Masking your tinnitus

Hello all i just wanted to ask if you use masking to mask your tinnitus do you have the noise so it drowns out your tinnitus or just so you hear both? And can masking di more damage to your tinnitus?. Love David

[SteveFeldo]

Hi, I have maskers which play a white noise for both ears that my audiologist gave me. I tend to use them when my T is intrusive, they are adjustable but set around the same level as my T. I don't know if they do any good, but I wore them all day yesterday and they really helped distract me and I had a great day as a result. Steve

[Hidden in reply to SteveFeldo]

Hi Steve my private hearing aids fade in and out to day after several days of intrusive T mine has gone low which is a relief I think knowing your T goes quiet gives us the willingness to live life. David

[SteveFeldo in reply to Hidden]

Hi David, I was interested to pick up on a previous comment about the maskers being set at the wrong level and perhaps increasing T. I'm wondering if that's what I did yesterday. One of my maskers allows me to adjust the volume, the other one doesn't, which is just down to a fault I think. Anyway, I think they were too loud yesterday and today my T is up a notch. Need to sort that one out. I have had days on end without them ok, but I do find them a help when I get a spike. Cheers, Steve

[Hidden in reply to SteveFeldo]

hi Steve your maskers have to be below the level of your tinnitus so you can hear it thats the advice i was told .David

[SteveFeldo in reply to Hidden]

Thanks Davy, I'd been told that too. My audiologist set the levels, but I actually think the default they have programmed is too loud. I've got an appt next week so will get it tweaked then. I've got so many variable sounds going on which also change in volume reacting to sound, it's hard to know where that level should be! Cheers, Steve

[Hidden]

Hello again David, when you use noise enrichment to mask your T you always but always set the level of the noise generator at a slightly lower volume of your T this is so that the brain will concentrate on the noise and thus ignore the sound of your T.

[Hidden in reply to Hidden]

Hi Pete as I said to Steve in my reply. David

[romford5]

Morning Steve

Noise helps a quiet room is not helpful because you concentrate on your Tinnitus I use a APP on my tablet which normally is a fan played just below your Tinnitus noise at night Tinnitus is worse so this will help just chose what's right for you there's quiet a good choice if your Tinnitus is a pain during the day just get on with what you normally do you will find eventually that your Tinnitus will fade into the back ground because the old grey matter is concentrating on what your doing not the noise .

best wishes

Marcus.

[SteveFeldo]

Hi Marcus, thanks for your thoughts. I'm new to Tinnitus so trying anything that gets me through each day at the moment as mine is so unpredictable. I'm suspecting I have a bit of H too as my T tends to reacts to everyday sounds, so there's no flat-line T sound. So, the white noise tends to help dull the T reaction. I've not had this diagnosed but it seems to help when my symptoms are triublesome....which is generally when I'm tired, stressed or drunk alcohol. As I say, i'm new to T so welcome any observations! Cheers, Steve

[Toronto42 in reply to SteveFeldo]

Are you still using background noise? I'm really struggling. 4 months and my T is unpredictable too.

[PeteCatton]

Hi David

I have had a noise generator / hearing aid for nearly 6 years you set the noise with the help of your Audiologist just below the level of your T

On most the level can be adjusted but too high can cause your T to increase. if you turn the device off then switch back on, it will reset to the preset level. Hope this helps. Peter

[Hidden in reply to PeteCatton]

Hi Peter thanks for your reply that's good to know if you turn off your device and turn it back on it comes back at the same level as these tips are helpful to manage your T thanks David

[Erniet]

I used a masker for over a year. I found that having the generated sound at or near the ambient sound worked best. This gives the brain something else to listen to. If there is no ambient sound then masker sound set just above T worked best for me.

I do not use a masker now as I have been fairly successful at habituating even though my T is in the 60 dB range.

[Hidden in reply to Erniet]

Hi Ernie how do you measure your Tinnitus?. David

[Erniet in reply to Hidden]

Davycrocket..................I was in a clinical study at Elborne College in London, Ontario, Canada 20 yrs. ago. At that time I was the highest (42 dB) of the 60 participants that were divided into two groups of 30. The study was experimenting with the use of maskers to control and/or habituate to T.

My claim that my T is 60dB is based on my feelings rather than any test recent test. My hearing is above average for my age group.

[SteveFeldo in reply to Erniet]

Hi Ernie, did you find your masker had any adverse effect on your T at all? I'm a bit concerned mine is set too loud and is potentially exacerbating the T on occasions? Steve

[Erniet]

No! I found that I had to adjust the masker for the sounds around me, but that is good as you become more aware of the masker sound than the T sound.

I have had T for most of my life and I am now near 80 years old and in excellent thanks to modern medicine. I have also survived sever depression and will always be on medication. LIFE IS GOOD.

[JenDawson]

I have had tinnitus in my left ear for 35 years. I'm 50 now. It had been unnoticeable for years till I had a nervous breakdown in May and it went through the roof. Get it the odd time in my right which had always been fine.

Three years of living under an non stop noisy alcoholic and his daughter and every road with the council to get a move or quiet him down. Months to get a noise monitor in only to be told there was nothing to be done as it didn't affect my other neighbours.

I eventually got him with the police. Midnight one evening the noise was ridiculous. I had called the police before and been told that if officers go out and there's nothing it would look embarrassing for me with housing. How I wish I had ignored that comment.

