I was just reading that Tinnitus can be related to thyroid issues, especially hypothyroidism. I’m going to bring that up with my doctor, about adjusting my Rx dose.

I sleep with one of those machines that makes white noise. That helps to mask it at night. During the day I feel like there is usually enough ambient noise to learn how to "turn it off" on some level. I've had it for forty years and didn't even know it was abnormal until I learned that in my doctoral program. I have never found anything that actually eliminates it in my case.

I live with persitant tinnitus and hyperacusis.Orginally it was thought to be from meneire’s disease but it was more likely from silent strokes before I had a larger one. I too sleep with a sound machine and I find meditation has helped me too. I have utilized a form of CBT called ACT aswell to help me live well inspite off chronic conditions. I think once I realized it was likely not going to improve I actually was able to ignore it better.

@DLM2000-GW my DH has had it for years, you may remember he is a musician as well.as having a PhD in Chemistry. He had read about the treatment you mention and I just confirmed with him that it does help. He is on the phone at the moment but I will post more about it before the day is out.

@eld6161 see my comment above.

My DH says the pitched sounds were in his hearing aids and he said it does help. He no longer wears the hearing aids due to the difficulty when he is playing piano and the inability to adjust them to make the sounds as he wants to hear them. He said you can go online and find the different color sounds and he feels it helps to disguise the sound. He did say that a Dr that smirks or laughs at anything you say should be replaced. Very unprofessional.

There is no cure for tinnitus there is only management of the symptoms Of course if there is an underlying disease then that should be investigated...ear infection hormone issues etc. c

Have had tinnitus and hearing loss for many years. Nothing helps the tinnitus for me.

I find that alcohol makes mine worse, but it dies back down by the next day.

I'm with palimpsest on the white noise machine. I've tried several types, and found that "analog" (not digital) machines produce the most natural noise. I likethis one and this one the best.

If your kid is around anything really noisy, they should wear earplugs to prevent further damage. If I forgot to bring mine to a concert, I found that often they'd be for sale up at the bar or concessions.

@User this was my first visit with this MD - catching up on lots of deferred maintenance courtesy of covid and taking advantage of Medicare. When/if I have reason to see someone again for hearing issues I will look elsewhere but at this time I am not experiencing hearing loss to any significant degree. I'm going to research further and see if anyone in the area does treatment though.

The doctor told her it nerve damage due to a virus.and she had to live with it. She had Covid.

We are still researching.

I was hoping to gain some positive information here.

@lucillle it might be better to say you personally have not found anything that helps. Everyone is different and shouldn’t be discouraged from exploring possible helpful avenues. 🙏

Oh goodness, I am so sorry eld, DLM, and others. Had no idea this was so common.

My husband has suffered from tinnitis for probably 20 years from damage to his ears in the military. It's very frustrating and as far as we know, nothing can be done. He generally needs some kind of ambient noise day and night to help cope, especially to fall asleep. It's been an adjustment for me. I expect his hearing will also continue to degenerate over time. In the meantime, he and I are both pretty careful with our hearing and wear ear protection to concerts and while using power tools, etc. I wish they had a cure for tinnitis for him.

I've had tinnitus for 10+ years. I attribute mine to being a drummer and being too close to PA systems. I describe mine as what most people experience when on an airliner: the constant hum of turbines and fans and wind noise that causes voices to recede into the distance. Particularly low- and mid-range voices. I've had an exam by an audiologist and was told I could try hearing aids, but that there wasn't much to be done for the tinnitus. It doesn't really bother me. It doesn't keep me from sleeping. But I do miss silence. The idea of experiencing true silence again is a little dream of mine. Sometimes I get a moment of silence following a sneeze (change in pressure in ears) and it's lovely. I learned during the pandemic how much I actually rely on watching people speak while listening to them. Masks really hindered my listening abilities!

The alternate tone treatment sounds interesting. I hope that may be available to your daughter and may be able to provide her some relief.

There is no cure for tinnitus there is only management of the symptoms Of course if there is an underlying disease then that should be investigated...ear infection hormone issues etc.

TRUE STORY: I had it for years, day and night. I went to get my annual gynecological exam and was telling the doctor about my cycle which were long (15 days) and very painful that necessitated several 800 mg ibuprofens daily just to be able to work. Scheduled an immediate hysterectomy that involved blood transfusions before, during and after due to extremely low blood count.

Immediately after surgery, ALL tinnitus issues were resolved. The doctor claimed the transfusions had nothing to do with it, but all I know I have never had another issue over about 25 years later.

Maybe check out blood count. Just saying for me it was a miracle cure. I don't care what the doctor said.

Yikes, DH has had it for about 6 months. Sounds like he’d better get used to it.

PSA for those lucky ones who don't experience this - take precautions. If tinnitus is only caused by some kind of hearing damage (and I don't know if that's accurate) do whatever you can to protect your hearing. If I had to guess it's probably my years of blow drying my hair and I've been using foam ear plugs ever since my son pointed that out to me years ago. It's probably saved me from further damage. Fortunately my day to day is not impacted or my sleep. It's like year round cicadas background noise!

@eld6161 My DH's tinnitus started after a terrible month long virus during which he lost his hearing in one ear as well as his balance this has been over 20 yrs ago . It took a long time for his balance to come back and it has never been what it was before the virus. He saw the dr a number of times over the years about the balance issues and tried the various techniques that work for some. He is better but I doubt at 75 that he will get more back than he has now. The sounds are meant as a distraction . The brain is a remarkable thing and it will get used to the sound that matches the tinnitus sound so that it seems to disappear. Getting excellent headphones and trying to match the sound would definitely be worth it and then wearing the headphones as needed for relief would be a source of rest.

