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Hi everyone,
As we all know tinnitus is a pretty complicated syndrome. I have mine in the left. My tinnitus also changes its sound alot, especially in the left ear. It goes from a whistle to a leaking gas pipe sound to a different pitched whistle etc etc.
Now i've been doing alot of reading the last couple months and one of the causes of tinnitus that is given alot is damaged haircells in the auditory organ.
Now i hope there are some people on here that have more expertise than i do. But what i'm wondering is: if my tinnitus changes sounds alot, doesn't that pretty much rule out that the cause of my tinnitus is haircell related? Since if it were damaged haircells (of a certain or multiple frequencies). Then it doesn't make sense i sometimes hear a sound that i can only describe as water running through a pipe i.e. alot of different frequencies almost sounding like white noise.
Am i correct to make such an assumption?
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Hi Tyanuh,
Welcome to the forum.
In the vast majority of cases there is no damage to the hair cells. The tinnitus is produced in the brain because the corresponding nervous functions have gone slightly out of balance for some reason.
Thomas
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Hi Tyanuh,
I've got a similarly changing tinnitus as well, both as far as frequency and volume is concerned. I'm glad it probably won't be related to damage in the hair cells but I was also hoping that maybe changing tinnitus might suggest a higher possibility of it disappearing one day? (Mine is more than a year old.) I have no idea...
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Thomas wrote:
Hi Tyanuh,
Welcome to the forum.
In the vast majority of cases there is no damage to the hair cells. The tinnitus is produced in the brain because the corresponding nervous functions have gone slightly out of balance for some reason.
Thomas
I have been going through a lot of pain with pinched nerves in my lower back. S1- L5 to the point where i need surgery to repair them. The disks have compressed my spinal cord in two locations.
Back in July of 2011 I was being treated for a hamstring with physio, only to find out in September 2011 that it was pinched nerves in the back that was causing all the problems. In August of 2011 is when I had my encounter with tinnitus. Its also when I had the most pain. I was doing physio for a hamstring pull which was putting more pressure on my disks. I'm hoping the two things are connected and that my tinnitus goes away once I have the surgery and the pressure is off the nerve. Doctors have said no, its caused by hearing damage.
I'll let you know what happens at the end of this month as my surgery is on the 29th.
My tinnitus is all over the place, left ear, back of head, right ear & everywhere. I get head pressure, tooth aches, sinus problems, ear aches, ear pressure, & sometimes a numb feeling in the face. Oh almost forgot the pain.
Tony
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@ Thomas: This is crucial to me since i make music and sometimes have to listen to music at a reasonable loud volume (not insanely loud though). i Deduced that if i somehow havent been carefull enough (which i doubt, maybe only in my teen years) with loud music that that is what damaged my ears, meaning that further listening would damage them further. im hoping that is not the case.
I'll be doing a hearing test at the hospital on the 27th and see an ear doctor, so i'll know more then..
@ Tonyf: Coincidently i too have had back problems since i can remember. Still need to make an appointment with the physio. Please let me know how te surgery went, if there is only a slight change that is is my back causing all the problems then i'll no doubt look into it.
Does your tinnitus move around from ear to ear for example?
If that is the case. Then how can the docters say it's ear damage? if it is physical damage to one ear or the other, then the tinnitus should persist in that location and not move around.
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Tony--mine is in my head, right ear, I have daily headaches, toothaches, sinus issues and changing ear pressure too.
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I had the extreme pain back in August of last year and that's when My tinnitus started. I remember biting down hard on my teeth at night and having a stiff neck all the time. The tinnitus was so loud that I thought my mind was screaming at the top of it lungs. Now it's more of a discomfort than a sound, just feels like my head hurts and ears are stuffed a bit. I still have the lower back pain and my surgery is this Friday. I'll know more about myself when I recover from this. I'm hoping that the stress my body has gone through stops, and I can relax myself. It will be interesting to see if the tinnitus stops in time after the surgery.
I'll let you know.
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I had my surgery and still feel the effects of tinnitus. My nerves are all out of wack and have been advised it will take time for them to calm down. The back of my neck is really tight also my upper back. Will be doing phisyo to see if that helps with the sounds. Saw a audiologist for a hearing test and they stated no way hearing is causing tinnitus.
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My experience with the fluctuating tinnitus
(after exposure to sound/ Migraine attack)
Morning is pretty loud after waking up (white noise full volume), or after a short nap (usually higher pitch)
When I'm stressed/emotional it gets higher
At night after I take my headphones off (My mom recommended this she also used it a lot when she had her tinnitus) it disappears a little for a few seconds then it gradually comes up again.
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Thomas is correct. Many sufferers of tinnitus have no apparent damage to the cilia (tiny hairs) and is caused by unusual electrical activity generated from the temporal lobe.
I believe there is a general misconception regarding the function of the cilia, cochlea and tympanic membrane (ear drum) and their relationship to the temporal lobe.
I will be attempting to publish a hypothesis in the near future regarding this.
What I will say for the time being that many people may be having partial complex seizures or another type of epileptic seizure and are not even aware of it. In many cases this can cause tinnitus because of the exagerated electrical activity.
See your doctor, get an EEG to make sure. In many cases it can be treated with medication and if the cilia have not been damaged by the seizures, tinnitus will subside.
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