What Is Tonal Tinnitus?

[Dubbyaman]

Can someone please give some insight on what exactly passes as tonal tinnitus? Thanks in advance.

 

[Nucleo]

A tinnitus that manifests itself as an identifiable sound of certain frequency. Kind of like a sine wave.

 

[Martin69]

I would say my T is NOT tonal. It is not a clear tone in one ear for example.
My T is more a buzzing head which sounds like the old CRT TVs.
It is even difficult to say if it is loud or milder. Because the frequency is so high that I hear it all the time.
Sometimes, more high-pitched tones join in making it even less tonal. More a bunch of high-pitched sounds in my head.

 

[Evian]

I would say my T is NOT tonal. It is not a clear tone in one ear for example.
My T is more a buzzing head which sounds like the old CRT TVs.
It is even difficult to say if it is loud or milder. Because the frequency is so high that I hear it all the time.
Sometimes, more high-pitched tones join in making it even less tonal. More a bunch of high-pitched sounds in my head.

Mine is the same like an old CRT TV, what type if T is that called do you know ? I wouldn't call it tonal either but then I don't really understand all the terminology

 

[Cheza]

Can someone please give some insight on what exactly passes as tonal tinnitus? Thanks in advance.

I'm pretty sure it's like the tinnitus that the first guy on this video has, plus a few others. It's like that eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee sound that many people with tinnitus have, as opposed to the tinnitus like mine, which is sizzling, crackling, hissing, squealing, buzzing, cicadas, static, sometimes one of them and sometimes a combination of two or more sounds. Today it's a high-pitched hiss.

 

[Evian]

I just think they are all awful. Why in earth does this happen to people

 

[Dubbyaman]

Thank you everyone for responding. I was just asking to see how many of us are going to qualify for vns therapy. I cant tell what mine is. There are days where its really high pitched but i cant figure out how to describe the sound.

 

[Cheza]

Thank you everyone for responding. I was just asking to see how many of us are going to qualify for vns therapy. I cant tell what mine is. There are days where its really high pitched but i cant figure out how to describe the sound.

Is it one of the sounds listed on this page? http://youreardoc.com/sounds-tinnitus/ Since you can't describe it, I'm wondering if it's the tea kettle sound that you've got.

Be sure to lower the volume on your speakers before playing these, especially the first one!!

 

[Dubbyaman]

Is it one of the sounds listed on this page? http://youreardoc.com/sounds-tinnitus/ Since you can't describe it, I'm wondering if it's the tea kettle sound that you've got.

Be sure to lower the volume on your speakers before playing these, especially the first one!!

Hmmm its tough. None of those sound like mine. I went back and watched that video a couple posts back. I wanna say mine (on a bad day) is closest to the sound of the last woman.

 

[Cheza]

Hmmm its tough. None of those sound like mine. I went back and watched that video a couple posts back. I wanna say mine (on a bad day) is closest to the sound of the last woman.

That's really bad. My tinnitus when it first started out sounded like pipes banging in a boiler room and then gradually changed to metallic cicadas, hissing, tea kettle, dentist drill, an endless telephone ring, swaying curtain of bells, you name it. Over the last year I've had so many different sounds in my head it's a wonder I haven't driven my car off a cliff. Someone on this forum wrote that "the brain gets hardened to the noise after a while," and that's what kept me hanging on, the belief that it would get better.

As time goes by, the more you deliberately refuse to focus on the sound and try to turn your attention elsewhere, the less importance the brain will give to the noise and it will not be as prominent in your conscious awareness. I still have days and nights where I think "I just can't take this anymore," but those days and nights are gradually becoming fewer. I still wish for days of total silence. It's more important to me to have silence in the days, because at least at night I know I'll soon be asleep and won't have to hear it.

Here's another YouTube video with some tinnitus sounds. Maybe your tinnitus sound will be on this video.



Last night I had the sound at 1:42 in my head and it's still there today, but not as loud as last night. Tomorrow it might be a completely different sound.

 

[Dubbyaman]

That's really bad. My tinnitus when it first started out sounded like pipes banging in a boiler room and then gradually changed to metallic cicadas, hissing, tea kettle, dentist drill, an endless telephone ring, swaying curtain of bells, you name it. Over the last year I've had so many different sounds in my head it's a wonder I haven't driven my car off a cliff. Someone on this forum wrote that "the brain gets hardened to the noise after a while," and that's what kept me hanging on, the belief that it would get better.

As time goes by, the more you deliberately refuse to focus on the sound and try to turn your attention elsewhere, the less importance the brain will give to the noise and it will not be as prominent in your conscious awareness. I still have days and nights where I think "I just can't take this anymore," but those days and nights are gradually becoming fewer. I still wish for days of total silence. It's more important to me to have silence in the days, because at least at night I know I'll soon be asleep and won't have to hear it.

Here's another YouTube video with some tinnitus sounds. Maybe your tinnitus sound will be on this video.



