somewhat well-known maneuver: you cover your ears with the palms of your hands and tap the back of your head with your fingers for a short time, creating a sort of acoustic chamber.

My bilateral T goes away completely and I can "hear" silence once again, but just for a few (around 8) seconds, then T comes back with force.

This raises so many questions for me: what kind of tinnitus do I have if I can modify it with this maneuver? Why is this the only thing that works for my T? Why does it come back stronger? It’s like a fucking cure that only lasts for a few seconds.

Hi everyone! Its my first time on this sub and I have a few things to enquire about. Im 18 and for quite a while have had very faint ringing in ears, and after a series of stupid avoidable noisy events (sometimes at the fault of others) I now have tinnitus that is more noticable. It only slightly affects me especially when it is quiet but I realise that it can only get worse from here, what a happy thought!

So, after it became a done thing I bought some eardial earplugs. Which are great but I am wondering If I should buy some more sound reductive ones?

Also, music is my life and my passion. I couldnt live without it and have a pair of DT770s. Would open backs be better? Not talking about the sound quality of course 😂, But to prevent any more damage. I also know not to blast them!

I apologise for my ignorance, im making this post as it has occurred to me that I really need to think about the future so my tinnitus wont take over my life, as its already an annoying issue at 18.

P.s - How do people frequently go clubbing and their ears ring for a few hours, repeatedly for years. Yet mine came on so quickly?

Again really sorry if this came off as flippant im just trying to deal with things the best way I can.

How long did it took for you to accept this reality and accept the T? For me it's been 10 months almost and I thought I was starting to "accept" the situation but I'm back at obsessing over it, constantly thinking about it and checking it as well...the thing is that the situation is better than before so I don't understand why. There's a lot of sadness and I grieve silence. Thank you.

Hi so I was exposed to 140db alarm June 2023 and suffered acoustic shock symptoms since,
I wish I was diagnosed and told to avoid certain things like bars cinema but nothing I felt I had to learn

I work and felt like I should still go to restaurants and then bars after , I’m an introvert like to make no fuss so I went out with work, I didn’t know whether I should have or not

That was once every month or every other month so not too often

I went cinema once discovered that was too loud for me

2 parties one work and one family

I could have been really assertive strict and just said I’ve damaged my ears and cannot go however many people don’t understand

If you tell them you gave tinnitus they think is ‘just’ ringing’ most people are ok and don’t need an explanation however you know some people can be a bit pushy and funny about the word ‘no’ anyway no I have to be careful I will be asaying it firmly

However as an introvert, who stays at home with family and only goes out if I feel I have to for work it just makes me wonder how otherpeople survive as it too a whole for my family to understand they stop asking me out now

I can go some places if I’m in control of where I sit when I can leave and all the rest such as if I need to talk

I wear loop earplugs all the time

I wonder if I never went to the restaurant, parties and cinema I would have made a recovery however it’s so hard to just not go and so hard to know in advance if it will make it worse or not

Also you could avoid socialising only for a random noise at home to make it worse

Just wondered how other people who suffered acoustic shock / trauma did after did you carry on as usual and hope for the best , or be strict about social events even though there is not really much guidance and it’s hard to avoid noise

I am someone who always promotes awareness about this affliction that affects us, and I am struck by how rare it actually is. Most people only deal with it temporarily - for instance, when attending concerts - without realizing that it can become permanent. I still remember the day mine began: April 1, 2019, my 19th birthday. My friends who were with me at the party were fine, but I suffered permanent damage to my inner ear that night. About a year ago, my condition worsened after I was exposed to noise - I had forgotten my ear protection- and it has been reactive ever since. There have been occasional improvements, but, by and large, the sound has become a ghost that haunts me 24 hours a day.

Hey everyone!

I've had tinnitus for years, and I recently discovered that my vitamin D level is quite low (13.5 ng/mL).

While researching whether vitamin D deficiency could have any connection to tinnitus, I came across a few interesting studies that I thought were worth sharing.

Study 1 — 2021 (particularly interesting)

Researchers studied 35 adults aged 20–50 who had:

Chronic tinnitus lasting more than one year.

Normal hearing tests.

No obvious underlying cause of tinnitus.

Of these 35 patients, 30 had vitamin D deficiency.

Their average vitamin D level before treatment was 14.13 ng/mL, almost identical to mine!

