I have mild tinnitus and the only time I notice it is sleeping, when it’s too quiet. So playing some music / white noise helps.
I’ve always played back at moderate volumes during my career so I think even frequent long term exposure has an impact.
I try and avoid headphones as much as possible. Im also prone to ear infections so another reason to avoid headphones. That said, I’ve had more luck with the sony 7506. The ATHM50 and 770 seem to cause more heat / sweat.
I sleep with a fan for the same reason. Serves the double purpose of keeping me cool.
My damage was almost definitely done when I was young and didn’t care or even know all that much about hearing health.
You got it, noise exposure for sustained periods of time is as much damaging as loud short exposure. There are OSHA and NIOSH dosimeter available in Smaart. You would be surprised how quick you get to the max daily dose recommended.
Likewise, only really bothers me when I'm asleep. My issues are from stage playing, and like you, when I'm doing mixing work I tend to work at reasonable levels. Good monitoring helps!
A good pair of wide ranging, open-back headphones helps too. Not sure if there's much science behind it, but I've always ended up blasting closed-back monitoring headphones much louder (and therefore been less responsible) than my Beyer 1990s - I think the fully over ear open backs like Beyers or Audeze etc. encourage responsible listening and less volume creep.
I have it. For me it’s mostly just there. My brain has learned to tune it out mostly, but occasionally if I focus on it or think about it then I can suddenly hear it again. Occasionally something will set it off but mostly I’m pretty used to it by now. It’s been a part of my life for so long I don’t remember what it was like to NOT have it.
I have several sine waves going.They jangle against each other. After 50 years I’m just used to it. Kept me out of engineering classical music because the quiet passages dipped below my tinnitus noise floor.
I also swear by the fan idea at night.
Seems to be different tinnitus symptoms for some people. Clapton says for him it’s like standing next to a jet engine. I shudder to hear about what various artists have done to their hearing.Alex Van Halen always had one of Eddie’s 4x12 cabinets right by his head. Ted Nugent says his right ear is just for looks. I have an Outlaws album that states in the liner notes “play at maximum volume for best results”. Of course…that’s how they mixed it! Sounds flat when played at reasonable levels.
Same with diet, stress, alcohol consumption — all of that plays into it. If I notice myself getting upset by my tinnitus it usually means something else in my life is off.
Had it my whole life. Hearing tests say my hearing is very good for my age. It would be nice if it wasn’t there, but I mostly don’t notice it during the day. It isn’t something that bothers me a lot, but I’d be midly interested in a cure if one would be discovered.
Had it my whole life too. I remember asking my mom as a young boy what that ringing noise was. Didn't learn until adulthood that that was something that most people develop as an adult, i just got unlucky lol.
Very heavy case of tinnitus here, got it in both ears a little from noise exposure and the very heavy case in one ear from some unfortunate blows to the head in my 20s. Things are so bad now I struggle with some sort of phantom sound perception if I hear really transient sounds like certain percussion or snare drums in isolation, even just speech from shrill sources like my iPhone, or my partners voice sometimes. I hear sounds that aren’t there just touching one side of my face extremely lightly.
I work around it.
I’m now in my 40s and work full time in audio. I’m not saying this is easy, sometimes I get in a state of despair and think I can’t carry on. This is not meant to be a sob story though. I hope this is helpful to anyone who’s dealing with Tinnitus and trying to work in our field. The human brain is an amazing thing, and hard work and determination conquers all.
Keep going! I’ve heard of people with tinnitus committing suicide. I’ve learned to work around like you have. Just like my vision…I’m really good at recognizing shapes, so I thought I had 20/10 vision… I was just good at recognizing and reconstructing very blurry shapes.
As part of audio engineering you get adept at analyzing and describing sound. It’s a great skill and I’d rather be more experienced as you are than just having better ears.
:') you're amazing! I really respect a lot that you keep doing what you love. I am 22 yo and I sometimes get tinitus for like a day or two and I get mad scared ;-; I definitely need to take a break from mixing, and no headphones for now...
I was going to mention this, same for me! What I eat, if I’m exercising, my sleep, it makes a huge difference.
If I’m not on top of those things it feels like my ears are plugged and there’s just ringing and hiss but it almost completely goes away when I’m in a good spot
I experienced massive panic attacks and they appeared more often the older I got. I tried different things to fight it. In the end caffeine was the cause.
I quit caffeine cold turkey last year after 25 years 3-5 cups daily (and energy drinks). Surprisingly it was really easy. I don’t miss it at all.
I finally got it. It's barely noticeable most of the time but it's there. What seems to have kicked it in was getting Covid, my ears rang when I was sick like I'd come out of if the loudest show of all time.
I do something similar. I think of the note it's making then slightly detune it in my mind to conflict and cancel it out. It works a lot of the time for me. I read something recently where it's your brain's way of making up for not being able to hear those frequencies.... like, "thanks for that, brain!"
It occurs when the cillia…the tiny nerves in your ears get damaged by loud sound. Your brain doesn’t know what to make of the resulting damaged nerve signals, so substitutes something else… like ringing or white noise. Seems like some genius could figure out a way to reprogram the brain to handle it differently.
I still curse that loud rock drummer in that old wood & glass church at 16 years old. Ears rang hard for 2 weeks!
Taking a lot of breaks, sleeping well and using protection. That's it. Mine flares up when I hyper focus working on a mix and forget to take silent breaks. Sometimes I realize not sleeping well and other bad habits accentuate it so I try to live a healthy life.
I toured in a rock band for a decade, have mixed live audio for the last decade and somehow the tinnitus I have is pretty mild. After a really loud show, I’ll notice it that night or the day following but generally it fades away.
I’d say once a month, I’ll just be carrying about my day and all of a sudden my left ear sounds filtered and a heavy ring around 800-1000hz will just dominate my hearing for 5-10 seconds and then it’s done and goes away.
I think it’s pretty manageable. I also try to give my ears a rest at FOH by using my in-ears throughout the show to give myself little breaks from the high spl generated from line arrays and lots of subs.
Hough hearing institute has a medicine currently in clinical trials that actually regrows the cochlear hairs and can mitigate a lot of the tinnitus. I’m looking forward to its approval and then release because so many of us will finally be able to have our hearing at 100%. (Or better, can you imagine the super hair hearing this could create lol)
I had really bad tinitus but it turned out I had blocked ears. Get your ears professionally cleaned it will possibly help. In my case it completely went away so luckily my ears weren't damaged to begin with
What were the symptoms like? I would think blocked ears would result in reduced high end but not the white noise or high pitches usually associated with tinnitus?
I live dangerously and clean mine with a qtip every day. As an older guy I think I have really good high end (almost annoyingly so) but I do have the noises due to (most likely) bad choices when I was younger and perhaps some issues with [ototoxicity](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ototoxicity) (something everyone should be aware of).
I had high pitched ringing in both ears that I could hear during silence. Also Reduced high end, dizziness and even headaches.
All went away once I cleaned them. I was told by doctor don't use q tip as they can damage the ear drum and also don't remove all of the wax. The best options are to use ear drops or get them done professionally
same - i went to get my ears professionally cleaned, but there was too much wax, so they gave me debrox (which you can get over the counter) to soften the wax first, and it turns out the debrox was sufficient. so you can save yourself a copay and just try that first.
Got diagnosed ealier last year, it absolutely sucked a first few months but I learned to deal with it since it's not going anywhere. Fortunately it doesn't affect my work since it only appears in silence.
I've had it for 13 years and it's always there. It sucks but I've learned to deal with it bc there's nothing I can do except cope in a healthy way if I want to continue doing what I love. There are good and bad days (mentally) but generally doesn't bother me anymore during mixing. It is what it is
I had it with a 12k ping when it first came in for me, was doing a study at the time using critical ear training for my degree (fucking funny but made my report quite interesting), found notch therapy and went with it and hasn’t been too much of a problem since. Think I was listening to white/pink noise with 12k notched out for an hour a day? Was a while ago. Tinnitus from what I remember is actually a function of the brain more than actual ear damage. Still, silence is loud but 12k does not drive me insane like it did.
Link is just a basic info link, plenty of studies online. Think I was using Technical Ear Training (TET) software
https://treblehealth.com/notch-therapy-tinnitus/
I've had tinnitus for close to 20 years now, due to some stupid decisions in my early teens.
Honestly I don't do much for it beyond checking the spectrogram, and turning stuff on and off and walking around. If it's constant it's in my ears, if it goes away when I turn something off it's in the machine.
Mild here for around 5 years. Psychological factors have a big impact on it. Periods of high stress, over stimulation and lack of sleep make it peak more than anything. Overthinking and hyper focusing on it, is also a contributing factor. It dramatically reduces in intensity when I'm feeling generally good.
Noise wise, I need to avoid closed back headphones like the plague. Allergies and viruses can make it flare, too. So keeping on top of all of these things help a lot and thankfully, now I'm mostly unbothered with it.
