Why Do So Many People Hear a Hissing Sound?

[Ava Lugo]

A lot of people on here say they hear a hissing noise. I have horrible ringing and I think I would do anything just to have a hissing. I get occasional hissing but my constant sounds are unfortunately ringing sounds.

Sometimes I wonder if my horrible tinnitus sounds are more of a ringing because I have severe hearing loss and maybe a lot people just have hissing tinnitus or tinnitus so high pitched because they have hearing loss in really high frequencies?

Why is hissing tinnitus so common?

 

[DRobi]

I have moderate to severe high frequency hearing loss, sloping from 4000 Hz to 8000 Hz. My tinnitus varies from soft crickets to a loud hissing. Both forms are very high frequency. I think it is generally accepted that we hear tinnitus in the frequencies where we have the most hearing loss.

 

[MBH]

I have three tinnitus sounds with different tones. Hissing, static, crickets. I don't have hearing loss.

 

[Orions Pain]

Mine switches up. Sometimes I have hissing + ringing. Sometimes really loud electrical hissing. I've noticed when the ringing is at its worst, the hissing isn't there at all.

My ringing is more of like a tuning fork sound, or like a flat line more so than high pitched flashbang sound, higher than 10 kHz.

 

[Forever hopeful]

I have unilateral hearing loss, it is very, very mild in one mid frequency and I have a solid ringtone in that ear. It happened a year ago and about a month afterwards I developed bilateral hissing sound that I experience mostly in my right ear but I do have it in my left. It would vary in volume and fluctuated all the time. Some days it was there, some days it wasn't. And then by the time fall came around it was gone. Rarely did I hear it and if I did, it was really low. But mostly it was gone. Even when I plugged my ears.

All of a sudden it came back again last week. And today it has just been awful. It's a very high-pitched hissing that I hear over everything, except running water. I'm beginning to wonder if it has something to do with allergy season, given the Pollen counts and the coincidental timing of last year and this year. I have no hearing loss in my right ear at all and my hearing loss in my left ear is at a mid frequency, not at the higher frequencies.

I also have neck problems and I was having the problems last year when it started too. I wonder if that's part of it.

Either way, when it's cranking on full cylinders like it is right now, I can't sleep at all. Sigh...

 

[Matchbox]

I "had" hissing. And yes I miss it too.

It was actually relaxing in bed and helped me habituate "back then".

 

[Matchbox]

I have unilateral hearing loss, it is very, very mild in one mid frequency and I have a solid ringtone in that ear. It happened a year ago and about a month afterwards I developed bilateral hissing sound that I experience mostly in my right ear but I do have it in my left. It would vary in volume and fluctuated all the time. Some days it was there, some days it wasn't. And then by the time fall came around it was gone. Rarely did I hear it and if I did, it was really low. But mostly it was gone. Even when I plugged my ears.

All of a sudden it came back again last week. And today it has just been awful. It's a very high-pitched hissing that I hear over everything, except running water. I'm beginning to wonder if it has something to do with allergy season, given the Pollen counts and the coincidental timing of last year and this year. I have no hearing loss in my right ear at all and my hearing loss in my left ear is at a mid frequency, not at the higher frequencies.

I also have neck problems and I was having the problems last year when it started too. I wonder if that's part of it.

Either way, when it's cranking on full cylinders like it is right now, I can't sleep at all. Sigh...

When did your noise tinnitus resolve? How?

 

[Forever hopeful]

When did your noise tinnitus resolve? How?

It just went away. I would say probably towards the end of the summer beginning of fall. I never had it every day. And like I said it would vary in intensity and volume. And it just came back last week after being gone for many months. But I didn't have it too bad over the weekend. Yesterday was brutal. Started the night before and it was a snake hissing all day long. It's calmed down again and I don't hear it this morning so that's a good sign. I also took a ton of allergy medication yesterday including a nasal steroid. I also changed to a different pillow. Last year I had a lot of problems with my neck primarily from using one of those memory foam pillows that tend to have a pretty high bank. Well I've been sleeping on one again and I think it's aggravating my neck. So I really believe that it has something to do with allergies or my neck since I have no hearing loss in the right ear.

I'm sorry Matchbox. I just reread your question. Are you asking about a prior post where I talked about my noise induced tinnitus resolving after 2 years or are you talking about what I just wrote re: the hissing?

 

[AliasM]

I had hissing earlier on but I don't get it any more. I miss it. It was the pick of the various rotating sounds I get.