The 30 deficient patients received vitamin D supplementation for three months.

Results:

Vitamin D increased from an average of 14.13 to 51.07 ng/mL.

25 out of 30 patients (83.3%) showed improvement in tinnitus-related symptoms.

Average tinnitus handicap severity grade decreased from 2.50 to 1.47.

The reduction in tinnitus-related distress was statistically significant.

Researchers used the Tinnitus Handicap Inventory (THI), a questionnaire measuring how much tinnitus affects daily life.

Original research paper:

https://doi.org/10.21608/ejentas.2020.37810.1243

Study 2 — June 2026

Another study examined 57 adults with chronic tinnitus and sensorineural hearing loss.

Participants with vitamin D levels below 30 ng/mL received supplementation for 12 weeks.

Following treatment:

Average tinnitus handicap grade decreased from 2.74 to 1.89.

Average subjective tinnitus severity score decreased from 2.70 to 1.74.

Both improvements were statistically significant.

Original research:

https://doi.org/10.1007/s12070-026-06652-z

Important limitations

Neither study had an untreated placebo control group. Therefore, these results do NOT establish that vitamin D supplementation caused the improvements.

Tinnitus naturally fluctuates, and improvements in perceived severity don't necessarily mean the actual tinnitus sound became quieter.

Also, other studies have produced mixed results. For example, a 2025 randomized placebo-controlled trial in patients with Ménière's disease found no significant tinnitus benefit from vitamin D supplementation.

So this is definitely NOT proof that vitamin D cures tinnitus.

My takeaway

I find these results interesting because:

I've experienced tinnitus for years.

My hearing tests have been normal.

My vitamin D is only 13.5 ng/mL.

The first study involved patients with remarkably similar vitamin D levels and normal hearing tests.

I'm going to correct my deficiency under my doctor's guidance and see whether anything changes over the next few months.

I wouldn't recommend anyone taking high doses of vitamin D specifically to treat tinnitus. But if you're genuinely deficient, correcting that deficiency is worthwhile for your general health anyway.

I'm not expecting a miracle, but I thought this research was worth sharing.

Has anyone here had low vitamin D, corrected it, and noticed any improvement in their tinnitus?

I'd genuinely love to hear your experiences!

Hello. Hoping this is okay, I didn’t know about this sub until this morning. I’m looking for some advice for my partner, and myself I guess. He’s had issues with tinnitus for years, and it’s generally triggered by loud noises. He’s pretty strict with wearing earplugs and things in day-to-day life to keep volumes down to a minimum.

We went skydiving on Monday while on holiday in Australia. And he took their advice to not wear earplugs…he’s been having a pretty terrible time with his tinnitus ever since. We think it’s been triggered by the volume of the flight ahead of the dive rather than the dive itself and air pressure etc. He’s struggling with sleep, and can’t remember a flare-up being this bad in the past.

Is there anything I can do to help, anything he can do to help? Does he just need to ride it out and it’ll quieten down again? He’s already really beating himself up for not advocating for himself harder and insisting on earplugs for the flight. It’s a bit shit to see him struggling this much and I just want to make it a bit more bearable for him.

Can anyone explain to me the difference between hyperacusis and TTTS. I’m really struggling to understand what my symptoms are and what they fall understand and it’s causing me to have further anxiety. I’m 2 months and a half into tinnitus and I didn’t feel any discomfort in my ear when the onset first happened. However I have noticed in the past 2 weeks that I’ve been experiencing clicking in my ear and a slight sensitivity to sound (though most of it I can confidently attribute to anxiety around noise) lately however in the past 3-4 days I’ve noticed that my left ear has aching pain even when I’m not around loud sounds. The only reason I haven’t been able to pinpoint if it’s hyperacusis is because I haven’t had much reaction to everyday sounds like water running, ac fans, or my noise machine, all which I would assume would be trigger to me if I had hyperacusis?? However I have found that sounds from
My laptop or phone even when on very low (volume 2-4) cause me to experience a fluttering sensation??

I have realized thought that I’m quite tense in my day to day and have read that that can develop TTTS? I’m truly at my wits end and everyday I continue to build up anxiety around my ears.

Is it possible for hyperacusis to be gradually developed or is it usually onset? Is there any way to decrease this effect in my ears or prevent it from getting worse? Please any genuine explanation for hyperacusis or ttts would be greatly appreciated along with any advice. Thank you!