My tinnitus developed after prolonged exposure to loud live music. Practicing yoga really helped me build up my tolerance for tinnitus and learn to embrace it instead of fighting it. It was a game-changer for me. Reducing stress levels and paying attention to my diet also made a difference. Cutting back on sugar, salt, and caffeine intake can help to some extent. Keep strong!
(My experience only, your mileage may vary.)
I have found two things affect it more than anything else:
1. Headphone exposure
2. Consumption of sugars
I keep my headphone usage to a minimum, and when I do need to use phones, I make the decision to do so with full awareness that it means sacrificing tomorrow to more severe symptoms.
And I've found that direct intake of obvious sugars, even in fairly small amounts, makes severe symptoms within even just a few hours. But also, indirect sugars (such as breads and pastas) also make a difference. And these increases in symptoms from dietary sugar often last for even 2 or more days.
So for me, Smoking weed can intensify it. Sometimes I dont even notice it. Other times itll get so loud in one ear that It kinda shocks me like AYO why am I being flash banged in one ear.. and I get hot flashes sometimes when that happens. But that kind is rare lol.
I notice it gets worse after a long session of sitting on the DAW playing music that was too loud
B12 (methylcobalamin) helped mine a bit. I was also having episodes of hearing loss (down about 80%) every few weeks in one ear only that would last a day or two. That seems to have stopped since starting B12, hope it continues to work!
I recommend getting your B12 levels checked. Mine was near the bottom of range.
Mine has flared up over the last year or so. Really only noticeable when it’s very quiet (in bed, chilling on the couch, etc) and mostly in the left ear. It’s frustrating, especially because I’ve always been careful about monitoring leveled and wearing earplugs in the live environment, but so it goes…
Tinnitus that later turned into hyperacusis since 6 months back. Not fun at all and a real showstopper for my career but i am hopeful i will get better in the future. I have gotten used to the tinnitus but the pain from hearing transient sounds is tiring.
I have fairly bad tinnitus at this point, a high pitched multi band in both ears and a low rumble in my left. I find constantly having some low level noise helps, whether that's music, videos, a fan, whatever, just something to drown out the noise.
It's also noticeably worse when I'm tired / intoxicated so I try and manage that as well.
Earplugs are a double edged sword as they effectively raise the noise floor, meaning I can hear it even when in a loud environment. I just suck it up in those cases as I'd rather not make it worse so plugs are a necessity, though my career has moved away from loud environments so I'm only really getting heavy noise exposure for pleasure now. No shame in standing a bit further back too.
Lipo Flavinoid - stuff works miracles. Takes a few months to kick in, but really helped me. Not listening to loud music on headphones. Taming high frequencies when I don't need them. Wearing earplugs on the motorcycle and concerts / even just loud social situations.
Protect your ears - there is no cure for tinnitus and it can be incredibly debilitating.
I have what I’d call mild tinnitus. Starting out doing percussion in middle school band, joined the jazz band, drumline etc in high school…was never warned once about earplugs or hearing damage. It still kind of miffs me to this day.
As I began to pivot from pure music performance into music production, I realized what had happened. From then to now I’ve been anal about earplugs and hearing protection, and I harp on all my friends about it. Background noise or a fan at night definitely helps, and thankfully it’s mild enough right now that most ambient noise easily masks it. That’s the biggest reason I’m so intense about ear protection—I can’t imagine if it was there outside of the quiet moments.
In high school Jazz band, I always felt sorry for the trombone players because of the trumpets blaring into the back of their heads. Five fucking trumpets!
I left all that when I was playing bass there with my best friend on guitar. Tuning up together quietly, the band director broke his baton on the music stand, yelling at us…” ENOUGH OF THAT LOUD ROCK TUNING!!!”.
Giggles even 50 years later!
Had it for 15 years, onset during cancer treatment. Interestingly it basically disappears when I am in nature. Top of the list for helpful remedies: acupuncture. Not a cure, but certainly effective for ramping down the intensity. Often get upwards of 15 needles in my ears during a session.
I have the wierdest thing. It's a tone, it's constant, it's always there, it's always the same and it's clear enough i can hum in tune with it (It's a A) or even tune a instrument after it. Even stranger, i mostly dont think of it unless i'm really stressed out or have a headache. A really think cold or a flu also makes it mor..prominent.
I like to think of it as the soundtrack of my life. So anytime i need to quick locate A on any instrument i just reference against my internal beeeeeeeeeeep and there i am.
I played in loud metal bands for years. And after I got a impacted wisdom tooth or infection mine got bad. I even get like a popping sensation I response to sharp sounds. Like some kind of relfex in the ear. Almost like a heart beat type sound. Quite bad tinnitus with ringing and hissing too. Only thing you can do is learn to not care. For a long time before I needed total silence and after I needed some noise like a fan or videos playing in the background. Now even though it's bad I am even fine without noise. Just don't focus on it. It was causing me bad anxiety and panic at first. I even went to an ENT and they basically said there's nothing that can fix it. Eventually you learn to live with it. At first though it's scary knowing this is damage that can't be undone and it's hard to come to terms with. I tell everyone basically you just need to learn to not care and not pay attention to it. You can't sit around dwelling on it.
26 years now.
Probably from ear infections or standing too close to the speakers during raves.
It's quite loud but I'm used to it. Silence would be nice to experience.
During an ear infection 5 years ago the ringing got so loud it got me depressed. I'd wake up and hear that beeep and jus loose hope. Glad it went down to normal levels
Mine’s oddly not been constant, but when it shows up, it often shows up for a couple weeks. Usually if I’ve been overloading my ears for a couple days. Rehearsals/mixes/the like
There's a bunch of stuff that influences it, like medication.
When I got surgery I got some wonderful painkillers that amplified mine so much I ended up stopping the painkillers because dealing with the pain was easier than tinnitus turned up to 11.
Things like that are really tricky to isolate, or have side effects that outweigh the benefits. Like full body numbness or an angry raging stomach.
Chances are anyone who figures out how to make a medication effect only the cilia, would win all kinds of science awards.
Though theoretically some day they might figure out something with mild enough side effects, like just increased thirst or something.
Mild. only really noticeable at night. Sometimes gets worse with ear blockages. Since my early 20s have always been pretty disciplined about taking care of my ears in all the expected ways, so in my case, age might be an issue as well as just a lifetime of working in music/video.
Using VSX has been great for mixing with headphones without inflaming my tinnitus. My AT-50X’s on the other hand have something in the higher registers that triggers it quite a bit.
I don’t have tinnitus, but theoretically, could you figure out what frequency is ringing in your ears/head and use that as a tool to help tune systems?
Not sure if you could use it as a tool, but I’m guessing you could use the signal generator in ProTools to sweep frequencies until you match what you have in your ears. I’ve never tried it, but I’m guessing it would work?
I have it from playing in loud bands at 16, got in ears at 21 but the tinnitus stays. It’s mostly a problem at night though, which I solve with AirPods while falling asleep
Not a bad idea to see an ENT but, generally, they are only going to do two things for you (other than a standard hearing test). 1 - clean your ears. 2 - sell you hearing aids. There's very little help out there for tinnitus.
I mentioned it above but there is also the possibility of ototoxic reactions to a (rather huge) list of medications -- from NSAIDs to boner pills. People should look into that as well. I don't think it's widely understood enough for a typical family doctor to even bring up.
I have had it for 15 years. About 10 years ago, it noticeably ramped up in volume. I can pretty easily ignore it, but I’m much more careful about hearing protection now. Gotta keep what I still have left.
I have it, but no hearing loss. ENT doc says it’s because my left tympanic membrane is hyper mobile. They can fix the mobility with surgery, but there’s a high chance of permanent hearing loss. So that’s a nonstarter.
I deal with it by listening to music or quiet pink noise, as the only time it’s noticeable is when it’s too quiet. You could use whichever noise you like, I just so happen to feel like pink is less harsh.
I have had it for more than 10 years too. In my case due to excessive live volume as musician.
I was an emotional mess when they appeared, and then I learned to forget about them the same way I forget about the feel of the clothing on my skin.
Nowadays I only perceive them when I am in total silence and my brain, for some reason, doesn't want to filter it anymore.
They didn't go worse either, I know that's a worry.
I’m amazed I don’t have tinnitus. Open ear headphones for mixing at low volumes, quality earplugs for every live event for the past 10+ years when more awareness was extended beyond live audio engineers. The fact that live audio mixes are based on protected ears of the engineer so it actually does sound clearer with proper protection than being raw dogged in the ear canal and getting ear-pregnant with a full grown baby that never stops screaming
38 years old, pro for 10 years. I get mild temporary tinnitus once every 6 weeks that lasts maybe 15 seconds and then is gone. One ear. Not sure it really counts since its temporary.
I don’t really fuck with headphones unless I’m on the other aide of the glass. I genuinely think they are much more dangerous than speakers.
Not to be ~ tHaT ~ Redditor, but if you only have tinnitus in one ear you might want to get it checked out. I had an ear infection which caused a rupture, which lead to partial deafness and nasty tinnitus in the affected ear. After leaving it be for about a year I finally went to the doctors when it began hurting again who told me that my symptoms were ticking the boxes for an acoustic neuroma.
