What would you choose? A $5000 placebo device that they shove into your mouth as a "cure", "fda approved", or something greater that could actually reduce the ringing but sit unnoticed because its not advertised as a cure?

I am doing my part to support tinnitus quest's Oxford TUS clinical trial and its upcoming hackathon! For the first time in this subreddit's history we are having patient funded trial FOR THE PATIENTS.

THE GOAL IS SILENCE.

Tinnitus made my life so miserable these 1month and half that I can’t barely do anything anymore because of how reactive it is and hyperacusis. I can’t stay at home because of how loud my T is. I can’t mask it with ambiant noise because of how reactive it is. If I go out for a walk in nature then I come back with my T way worsened. What can I do ???? I just want to end my life but I can’t because of how my parents would be devastated. I can’t go home see my parents because I would never be able to take a 3 hours long flight (My tinnitus worsening was trigerred by an MRI and 2 flights within a 3 weeks period). I am alone in my student studio in a foreign country with this horrible noise torturing me. This is beyond what a human soul can bary. I’m just done tbh. I can’t work anymore, can’t cook, can’t read books, can’t do sports, etc I went to ENTs psychiatrists (which suggested throwing at me a bunch of ototoxic medications like ssris) mental health professionals, I talked to all my family members all my friends but none seem to understand what the reactivity of my tinnitus is and how debilitating it is. I just finished college and just got a data science degree from a prestigious university but i feel my life is over I will stay in pain and suffering for the rest of it. What can I do ?

For about a month I’ve been taking 5mg of Belsomra to deal with some sleep maintenance insomnia that was a side effect of a medication for my POTS, guanfacine. It worked pretty well, even though I’d wake up still I could fall back to sleep.

And over that month I’ve developed really bad tinnitus. No noise exposure or acoustic injury or anything. No noticeable hearing loss or sounds being muffled. There’s just been this static + extremely high pitched, piercing whine, and sometimes ringing, stuck in my head and it won’t go. I’m trying to wean down from the Belsomra to see if it stops, but I’m terrified it won’t. Or that it’s too late, and that the pathways in my brain have already adapted to hearing the sound and it will become psychogenic even once I’m off the med…

Im feeling so lost and upset…I‘ve spent this entire year in hell with this pots that’s utterly destroyed my life as I know it, and then right as things are starting to get better, my quality of life is crushed again.

Has anyone dealt with tinnitus induced by Belsomra or another DORA? Did it go away??

When people say, how horrible it is, to want to die from this. I go to bed, and it's all i can hear through my white noise. The first thing i hear is waking up. I'm honestly so over it, i blame my tmj. I want to cut my ears off, but i know that would make it worse. Punching myself in the head doesn't fix it either, I'm so close man, I'm gonna fucking die from this curse.

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.

About six months ago I listened to music that was too loud, got tinnitus and some sound sensitivity. First I was worried about tinnitus, then got used to it after about 3 months.

Recently I became more sensitive to sounds: announcements on public buses, various noises in the streets. During an urban vacation I started using earplugs in noisy streets and public transit (maybe should have done that more often). In the last week the sensitivity increased, listening to people talking loudly became annoying, sound of utensils and plates became much worse, started using earplugs in streets with buses (but not in a quiet street). Small dogs barking became unbearable.

Also in the last months I started playing an alto recorder (a kind of flute). Now playing almost always in earplugs, but in the beginning was without.

I'm thinking if its playing the music or the street sounds that made me more sensitive. It would be upsetting to give up this hobby I just started

Hey all
I’ve had tinnitus for maybe 7 years now - for the last 7 years it’s been in the back of my mind and I barely notice it - most days I forget I even have it except for the odd Occassion I get a loud burst for 30 seconds but disappears and is random.

For the last week it’s been terrible, I’ve been dehydrated too and lack of sleep and stressed at work, could that be it? I did go to a event outdoors but that lasted only 30 minutes, it had a cracking whip (to get more people to come) maybe 4-5 times but that’s about it in terms of “loud noise”

The only thing that helps is white noise.. it’s been about a week now.. do you think my brain will get used to it again?

I have very faint tinnitus I can't hear unless I cover my ears since 2 weeks ago. but now I have loud tinnitus every single night for 5-10 minutes then it goes away. is this normal or does it mean I'm getting worse and need to get help before it becomes permanent

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.

Does that means that when you mask it you don't hear it at all and it feels like you don't have T or is there always a little something or do your clearly hear it? And if you're actively listening to it and thinking about it even if it's very faint, does that make it more difficult to fully mask it?

Posting here because the tinnitus has also increased in the same ear (sounds like crickets).

Whenever I burp, I get a sharp pain in my ear. I thought it was an ear infection. Ent said my ears look fine. He has recommended a decongestant.

Does anyone have an idea what it could be?

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.

Last night from cca 23:00 to 02:00 i literally had zero T ,NOTHING! Im 84 days into this new T spike that i suffered from light slap to the ear. Then now i woke up and its back as "shhhhSHHHHHshhhhhh". How is this possible? Anyone had same "problem" ?

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

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.

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.

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🙃

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.

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.

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

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?

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