I started suffering from tinnitus about a month ago, but now currently seemed to have "cured" it, and as you are a tinnitus researcher, I thought it might be helpful if I helped share my short experience with this condition.
I first started experiencing a form a tinnitus after beginning a new floor cleaning job at a local grocery story. During this floor job, I would sleep the floors, scrub the floors, and buffer the floors at the end of the night. I ran the buffer machine four about three or four days straight without any ear protection. This, however, is not what "caused" my tinnitus.
On one particular day I remember glancing down at the floor machine while using it and reading a warning label that advised the use of hearing protection when operating the buffer. At the time, I thought nothing off this and continued to buffer the floors. After work, I began reading a book in the quiet of my room. I actually managed to read for a couple of hours in uninterrupted silence before I developed tinnitus. I remember reading a specific line that seemed to instigate its development. It was something to the effect of: "he listened to the quiet buzzing in his ears." After reading that, for whatever reason, I began searching -- or maybe beginning to notice-- this quiet buzzing in my own "ears." It seemed quiet at first, but then became amplified to the point where I was disrupted enough that I stopped reading and went to sleep. The next day I spent most of my time listening to this new sound that had seemed to suddenly appear in my head. I wondered what it might be. I soon began to consider tinnitus as I knew that there was some connection between loud noise exposure and this condition. I then began searching for a ringing sound in my head. After a while, I was successful in finding it. This ringing sound persisted for several days and it seemed to be getting louder (I began hearing it even without being in absolute silence.)
After researching tinnitus, I learned that this condition had been tied to hearing loss, so naturally I tested my hearing. I downloaded an app that produced a range of frequencies from 0-25,000 Hz and determined, by my own unprofessional examination, that my hearing was relatively normal. I actually managed to eliminate the ringing sound in my head by learning to control my response to it (as I became more relaxed and less stressed, it would stop.) But eventually I became distressed to the point where I couldn't relax and was completely unable to stop the annoying ringing noise. At some point, however, I figured out that if I played a high frequency tone from the app I had been using to test my hearing, the ringing could also be completely eliminated. This is the discovery that eventually allowed me to "cure" my tinnitus. Interestingly, I discovered that pure tones-- like those from an audiogram-- produce a strange tingling feeling close to the back of my head; the higher the frequency, the more concentrated and intense the tingling sensation (concentrated in the sense that higher frequencies seem to "tingle" a more condensed area in my head, while lower seem to occupy a more diffuse area. This sensation is also appeared to be lateralized; tones in my right ear would correspond to tingling in the "right hemisphere" of this area, while tones in my left ear would correspond to tingling in the "left hemisphere" of this area. Moreover, my tinnitus (the ringing sound) seemed to originate directly from this area in my head.
Also, it's worth mentioning that I also experienced the buzzing form of tinnitus and it seems to originate from the same location in my head. It is my hypothesis that this sensation is actually relatively normal. I think it's possible that this buzzing feeling is actually an auditory static signal produced when the brain is receiving insufficient sensory input. In this way, it's similar to the visual static signal most people see in low light conditions. I believe this sensation/sound was amplified because I had become aware of it and began focusing on it. I s still experience this buzzing sound, but now it is so diminished that it is hardly noticeable at all. I do not believe this occurs through habituation. I believe it is actually a process of desensitization. As the brain is more frequently exposed to silent environments, it is likely that neural activity in this region in the brain naturally decreases.
As a final note, I believe there are two distinct types of tinnitus: tinnitus that originates in the head, and tinnitus that originates in the ears. It is my hypothesis that tinnitus that originates in the brain is caused by neural hyperactivity, and tinnitus in the ears is caused by stimulation of the auditory nerve. Because the first type of tinnitus is caused by the brain, it seems likely that this form is actually more likely to be associated with a stress response, and the second type is more likely to be associated with actual damage/compression of the auditory nerves in the ear. I realize the current prevailing theory of tinnitus postulates that tinnitus is primarily caused by damage to the hearing cells of the cochlear in the ear, but I believe this is a preposterous explanation when considering how adaptable the brain is: to believe that brain can adapt to an inverted image of the world, and yet has no mechanism to cope with hearing loss-- something that is both common, and almost in a sense normal-- seems completely incoherent.
If you have tinnitus that is truly coming from your ears, it is my confident belief that the problem is originating in the ear itself ( e.g ear infection/compressed nerve/noise exposure.) More over, noise exposure induced tinnitus should most likely resolve in a few days. I know that goes counter to what the current stance on this type of tinnitus is, but honestly, the lack of coherent research currently available on tinnitus has me at a loss. If the sound is originating inside of the head itself, your condition is most likely stress-induced and could possibly be resolved using the method described above. There is a chance however, that after a certain period of time the brain remoldels itself and renders this treatment ineffective. Rest assured, if that is the case, the condition is most likely still curable, I'm just not sure how yet.