The big red flags for them was tinnitus in only one ear with continued hearing loss so long after the infection.
Obviously in most cases it's much more likely to be regular old wearing, tearing, and ageing, but might be worth keeping in mind all the same if it does come up.
To reinforce that last point, they told me that it could be a tumour and that I'd need surgery, or I might need to blow up a balloon with my nose so the mileage is heavily variable, it seems.
i appreciate your concern! im not *too* worried because i've never had pain, and it's been the same for the last 5 years. hasn't gotten any worse. but ill definitely mention it next time i see an audiologist!
Had the high pitched in both ears for a decade. That one doesn’t bother me much. But a couple years ago I got the low hum in only my right ear. That one is tough to deal with. Always have to have some background noise. It’s pretty awful but the anxiety over it is gone most of the time now. Just have to be careful not to make it worse now. Try to avoid headphones but it’s tough living in an apartment
Work as live sound engineer. Have 4 frequencies that are always there/heard/perceived. Is that way for years now. Around 250hz, 1khz, 3kz en 5khz; really small bands.
It’s louder when I’m tired or stressed.
When in bed at night it’s kind of soothing since I’m so used to it, doesn’t bother me that much, really feel for people that hear noise, trains, whatever, can understand that will make you crazy.
I got tinnitus and hyperacusis from recording distorted electric guitar in a home studio setting.
It took me a while to accept that it's of my own doing but after that, I was able to cope better with it. Being busy or distracted helps and lately I'm able to listen to loud music with my monitors but wear custom ear plugs for loud events such as concerts and clubs. I avoid using headphones most of the time.
It's still hard to finish a track but it still brings me joy to put something together on Ableton even if I don't end up with a finished product
Some days, it's so loud that it's unbearable, but most of the time, it's just annoying. It cycles quiet to loud in odd patterns, so I can't really put my finger on exact triggers. Once in a while, I'll get 1 to 3 days of dead silence. It isn't often, but it's wonderful when it happens. Hoping that Susan Shore device gets it's FDA approval soon and is as good as the testing says it is.
I have it bad. Tech-Ed for a hair metal band back in the 80’s and 90’s and play keyboards and work construction. Ears ring all the time. Can’t sleep in a quiet room. I think I filter it out most of the time mind wise but just mentioning it makes it more apparent. Interestingly enough I went to the hospital for a blockage I had they gave me a big ol shot of morphine which temporarily made it go away
I’ve been playing for 5 years and mixing for about 2 - only started properly wearing ear defenders about 2-2.5 years ago, and I have very mild and very random tinnitus. No specific trigger, just whenever it feels like it. Side note, I’ve lost some of my top end hearing too, roughly anything above 17kHz as far as I can tell - WEAR EAR DEFENDERS FOR THE LOVE OF GOD
Thought mine was worse for a bit. Turned out I just had wax build up! My mixes got better after I cleaned my ears out for whatever reason.
I'll have moments where it flares up, especially after live shows. I keep white noise (youtube videos) on the tv when I'm going to bed. I find that when I can concentrate enough, I can block it out during the day.
I’ve had it since I was a wee lil shit that used to sit under my dad’s drums during his band practices. I thought everyone had ringing in their ears like that until I was in my 20’s. I’m used to it now, but I’m aware how it can drive people nuts. Actually, my assistant at work was telling me the other day her BF of 5 years slowly lost his mind and it started with tinnitus, driving him so crazy he just kinda checked out on life and who he used to be.
I developed pulsatile tinnitus at one point, where I could feel my heartbeat in my ear canal, that SUCKED. Most certainly due to high stress at the time. That was the first time I felt like *I* was going crazy from it.
I got the worst tinnitus when I was mixing my first record and making rookie mistakes. One of them was monitoring in headphones wayyyy too loudly. This caused worse tinnitus than 10 years of performing rock music without earplugs. Since then my ears have recovered a bit but they're very sensitive now. I got a pair of molded ear plugs and wear them in any situation I can. I also monitor a lot lower now haha. Ear fatigue is still an issue though. 3 days in a row of sessions takes me a day or two to recover. Something seems off about that and worries me.
I’ve had it from the beginning of playing live in my younger days, 30 plus years ago. It’s constant, but I tune it out most of the time. White noise helps when sleeping. At times when I’m in a quiet place, trying to sleep, I focus on the frequency, rather than ignore it, try to match it in my imagination, try to harmonize with it. Tinnitus becomes a mantra and I go right to sleep.
Weirdly, i only get it and only for a couple mins when someone turns on an older television within earshot. Something in the non-audible range I can't hear it but it still triggers it. Thankfully it hardly ever happens anymore with the switch to digital. No I'm not Chuck McGill.
Managing my listening time so I don't get too much ear fatigue/make the tinnitus worse.
Also tracking around what frequency my tinnitus is. My right ear is around B5 or 987hz. Just something to keep in mind when EQing
I have it- really really bothered me for the first year or so, now I really only notice if I’ve had an abnormally loud day or it’s sub ~35dba around me.
Interesting aside, mine may be some degree of genetic. My dad, brother, and grandfather all have it, reported it coming on at about the same age, and only one of them had high-noise work like myself.
My hearing tests are borderline flawless, and my tinnitus doesn’t seem to sound like other people’s, it’s more akin to pink noise than a tone- exactly the same way my dad and brother describe theirs.
Nearing 15 years of the ringing in my right ear. Used to stand next to our drummers crash cymbals in our small rehersal space and didn’t wear any protection.
I manage. It’s not a death sentence for me, I just need to kinda turn my head the other way when people talk to me in loud spaces.
As for my work, I rely on my left ear but honestly sometimes I forget I have hearing loss in one. As for sleeping… I usually have a fan or YouTube video rolling in the bg to drown it out
I get the occasional flare up for a few minutes here and there, just ride it out. Reading some of these other responses makes me think my hearing is a lot better off than I thought it was lol
Had it for years now. Was too gung ho when I was younger, not much you can do once it's there beyond using ear plugs and not playing back too loud. Annoying sometimes, but what can you do
I'm surprised nobody has suggested the finger-tapping method to relieve tinnitus. It's not a cure but it can definitely offer relief for some people. I use this all the time and it helps me a lot.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4QPOK2uYNrM&t=157s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4QPOK2uYNrM&t=157s)
I can't explain it except to say I've always taken frequent breaks. I've spent decades raging 12" away from the PAs in LOUD clubs, as well as mixing way too loudly (as well as participating in several very loud bands). I do have tinnitus, but the ringing is very infrequent - in fact it's the same rate as when I was a child (grew up in the city and remember seeing tinnitus commecials on tv and thinking haha that happens to me), maybe two or three times a month for all of a few seconds. I can't explain it but for whatever reason I am the outlier on this one. I've taken some hearing tests over the years and I have some blindness around 12K, but not really that much worse than the average human. 🤷♂️
I have it and I've largely learned to ignore it. It just showed up one day. I woke up and was like WTF is this?? Interestingly, that same morning I was running live sound, so I spent the day on the faders thinking the system was on the verge of feedback. Now that I'm more or less used to it, it hasn't caused me too many issues. I don't have a reference, so it's possible my case isn't as bad as some. I'd still like it to go away though. I'm always interested when I come across research into causes/possible treatments.
This may just be me, but I've found that on-ear cans tend to make it less apparent. I switched from HD 280s to HD 25s and the pressure of them seemed to ease the symptoms a bit. There are a couple of others that are a little more flat and accurate. But those are my preference.
It was always just a background sort of pulsing buzz. Unfortunately as I got older it became an arrythmic random ticking in the right ear, which is beyond annoying.
i just have accepted that its a thing now. i have it only on my right ear. how i got it is not even because of headphones or speakers - i tried to blow air through my ears by pinching my nose, and air only went through right side, left side still is blocked. i have ringing on the right now :(
i gotta go to a doctor soon.
Here. I have genetically-inherited hearing loss (thanks Dad). My hearing isn't bad, but it's not great either. I've "heard" tinnitus all my life. Most times it's just part of the background noise. I can ignore it.
I have it permanently since a concussion/whiplash injury. Most annoying at night in a completely quiet room. I need a little white noise to help me ignore it
Noise machine to sleep is helpful, I’ve also found that if I imagine that I have control of a mixing fader of the tinnitus volume that I can slowly turn it downwards. This sort of meditative approach is helpful even if it’s purely psychological
I had tinnitus for about a month or two after a loud jam session. I only noticed it at night when trying to sleep. Then one day I realized I hadn’t noticed it for a few months. I consider myself extremely lucky.
Not sure if that’s typical or not.
Got it about a year ago. Became super depressed. Seems to flare up random times in each ear, but I’ve learned to kinda live with it. I don’t even notice it during music making. One thing that does bother me sometimes is the hearing damage in my left ear, which can be distracting in a wide speaker layout studio, but I get over it. But the tinnitus is something that just takes getting used to. And I try care for my ears as much as I can
Like everyone who’s commented, I have it as well. Something I haven’t seen though, is mine gets worse with bad posture. I mostly can tune it out, but if I notice it, sometimes all I have to do is sit up straight for a few minutes and it subsides substantially.