 

[kingsfan]

I also miss the hissing. Now I have hissing and several different tones of ringing including the annoying as hell eeEEeeEE thing.

 

[Nics2drescue]

I have really loud hissing at the moment. It's usually never this loud and if my tinnitus is really bad, I don't hear the hissing at all, just a really loud high pitch tone in each ear.

 

[Keith Handy]

A lot of people on here say they hear a hissing noise. I have horrible ringing and I think I would do anything just to have a hissing. I get occasional hissing but my constant sounds are unfortunately ringing sounds.

Sometimes I wonder if my horrible tinnitus sounds are more of a ringing because I have severe hearing loss and maybe a lot people just have hissing tinnitus or tinnitus so high pitched because they have hearing loss in really high frequencies?

Why is hissing tinnitus so common?

Multiple ultra-high tones combined can sometimes be perceived cumulatively as a hiss. But I think a "true hiss" would be when your auditory system is filling in a range of frequency rather than a specific frequency. Some of my lower, less-audible hiss sounds like remnants of tones that were not permanent but left a soft impression of themselves.

 

[PortugalTheMan]

Multiple ultra-high tones combined can sometimes be perceived cumulatively as a hiss. But I think a "true hiss" would be when your auditory system is filling in a range of frequency rather than a specific frequency. Some of my lower, less-audible hiss sounds like remnants of tones that were not permanent but left a soft impression of themselves.

I love these scientific reviews. I also have the same opinion as you. I just woke up and I have this "shhhhhhhh" in my ears. I know I'm going to get out of bed and I'm going to do things and pure tones will appear.

The question here is, if we think like that, why doesn't science try to figure out these kinds of things in tinnitus?

 

[Keith Handy]

I love these scientific reviews. I also have the same opinion as you. I just woke up and I have this "shhhhhhhh" in my ears. I know I'm going to get out of bed and I'm going to do things and pure tones will appear.

The question here is, if we think like that, why doesn't science try to figure out these kinds of things in tinnitus?

Probably because self-reporting is so unreliable. All those things do need to be looked into, but they'd be counting on everyone to describe their sounds accurately, which is probably a tall order for anyone without an audio background.

At this point, I don't think there are just tones or hisses; I think there's a continuum between sounds that are more tone-like and more hiss-like, with a lot of "hissy tones" or "tuned hiss" (or whatever you'd want to call it) in between.

 

[DebInAustralia]

It just went away. I would say probably towards the end of the summer beginning of fall. I never had it every day. And like I said it would vary in intensity and volume. And it just came back last week after being gone for many months. But I didn't have it too bad over the weekend. Yesterday was brutal. Started the night before and it was a snake hissing all day long. It's calmed down again and I don't hear it this morning so that's a good sign. I also took a ton of allergy medication yesterday including a nasal steroid. I also changed to a different pillow. Last year I had a lot of problems with my neck primarily from using one of those memory foam pillows that tend to have a pretty high bank. Well I've been sleeping on one again and I think it's aggravating my neck. So I really believe that it has something to do with allergies or my neck since I have no hearing loss in the right ear.

I'm sorry Matchbox. I just reread your question. Are you asking about a prior post where I talked about my noise induced tinnitus resolving after 2 years or are you talking about what I just wrote re: the hissing?

Sounds like histamine intolerance.

Have you tried mast cell stabilizers?

 

[Shelbylynn]

I have a high pitched static sound hissing... It sounds like a room full of computers running, or similar to bugs but not quite crickets chirping, maybe more like cicadas?

Anyway, sometimes I have that plus another tone, a ring I guess. But right now it's only in my left ear. My left ear is definitely louder. I do think it's my "worse" ear. They don't have the same sound either.

People who say it sounds like it's in their head, I can't relate to because mine very much sounds like whatever the sound is, is "real". Not sure what happened to my hearing. I know I was screwed from years of way too loud music. So it's probably damaged my hearing, I never got my hearing testing. I can safely say that my hearing is probably damaged and I know for a fact I lost higher frequencies.

Only when I get fleeting tinnitus do i get a mid-tone ring.

 

[Tom_Tom]

I hear the sound being made in this video (minus the thumping that happens every few seconds).

Not sure if this is what is meant by hissing?

I also have a more 'traditional' eeeee tone in my left ear that I actually find less intrusive - possibly because it's just a constant sound rather than a fiery hissing sound that I can feel as well as hear.