I did move I may and straight away had the breakdown. I asked my son to take me to hospital because I was suicidal.

I was a wreck and never moved off the couch for weeks. Take a vallium and turn round and sleep again.

Things improved and then I went to the doctor with what did turn out a sinus infection. However all these different opinions followed.

I started tinnitus retraining therapy and the first few days I did start to feel improvement. I had to wear my hearing aid in my left ear all day and play just audible white noise from an app on my phone on my pillow. I have mild hearing loss in that ear. This was going to help it fade eventually to what it had been so long.I was told not to wear earphones if possible but that's gone out the window with all the different opinions.

I brave it sometimes with the hearing aid but since hospital the other day I have had constant audio books and background noise.

I have had one gp telling me I have fluid behind my ear, then none, then behind the other ear, then other doctors saying the same things. Different stories. So was the dizziness just stress from that on top of anxiety and depression?Needless to say I have been a nervous wreck and the benefit of any therapy has gone out the window.

I saw ENT the other day and there is no fluid in either ear and the tinnitus retraining therapy I was doing is the way forward.

My sinuses are clear but I do have catarrh and mucous issues stemming from August. I was given Nasonex along with all the different opinions of my ears. The ENT doc said those problems are not down to my sinuses. I wonder what then?

When I came out of the hospital I sobbed my heart out. It didn't feel like relief but more like grief from a death.

Yesterday I woke with a stinking cold. You'd think someone had been down my throat and in my ears with sandpaper.

My family are just about the worst on earth. My sister saidhe cannot help me and to keep in touch by e-mail. Quite disgusting I think.

The times I have sobbed, wanted to end it and felt hopeless. And she cannot help. I have a rotten brother and daughter.

I have however, a wonderful son and partner who can't stay with me all the time because of work.

I have been on mirtazipine for four weeks. Up at 45mg now. I am not as much a mess as I was Christmas day so I hope they will help me.

I go to the audiologist again on January 6th again. I had to describe the noises I hear last time and she agreed with a previous ENT appointment I had with the same consultant the other day that it is down to long term stress and went haywire with the breakdown.

I am hoping for an aid with the noise to help me.

I have gone without vallium for two days but I still feel stressed. I try not to over think but we all know how hard that can be. I hope 2017 brings my health and me back. I feel quite afraid of things not improving.

To everyone who is out there, I wish you all my heart felt wishes for a better time ahead and to know you're not alone.

[Hidden in reply to JenDawson]

Hi Jen I think life can be cruel and to some of us like yourself it has been a difficult road reading your post a lot of the regulars will have a lot of sympathy for you living under a noisy neighbour must have been hell for you & the support of family and friends is so important and to not get them on your side can leave you more isolated you will get a lot of kindness & support from the forums it has given me strength when the going is tough I like you have been reduced to crying sometimes it can be a release I wish you a happy new year and hope to chat to you again take care . David

[Angela-H]

Hi Jen, do hope that this year brings you good health and surrounds you with nice people. Tinnitus does seem to get worse when we are going through extreme difficulties. Mirtazapine helped me - I was on it for 12 months. You will find support on this forum as well as advice on dealing with T. Love Angela xx

[NicBTA Partner]

Hi David

The recommendation for using sound to "mask" tinnitus is that you have it at a level at or below the level of your tinnitus. You're not trying to drown it out (and that doens't work, the tinnitus, like a person being talked over in a discussion, just gets louder!) but you're trying to make your brain work and focus on the other noise.

For more information on using sound with tinnitus our factsheet is a good place to start: tinnitus.org.uk/sound-therapy

[JenDawson]

Thanks for your kind replies. I have a new hearing aid with a sound generator. Got fitted last Friday. It was loud at the radiology department and quite scary to hear so the radiologist turned it down a bit even although she wanted it louder. However I cannot hear the sound generator sometimes at home, even when it's turned to high and I feel better when I can hear it. I have asked for it to be turned up but nothing back from the audiologist yet.

Bad flu over the last few days and very dizzy. As if some one had scraped my ears and throat with sand paper and I had plenty of catarrh and blowing my nose. Don't know if it's off the flu as the flu seems to be gone now.

I don't know if some of the dizziness may be mirtazipine. I have only been on it a month and went from 15mg in the first week to 30mg in the second week and onto 45mg the last fortnight. It's a fortnight since I saw ENT and the flu symptoms all came on the day after. I felt a bit out of sorts before I went but not the dizzy spells I have had the last few days.

Also being using a nasal spray and I feel it working and then stuffy at times. Just persevere I suppose.

New year was one I never want to experience again. I have had the horrors a few times since then and today is the first day this week to try going without earphones to try and relax somehow. Have I cried and been frightened, even though I know I have felt better.

Sometimes I feel I will never get better but I will. Just hoping it's not another eight months of my life again on top of what's passed.I want to give up a lot, and yet I can't. If I could just cry it out and get it out and wake up next morning with the tinnitus gone again!

Thank you so much for your support.

Xx

[emily62]

Hello.

I just mask the tinnitus the sound should be just below the sound of your tinnitus I use an app on my mobile Resound tinnitus relief from Google play store you can add extra sound and it has the usual white pink brown noise

All the very best

Emily