Yo! Mine is not especially bad. As long as there’s some background noise, even at a very low level, I can’t tell it’s there.
Things that have helped it however:
Exercise, weight, loss, and cutting down on alcohol. It will never get rid of it, but those things have helped me.
I have it, both ears, varying frequencies. Luckily I moved to the video side of my work now.
Look into habituation. It’s the practice of not paying attention to something. In this case, tinnitus. It took a while to not give my tinnitus priority and focus around it, if that makes sense.
It has made life much more bearable. Most times I forget it’s there. But if I think about it, I notice it. Just typing this it’s become much louder.
I’ve got it, I’ve had it for so long growing up that I’ve kinda just tuned it out. Sometimes it’ll be more noticeable tho, usually audio is loud enough that I don’t notice it at all.
I’ve always had it a little bit but it flared up so much last November. A month after I’d split up with my wife so there may be a blood pressure aspect there too. At home I have a fan very close to me that helps, and green noise on Spotify if I’m in a hotel room.
Headphones get a bad rap but if you use them at appropriate volumes it's fine. I've been using headphones for 4-16 hours a day for decades.
I do have tinnitus around 13.5khz... but that was from my time in a metal band. Those damned cymbals. That happened before I ever used headphones, and hasn't gotten worse since.
It is worthwhile to keep earplugs with you at all times. You never know when loudness will strike! Most people don't realize even a lawnmower or weedwacker is damaging. But also loud bars and definitely nightclubs. I've even been in movie theaters that were damagingly loud.
In an emergency situation you can wet a wad of paper towel or toilet paper and use that. It works wonders. (But out it in the outer part covering your ear holes... Don't jam it down INTO the ear canal obviously.)
How do I deal with it... I try not to think about it, which was going just fine until you mentioned it! :-D
I have tinnitus very badly. I recently started using the Lenire device and it has helped. I am 6 weeks into the 12-week treatment program, and I have noticed the difference. unfortunately, insurance doesn't cover it, so for me, it was $5000 out of pocket. I tried various YouTube tinnitus sound videos, Spotify tinnitus 'songs', etc., but nothing that really dealt with the tinnitus in a meaningful way.
Never had it until a nasty bout of Covid in 2022. Doc said some folks lose their sense of taste/smell but a few others get ringing ears. It was BAD for about 3 months and now just seems to bother me late at night after some bastard mentions it to me and I fixate on it.
I've had it all my life in both ears (constant ear infections as a kid because I have stupidly narrow Eustachian Tubes, etc), so I guess I'm just used to it: I have no idea what total silence is like. (I think it would freak me out, to be honest!!)
It definitely gets worse (far worse!) whenever I have a head cold because new tones turn up (Yay...)
I sleep with a "white noise" box next to my head at night - which definitely helps!
But yeah, any gigs, or noisy environments, I wear earplugs. Always have done.
Been playing music since I was 17, been doing live shows, mixing and producing since 18 with reaching some kind of peak at 29, doing more work than ever. For my 30th birthday in february after a month of rest from a winter clubseason I randomly woke up to a cacophany of different freq singing in tandem. Its was quite an emotional rollecoaster and couldn't fall asleep. Before it was a mild case of each of those freq that would come and go on their own at random times that didn't bother me, but that night they all came together for a concert in my head and I was sitting alone in the front seat. :) I have been wearing ear protection for the last 7 years and doing jobs at healthy levels, but I think the amount of work just made it worse anyways. I am exiting live sound for now (its heartbreaking because of my relationships with people doing gigs) but they all said I need to go for my own sake. They are super nice about it and a big part of all of this is talking to people in the business about it. Since then my situation has normalised (like it always does, its not my first rodeo with habituation) but sometimes you just have to accept reality and move on with changes that will benefit your health and wellbeing.
Two things.
Don't use ear plug or any kind of hands free that goes into the ears.
It is actually part of every brain sphere that trying to grow. The fastest solution is to meditate daily (time of day doesn't matter but consistency does)
Otherwise do some running or exercise for the least.
It will go away and after that your mind and you're hearing skill grow in another level. I'm multi instrumentalist (I play 9 instruments), mix engineer and rock vocalist.
The meditation is essential if you guys like your body parts that your musical skill depends on it to be taking care of.
I dont have tinnitus, but I have developed a weird problem with my left ear. It turns out my eardrum vibrates to some sounds, specially percusive harsh sounds. Earlier this year I had gone through some exams and its all okay, I have good hearing after all but it sometimes bothers me and can feel the vibrating sensation when I solo snares with low low end, or hihats (its insane I know lol) but I have learned to live with it. If anybody knows what I have, please tell me because my doctors couldnt figure it out.
My tinnitus is due to earwax and I’ve dealt with it for years. After vacuum treatment, the tinnitus goes away but due to the expense, I am trying home remedy ear syringing with olive oil.
Tinnitus is a symptom not a condition and it DOES get better and eventually go away once you fix the underlying issue (wax/less loudness etc). When u’re working in a quiet environment, you think it’s so much worse than it is and the more you hone in, the worst it gets. Best thing to do is not to freak about it. Stress and a lack of sleep contribute a lot.
Just keep going man, watch ur levels and take frequent breaks. Some top paid mastering engineers have hearing damage, especially those working in film and TV, and it’s just a downside of the trade but would they broadcast it? Nah, they won’t risk their credibility. Not many people even have symmetrical hearing these days.
Over a year of chronic tinnitus - not due to stage volumes, but to a crazy woman screaming directly into my right ear as I was packing up equipment after a gig. I felt that drop out you get when you get electrocuted - as though all sound had clipped and triggered a limiter and all sound was shut off for a second with a slow release time.
I tried everything to no avail. The depression that came with it was literally soul crushing.
Sight improvement happened when I started exercising relatively intensively (disciplined and regular Tai chi and aerobics, and I have Gym balls in the studio to help with posture/tech neck issues).
Then surprisingly the biggest breakthrough came when I started using an Abbey Road virtual mixing room plugin whilst using headphones. After about 45 minutes of using it at reasonable/low volume, my tinnitus was virtually gone. I was in shock for a while, and asked my doctor about it. He said that subjective tinnitus can be caused my neural issues, and that the head-tracking software may have possibly rewired something and compensated for the damage in some way, and that I wasn’t going crazy.
This was my personal and subjective experience, and one other long-term tinnitus-suffering friend said “What the hell, let me give it a go” and had the same results, but it’s NOT founded on any scientific basis of course.
I haven’t had any issues for about half a year (touch wood), whereas I’d previously considered quitting for good because it was unmanageable, and I couldn’t even sleep properly at night.
Tinnitus is The psychological component.
The tone or noise is hearing damage.
How you respond to the hearing damage is important. The more it bugs you, the more tinnitus you have. On a range from mild irritation to suicide.
This knowledge enables you to relax about the hearing damage. Acknowledge it for what it is but let your brain filter it out. Thus you can heal yourself from the tinnitus. (By training your self to not be annoyed) ,but alas not from the hearing damage.
I have mild tinnitus and the only time I notice it is sleeping, when it’s too quiet. So playing some music / white noise helps. I’ve always played back at moderate volumes during my career so I think even frequent long term exposure has an impact. I try and avoid headphones as much as possible. Im also prone to ear infections so another reason to avoid headphones. That said, I’ve had more luck with the sony 7506. The ATHM50 and 770 seem to cause more heat / sweat.
I sleep with a fan for the same reason. Serves the double purpose of keeping me cool. My damage was almost definitely done when I was young and didn’t care or even know all that much about hearing health.
Preach. What else should we know? Sorry about your hearing. Love sleeping with a fan
You got it, noise exposure for sustained periods of time is as much damaging as loud short exposure. There are OSHA and NIOSH dosimeter available in Smaart. You would be surprised how quick you get to the max daily dose recommended.
Likewise, only really bothers me when I'm asleep. My issues are from stage playing, and like you, when I'm doing mixing work I tend to work at reasonable levels. Good monitoring helps! A good pair of wide ranging, open-back headphones helps too. Not sure if there's much science behind it, but I've always ended up blasting closed-back monitoring headphones much louder (and therefore been less responsible) than my Beyer 1990s - I think the fully over ear open backs like Beyers or Audeze etc. encourage responsible listening and less volume creep.
I agree with the dt770, always caused ringing because of how bright they sound. Got SRH1540’s and they’ve worked great for me as a closed back option!
I'm not alone here.... Why do people doesnt feel that. Beyers are so OVERbright
Beyer headphones feel like were designed to fatigue people.
I have it. For me it’s mostly just there. My brain has learned to tune it out mostly, but occasionally if I focus on it or think about it then I can suddenly hear it again. Occasionally something will set it off but mostly I’m pretty used to it by now. It’s been a part of my life for so long I don’t remember what it was like to NOT have it.
The less you think about it the easier it gets. Leaving this thread lol
Yeah no shit, now I hear it and nothing else fuck
Same. To the letter.
