lower.

 

[Michael B]

I find it strange that it increases your T when the volume theoretically on your masker is a little bit lower.

I'm probably guilt of playing it a little too loud at times.

 

[Nathan]

It's ultra high frequency hearing loss. I have a similar T pitch as you, and mine also reacts to certain sounds, so we are in the same boat. This is coming from another musician/music lover.

 

[spedgas]

I experience this as well. My tinnitus is very high frequency. In quiet rooms the volume is moderate. A few mornings a week I'll wake up and not hear it at all. As I start moving around and making sounds it shows up again. As the volume of my surroundings increases so does the volume of the tinnitus. I can hear it over the shower and the bathroom fan.
I often have to make a room quieter to be happier. It's kinda the opposite of masking. Attempts to mask just make it worse.

 

[Pabl692]

Thanks everyone for your replies. It's interesting to hear what everyone is like.

At first, I focused on the other tone. They one everyone hear say, after a concert or something. But that seems to be easily mask able and disappears itself in a quiet room, eventually.

But the other one is so hard to describe. It's like a mixture of white noise and really high frequency but faint. Maybe just over 14k hz. Not sure. But when I'm in a silent room, silence is so loud.

Can I ask people a more personal question? Please forgive me. At your onset of your T, did it send you in a spin?

I've honestly never been in a darker place. I can't eat. The thought of cooking a meal makes my stomach turn. I feel constantly nervous and sick. I dread being home alone. I'm worrying about how ill pay my mortgage, how I'll ever sleep, how ill ever complete my studies., will I have to move back in with my parents, will they have to move in with me, will I have to sell my house, am I going to have to leave my job. I can't function. Is there anyone I can call? In the UK doctors are not open on a Sundays. And I'm not registered locally. Appointments can take weeks soon.

Has anyone else felt like this? Will it ever pass? I don't know what to do.

 

[sky_high]

I've honestly never been in a darker place. I can't eat. The thought of cooking a meal makes my stomach turn. I feel constantly nervous and sick. I dread being home alone. I'm worrying about how ill pay my mortgage, how I'll ever sleep, how ill ever complete my studies., will I have to move back in with my parents, will they have to move in with me, will I have to sell my house, am I going to have to leave my job. I can't function. Is there anyone I can call? In the UK doctors are not open on a Sundays. And I'm not registered locally. Appointments can take weeks soon.

Has anyone else felt like this? Will it ever pass? I don't know what to do.

All these symptoms you are describing come from anxiety. Unless you are suffering with generalised anxiety disorder, you will get over it. I did feel like this a lot throughout my life and it always gets better. I am not talking about the tinnitus, only about the anxiety associated with it.

About the tinnitus. I've read your intro and I understand it is mild. Obsessing about it is not helping at all, please give it some time, one week is a very short period of time in tinnitus world.

If I can give you only one important advice, since your tinnitus is very new and very mild, don't think about how to make it go away, think about how not to make it worse. One good start as a musician would be to buy really good ear plugs, even custom fitted if you can afford it.

 

[Contrast]

hearing loss is more concerning when it's speech in background noise or complex noises like music, hearing pure tonal noises isn't the same thing as complex background noise.


I can't hear above 14,000k but I'm more concerning with the normal frequencies in which high pitch notes in music lose their priority to low pitch noises.


They way modern audiology is practiced is inaccurate.

 

[Michael B]

Can I ask people a more personal question? Please forgive me. At your onset of your T, did it send you in a spin?

Yes, it did. Had trouble sleeping which is the worst for T. Got tired after half day at work. Eventually requested sick time off and took 6 weeks off (I had it). Started feeling better, got sleep and back on my feet. I'm not saying things were sparkling after 6 weeks but better. It takes time and the amount of time varies from person to person. Some shorter than others. But it happens. You get used to it or you accept it. You need to. Sometimes you have no other choice than to say, it's intrusive, I hate it, but I have to live with it.