Either way, I can hear mine over absolutely everything apart from the shower on a good day. I also have no hearing loss in the frequencies audiologists test for - however I expect I do have some very high frequency hearing loss.

My tinnitus was caused by a one off noise event which didn't immediately cause tinnitus. Rather, it crept in over the course of about 2 weeks to what it is now.

 

[Jon R.]

One of my many tones sounds like someone letting a car tyre down in my left ear and a bike tyre down up again my right ear, not nice, and it is reactive which means anything I hear the hissing gets louder. On top of that I have the truck rumbling one. So annoying.

 

[Wrfortiscue]

One of my many tones sounds like someone letting a car tyre down in my left ear and a bike tyre down up again my right ear, not nice, and it is reactive which means anything I hear the hissing gets louder. On top of that I have the truck rumbling one. So annoying.

Hey haven't heard from you in a long while!

 

[Jon R.]

Hey haven't heard from you in a long while!

Hey, good to see you. Yeah, I tried to lay low as I didn't want to remind myself of this, but it has really got to me again, I am just so sick of it. I was hopeful when Dr. Poland said it should only last a year that it might go away, but I have gone past a year and it is worse than ever.

How are you doing now?

 

[Wrfortiscue]

Hey, good to see you. Yeah, I tried to lay low as I didn't want to remind myself of this, but it has really got to me again, I am just so sick of it. I was hopeful when Dr. Poland said it should only last a year that it might go away, but I have gone past a year and it is worse than ever.

How are you doing now?

I am sorry to hear that. Yeah I don't buy the whole inflammation theory and it going back down. I think there is some damage that was caused similar to a noise trauma. It's going to take a long time for nerves to show any progress.

What are you experiencing now? I signed up with Treble Health online because my hyperacusis was just worsening. I am a month in and this week I have had very low points of tinnitus surprisingly. It's been very up and down for me. it's just CBT and sound therapy but the lady I am working with treats hyperacusis with a different approach using sound. So far (crossing fingers) so good. I just got my in-ear sound generators but haven't adjusted them yet, just doing violet sound 1-3 hours daily and avoiding white noise as much as possible (bought a PS5 for that reason lol).

You have to adapt and work with what you got. I distract as much as I can and think positive. My ear pain is concerning though, but it's random and short bursts. Just left ear (recently damaged one). Feels like a knife stabbing it at times.

I am sick of this crap as well, it's just nonsense... but I stopped fighting it and accept it. I hope things start turning better for you...

 

[bobvann]

I signed up with Treble Health online because my hyperacusis was just worsening.

You're working with Doogie. He seems sketchy to me. Good luck in any case.

 

[Wrfortiscue]

You're working with Doogie. He seems sketchy to me. Good luck in any case.

Who is doogie? Lol.

 

[kingsfan]

Perhaps hissing happens when many adjacent hair cells / synapses are damaged and ringing is more localized damage? That doesn't account for all the other strange sounds some of us can hear though, and doesn't explain why some people's ringing turns into a hiss which sometimes even further dissipates.

 

[Forever hopeful]

Sounds like histamine intolerance.

Have you tried mast cell stabilizers?

No. What is that?

Also, I think my post you referenced is a little bit older. I no longer get hissing. I now mostly just get a high-pitched whine that is so hard to mask. Rarely does it hiss. Hissing is an improvement. But I do agree, I think there is an allergy component because since my doctor started me on three allergy meds a day, the volume has been much better. I also have a HEPA air purifier in my room, which I also think helps.

It still fluctuates and there are days that it's worse than others but it hasn't been quite as bad as it has been before. Today it is kind of loud though. So go figure.

 

[DebInAustralia]

No. What is that?

Also, I think my post you referenced is a little bit older. I no longer get hissing. I now mostly just get a high-pitched whine that is so hard to mask. Rarely does it hiss. Hissing is an improvement. But I do agree, I think there is an allergy component because since my doctor started me on three allergy meds a day, the volume has been much better. I also have a HEPA air purifier in my room, which I also think helps.

It still fluctuates and there are days that it's worse than others but it hasn't been quite as bad as it has been before. Today it is kind of loud though. So go figure.

Hello there,

I think I was referring to your mention of allergies, which of course, are histamine mediated.

Prof. Geoffrey Abbott wrote a paper about Quercetin's ability to modulate potassium channels. From speaking with him, he has stated that histamine blocks potassium channels. I think that this is how Quercetin impacts Kv ion channels by removing excess histamine. You only have to look around the histamine intolerance groups to realise just how many people out there suffering with tinnitus at the hands of a potentially simple therapeutic approach.

