Tinnitus fades after noise exposure

[Ponay]

Hello all, hope you’re doing ok!

I’ve had low frequency tinnitus for 18 months or so, some days better than others. One thing I’ve noticed is that my tinnitus almost entirely disappears after I’ve been in loud environments. I was at a gig on Monday and I forgot my loop earplugs and for 3 days and nights I had almost complete silence. I’ve also noticed this after I’ve been to the cinema and been on a flight.

Does anyone know if this would indicate that my tinnitus is mainly psychological in nature and if there’s anything I could do to explore this? Audiologist says that my hearing is fine and MRI clear.

I initially thought that my tinnitus might have been caused by Covid but at the same time I had Covid our upstairs neighbours fridge (directly above our bedroom) was malfunctioning and vibrating and I spent about 4 months being hyperaware of it until it was fixed at which point I could still “hear” it but my husband couldn’t.

Thanks in advance!

[Happyrosie]

wow that’s the opposite to me! If I’m on a plane or long coach trip the T is completely masked, so my brain compensates by ramping up the T afterwards for a day or so.

Which goes to prove that T has a mind of its own (so as to speak). I know it’s my brain really!

[Graham-E in reply to Happyrosie]

That is exactly the same for me.

[rabbits65]

That does sound very unusual but a very good sign for you . Now you know you can go out and enjoy yourself with ease.

[Graham-E]

As happyRosie says that is the opposite of what I experience. Honestly cannot say why yours is different but in theory you have a way of creating peace for a few days - ?

Keep well

G

[Fridays_Child_62]

My T is high-frequency and nowadays it is reactive to low-to-moderate sounds but it has always been the case that after exposure to very loud environments, such as a Pop concert, my T is much reduced for some time afterwards. But this is only for a matter of minutes or hours, not days. Even so, I don't think loud enviroments do our ears any good. Also, exposing my ears to certain lowish-level sounds, such as a recording of bird-song, can (temporarily) reduce my T, but I think this depends on the frequency of the T and is person-specific.

My understanding of the reduction in T after loud noise exposure is that the brain is overwhelmed by the external noise and turns down its internal volume control (or tone control) for a range of frequencies, which in turn reduces the T.

I wouldn't make a habit of the exposing yours ears to very loud environments and would always wear ear-plugs or noise-cancelling headphones in prolonged noisy situations.

[DownUnderInAus]

I've experienced the same thing, sometimes noise seems to "turn down" my tinnitus for a day or two, but it finds it's way back..!

[PTNewbie]

Definitely a psychological aspect to it. In fact I’d say the largest part. I use an app called Oto which is CBT based and this helped me massively. I’d gotten so fixated on my tinnitus I was in distress with it and unable to fathom how I was going to live even another hour with it. Then I used the app and it changed how I think of it almost straight away. There are times when I think I can’t even hear it even though it’s still there and no sooner I think that I start to hear it again!