Same. Sometimes I have fun by trying to guess the frequency.
I have several sine waves going.They jangle against each other. After 50 years I’m just used to it. Kept me out of engineering classical music because the quiet passages dipped below my tinnitus noise floor. I also swear by the fan idea at night. Seems to be different tinnitus symptoms for some people. Clapton says for him it’s like standing next to a jet engine. I shudder to hear about what various artists have done to their hearing.Alex Van Halen always had one of Eddie’s 4x12 cabinets right by his head. Ted Nugent says his right ear is just for looks. I have an Outlaws album that states in the liner notes “play at maximum volume for best results”. Of course…that’s how they mixed it! Sounds flat when played at reasonable levels.
\^\^\^ This right here
Yupp
Exactly this.
I’ll pile on. Me too.
I’ll pile on. Me too.
Yeah, I know when my blood pressure is too high though
Same. Gotta go.
Mine gets markedly worse when I'm short on sleep. When I'm well rested I can mostly ignore it, it's not intrusive.
Same with diet, stress, alcohol consumption — all of that plays into it. If I notice myself getting upset by my tinnitus it usually means something else in my life is off.
Yeah being hungover as well like the next day after alcohol I've noticed waaaay worse tinnitus, even if sometimes just in the morning and it fades
Same! It’s legitimately made me stop drinking as frequently because of how bad it makes it. But yeah, bad sleep absolutely sends it.
Stimulant meds or coffee definitely worsen it.
Had it my whole life. Hearing tests say my hearing is very good for my age. It would be nice if it wasn’t there, but I mostly don’t notice it during the day. It isn’t something that bothers me a lot, but I’d be midly interested in a cure if one would be discovered.
Had it my whole life too. I remember asking my mom as a young boy what that ringing noise was. Didn't learn until adulthood that that was something that most people develop as an adult, i just got unlucky lol.
same!
Very heavy case of tinnitus here, got it in both ears a little from noise exposure and the very heavy case in one ear from some unfortunate blows to the head in my 20s. Things are so bad now I struggle with some sort of phantom sound perception if I hear really transient sounds like certain percussion or snare drums in isolation, even just speech from shrill sources like my iPhone, or my partners voice sometimes. I hear sounds that aren’t there just touching one side of my face extremely lightly. I work around it. I’m now in my 40s and work full time in audio. I’m not saying this is easy, sometimes I get in a state of despair and think I can’t carry on. This is not meant to be a sob story though. I hope this is helpful to anyone who’s dealing with Tinnitus and trying to work in our field. The human brain is an amazing thing, and hard work and determination conquers all.
Keep going! I’ve heard of people with tinnitus committing suicide. I’ve learned to work around like you have. Just like my vision…I’m really good at recognizing shapes, so I thought I had 20/10 vision… I was just good at recognizing and reconstructing very blurry shapes. As part of audio engineering you get adept at analyzing and describing sound. It’s a great skill and I’d rather be more experienced as you are than just having better ears.
:') you're amazing! I really respect a lot that you keep doing what you love. I am 22 yo and I sometimes get tinitus for like a day or two and I get mad scared ;-; I definitely need to take a break from mixing, and no headphones for now...
WHAT?
HE SAID THE SHERIFF IS A …..
The sheriff is near!
EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
reading this made me focus on my tinnitus E^E^E^E^E^E^E
Oh *god* …. eeeeeeeEEeEEEeeeEEeeEeEeEEEEEEEEEEEEE
I had a permanent industrial music tinnitus. I solved it by changing my diet. I quit sugar and coffee. Since then it happens rarely and subtly.
Same, cutting back on caffeine helped a lot.
Yeah, coffee really gets me ringing.
I was going to mention this, same for me! What I eat, if I’m exercising, my sleep, it makes a huge difference. If I’m not on top of those things it feels like my ears are plugged and there’s just ringing and hiss but it almost completely goes away when I’m in a good spot
I’m glad you’ve never experienced low frequency tinnitus for 48 hours. It’s fucking torture…
i can change anything.... Sugar, any food, any drinks (even beer...), but dont take my mornings coffee away :(
I experienced massive panic attacks and they appeared more often the older I got. I tried different things to fight it. In the end caffeine was the cause. I quit caffeine cold turkey last year after 25 years 3-5 cups daily (and energy drinks). Surprisingly it was really easy. I don’t miss it at all.
Doesn‘t sound permanent to me but good for you
I finally got it. It's barely noticeable most of the time but it's there. What seems to have kicked it in was getting Covid, my ears rang when I was sick like I'd come out of if the loudest show of all time.
Mine gets worse when my sinuses are plugged… the pressure in the ears. I can make it louder by pressing on my temples.
I imagine a giant dial knob and turn it to 0 and it usually makes it go away
I do something similar. I think of the note it's making then slightly detune it in my mind to conflict and cancel it out. It works a lot of the time for me. I read something recently where it's your brain's way of making up for not being able to hear those frequencies.... like, "thanks for that, brain!"
It occurs when the cillia…the tiny nerves in your ears get damaged by loud sound. Your brain doesn’t know what to make of the resulting damaged nerve signals, so substitutes something else… like ringing or white noise. Seems like some genius could figure out a way to reprogram the brain to handle it differently. I still curse that loud rock drummer in that old wood & glass church at 16 years old. Ears rang hard for 2 weeks!
11
Taking a lot of breaks, sleeping well and using protection. That's it. Mine flares up when I hyper focus working on a mix and forget to take silent breaks. Sometimes I realize not sleeping well and other bad habits accentuate it so I try to live a healthy life.
I toured in a rock band for a decade, have mixed live audio for the last decade and somehow the tinnitus I have is pretty mild. After a really loud show, I’ll notice it that night or the day following but generally it fades away. I’d say once a month, I’ll just be carrying about my day and all of a sudden my left ear sounds filtered and a heavy ring around 800-1000hz will just dominate my hearing for 5-10 seconds and then it’s done and goes away. I think it’s pretty manageable. I also try to give my ears a rest at FOH by using my in-ears throughout the show to give myself little breaks from the high spl generated from line arrays and lots of subs. Hough hearing institute has a medicine currently in clinical trials that actually regrows the cochlear hairs and can mitigate a lot of the tinnitus. I’m looking forward to its approval and then release because so many of us will finally be able to have our hearing at 100%. (Or better, can you imagine the super hair hearing this could create lol)
Ignore it until something (or someone...) brings my attention to it. Wish it rang at 440hz so it could be useful
I had really bad tinitus but it turned out I had blocked ears. Get your ears professionally cleaned it will possibly help. In my case it completely went away so luckily my ears weren't damaged to begin with
What were the symptoms like? I would think blocked ears would result in reduced high end but not the white noise or high pitches usually associated with tinnitus? I live dangerously and clean mine with a qtip every day. As an older guy I think I have really good high end (almost annoyingly so) but I do have the noises due to (most likely) bad choices when I was younger and perhaps some issues with [ototoxicity](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ototoxicity) (something everyone should be aware of).
Cool mention of Otoxicity! Great article!
I had high pitched ringing in both ears that I could hear during silence. Also Reduced high end, dizziness and even headaches. All went away once I cleaned them. I was told by doctor don't use q tip as they can damage the ear drum and also don't remove all of the wax. The best options are to use ear drops or get them done professionally
same - i went to get my ears professionally cleaned, but there was too much wax, so they gave me debrox (which you can get over the counter) to soften the wax first, and it turns out the debrox was sufficient. so you can save yourself a copay and just try that first.
There is such a thing as professional ear cleaning??
Yeah it's called syringing. They force the wax out with water
Got diagnosed ealier last year, it absolutely sucked a first few months but I learned to deal with it since it's not going anywhere. Fortunately it doesn't affect my work since it only appears in silence.
I've had it for 13 years and it's always there. It sucks but I've learned to deal with it bc there's nothing I can do except cope in a healthy way if I want to continue doing what I love. There are good and bad days (mentally) but generally doesn't bother me anymore during mixing. It is what it is
I had it with a 12k ping when it first came in for me, was doing a study at the time using critical ear training for my degree (fucking funny but made my report quite interesting), found notch therapy and went with it and hasn’t been too much of a problem since. Think I was listening to white/pink noise with 12k notched out for an hour a day? Was a while ago. Tinnitus from what I remember is actually a function of the brain more than actual ear damage. Still, silence is loud but 12k does not drive me insane like it did. Link is just a basic info link, plenty of studies online. Think I was using Technical Ear Training (TET) software https://treblehealth.com/notch-therapy-tinnitus/
Dmt cured my tinnitus. Before that I mostly ignored it, or kept everything wayyyy too loud
huh. never heard that before
I've had tinnitus for close to 20 years now, due to some stupid decisions in my early teens. Honestly I don't do much for it beyond checking the spectrogram, and turning stuff on and off and walking around. If it's constant it's in my ears, if it goes away when I turn something off it's in the machine.
