Tinnitus?

[Excombustion]

For some time my wife has apparently heard a short telephone ring during the night.To counter this we now unplug the phone overnight but she still insists she can hear it.

Could this be tinnitus?

[TinnitusUKPat Partner]

If a noise is being experienced which doesn't have an obvious source and if only one person is noticing it, that's a fairly good explanation of tinnitus - a lot of people experience different tones, sounds or noises and each would be considered tinnitus.

[Excombustion in reply to TinnitusUKPat]

Thank you for your comments. I'll try to convince her as she believes otherwise!

[doglover1973]

Definitely. Please believe your wife. It will help her enormously.

[Excombustion in reply to doglover1973]

Thank you for your comments. I certainly believe my wife!

[doglover1973 in reply to Excombustion]

Sorry I misunderstood. Are you saying you think it's tinnitus but your wife still thinks it's the phone? That's a difficult situation.

[Excombustion in reply to doglover1973]

It is as she doesn't easily change her mind .

[ArtyPants46]

It could be an auditory hypnagogic hallucination which generally involve background sounds. For example, common auditory hallucinations include sounds of a phone, the ringing of a doorbell, people's voices talking, or animal noises. These sounds are not usually associated with a story like they would be in a dream. (Above info from internet)

I have these most nights as well as tinnitus (which is constant). They used to freak me out a bit but having researched online, they aren’t usually cause for alarm (excuse the pun!)

[PTNewbie in reply to ArtyPants46]

This is exactly what I was going to say. I have this and sometimes it sounds like someone bursting through my front door (the door handle has a particular sound).

It happens more when anxious or stressed and I believe it’s the sound of the door because of some subconscious safety worries, so may be similar with the phone ringing like some sort of expectation.

I do also have pulsatile tinnitus but this is a more recent thing than the hypnagogic hallucination / jerks

[Johngee40]

It's possible when I first experienced tinnitus it sounded like there was a TV monitor or some device plugged in on standby on the left side of the room.

[Clouds1952]

I have constant tinnitus and there are times, not frequently, when I think I hear my phone ring during the night, just once. I've never connected the two. I am not worried by the ring. I just assume it's part of my dream.

[Agnetha1985]

It could be- mine started with hearing electronic noises at bedtime, which my partner could not hear. I at first put it down to a computer or telephone having a bit of a moment or our neighbour's electronics. Although that noise has ceased, it has been replaced by full blown tinnitus , with all sorts of noises!