I have never bought that hearing loss directly causes tinnitus, given my hearing loss is stable, but my tinnitus fluctuates.

I think there is something else going on that can exacerbate it. This is what led me to looking more deeply into histamine intolerance/mast cell activation disorder.

You probably know that Prof. Bao at the University of Arizona has found raised levels of TNF-alpha in the auditory parts of the brain and cochlea of noise injured mice. Most likely, histamine is involved in the downstream effects of a heightened immune response to hearing damage.

I can't find it now due to sever brain fog, but there is a French study suggesting that H1 and H2 blockers may be detrimental to tinnitus, whilst H4 blockers may be helpful. Quercetin is a H4 blocker, as is Coleus.

Just my thoughts.

 

[DebInAustralia]

In addition to the OP's message, I would be interested to learn if anyone has any theories on why tinnitus can sit in my head for a day, then on other days, move into my ears, consuming my entire head like surround sound.

 

[bobvann]

Who is doogie? Lol.

Dr. Thompson. He looks like a teen so it's a nickname I made up. Doogie Howser, get it?

A couple of red flags for me. 1) he is associated with many YouTube snake oilists. 2) He changed the name of his practice once. 3) He has a video stating that if perhaps Kent Taylor had reached out to him he may still be around. Righhhht. Kent had enough $$ to have Jastreboff in his living room. Keep in mind nothing is regulated on the internet.

I am curious has this all been virtual? Did they actually conduct any tests on you?

On an unrelated matter. I am going to be trying Physiotherapy with a clinic recommended by an audiologist. Local and covered by my extended plan so not much to lose @ this point. Same for you if you can afford it I guess.

I seriously meant it when I wished you luck.

 

[Wrfortiscue]

Dr. Thompson. He looks like a teen so it's a nickname I made up. Doogie Howser, get it?

A couple of red flags for me. 1) he is associated with many YouTube snake oilists. 2) He changed the name of his practice once. 3) He has a video stating that if perhaps Kent Taylor had reached out to him he may still be around. Righhhht. Kent had enough $$ to have Jastreboff in his living room. Keep in mind nothing is regulated on the internet.

I am curious has this all been virtual? Did they actually conduct any tests on you?

On an unrelated matter. I am going to be trying Physiotherapy with a clinic recommended by an audiologist. Local and covered by my extended plan so not much to lose @ this point. Same for you if you can afford it I guess.

I seriously meant it when I wished you luck.

Gotcha. No problem. I'm not working with him directly but with Tracy Peck Holcomb who has been treating folks for 15 years. She requested some tests like LDL since I have hyperacusis. I only gave my audiogram or whatever it's called. She's very understanding, nice and not forceful at all. It's CBT with sound therapy but it's incremental, while also protecting when needed. I'm willing to try whatever so yeah. It's been a positive experience so far. It's all virtual. $150 a month for one session of video for an hour and unlimited email/text for questions. $250 a month for two sessions. There are several audiologists at Treble Health, not just one.

I hope that physiotherapy can help you as I'm curious about it as well. I have a nonstop stiff neck and I'm sure it doesn't help my tinnitus. Getting stiff in the wrong areas

 

[bobvann]

Gotcha. No problem. I'm not working with him directly but with Tracy Peck Holcomb who has been treating folks for 15 years. She requested some tests like LDL since I have hyperacusis. I only gave my audiogram or whatever it's called. She's very understanding, nice and not forceful at all. It's CBT with sound therapy but it's incremental, while also protecting when needed. I'm willing to try whatever so yeah. It's been a positive experience so far. It's all virtual. $150 a month for one session of video for an hour and unlimited email/text for questions. $250 a month for two sessions. There are several audiologists at Treble Health, not just one.

I hope that physiotherapy can help you as I'm curious about it as well. I have a nonstop stiff neck and I'm sure it doesn't help my tinnitus. Getting stiff in the wrong areas

The price is not too bad but the fact they asked you to fetch your own tests is questionable. I tried those therapies on their own with no success. I have written many posts about it.

If you have an insurance plan, try to put it through. I am in Canada therefore it would not be accepted under mine.

I am open to trying different things as long as it is covered under my health plan.

At the end of the day I believe it is Doogie's business. I know he comes across nice and looks like he wants to help in his videos, but same with Julian Cowan Snake.

It's definitely a market where people can be exploited.