Mild here for around 5 years. Psychological factors have a big impact on it. Periods of high stress, over stimulation and lack of sleep make it peak more than anything. Overthinking and hyper focusing on it, is also a contributing factor. It dramatically reduces in intensity when I'm feeling generally good. Noise wise, I need to avoid closed back headphones like the plague. Allergies and viruses can make it flare, too. So keeping on top of all of these things help a lot and thankfully, now I'm mostly unbothered with it.
My tinnitus developed after prolonged exposure to loud live music. Practicing yoga really helped me build up my tolerance for tinnitus and learn to embrace it instead of fighting it. It was a game-changer for me. Reducing stress levels and paying attention to my diet also made a difference. Cutting back on sugar, salt, and caffeine intake can help to some extent. Keep strong!
(My experience only, your mileage may vary.) I have found two things affect it more than anything else: 1. Headphone exposure 2. Consumption of sugars I keep my headphone usage to a minimum, and when I do need to use phones, I make the decision to do so with full awareness that it means sacrificing tomorrow to more severe symptoms. And I've found that direct intake of obvious sugars, even in fairly small amounts, makes severe symptoms within even just a few hours. But also, indirect sugars (such as breads and pastas) also make a difference. And these increases in symptoms from dietary sugar often last for even 2 or more days.
strange, its not first comment about sugar. Why is it affecting this problem at all? Just interesting...
So for me, Smoking weed can intensify it. Sometimes I dont even notice it. Other times itll get so loud in one ear that It kinda shocks me like AYO why am I being flash banged in one ear.. and I get hot flashes sometimes when that happens. But that kind is rare lol. I notice it gets worse after a long session of sitting on the DAW playing music that was too loud
B12 (methylcobalamin) helped mine a bit. I was also having episodes of hearing loss (down about 80%) every few weeks in one ear only that would last a day or two. That seems to have stopped since starting B12, hope it continues to work! I recommend getting your B12 levels checked. Mine was near the bottom of range.
like vitamins?
I have it from machine gun usage on the military. I just deal with it . But in clubs, I have to use iem.
Mine has flared up over the last year or so. Really only noticeable when it’s very quiet (in bed, chilling on the couch, etc) and mostly in the left ear. It’s frustrating, especially because I’ve always been careful about monitoring leveled and wearing earplugs in the live environment, but so it goes…
Tinnitus that later turned into hyperacusis since 6 months back. Not fun at all and a real showstopper for my career but i am hopeful i will get better in the future. I have gotten used to the tinnitus but the pain from hearing transient sounds is tiring.
I have fairly bad tinnitus at this point, a high pitched multi band in both ears and a low rumble in my left. I find constantly having some low level noise helps, whether that's music, videos, a fan, whatever, just something to drown out the noise. It's also noticeably worse when I'm tired / intoxicated so I try and manage that as well. Earplugs are a double edged sword as they effectively raise the noise floor, meaning I can hear it even when in a loud environment. I just suck it up in those cases as I'd rather not make it worse so plugs are a necessity, though my career has moved away from loud environments so I'm only really getting heavy noise exposure for pleasure now. No shame in standing a bit further back too.
Lipo Flavinoid - stuff works miracles. Takes a few months to kick in, but really helped me. Not listening to loud music on headphones. Taming high frequencies when I don't need them. Wearing earplugs on the motorcycle and concerts / even just loud social situations. Protect your ears - there is no cure for tinnitus and it can be incredibly debilitating.
wtf is that? gunna look it up
I was born with it and I don’t know why. I have experienced hearing loss but my tinnitus hasn’t gotten worse. It’s weird.
I have what I’d call mild tinnitus. Starting out doing percussion in middle school band, joined the jazz band, drumline etc in high school…was never warned once about earplugs or hearing damage. It still kind of miffs me to this day. As I began to pivot from pure music performance into music production, I realized what had happened. From then to now I’ve been anal about earplugs and hearing protection, and I harp on all my friends about it. Background noise or a fan at night definitely helps, and thankfully it’s mild enough right now that most ambient noise easily masks it. That’s the biggest reason I’m so intense about ear protection—I can’t imagine if it was there outside of the quiet moments.
In high school Jazz band, I always felt sorry for the trombone players because of the trumpets blaring into the back of their heads. Five fucking trumpets! I left all that when I was playing bass there with my best friend on guitar. Tuning up together quietly, the band director broke his baton on the music stand, yelling at us…” ENOUGH OF THAT LOUD ROCK TUNING!!!”. Giggles even 50 years later!
Had it for 15 years, onset during cancer treatment. Interestingly it basically disappears when I am in nature. Top of the list for helpful remedies: acupuncture. Not a cure, but certainly effective for ramping down the intensity. Often get upwards of 15 needles in my ears during a session.
I forgot I had it until I read this....
I have the wierdest thing. It's a tone, it's constant, it's always there, it's always the same and it's clear enough i can hum in tune with it (It's a A) or even tune a instrument after it. Even stranger, i mostly dont think of it unless i'm really stressed out or have a headache. A really think cold or a flu also makes it mor..prominent. I like to think of it as the soundtrack of my life. So anytime i need to quick locate A on any instrument i just reference against my internal beeeeeeeeeeep and there i am.
I played in loud metal bands for years. And after I got a impacted wisdom tooth or infection mine got bad. I even get like a popping sensation I response to sharp sounds. Like some kind of relfex in the ear. Almost like a heart beat type sound. Quite bad tinnitus with ringing and hissing too. Only thing you can do is learn to not care. For a long time before I needed total silence and after I needed some noise like a fan or videos playing in the background. Now even though it's bad I am even fine without noise. Just don't focus on it. It was causing me bad anxiety and panic at first. I even went to an ENT and they basically said there's nothing that can fix it. Eventually you learn to live with it. At first though it's scary knowing this is damage that can't be undone and it's hard to come to terms with. I tell everyone basically you just need to learn to not care and not pay attention to it. You can't sit around dwelling on it.
26 years now. Probably from ear infections or standing too close to the speakers during raves. It's quite loud but I'm used to it. Silence would be nice to experience. During an ear infection 5 years ago the ringing got so loud it got me depressed. I'd wake up and hear that beeep and jus loose hope. Glad it went down to normal levels
Mine’s oddly not been constant, but when it shows up, it often shows up for a couple weeks. Usually if I’ve been overloading my ears for a couple days. Rehearsals/mixes/the like
There's a bunch of stuff that influences it, like medication. When I got surgery I got some wonderful painkillers that amplified mine so much I ended up stopping the painkillers because dealing with the pain was easier than tinnitus turned up to 11.
That’s wild. You’d think there’d be medication for it if that’s also the case, but maybe it’s too hard to isolate
Things like that are really tricky to isolate, or have side effects that outweigh the benefits. Like full body numbness or an angry raging stomach. Chances are anyone who figures out how to make a medication effect only the cilia, would win all kinds of science awards. Though theoretically some day they might figure out something with mild enough side effects, like just increased thirst or something.
Mild. only really noticeable at night. Sometimes gets worse with ear blockages. Since my early 20s have always been pretty disciplined about taking care of my ears in all the expected ways, so in my case, age might be an issue as well as just a lifetime of working in music/video.
Using VSX has been great for mixing with headphones without inflaming my tinnitus. My AT-50X’s on the other hand have something in the higher registers that triggers it quite a bit.
I don’t have tinnitus, but theoretically, could you figure out what frequency is ringing in your ears/head and use that as a tool to help tune systems?
Not sure if you could use it as a tool, but I’m guessing you could use the signal generator in ProTools to sweep frequencies until you match what you have in your ears. I’ve never tried it, but I’m guessing it would work?
I have it from playing in loud bands at 16, got in ears at 21 but the tinnitus stays. It’s mostly a problem at night though, which I solve with AirPods while falling asleep
Go. To. A. Doctor.
Not a bad idea to see an ENT but, generally, they are only going to do two things for you (other than a standard hearing test). 1 - clean your ears. 2 - sell you hearing aids. There's very little help out there for tinnitus. I mentioned it above but there is also the possibility of ototoxic reactions to a (rather huge) list of medications -- from NSAIDs to boner pills. People should look into that as well. I don't think it's widely understood enough for a typical family doctor to even bring up.
I have had it for 15 years. About 10 years ago, it noticeably ramped up in volume. I can pretty easily ignore it, but I’m much more careful about hearing protection now. Gotta keep what I still have left.
I have it, but no hearing loss. ENT doc says it’s because my left tympanic membrane is hyper mobile. They can fix the mobility with surgery, but there’s a high chance of permanent hearing loss. So that’s a nonstarter. I deal with it by listening to music or quiet pink noise, as the only time it’s noticeable is when it’s too quiet. You could use whichever noise you like, I just so happen to feel like pink is less harsh.
I have it badly. The worst part that it causes distortion/dissonance with actual external audio signals to my ear.
Mine's pretty mild, but I got it from a concert. I had plugs in and everything. Material wasn't super hardcore either... FoH was just a moron. 🤷♂️
I have had it for more than 10 years too. In my case due to excessive live volume as musician. I was an emotional mess when they appeared, and then I learned to forget about them the same way I forget about the feel of the clothing on my skin. Nowadays I only perceive them when I am in total silence and my brain, for some reason, doesn't want to filter it anymore. They didn't go worse either, I know that's a worry.