 

[PDodge]

Musician here(lol) 28 yo, can't hear above 15k either. It's also where my issues are.

I only took 1 day off work when my T went mad-didn't really have a choice.

 

[Tex]

I have ultra high pitch eeeeeeeeeeeee non-stop, 24/7. I don't try to match, mask, etc. I want nothing but distractions.

At night a box fan helps to go to sleep.

 

[Pabl692]

Thanks for your replies.

So last night I went to accident and emergency and my local hospital because I was suicidal.

A doctor said I might have hearing loss which is causing the noises and I might need a hearing aid in the future. He's referring me for a hearing test and then if that's okay, to a ENT specialist.

I was then referred immediately to a mental health team. I had a chat with him, and told him a lot about my past and how I fixate on things. He said I'm clearly depressed, have a severe anxiety disorder and traits of OCD. Nothing I don't think I knew already. I told him I didn't want to go home and asked for some drugs just to calm me down. He didn't have the power to do so, so he sent me home with a leaflet and said to contact my GP.

The noise seems to have changed in the last few days and it's definitely gotten louder.

Imagine an older style TV, or a new one. Or even the sound I think most people recognise when there is TV turned on near them. It is exactly like that, only much much louder. Trying to sleep is a nightmare. Watching TV makes it worse and I just hear this noise above everything, no matter how loud I put the TV.

I just feel trapped at the moment. Like I've ruined my life and that I will always be in this state.

The goal, of course, would be to get to a point where I don't think about it and at night perhaps I just pop the radio on or something to help sleep. But I just don't see how I will ever get to that.

 

[Michael B]

@Pabl692 I so sorry you're going through this. I really am. And I know how you feel. My T has amped up of late which is hard to realize considering it's bad to begin with. I use my hearing aid. Sometimes I stream masking sounds. It helps.

 

[Aaron44126]

Just dropping in my two cents, maybe it will help a little...

When I first got tinnitus it was high-pitched like this, I measured it at around 15,250 Hz. And yeah, it sounded just like the high frequency noise that old CRT TVs make. (My hearing also maxes out at around 16,000 Hz.)

I fought with many of the same things. I latched onto it hard (OCD). I had nights where I barely slept. I spent a lot of time crawling around the Internet, looking for anything that could help me get rid of it. I used masking sounds (crickets and rain/flowing water helped for me). I battled depression for the first time in my life. I had days of terrible appetite and lost weight, and I had a hard time focusing on anything other than the dreadful sound and the bare minimum that I needed to do to make it through the day.

I did manage to get past it. The tinnitus seemed to get steadily louder/worse for the first three weeks or so, then it leveled off and started to get gradually better. It's hard to describe, after going through a lot of strange sounds it settled on less of a hard tone and more of a soft one which makes it easier to handle. (I've read that this happens to lots of people but it takes a few months.) At the same time, I started to adjust to it. I was able to stop masking after seven weeks (though to this day I still listen to white noise at night). It was about five months before I realized that I could go though a good part of the day without even thinking about it. It's like, after being so focused on it for so long, my brain eventually got bored with it; it became "normal" and I was more easily able to unconsciously set it aside.

In the almost 1.5 years since it started, the noise has calmed down a lot but has never left. Still, I'm able to get through the day without it bothering me at all; when I do notice it, the anxiety that I used to feel doesn't crop up.

In the end, I hate to say it but you'll have to wait it out to some degree. Getting past this mostly takes time, there are no shortcuts (though doing techniques to improve your mental disposition can help get things moving along). I'm a guy who never thought that I would be able to get over this when it first happened to me, but somehow I did it anyway. Yeah, given then choice I would totally prefer to have it go away completely, but the thought of living with this for the rest of my life seems like no big deal really. (Though in the end I am glad to have gone through this learning experience; as rough as it was at first, I think that it has steeled me for the next time something happens, don't know what that would be...)

