Tone Generator Video Gave Me Tinnitus

[Nemesis2K]

Hi folks,

I'm going through a tough time right now, trying my best to fend off depression and anxiety. I thought I'd introduce myself and share a summary of my experience so far.

December 1, 2024

My girlfriend (35) and I (39) decided to test our hearing using a stupid YouTube video I found online. I couldn't hear past 13 kHz in either ear, while she could hear up to 17 kHz. I was surprised and curious. I turned the volume all the way up on my iPhone 14 Pro Max and played the 17 kHz tone directly into both ears. I still couldn't hear it. Then, we played the full frequency sweep at maximum volume. It was so loud that I could feel my ears vibrating, but afterward, I began to hear an 11–13 kHz tone in my head. My girlfriend, thankfully, was unaffected.

December 4, 2024 (Wednesday)

I traveled to England for a work event. After arriving, I took a nap and then went to a bar that evening. It was quite loud, but I avoided the speakers and stayed at the back. I left after a few hours. The ringing from December 1st was still present.

December 5, 2024 (Thursday)

I took a packed train to the airport and flew home after my work event. Although nothing particularly loud happened, it wasn't a great day for my ears.

December 6, 2024 (Friday)

I saw an emergency out-of-hours doctor. He examined my ears and said they looked retracted, likely due to the flights, and reassured me that things would improve in a few weeks. This is when panic, anxiety, and stress began to set in. I started focusing on getting better sleep and distracting myself with video games. I also ordered some earplugs.

December 13, 2024 (Friday)

I spent the entire day cleaning the house and taking things to the local dump. My left ear was still muffled, and the high-pitched ringing persisted. A friend snapped a plank of wood I'd asked him to throw away about 7–10 feet away from me. When it broke, it felt like someone had stabbed my ear. The muffled sensation worsened immediately, though the ringing stayed the same. Later that evening, the muffling returned to its baseline.

December 14, 2024 (Saturday)

I called my BUPA GP, who prescribed Otomize for my ears. Since I didn't have any infections and had read that Otomize could worsen or cause tinnitus, I decided not to use it.

December 16, 2024 (Monday)

I managed to get a cancellation appointment with a private ENT specialist. He examined my ears and performed a hearing test (only up to 8 kHz, as extended frequency tests aren't available in Northern Ireland). My results were above average for my age. A pressure test showed slight movement in my left eardrum but nothing significant. He considered prescribing prednisolone but decided against it after seeing my hearing test results. He scheduled a follow-up for April 15, 2025, to determine if I'll need a scan.

December 17, 2024 (Tuesday)

I had an appointment with an NHS GP. It was a quick check of my ears. There was no earwax, and my blood pressure was normal. Nothing further was suggested.

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That brings me to today. I had terrible sleep last night and woke up at 4 a.m. with the loudest screaming in my ear. It was unbearable. Yesterday morning, the sound had reduced to a hiss, which gave me some false hope, but it didn't last.

I've noticed that while sounds don't hurt my ears or seem louder than usual, the more noise I hear, the more my ears feel full and muffled. Popping them doesn't help. Could this be muscle contraction or Eustachian tube inflammation? When my ears feel muffled, I also notice tightness or spasms around my temples and cheeks, mostly on the left side, which is my worse ear.

I know there are no definitive answers and that no one can fix this. I've read every thread and forum post I can find. I joined this forum to share my journey with others who are suffering. I honestly don't know how long I can live like this.

Additional Notes

In the first week, the headaches were much worse. It felt like constant tension headaches, which have since eased. Now, the headaches only return when my ears feel full, but they're milder.

I tried Sudafed for a few days, but it didn't seem to help, so I switched to paracetamol. I avoided ibuprofen after reading it's ototoxic. I've been taking magnesium supplements that my girlfriend had lying around, though I don't have much hope in them.

Let me know if you have any thoughts or suggestions. I'd love to hear how others cope.

 

[Thomas_83]

I found a lot of help with an app called Quieten. It's free for the first month, so there's no harm in giving it a try. You might also want to check out the success videos—they can help with getting your mind to relax.

 

[Nemesis2K]

I found a lot of help with an app called Quieten. It's free for the first month, so there's no harm in giving it a try. You might also want to check out the success videos—they can help with getting your mind to relax.

I'll give it a try. Thanks for the heads up.

 

[billie48]

Welcome to the forum. It seems you may have some acoustic trauma causing your ears to feel unstable, along with minor symptoms of hyperacusis or reactive tinnitus. Ear fullness is also a common result of acoustic trauma, and sometimes it can be accompanied by multiple tones. If you don't have severe hyperacusis or multi-toned tinnitus, your symptoms may not be too severe. If the ringing bothers you, masking can provide relief. Waking up with loud tinnitus is also typical of acoustic trauma and is referred to as the brain's "awakening response." Many new tinnitus sufferers experience these symptoms, myself included.

I had ultra-high-pitched tinnitus in my right ear and loud, jet-engine-like humming in my left ear, which lost all hearing overnight. The initial stage was incredibly challenging for me. However, today I live a normal and very enjoyable life. You are currently going through the toughest stage of tinnitus suffering—the beginning. Be patient; it will get better. Reading success stories can help give you hope. My success story, "From Darkness to Light…", may be particularly helpful as it includes many effective coping strategies.