I’m amazed I don’t have tinnitus. Open ear headphones for mixing at low volumes, quality earplugs for every live event for the past 10+ years when more awareness was extended beyond live audio engineers. The fact that live audio mixes are based on protected ears of the engineer so it actually does sound clearer with proper protection than being raw dogged in the ear canal and getting ear-pregnant with a full grown baby that never stops screaming
38 years old, pro for 10 years. I get mild temporary tinnitus once every 6 weeks that lasts maybe 15 seconds and then is gone. One ear. Not sure it really counts since its temporary. I don’t really fuck with headphones unless I’m on the other aide of the glass. I genuinely think they are much more dangerous than speakers.
Not to be ~ tHaT ~ Redditor, but if you only have tinnitus in one ear you might want to get it checked out. I had an ear infection which caused a rupture, which lead to partial deafness and nasty tinnitus in the affected ear. After leaving it be for about a year I finally went to the doctors when it began hurting again who told me that my symptoms were ticking the boxes for an acoustic neuroma. The big red flags for them was tinnitus in only one ear with continued hearing loss so long after the infection. Obviously in most cases it's much more likely to be regular old wearing, tearing, and ageing, but might be worth keeping in mind all the same if it does come up. To reinforce that last point, they told me that it could be a tumour and that I'd need surgery, or I might need to blow up a balloon with my nose so the mileage is heavily variable, it seems.
i appreciate your concern! im not *too* worried because i've never had pain, and it's been the same for the last 5 years. hasn't gotten any worse. but ill definitely mention it next time i see an audiologist!
Had the high pitched in both ears for a decade. That one doesn’t bother me much. But a couple years ago I got the low hum in only my right ear. That one is tough to deal with. Always have to have some background noise. It’s pretty awful but the anxiety over it is gone most of the time now. Just have to be careful not to make it worse now. Try to avoid headphones but it’s tough living in an apartment
Work as live sound engineer. Have 4 frequencies that are always there/heard/perceived. Is that way for years now. Around 250hz, 1khz, 3kz en 5khz; really small bands. It’s louder when I’m tired or stressed. When in bed at night it’s kind of soothing since I’m so used to it, doesn’t bother me that much, really feel for people that hear noise, trains, whatever, can understand that will make you crazy.
I’ve had it for as long as i can remember and didn’t know it. I recently learned that it’s NOT normal for your ears to hiss constantly.
I got tinnitus and hyperacusis from recording distorted electric guitar in a home studio setting. It took me a while to accept that it's of my own doing but after that, I was able to cope better with it. Being busy or distracted helps and lately I'm able to listen to loud music with my monitors but wear custom ear plugs for loud events such as concerts and clubs. I avoid using headphones most of the time. It's still hard to finish a track but it still brings me joy to put something together on Ableton even if I don't end up with a finished product
Pink noise helped me a lot in the beginning.
B12 shots
Some days, it's so loud that it's unbearable, but most of the time, it's just annoying. It cycles quiet to loud in odd patterns, so I can't really put my finger on exact triggers. Once in a while, I'll get 1 to 3 days of dead silence. It isn't often, but it's wonderful when it happens. Hoping that Susan Shore device gets it's FDA approval soon and is as good as the testing says it is.
I have it bad. Tech-Ed for a hair metal band back in the 80’s and 90’s and play keyboards and work construction. Ears ring all the time. Can’t sleep in a quiet room. I think I filter it out most of the time mind wise but just mentioning it makes it more apparent. Interestingly enough I went to the hospital for a blockage I had they gave me a big ol shot of morphine which temporarily made it go away
I’ve been playing for 5 years and mixing for about 2 - only started properly wearing ear defenders about 2-2.5 years ago, and I have very mild and very random tinnitus. No specific trigger, just whenever it feels like it. Side note, I’ve lost some of my top end hearing too, roughly anything above 17kHz as far as I can tell - WEAR EAR DEFENDERS FOR THE LOVE OF GOD
Thought mine was worse for a bit. Turned out I just had wax build up! My mixes got better after I cleaned my ears out for whatever reason. I'll have moments where it flares up, especially after live shows. I keep white noise (youtube videos) on the tv when I'm going to bed. I find that when I can concentrate enough, I can block it out during the day.
I’ve had it since I was a wee lil shit that used to sit under my dad’s drums during his band practices. I thought everyone had ringing in their ears like that until I was in my 20’s. I’m used to it now, but I’m aware how it can drive people nuts. Actually, my assistant at work was telling me the other day her BF of 5 years slowly lost his mind and it started with tinnitus, driving him so crazy he just kinda checked out on life and who he used to be. I developed pulsatile tinnitus at one point, where I could feel my heartbeat in my ear canal, that SUCKED. Most certainly due to high stress at the time. That was the first time I felt like *I* was going crazy from it.
I got the worst tinnitus when I was mixing my first record and making rookie mistakes. One of them was monitoring in headphones wayyyy too loudly. This caused worse tinnitus than 10 years of performing rock music without earplugs. Since then my ears have recovered a bit but they're very sensitive now. I got a pair of molded ear plugs and wear them in any situation I can. I also monitor a lot lower now haha. Ear fatigue is still an issue though. 3 days in a row of sessions takes me a day or two to recover. Something seems off about that and worries me.
I’ve had it from the beginning of playing live in my younger days, 30 plus years ago. It’s constant, but I tune it out most of the time. White noise helps when sleeping. At times when I’m in a quiet place, trying to sleep, I focus on the frequency, rather than ignore it, try to match it in my imagination, try to harmonize with it. Tinnitus becomes a mantra and I go right to sleep.
Weirdly, i only get it and only for a couple mins when someone turns on an older television within earshot. Something in the non-audible range I can't hear it but it still triggers it. Thankfully it hardly ever happens anymore with the switch to digital. No I'm not Chuck McGill.
Got mine playing in bands. It comes and goes. My question is has anyone ran the spectrum to see what frequency it is? I did but forgot what it was.
Managing my listening time so I don't get too much ear fatigue/make the tinnitus worse. Also tracking around what frequency my tinnitus is. My right ear is around B5 or 987hz. Just something to keep in mind when EQing
I have it- really really bothered me for the first year or so, now I really only notice if I’ve had an abnormally loud day or it’s sub ~35dba around me. Interesting aside, mine may be some degree of genetic. My dad, brother, and grandfather all have it, reported it coming on at about the same age, and only one of them had high-noise work like myself. My hearing tests are borderline flawless, and my tinnitus doesn’t seem to sound like other people’s, it’s more akin to pink noise than a tone- exactly the same way my dad and brother describe theirs.
Not terrible. Mostly for sleeping. I do have to ask people if the 1.2k is in my head or not though.
Nearing 15 years of the ringing in my right ear. Used to stand next to our drummers crash cymbals in our small rehersal space and didn’t wear any protection. I manage. It’s not a death sentence for me, I just need to kinda turn my head the other way when people talk to me in loud spaces. As for my work, I rely on my left ear but honestly sometimes I forget I have hearing loss in one. As for sleeping… I usually have a fan or YouTube video rolling in the bg to drown it out
I get the occasional flare up for a few minutes here and there, just ride it out. Reading some of these other responses makes me think my hearing is a lot better off than I thought it was lol
Had it for years now. Was too gung ho when I was younger, not much you can do once it's there beyond using ear plugs and not playing back too loud. Annoying sometimes, but what can you do
I'm surprised nobody has suggested the finger-tapping method to relieve tinnitus. It's not a cure but it can definitely offer relief for some people. I use this all the time and it helps me a lot. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4QPOK2uYNrM&t=157s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4QPOK2uYNrM&t=157s)
I can't explain it except to say I've always taken frequent breaks. I've spent decades raging 12" away from the PAs in LOUD clubs, as well as mixing way too loudly (as well as participating in several very loud bands). I do have tinnitus, but the ringing is very infrequent - in fact it's the same rate as when I was a child (grew up in the city and remember seeing tinnitus commecials on tv and thinking haha that happens to me), maybe two or three times a month for all of a few seconds. I can't explain it but for whatever reason I am the outlier on this one. I've taken some hearing tests over the years and I have some blindness around 12K, but not really that much worse than the average human. 🤷♂️
Thanks for reminding me about it, damnit
I have it and I've largely learned to ignore it. It just showed up one day. I woke up and was like WTF is this?? Interestingly, that same morning I was running live sound, so I spent the day on the faders thinking the system was on the verge of feedback. Now that I'm more or less used to it, it hasn't caused me too many issues. I don't have a reference, so it's possible my case isn't as bad as some. I'd still like it to go away though. I'm always interested when I come across research into causes/possible treatments.
This may just be me, but I've found that on-ear cans tend to make it less apparent. I switched from HD 280s to HD 25s and the pressure of them seemed to ease the symptoms a bit. There are a couple of others that are a little more flat and accurate. But those are my preference.