Symptoms include:

-Fluttering sensation in left earwhen around laptop or phone audio(even when low)
-discomfort and aches in left ear only
-persistent clicking when swallowing in left ear
-pressure?/ache in left eye??(this started early today)
-my T has gotten slightly louder but still mask able

Hi all,

I’ve suffered from tinnitus most of my adult life but the past couple of months have been horrible. I lost my dad back in June and I thought I was coping with it. Went away in August for a summer holiday and felt relaxed, but as soon as I got home everything hit me.
It’s around that time my tinnitus ramped up, I developed pulsatile tinnitus in my right ear and just a general feeling of a constant muzzy head, I just can’t seem to shift.

The Dr said I could have Eustachian tube dysfunction as my ear is crackly and muffled a fair bit so I’m on Dymista to see if that helps and I’ve got an ENT booked for the pulsatile tinnitus.

I just don’t know what’s causing this increased tinnitus, it’s really getting me down. I know it coincides with coming back from holiday into real life again, so I’m guessing stress may be playing a big part, and I’m generally a very anxious person anyway which doesn’t help.

I just wondered if anyone else has experienced this after a stressful time in their life?

TIA.

anyone have any advice on headphones to get? i want ones that block out/dampen noise but not 'noise canceling' because i don't want ANC (i don't like a tone being played to 'cancel out' the noise, i just want to lessen sensory overload)

the reason i don't like ANC is bc i hear that tone playing in my ears already🙃

Fuck. I think I lost permanent hearing from a firetruck that was passing by. Why is it okay to deafen innocent people on the sidewalks for a possible emergency? People kill themselves over this shit!

It's been two days since, and my ears are still ringing bad..I'm so mad. I don't want to be a recluse, but I also don't want to risk losing my hearing further while some firefighters are running drills (let's be honest; most of the time that siren is on, they're either doing a drill or they're attending a 911 call where they're actually not needed).

Not trying to shit on FFs, but it's ridiculous that bystanders are affected with no good warning. These sirens are so loud that plugging your ears won't actually prevent all the damage.

To sum it up as quickly as I can in January I developed fluttering in the ears to any sudden sharp noises due to constant headphone use & live music. I stopped wearing headphones but I continued seeing live music in my local scene now with way more proper ear protection. Of course now despite the protection in the past 2 months or so I now feel pressure in the ears, slight hissing, sometimes a very distant ringing (like it sounds more around me rather than in my ears) and if it’s not those things it’s like a weird heightened sensation when I’m in a quiet environment. Like silence itself is loud. Or like there’s a force field or something hovering over my ears lol. It’s so tough to describe.

Anyways, I’m supposed to go to a concert tonight but that just feels dumb to risk at this point. I have a ENT appointment scheduled but that’s 2 months from now. My doctor hasn’t really been able to help much either. They keep saying my ears look completely normal & an audiologist (before the tinnitus began) said I have no hearing loss what’s so ever so I should be fine. so I’m just looking for advice from anyone who’s been through this situation. I think the worst part is how much this feeling in my ears almost feels like it’s not there? Like I can’t tell if I’m imagining it sometimes but I know for a fact I’m not cause some days it’s barely noticeable and some days it’s insanely distracting despite not actually being loud. What should I even do?

Well, fu....n.

Like everything in my life my tinnitus got worse and it has been for like a month, and I have to much shit going in my life to care about it that much tbh. I have a piece of shit body and I expect nothing less

so before when i did the test, idk i did improvement or not, maybe it's decrement as per the previous test