I have a post in the success stories section with more on how it went for me and how I coped with it, if you think that it might be helpful at all, there is a link in my profile.

 

[Pabl692]

Just dropping in my two cents, maybe it will help a little...

When I first got tinnitus it was high-pitched like this, I measured it at around 15,250 Hz. And yeah, it sounded just like the high frequency noise that old CRT TVs make. (My hearing also maxes out at around 16,000 Hz.)

I fought with many of the same things. I latched onto it hard (OCD). I had nights where I barely slept. I spent a lot of time crawling around the Internet, looking for anything that could help me get rid of it. I used masking sounds (crickets and rain/flowing water helped for me). I battled depression for the first time in my life. I had days of terrible appetite and lost weight, and I had a hard time focusing on anything other than the dreadful sound and the bare minimum that I needed to do to make it through the day.

I did manage to get past it. The tinnitus seemed to get steadily louder/worse for the first three weeks or so, then it leveled off and started to get gradually better. It's hard to describe, after going through a lot of strange sounds it settled on less of a hard tone and more of a soft one which makes it easier to handle. (I've read that this happens to lots of people but it takes a few months.) At the same time, I started to adjust to it. I was able to stop masking after seven weeks (though to this day I still listen to white noise at night). It was about five months before I realized that I could go though a good part of the day without even thinking about it. It's like, after being so focused on it for so long, my brain eventually got bored with it; it became "normal" and I was more easily able to unconsciously set it aside.

In the almost 1.5 years since it started, the noise has calmed down a lot but has never left. Still, I'm able to get through the day without it bothering me at all; when I do notice it, the anxiety that I used to feel doesn't crop up.

In the end, I hate to say it but you'll have to wait it out to some degree. Getting past this mostly takes time, there are no shortcuts (though doing techniques to improve your mental disposition can help get things moving along). I'm a guy who never thought that I would be able to get over this when it first happened to me, but somehow I did it anyway. Yeah, given then choice I would totally prefer to have it go away completely, but the thought of living with this for the rest of my life seems like no big deal really. (Though in the end I am glad to have gone through this learning experience; as rough as it was at first, I think that it has steeled me for the next time something happens, don't know what that would be...)

I have a post in the success stories section with more on how it went for me and how I coped with it, if you think that it might be helpful at all, there is a link in my profile.

Thanks for that. I did read your success post, it was very insightful. As I read, I was really hoping that I could do the same, but as I sit here now, it is impossible to be positive.

I definitely have traits of OCD, as you do. Which I don't think helps.

This morning and this afternoon, I felt a bit more positive. When I am out and about it, I can't hear it. I came home, put the TV on and I just couldn't not hear it.

I used to love coming home and popping the TV on and relaxing. Now I just think Ill never be able to enjoy anything like that again... it might be catastrophising but I'm not sure if I am.

It got really loud and annoying that I had to turn the TV off. I've come upstairs and sat in silence.

The lower tones seem to disappear themselves, and they arent loud anymore anyway. They come when I listen to music but then go away a few minutes after.

But this really high pitched hissing is driving me insane.

The only way to describe it is like someone has turned a TV on but it's muted. I walked into my house last night and I genuinely thought id left the TV on but obviously I hadn't. It just sounds so loud and I can't not focus on it.

The thought of going to bed every night and battling this makes me feel sick. The thought of having to make big lifestyle changes, like listening to masks every night, makes me feel sick.

Which is why, quite simply, I was suicidal yesterday. And that feeling is coming back a little tonight. The sun has gone down, im at home, its quiet, and I'm alone with it.

I'm 26, do I want this forever? This constant nervousness and anxiety. No I don't. It's just not living, to me.

 

[RB2014]

Lack of sleep makes it louder. Anxiety makes it louder. Once you get both of those under control it will get much much softer. You don't have to live like this forever and it won't stay like this forever.