Addenum: In full disclosure, I am a second year psychology student. I have not actually even earned a degree yet. However, I believe I will eventually find a universal cure for this condition.
I first started experiencing a form a tinnitus after beginning a new floor cleaning job at a local grocery story. During this floor job, I would sleep the floors, scrub the floors, and buffer the floors at the end of the night. I ran the buffer machine four about three or four days straight without any ear protection. This, however, is not what "caused" my tinnitus.
On one particular day I remember glancing down at the floor machine while using it and reading a warning label that advised the use of hearing protection when operating the buffer. At the time, I thought nothing off this and continued to buffer the floors. After work, I began reading a book in the quiet of my room. I actually managed to read for a couple of hours in uninterrupted silence before I developed tinnitus. I remember reading a specific line that seemed to instigate its development. It was something to the effect of: "he listened to the quiet buzzing in his ears." After reading that, for whatever reason, I began searching -- or maybe beginning to notice-- this quiet buzzing in my own "ears." It seemed quiet at first, but then became amplified to the point where I was disrupted enough that I stopped reading and went to sleep. The next day I spent most of my time listening to this new sound that had seemed to suddenly appear in my head. I wondered what it might be. I soon began to consider tinnitus as I knew that there was some connection between loud noise exposure and this condition. I then began searching for a ringing sound in my head. After a while, I was successful in finding it. This ringing sound persisted for several days and it seemed to be getting louder (I began hearing it even without being in absolute silence.)
After researching tinnitus, I learned that this condition had been tied to hearing loss, so naturally I tested my hearing. I downloaded an app that produced a range of frequencies from 0-25,000 Hz and determined, by my own unprofessional examination, that my hearing was relatively normal. I actually managed to eliminate the ringing sound in my head by learning to control my response to it (as I became more relaxed and less stressed, it would stop.) But eventually I became distressed to the point where I couldn't relax and was completely unable to stop the annoying ringing noise. At some point, however, I figured out that if I played a high frequency tone from the app I had been using to test my hearing, the ringing could also be completely eliminated. This is the discovery that eventually allowed me to "cure" my tinnitus. Interestingly, I discovered that pure tones-- like those from an audiogram-- produce a strange tingling feeling close to the back of my head; the higher the frequency, the more concentrated and intense the tingling sensation (concentrated in the sense that higher frequencies seem to "tingle" a more condensed area in my head, while lower seem to occupy a more diffuse area. This sensation is also appeared to be lateralized; tones in my right ear would correspond to tingling in the "right hemisphere" of this area, while tones in my left ear would correspond to tingling in the "left hemisphere" of this area. Moreover, my tinnitus (the ringing sound) seemed to originate directly from this area in my head.
Also, it's worth mentioning that I also experienced the buzzing form of tinnitus and it seems to originate from the same location in my head. It is my hypothesis that this sensation is actually relatively normal. I think it's possible that this buzzing feeling is actually an auditory static signal produced when the brain is receiving insufficient sensory input. In this way, it's similar to the visual static signal most people see in low light conditions. I believe this sensation/sound was amplified because I had become aware of it and began focusing on it. I s still experience this buzzing sound, but now it is so diminished that it is hardly noticeable at all. I do not believe this occurs through habituation. I believe it is actually a process of desensitization. As the brain is more frequently exposed to silent environments, it is likely that neural activity in this region in the brain naturally decreases.
As a final note, I believe there are two distinct types of tinnitus: tinnitus that originates in the head, and tinnitus that originates in the ears. It is my hypothesis that tinnitus that originates in the brain is caused by neural hyperactivity, and tinnitus in the ears is caused by stimulation of the auditory nerve. Because the first type of tinnitus is caused by the brain, it seems likely that this form is actually more likely to be associated with a stress response, and the second type is more likely to be associated with actual damage/compression of the auditory nerves in the ear. I realize the current prevailing theory of tinnitus postulates that tinnitus is primarily caused by damage to the hearing cells of the cochlear in the ear, but I believe this is a preposterous explanation when considering how adaptable the brain is: to believe that brain can adapt to an inverted image of the world, and yet has no mechanism to cope with hearing loss-- something that is both common, and almost in a sense normal-- seems completely incoherent.
If you have tinnitus that is truly coming from your ears, it is my confident belief that the problem is originating in the ear itself ( e.g ear infection/compressed nerve/noise exposure.) More over, noise exposure induced tinnitus should most likely resolve in a few days. I know that goes counter to what the current stance on this type of tinnitus is, but honestly, the lack of coherent research currently available on tinnitus has me at a loss. If the sound is originating inside of the head itself, your condition is most likely stress-induced and could possibly be resolved using the method described above. There is a chance however, that after a certain period of time the brain remoldels itself and renders this treatment ineffective. Rest assured, if that is the case, the condition is most likely still curable, I'm just not sure how yet.
Addenum: In full disclosure, I am a second year psychology student. I have not actually even earned a degree yet. However, I believe I will eventually find a universal cure for this condition.
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