Healing from acoustic trauma usually takes months, so patience is key. Over time, symptoms typically improve. Try not to let stress worsen your initial symptoms; many success stories show that recovery is possible. Take care of yourself, stay hopeful, and trust the process. Wishing you a smooth recovery. God bless!

 

[Nemesis2K]

It's been one month today. Not much has changed. The high-frequency tones in my head/ear are still as annoying as they were on the first day. It spikes when I hear a similar tone, causing the volume of my tinnitus to shoot up for about an hour or so after hearing it. The positives are that my ear tends to muffle a lot less (although it still does) during the day, and the tension headaches and facial spasms on the left side of the face are pretty much gone. And women talking isn't as annoying/painful as it was at the start.

I genuinely don't have much faith that this will ever recover fully, but I'm hoping in the coming months, the reactivity will die down and, hopefully, the overall volume. I am still shocked and angry at how a simple mistake really can change the course of my life like this. I was so very, very stupid. I was living such a happy life, too.

My anxiety and stress are a little lower as I accept this fate, but still not completely gone. I have trouble getting to sleep but more so staying asleep. I find I wake a lot during the night, even if I use sleep aids like Melatonin or Zopiclone. My dreams are vivid, too.

I am currently on a course of everything I can find:

• Complete Vit B Complex
• Ginkgo Biloba
• NAC
• Zinc
• Magnesium Glycinate

I doubt they will do anything at all, but I see no harm In trying. I see many different threads on here and on Reddit about people who have damaged their ears as a result of tone generators, and there isn't one success story. I am failing at being hopeful. Thankfully, I have the most understanding partner and family; I don't know if I would be able to battle this alone.

Healing from acoustic trauma usually takes months, so patience is key. Over time, symptoms typically improve. Try not to let stress worsen your initial symptoms; many success stories show that recovery is possible. Take care of yourself, stay hopeful, and trust the process. Wishing you a smooth recovery. God bless!

Thanks for the reply. I'm hoping that some sort of recovery is possible. Yesterday, I was able to focus on video games that require a lot of concentration, and it masks the noise. However, I am unable to enjoy TV shows or movies as I can't follow what's going on, not because I can't hear them, but because the ringing constantly takes over, and I cannot ignore it. If I can master tuning it out, I will see that as a victory.

 

[Tim123]

Hello,

I'm sorry to hear that you're going through a difficult time. As others have said, the beginning is the hardest part. Things will get better, either because you learn to live with it, your symptoms improve, or both.

I've had nonstop tinnitus for just over two years now. About six months in, I decided to listen to a similar YouTube video. A few hours after that, my tinnitus worsened and has never returned to how it was before. In my opinion, these types of videos should be banned, but as always, there's "no proof," even though many people report either developing tinnitus or experiencing worse symptoms after exposure.

What has helped me is staying positive, living my life, and not letting tinnitus take control. Most importantly, avoid monitoring its volume—focusing on it only makes it worse.

Over time, you'll gradually start feeling better and better.

 

[JimmyStrong]

Hello,

I'm sorry to hear that you're going through a difficult time. As others have said, the beginning is the hardest part. Things will get better, either because you learn to live with it, your symptoms improve, or both.

I've had nonstop tinnitus for just over two years now. About six months in, I decided to listen to a similar YouTube video. A few hours after that, my tinnitus worsened and has never returned to how it was before. In my opinion, these types of videos should be banned, but as always, there's "no proof," even though many people report either developing tinnitus or experiencing worse symptoms after exposure.

What has helped me is staying positive, living my life, and not letting tinnitus take control. Most importantly, avoid monitoring its volume—focusing on it only makes it worse.

Over time, you'll gradually start feeling better and better.

Shit, you never returned to baseline? I've never heard of anyone fully returning to baseline after exposure to pure tones.

 

[Tim123]

Shit, you never returned to baseline? I've never heard of anyone fully returning to baseline after exposure to pure tones.

Yeah, I'm staying well clear of any type of video like that. The thing is, I couldn't even HEAR anything, it just played, and I thought, "Ah, well, my ears can't hear that, tough."

 

[Fazdoll]

I might have made the same mistake. About three months after experiencing firearm-related acoustic trauma, I tried to test my hearing by playing sine wave YouTube videos at frequencies between 500 and 1000 Hz, where I had a 40 dB hearing loss. I also listened once to a 250-20,000 Hz sweep.

The volume was never high; in fact, it was very low because I was comparing the hearing thresholds between my good ear and my bad ear. However, after a couple of weeks, I developed two new tones: one at 1100 Hz and another around 3500 Hz. One tone comes and goes, while the other sounds like Morse code and is sometimes very soft.

Six weeks after the onset of these new tones, they might be improving slightly. I'll have two days where my tinnitus nearly returns to a mild baseline, followed by a bad day. I'm hopeful it will continue to get better. I'm still only five months into this nightmare, and I'm really hoping to see overall improvement soon.

 

[Nemesis2K]

Just a quick update. My tinnitus had settled at its baseline for about a week, and for the first time ever, it was easy enough to mask with a movie!

But then, last night, I started experiencing sharp, random pains in my left ear. The night was as bad as it was at the very beginning, and my tinnitus has spiked in volume. These sharp pains are still happening occasionally, and I haven't been exposed to any loud noises or unusual environments. It just started on its own.

I feel like this has really set me back, and any progress I made seems lost.