 

[Pabl692]

Lack of sleep makes it louder. Anxiety makes it louder. Once you get both of those under control it will get much much softer. You don't have to live like this forever and it won't stay like this forever.

It's just so hard to believe...

The thing is, I don't really mind one of the tones that I have. It comes on when I listen to music or if the TV is loud. But then it dies down. But it is easily maskable by the TV or radio etc. Like I can hear it, maybe a 3/4 out of 10, like when the TV goes silent for a second. But this tone isn't always there, it comes and goes and so much easier to brush off.

But the high frequency, TV static like is really frustrating me and I really don't know how I will ever get used to it. It's there constant, no let up.

I have done a few online hearing tests and it actually seems to drop off around 16k hz. But it starts getting more and more difficult to hear from around 13/14k.

Is it likely that it is caused by hearing loss? If so, would an hearing aid help? I have absolutely no quarms with wearing an hearing aid if it means that this might go away.

I had a shower and got ready to go out earlier, but then I just crawled back into bed and laid listening to it. I just cried and cried.

 

[Arseny]

Thanks for that. I did read your success post, it was very insightful. As I read, I was really hoping that I could do the same, but as I sit here now, it is impossible to be positive.

I definitely have traits of OCD, as you do. Which I don't think helps.

This morning and this afternoon, I felt a bit more positive. When I am out and about it, I can't hear it. I came home, put the TV on and I just couldn't not hear it.

I used to love coming home and popping the TV on and relaxing. Now I just think Ill never be able to enjoy anything like that again... it might be catastrophising but I'm not sure if I am.

It got really loud and annoying that I had to turn the TV off. I've come upstairs and sat in silence.

The lower tones seem to disappear themselves, and they arent loud anymore anyway. They come when I listen to music but then go away a few minutes after.

But this really high pitched hissing is driving me insane.

The only way to describe it is like someone has turned a TV on but it's muted. I walked into my house last night and I genuinely thought id left the TV on but obviously I hadn't. It just sounds so loud and I can't not focus on it.

The thought of going to bed every night and battling this makes me feel sick. The thought of having to make big lifestyle changes, like listening to masks every night, makes me feel sick.

Which is why, quite simply, I was suicidal yesterday. And that feeling is coming back a little tonight. The sun has gone down, im at home, its quiet, and I'm alone with it.

I'm 26, do I want this forever? This constant nervousness and anxiety. No I don't. It's just not living, to me.

Please calm down.

You have very mild tinnitus. It will most likely fade away. Protect your ears, take vitamins and give it time. You can try HBOT if it's available at your location.
My tinnitus was similar to yours at first, I could mask it with pretty much everything, but then it ramped up from 1/10 to 5/10 within a month for unknown reasons (possibly ETD or neck/TMJ) and after that I did an MRI that made it 2-3 times worse and now I hear it outdoors. It pierces through everything. I hear it in the car with a heater on even when I'm on the interstate... So yeah, it's pretty bad, yet I'm still here. I was already thinking about ending my life when it was at moderate volume in October, now I understand how silly those thoughts were. It's been screaming for a month now and I have extremely hard time handling life with this kind of noise in my head. I'm trying not to do anything drastic, because there's hope that it will fade away with time and the treatments that I'm getting right now.

P.S. I also have anxiety, panic attacks (80% cured) and I had PTSD (it's mostly gone now) from near death experience. I understand how you are feeling right now.
I'm still panicking myself and my anxiety is going through the roof.

 

[Pabl692]

Please calm down.

You have very mild tinnitus. It will most likely fade away. Protect your ears, take vitamins and give it time. You can try HBOT if it's available at your location.
My tinnitus was similar to yours at first, I could mask it with pretty much everything, but then it ramped up from 1/10 to 5/10 within a month for unknown reasons (possibly ETD or neck/TMJ) and after that I did an MRI that made it 2-3 times worse and now I hear it outdoors. It pierces through everything. I hear it in the car with a heater on even when I'm on the interstate... So yeah, it's pretty bad, yet I'm still here. I was already thinking about ending my life when it was at moderate volume in October, now I understand how silly those thoughts were. It's been screaming for a month now and I have extremely hard time handling life with this kind of noise in my head. I'm trying not to do anything drastic, because there's hope that it will fade away with time and the treatments that I'm getting right now.