Last night I had the sound at 1:42 in my head and it's still there today, but not as loud as last night. Tomorrow it might be a completely different sound.

I cant believe that this condition exists. You would think this would be the FIRST thing they teach you when it comes to hearing loss. I wish for total silence as well.

 

[Evian]

That's really bad. My tinnitus when it first started out sounded like pipes banging in a boiler room and then gradually changed to metallic cicadas, hissing, tea kettle, dentist drill, an endless telephone ring, swaying curtain of bells, you name it. Over the last year I've had so many different sounds in my head it's a wonder I haven't driven my car off a cliff. Someone on this forum wrote that "the brain gets hardened to the noise after a while," and that's what kept me hanging on, the belief that it would get better.

As time goes by, the more you deliberately refuse to focus on the sound and try to turn your attention elsewhere, the less importance the brain will give to the noise and it will not be as prominent in your conscious awareness. I still have days and nights where I think "I just can't take this anymore," but those days and nights are gradually becoming fewer. I still wish for days of total silence. It's more important to me to have silence in the days, because at least at night I know I'll soon be asleep and won't have to hear it.

Here's another YouTube video with some tinnitus sounds. Maybe your tinnitus sound will be on this video.



Last night I had the sound at 1:42 in my head and it's still there today, but not as loud as last night. Tomorrow it might be a completely different sound.

I wonder why some people hear all different sounds like yourself and others just seem to hear one or maybe two sounds. I guess it's just the way the individuals brain is reacting to the hearing damage

 

[Cheza]

I wonder why some people hear all different sounds like yourself and others just seem to hear one or maybe two sounds. I guess it's just the way the individuals brain is reacting to the hearing damage

I'm not sure I have hearing damage. I think it's more from the neighbor's barking dogs rushing to the fence every time I stepped outside. I could actually feel the adrenaline surges, my blood pressure rising, my heart racing. No matter what I told myself not to worry about it, that they were harmless, the reaction persisted. On the other hand, the dogs were Shelties with very loud piercing barks, so maybe it's a combination. I knew as soon as that neighbor moved in with those dogs that any hope of peace in the neighborhood was gone.

It never occurred to me that my limbic system was under attack. Otherwise, I would have put earmuffs on to subdue my reaction.

 

[Cheza]

I cant believe that this condition exists. You would think this would be the FIRST thing they teach you when it comes to hearing loss. I wish for total silence as well.

See my reply above to Evian. I'm not sure mine is attributable to hearing loss. I think it's limbic system overload. I've never been very good at handling stressful situations, and always tried to retreat from them. In the case of my neighbor's dogs, there was no place to retreat.

Woof-woof barking dogs don't bother me, like Rotties, German Shepherds, Mastiffs, other big dogs. It's the dogs with the shrill, high-pitched shrieking barks that drive me batty, like Chihuahuas, Shelties, terriers, Pomeranians, etc.

I always thought tinnitus was just a hum or buzz sound. Had no idea it could be such a nightmare!

 

[Evian]

I'm not sure I have hearing damage. I think it's more from the neighbor's barking dogs rushing to the fence every time I stepped outside. I could actually feel the adrenaline surges, my blood pressure rising, my heart racing. No matter what I told myself not to worry about it, that they were harmless, the reaction persisted. On the other hand, the dogs were Shelties with very loud piercing barks, so maybe it's a combination. I knew as soon as that neighbor moved in with those dogs that any hope of peace in the neighborhood was gone.

It never occurred to me that my limbic system was under attack. Otherwise, I would have put earmuffs on to subdue my reaction.

I have always been stressed by other people's noise :-(
Neighbours car alarms, kids running wild, dogs barking, other people's invasive music, me losing it on occassion with them. People at work that wouldn't shut up so I could get on with my work. I guess I was full of adrenaline surges as well

I dint even know there was such a thing as a limbic system, let alone that it could cause something this scary. If I had I would have put on ear muffs etc.

It's almost like we have damaged ourselves due to not having a laid back kind if personality

I'm kind if assuming I havevhearing loss as although my audiogram showed as Ok, I understand they don't measure the high and low frequency losses. I've got screaming white noise which I think means high freq hearing loss.

 

[Cheza]

I have always been stressed by other people's noise :-(

It's almost like we have damaged ourselves due to not having a laid back kind if personality

I think you're right about the personality type. When it comes to noise, I have sometimes had to restrain myself to keep from lashing out at someone, especially when they have a dog that hasn't been trained not to bark excessively. I work from home because the typical office environment makes me want to jump out of my skin.

There must be an upside to this. Wish I could find out what it is.

 

[Ragman]

I have been using the notched tracks for my T for a year, and I don't notice much difference most of the time.
There are time when the sound will recede for a while but always come back. I have made some neuromodulation tracks, but not sure how the T should react. While making them I had to listen to them to be sure I had the bugs out, but then my T went from a katydid sound to a high pitch eeeeeeeeee sound. I was told by one audiologist that my T was closes to 6khz but I had a range from 4khz to 6khz, so I am not sure which neuromodulation track I should make or listen too. It is possible make a track the covers all three ranges but not sure it would be beneficial. It seems like I get the most relief if I just play soft music thru speakers I have mounted on my headboard at night when I am sleeping. Not sure which direction I should go.