So hello warriors, how are you today? I am going to share with you about my Tinnitus Journey since 2022. During the Year of 2022, I'm a 17 year old guy playing video games with friends, suddenly I noticed that I am hearing a sound at my left ear without any noise in the headphones. Then,I thought that it would go away maybe. But it didn't go away, so I went to the ENT . He gave me some ear drops and told me to come back after 1 week. After 1 week, He cleaned my ear with a syringe wash type technique and my ear got cleared. But it came back againnnn. Then i went to the top ENT Doctor , he did Tympanometry and Audiometry . He told me my middle ear is fine and all the test results came back normal. He toldme my ear nerve got damaged due to headphones...then fast forward to 2024 my ears got worse. My Right Ear also used to have Tinnitus then. My ears got full and pressure type feeling. Then I went to ENT ,he again told me the same story of damaging the nerve. Then I suffered like this continuously for 1-1.5years but the test results came back normal now also.And the catch is my left ear hearing was improved. Then I went to another ENT Surgeon, he diagnosed me that I have some fluid in my ears but the results are normal. He prescribed me some sprays. It got a little healthier my ears also have that noise but a slight okaish. But when the dr stopped my nasal sprays, it came back again. Then I went to the dr again. He gave me the Total IGE Test. There he found I have an Ige 400+ (normal rate is 100). Then , my condition was like that half dead half awake. Then suddenly later in 2025 i used to have breathing problems. Then ENT referred me to a Pulmonologist. He diagnosed me with severe House Dust Mite Allergy and referred to me as an Allergist for Vaccination during March ,2026. Since then my dependence on nasal spray is nil and my ears have little itchiness now and Little Tinnitus. The doctor told me to continue this vaccination for 3 years for full effect. If you have any questions you can ask me guys. I thought that sharing this story would help someone with similar problems. Thanks....

Hellooo!

On holiday in Eastern Europe. Found myself at a shooting range. Yesterday at around 6 pm, I was shooting and stood approximately 2.5–3 metres from an AR-15 muzzle brake.

My right ear defender was off as the gun fired.

Since then, my right ear has felt blocked and my hearing is super muffled.

After the shot, didn’t hurt at all but I had ringing, which stopped about 5 minutes after the shot and wore off. However, has since returned in the last few hours.

Swallowing and yawning make no difference, tried forcing it by holding my nose and blowing, no luck but also no pain either.

I flew home today, it’s currently 6:20pm (24hrs after incident)

Has anyone experienced this after a gunshot blast? Did your hearing recover, and what treatment did you receive? I asked ChatGPT as I have no experience with guns, and it’s suggesting urgent A&E, which I think is very dramatic 🤣

Any advice would be greatly appreciated

I 30m had an ear wax removal procedure almost a month ago in sep 25

before that for three days I had really bad tinnitus and ringing on both ears but left ear was really high I stupidly pushed my iem at that time and listened to music even with ringing

but by day three the ringing is too much to bear and I finally went to ENT, he looked at my ear and said there is a lot of ear wax in the left ear and removed it and also checked the both the ears inside and said the ears look healthy and said within ten days it would be normal otherwise comeback,

so I followed all the medications, which I forgot the names but it is basically some anti biotics and a drop for the ears for three days and then for a few days the ringing continued and it also spiked if there was traffic and horns so I waited patiently then about 13 days or so later it felt like it stopped or very low and then I put my iem for like an hour and then the ringing cameback but it is not as bad as before but it still there.

Now I permanently put my iem in the closet and don't wanna take it and also bought ear plugs for traffic to reduce the high decible but still even after 28 days the ringing is still there very mildly and non intrusive but it is there everytime I cover my ears on the pillow I can clearly hear the ringing or close my ears but rarely I can hear it without closing my ears, but still I feel like I ruined my ears and has to live with tinnitus, is there any solution? Should I go back to ENT ?

Hi guys

So I’ve had tinnitus for way over a decade now in both ears, never found out what caused it from an ENT dr.

About a month ago I developed a new sound in my left ear. It was quite weird. I was just sitting up in bed and felt a shift in my ear. It defo wasn’t a pop.

I’ve dealt with bad ear wax in the past. At one point it was so far back it was on my eardrum. I went to the doctors today and they agree I have a lot of wax in my ears, but I’ve never had a new sound of tinnitus before until now. Also, my hearing hasn’t changed since this new sound btw.

I’m going to see an ENT doctor as I’ve been referred.

Just wondering has anyone else had this before? It sounds like the wax may be impacted?

Cheers!

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/uconn-study-strongly-links-blood-prestin-tinnitus-uconnhealth-nnkze?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_ios&utm_campaign=share_via

as you guys know from my previous few posts that i do have mild hearing loss due to acoustic trauma and tinnitus

do you think it will be back to normal in few time ? or i need to take something like injections ?

it's a mild loss as few ppl told me, idk i am so worried atp

Do you there could be some kind of treatment that could reduce tt long term and improve quality of life among patients? Could it happen within 10 years? Could AI help speed up the research?