It was always just a background sort of pulsing buzz. Unfortunately as I got older it became an arrythmic random ticking in the right ear, which is beyond annoying.
i just have accepted that its a thing now. i have it only on my right ear. how i got it is not even because of headphones or speakers - i tried to blow air through my ears by pinching my nose, and air only went through right side, left side still is blocked. i have ringing on the right now :( i gotta go to a doctor soon.
It sines and goes yesterday it felt like my right ear was rumbling ever 45 seconds which is new
Here. I have genetically-inherited hearing loss (thanks Dad). My hearing isn't bad, but it's not great either. I've "heard" tinnitus all my life. Most times it's just part of the background noise. I can ignore it.
I have it permanently since a concussion/whiplash injury. Most annoying at night in a completely quiet room. I need a little white noise to help me ignore it
Noise machine to sleep is helpful, I’ve also found that if I imagine that I have control of a mixing fader of the tinnitus volume that I can slowly turn it downwards. This sort of meditative approach is helpful even if it’s purely psychological
I had tinnitus for about a month or two after a loud jam session. I only noticed it at night when trying to sleep. Then one day I realized I hadn’t noticed it for a few months. I consider myself extremely lucky. Not sure if that’s typical or not.
if possible i always have a fan or ocean sounds playing.
what ???? i can’t hear you over this ringing sound in my ears !
Got it about a year ago. Became super depressed. Seems to flare up random times in each ear, but I’ve learned to kinda live with it. I don’t even notice it during music making. One thing that does bother me sometimes is the hearing damage in my left ear, which can be distracting in a wide speaker layout studio, but I get over it. But the tinnitus is something that just takes getting used to. And I try care for my ears as much as I can
💙🩵🩷💜
Like everyone who’s commented, I have it as well. Something I haven’t seen though, is mine gets worse with bad posture. I mostly can tune it out, but if I notice it, sometimes all I have to do is sit up straight for a few minutes and it subsides substantially.
Yo! Mine is not especially bad. As long as there’s some background noise, even at a very low level, I can’t tell it’s there. Things that have helped it however: Exercise, weight, loss, and cutting down on alcohol. It will never get rid of it, but those things have helped me.
I have it, both ears, varying frequencies. Luckily I moved to the video side of my work now. Look into habituation. It’s the practice of not paying attention to something. In this case, tinnitus. It took a while to not give my tinnitus priority and focus around it, if that makes sense. It has made life much more bearable. Most times I forget it’s there. But if I think about it, I notice it. Just typing this it’s become much louder.
I got it. I ignore it.
I’ve got it, I’ve had it for so long growing up that I’ve kinda just tuned it out. Sometimes it’ll be more noticeable tho, usually audio is loud enough that I don’t notice it at all.
I’ve always had it a little bit but it flared up so much last November. A month after I’d split up with my wife so there may be a blood pressure aspect there too. At home I have a fan very close to me that helps, and green noise on Spotify if I’m in a hotel room.
Headphones get a bad rap but if you use them at appropriate volumes it's fine. I've been using headphones for 4-16 hours a day for decades. I do have tinnitus around 13.5khz... but that was from my time in a metal band. Those damned cymbals. That happened before I ever used headphones, and hasn't gotten worse since. It is worthwhile to keep earplugs with you at all times. You never know when loudness will strike! Most people don't realize even a lawnmower or weedwacker is damaging. But also loud bars and definitely nightclubs. I've even been in movie theaters that were damagingly loud. In an emergency situation you can wet a wad of paper towel or toilet paper and use that. It works wonders. (But out it in the outer part covering your ear holes... Don't jam it down INTO the ear canal obviously.) How do I deal with it... I try not to think about it, which was going just fine until you mentioned it! :-D
Here you go: https://youtube.com/shorts/YyT9ZwWy5Jc?si=ut9PdcuMdSyghZFw
I have it. I deal with it by using trazedone to sleep at night and continuing to hope that there's a medical solution on the horizon.
I have tinnitus very badly. I recently started using the Lenire device and it has helped. I am 6 weeks into the 12-week treatment program, and I have noticed the difference. unfortunately, insurance doesn't cover it, so for me, it was $5000 out of pocket. I tried various YouTube tinnitus sound videos, Spotify tinnitus 'songs', etc., but nothing that really dealt with the tinnitus in a meaningful way.
Never had it until a nasty bout of Covid in 2022. Doc said some folks lose their sense of taste/smell but a few others get ringing ears. It was BAD for about 3 months and now just seems to bother me late at night after some bastard mentions it to me and I fixate on it.
I've had it all my life in both ears (constant ear infections as a kid because I have stupidly narrow Eustachian Tubes, etc), so I guess I'm just used to it: I have no idea what total silence is like. (I think it would freak me out, to be honest!!) It definitely gets worse (far worse!) whenever I have a head cold because new tones turn up (Yay...) I sleep with a "white noise" box next to my head at night - which definitely helps! But yeah, any gigs, or noisy environments, I wear earplugs. Always have done.
Been playing music since I was 17, been doing live shows, mixing and producing since 18 with reaching some kind of peak at 29, doing more work than ever. For my 30th birthday in february after a month of rest from a winter clubseason I randomly woke up to a cacophany of different freq singing in tandem. Its was quite an emotional rollecoaster and couldn't fall asleep. Before it was a mild case of each of those freq that would come and go on their own at random times that didn't bother me, but that night they all came together for a concert in my head and I was sitting alone in the front seat. :) I have been wearing ear protection for the last 7 years and doing jobs at healthy levels, but I think the amount of work just made it worse anyways. I am exiting live sound for now (its heartbreaking because of my relationships with people doing gigs) but they all said I need to go for my own sake. They are super nice about it and a big part of all of this is talking to people in the business about it. Since then my situation has normalised (like it always does, its not my first rodeo with habituation) but sometimes you just have to accept reality and move on with changes that will benefit your health and wellbeing.
Two things. Don't use ear plug or any kind of hands free that goes into the ears. It is actually part of every brain sphere that trying to grow. The fastest solution is to meditate daily (time of day doesn't matter but consistency does) Otherwise do some running or exercise for the least. It will go away and after that your mind and you're hearing skill grow in another level. I'm multi instrumentalist (I play 9 instruments), mix engineer and rock vocalist. The meditation is essential if you guys like your body parts that your musical skill depends on it to be taking care of.
Here
I dont have tinnitus, but I have developed a weird problem with my left ear. It turns out my eardrum vibrates to some sounds, specially percusive harsh sounds. Earlier this year I had gone through some exams and its all okay, I have good hearing after all but it sometimes bothers me and can feel the vibrating sensation when I solo snares with low low end, or hihats (its insane I know lol) but I have learned to live with it. If anybody knows what I have, please tell me because my doctors couldnt figure it out.
My tinnitus is due to earwax and I’ve dealt with it for years. After vacuum treatment, the tinnitus goes away but due to the expense, I am trying home remedy ear syringing with olive oil. Tinnitus is a symptom not a condition and it DOES get better and eventually go away once you fix the underlying issue (wax/less loudness etc). When u’re working in a quiet environment, you think it’s so much worse than it is and the more you hone in, the worst it gets. Best thing to do is not to freak about it. Stress and a lack of sleep contribute a lot. Just keep going man, watch ur levels and take frequent breaks. Some top paid mastering engineers have hearing damage, especially those working in film and TV, and it’s just a downside of the trade but would they broadcast it? Nah, they won’t risk their credibility. Not many people even have symmetrical hearing these days.
Over a year of chronic tinnitus - not due to stage volumes, but to a crazy woman screaming directly into my right ear as I was packing up equipment after a gig. I felt that drop out you get when you get electrocuted - as though all sound had clipped and triggered a limiter and all sound was shut off for a second with a slow release time. I tried everything to no avail. The depression that came with it was literally soul crushing. Sight improvement happened when I started exercising relatively intensively (disciplined and regular Tai chi and aerobics, and I have Gym balls in the studio to help with posture/tech neck issues). Then surprisingly the biggest breakthrough came when I started using an Abbey Road virtual mixing room plugin whilst using headphones. After about 45 minutes of using it at reasonable/low volume, my tinnitus was virtually gone. I was in shock for a while, and asked my doctor about it. He said that subjective tinnitus can be caused my neural issues, and that the head-tracking software may have possibly rewired something and compensated for the damage in some way, and that I wasn’t going crazy. This was my personal and subjective experience, and one other long-term tinnitus-suffering friend said “What the hell, let me give it a go” and had the same results, but it’s NOT founded on any scientific basis of course. I haven’t had any issues for about half a year (touch wood), whereas I’d previously considered quitting for good because it was unmanageable, and I couldn’t even sleep properly at night.
Tinnitus is The psychological component. The tone or noise is hearing damage. How you respond to the hearing damage is important. The more it bugs you, the more tinnitus you have. On a range from mild irritation to suicide. This knowledge enables you to relax about the hearing damage. Acknowledge it for what it is but let your brain filter it out. Thus you can heal yourself from the tinnitus. (By training your self to not be annoyed) ,but alas not from the hearing damage.