I've had tinnitus for about 4 months-the result of a mild concussion. It is very frustrating! I have found that alcohol exacerbates my tinnitus--the sound is much louder! I've since (almost) given up alcohol, with the exception of a very occasional glass of wine. I'm learning to live with it, as my case seems to be mild in comparison to many.

After awhile you get used to it for the most part. There are days when it seems front and center, but then that passes and it fades into the background again.

I think I have some ”white noise” constantly. Once, years ago when on aspirin therapy, I had ”ringing” but then went away when I stopped the aspirin.

Indeed, as DLM suggested — preserve your hearing fromloud noises and constant intrusive volume and some ?medications. And be sure to educate (or remind) the younger folks around you and children. A lot odf kids have headphones on with the volume too high.

I think that for some musicians this is a near occupational hazard. I have commented to landscape ers and others I see with no ear protection while using or around loud equipment, Usually, they don't get it, Not cool. I suspect too that some employers ae not eager for workers to where ear protection.

Too bad, because it is easy to help prevent, and very difficult to attempt t address after one developes it.

PS Always get it checked out by an ENT or audiologist. Some medical conditions can cause tinnitis (like acoustic neuromas).

I've had tinnitus since I was a small child, and I used to think everyone had it, but my brother says he does not. As a child, my father told me that he had it, which is what made me think it was normal.

I don't think about it most of the time, unless someone mentions it, but I do notice it when I am in an extremely quiet place, and then it is somewhat disturbing. I like to have white noise to mask it when I sleep, and I get that from my CPAP machine.

You might try using a crystal singing bowl, perhaps a G note. We have a whole set of seven notes, which Kevin bought after a trip to Landers and a sound bath at the Integraton. We don't use them as often as we should, but when we move everything to the desert, I think we will, as we have better space there.

After experiencing a two hour sound bath at the Integraton, the pain from my arthritis in my right hip was completely gone and did not return for two weeks. That's when I thought we should get the bowls.

Some of the bowls actually sound like my tinnitus, but at least they stop after a while.

See if you can get a sound bath in your area - I think they must be fairly common, at least they are in L.A.

Spouse has had it for >20 years. He complains a lot about it. He was in a band for years. Likely where he picked it up. He enjoys an air filter running at night to give his ears something else to focus on. He finds that helpful. Silence is hard for him as he notices the ringing in his ears too much.

I have it as well. I was not in a band. Just the way life worked out.

I find that when my thryoid levels are moving around; up or down, the tinnitis intensifies to where it gets very bothersome even with ongoing normal life noise happening. It becomes like the roar of a jet engine instead of just bothersome. It's my tip off that I need to have labs done to see which way to adjust medication. Weird, huh? Just mentioning because we don't realize how 'this' affects 'that' some times.

Tinnitis can also happen as a result of certain medications, too, like platinum based chemotherapy agents.

We both have it, and mine seems to be more minor than DH's. We do use ear protection at concerts. I would recommend high quality brands like Earpeace (which we have) or Eargasm vs. the foam ones because these will lower the sound noise but not distort.

Actually the hum of the HEPA filter when we had Covid DH said helped and acted as a bit of a white noise machine.

Hubby is a drummer, so of course he has tinnitus. I have it occasionally, from working in a loud environment, and probably from my youth being exposed to very loud music at concerts and bars.

It's true there's not much to be done the kind of tinnitus one gets from loud noise - that's permanent damage to the cilia in your ears, isn't it? I have seen something recently, tho - about some new treatment or drug, but I'm skeptical...

I am so sorry for anybody who has this as a constant companion.

I get ringing in my ears when I am tense. So I do shoulder exercises to bring my shoulders back from around my ears and the ringing in my ear disappears. So not true tinnitus.

I also get it when I get a stuffy ear nose throat thing. Treatment is simple with lots of cold medicine to get rid of the symptoms.

Interesting how many suffer from this, I did not realize it was so common. DH a musician for many years, has been dealing with tinnitus. It seems to interfere with his hearing, I have passed on the alternate tone therapy information to him. Thank you.

I had it very mildly as a child where when it was quiet, I would always hear this background noise...a high pitched thing almost like the tones they play when you have a hearing test. But in the last several years, it's gotten worse. One night it felt like my ear "filled in" and it got much louder...a couple of weeks later, the same thing in the other ear and now it is louder too. Once in awhile it will also add clicking noises, but mostly it's just a super high pitch tone. I haven't needed to do anything about it though as I know there's little to be done.

I get ringing in my ears when I am tense.

I am sort of like this. I get a high pitched, loud ringing when I get super upset. It lasts only for a few moments, but lets me know it's time to calm down. it's quite the alarm. My mother was the same.

I'm reading a book now, "Could it be B12?" in which tinnitus is mentioned as a condition which can be sometimes be related to B12 deficiency.

I've had it since forever. I never had a serious infection, or an injury. I had it long before I worked in lawn care, and we always wore ear protection. My dad had it.

Mine is a very high pitched whine. It is in both ears, and it never changes. It really doesnt bother me, and in fact I can't remember what actual silence sounds like. I haven't had my my hearing tested, although there probably is some loss.

Couple other comments:

When I have wax buildup, it seems to be worse. When I clean out with the Debrox kit, it is better.

Just read a thread by Dr. Raven the Science Maven on Twitter talking about her recovery. She said the tinnitus resolved on its own. But she had severe COVID and was hospitalized and had to go on short term disability to recover.