P.S. I also have anxiety, panic attacks (80% cured) and I had PTSD (it's mostly gone now) from near death experience. I understand how you are feeling right now.
I'm still panicking myself and my anxiety is going through the roof.

I'm very sorry to hear you are going through all that. I really am. I find it incredible that MRIs and things can just instantly make things so much worse for people. I wish you all the best... I think you have far greater strength than me.

I just went out with a couple of friends for a couple hours and it's perked me up a bit. And when I was out, I really couldn't hear it. But the second I walk through my door when I get home, it's like I have to get ready to do battle again.

It's such a weird noise. It's not like white noise. It's not a proper tone. And it seems to like shift around my head slightly, like I can feel it.

Weirdly, I feel slightly better at night time. Not sure why. Just wish I could have the same mindset as many on here.

 

[Tex]

Stress is the worst thing for T, not just other loud noises. You must find distractions and quit dwelling on T, or you'll never get better.

I guess I've had this crap for nearly eleven years, forgot now, long damn time. It still drives me nuts some days, but I get over it. The way I get over it is find something to occupy my time.

Quit trying to match it or mask it with similar sounds. Get a big fan and turn it on wide open until you can start getting some sleep. Sooner or later you will find you can turn it down. I wish I could use a window AC. Nothing makes me sleep better. But that isn't happening in this house with central. So I use a fan to sleep.

 

[Aaron44126]

Just wish I could have the same mindset as many on here.

It sounds like you feel a lot like I felt during my first month. I didn't think that I would be able to adjust, but I did anyway. It doesn't happen overnight, though. Hang in there.

 

[GlennS]

I too have the ultra-high-frequency tone, only in one ear, which I think is (tragically) a recent development compared to the rest of my T, and I find it incredibly hard to tolerate, which is a big reason I joined this forum as sort of a cry for help. It seems like it's right at the very top near 20khz and it sort of tweets like the hair cells are only like half-damaged.

The reason it's hard to ID pitches I think is due to overtones/harmonic. Typically we perceive sound as both a fundamental tone and a harmonic. If the damage is severe enough it might extend across multiple harmonics and therefore blend into a composite.

While I don't think it's helpful to others to simply agree that it sucks, I also don't quite understand some of the overly reassuring statements either. Even before my T got worse it was already bad after having battled it for a quarter of a century. Now maybe I have just been doing it wrong or everyone's case is different, but I think the idea that over a relatively short timespan (like a few years) that you'll just naturally adjust is unrealistic.

 

[Contrast]

and it sort of tweets like the hair cells are only like half-damaged.

tinnitus is not caused by hair cells twitching, it's the audiotory brain making a phantom noise to compensate for less hearing input.

 

[Krolo]

I got some high pitched loud ones that almost feel like electricity. They are by far the worst.

 

[Pabl692]

So, I seemed to have calmed down a bit. I probably feel 70% my normal self. Still being put off doing some things like watching TV, and it just sends the sound haywire and I can't concentrate at all on what I'm watching. Also, I can't bring myself to read, which makes me quite sad.

I still need to go see an audiologist, but I wonder what they can tell me what most of you people on here haven't.

I've been wearing musicians' ear plugs in the car and walking to work. I can't really wear them at work, and it is noisy. Is this going to hurt the healing process? Don't get me wrong, it's not mega loud, like concert loud, at work.

Just wondering how far I'm meant to protect my ears from now on. Is wearing ear plugs in the car pointless?

Would it even be safe to perform again, but wearing ear plugs?

I think it sounds like I have high frequency hearing loss... are there any cases of the hissing dying down for anyone with the same?