 

[Kazue]

Sounds like some of you guys have slight hearing sensitivity or are just being over protective. At my school, when the elevator door closes, it makes a high pitched sound. It drives me nuts because people are constantly getting on it. There are these charms bracelets that girls wear and they clink together. It makes a very high pitch sound that I'm surprised I can hear. I may be paranoid, I may actually have heightened sound sensitivity. Sounds like some of you are scared to make your T worse. No need to be paranoid over dogs barking. They aren't loud enough to do hearing damage.

 

[Sweet Caroline]

Yes, why does this have to happen? The sounds are terrible. Mine is musical. Sometimes I hear something like this:
na na nana na Did u ever sing that as a kid? Or it's like a choir of voices softly going up up and down the scale of music. This is crazy. Sometimes I can walk in time with the beat of the tinnitus which is like a washing machine. I feel sorry for you who have that horrible high pitched tone. Oh my! My Primary gave me Trazadon to take at bedtime. I think it helps me to fall asleep. It doesn't affect the tinnitus. Where is that magic pill?

 

[Vinnitus]

I'm not sure I have hearing damage. I think it's more from the neighbor's barking dogs rushing to the fence every time I stepped outside. I could actually feel the adrenaline surges, my blood pressure rising, my heart racing. No matter what I told myself not to worry about it, that they were harmless, the reaction persisted. On the other hand, the dogs were Shelties with very loud piercing barks, so maybe it's a combination. I knew as soon as that neighbor moved in with those dogs that any hope of peace in the neighborhood was gone.

It never occurred to me that my limbic system was under attack. Otherwise, I would have put earmuffs on to subdue my reaction.

Could be Acoustic Shock Disorder (ASD). ASD consists of various conditions related to each other. PTSD (causing the involuntary symptoms), TTTS, Hyperacusis, Tinnitus and even TMJD can be a part of it. It all appears to be part of an autonomic startle response by the central nervous system and an irritated trigeminal nerve which can be brought on by an intense sound exposure. This in turn causes involuntary muscle contractions leading to TTTS and possibly TMJD. So it seems one can develop TMJD from a loud sound exposure, which makes sense in this light.

This all can happen without any significant inner-ear damage...

ASD causes a specific and consistent pattern of neurophysiological and psychological symptoms. Initial symptoms include a severe startle reaction, often with a head and neck jerk, and a shock/trauma reaction with symptoms of disorientation, distress, shakiness, crying, headache, fatigue. A severe ASD can lead to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Other symptoms can include pain/blockage/pressure/tympanic fluttering in the ear; pain/burning/numbness around the ear/jaw/neck; tinnitus, hyperacusis and phonophobia; mild vertigo and nausea; headache; and subjective muffled/distorted hearing. ASD generally does not result in a hearing loss, although if present it tends not to follow the typical high frequency pattern of a noise induced hearing injury but affects low and mid frequency sensorineural hearing (1, 2).

...

An exaggerated startle reflex and hypervigilance are listed as symptoms of PTSD (DSM-IV, D.5), and individuals with PTSD have been shown to produce heightened autonomic responses (eg increased heart rate) to acoustic stimuli that would not be expected to produce a startle response. My clinical observation of over 85 ASD clients shows that once TTTS has become established, auditory hypervigilance and an exaggerated startle reflex can lead to the escalation of hyperacusis, where the range of sounds that elicit this involuntary response increases to include more everyday sounds.

http://www.hyperacusis.net/other-factors/acoustic-shock-disorder/

 

[JohnFox]

That's really bad. My tinnitus when it first started out sounded like pipes banging in a boiler room and then gradually changed to metallic cicadas, hissing, tea kettle, dentist drill, an endless telephone ring, swaying curtain of bells, you name it. Over the last year I've had so many different sounds in my head it's a wonder I haven't driven my car off a cliff. Someone on this forum wrote that "the brain gets hardened to the noise after a while," and that's what kept me hanging on, the belief that it would get better.

As time goes by, the more you deliberately refuse to focus on the sound and try to turn your attention elsewhere, the less importance the brain will give to the noise and it will not be as prominent in your conscious awareness. I still have days and nights where I think "I just can't take this anymore," but those days and nights are gradually becoming fewer. I still wish for days of total silence. It's more important to me to have silence in the days, because at least at night I know I'll soon be asleep and won't have to hear it.

Here's another YouTube video with some tinnitus sounds. Maybe your tinnitus sound will be on this video.



Last night I had the sound at 1:42 in my head and it's still there today, but not as loud as last night. Tomorrow it might be a completely different sound.

My tinnitus sounds most like the video about 1:42-51 and then again at 4:11.

 

[twa]

I just think they are all awful. Why in earth does this happen to people

Good question.