What tinnitus or ear ringing sounds like | NBC Left Field

According to the U.S. government, an estimated 50 million Americans experience some sort of tinnitus or ringing in the ear. But what's it like having constant tinnitus ringing in one ear or both 24/7? We paired up James, a 33-year-old tinnitus sufferer, and an audio engineer in an attempt to find out what tinnitus actually sounds like.


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Presenter:
Deborah Baskin

Producer:
Katie Engelhart

Sound Design:
Owain Rich

Animation
Lulu Jiang

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[dr.spectre]

Suicide because of tinnitus?? WOW. Thats sad....We never realize just how good we have it until we see another poor soul suffering from something worse than we have....

[PlanetaryNukeFS]

I had this from birth so I adapted to it thinking it was normal. I guess not ;-;

[dr.spectre]

TO EVERYONE PANICKING
If your sitting in your room at night time and you close your eyes and are concentrating on the slightest sounds you hear, even if you have perfect hearing you will hear a slight ringing. Most people who have normal hearing can never remember a time when they didn't have this very slight background ringing that sounds almost like a high pitched bell being continuously rung. This background sound that you can ONLY hear in absolute silence, is a slight ringing and it is NATURAL! Remember, this only applies if you can ONLY hear the "ringing" in ABSOLUTE silence and if you have heard it all your life. The reason you hear this sound is because the brain does this to fill in the silence just like when you close your eyes and try to go to sleep, you see phosphenes (colors and shapes even though your eyelids are closed). You can NEVER get rid of that slight high pitched ringing so just don't concentrate on it, which you probably have done, SO.... like me you're on youtube at 3am and that's why you're here. :)

[GabrielNBarta]

I love how Google knows that I have Tinnitus so they displayed this ad for me.

[thelegendofpower]

I have it from my birth. I never know that it was a thing . I was thinking that every one could ear it

[StayTunedNBC]

Do you suffer from tinnitus? Let us know what the sound sounds like to you.

[chefboyardee]

It sucks that I will never know what true silence sounds like...

[Lugii]

I have tinnitus for 9 years now and at the beginning OMG what a nightmare but then i started to think that, either i give up and let the tinnitus win or just ignore it, becomes a part of who you are. My tinnitus is over 4000hz everyday, 24/7 and it gets worse when my neck muscles get stiff. But after all i can still smile and make others smile. Don´t give up on the cure, we´re waiting for it and for those who suffer from it, just like i do, don´t give up on life, try to ignore it as much as you can, exercise and healthy food routines and of course, a shower running audio alliviates a lot the tinnitus. Let´s keep our hopes up and never give up.

[banebasara]

You know I really do not know how to start this, so I am just going to speak freely. THIS IS TO ALL YOU PEOPLE WHO IS SUFFERING FROM THIS AND ARE DESPERATE!

I had tinnitus for a very long time. It all started with me actually blowing my nose really hard in the shower, crazy crazy hard and I felt that it immidietly damaged my ear.

Even though I was in the shower and it can get pretty loud, I felt that something was wrong. I came out of the shower and I could hear a loud beep in my left ear. And I immidietly start panicking.

I was reminded of all the times in high school they would show us videos on tinnitus about people attending concerts without earplugs and getting this horrible disease.

It was absolutely horrible! I could not sleep that night because it was honestly a 10 out of 10 sound. It was loud, man! I could not sleep but I almost half fell a sleep for a couple of minutes.

But when I woke up it was still there. I was freaking the fuck out and I was so sad. I was so sad and all I was thinking was how I wish I could turn back time. And everything in y life changed.

How I ate, how I slept, how I watched movies, listened to music, drank coffee or alcohol or enjoyed sugary treats, my relationship with my wife and friends. It was horrible. I got really depressed.

I went online and read about it, I talked to doctors (several different ones), and they all told me to learn how to deal with it and that it would get better with time, in the sense that I would get used to it.

I would learn how to live with it. This bothered me. You see, I have always been a person with great faith in God. I suddenly, very spoiled, but felt betrayed. Eventually BOTH my ears started ringing.

It just got worse and worse

I became a very bitter person and I just focused on the tinnitus and allowed it to take control over me.

I remember my wife promising me that this would not last. She is no doctor and no expert, but hearing that promise from her, gave me faith and comfort. I found two people on youtube that did NOT cure me, but most definitely helped me.

Liam and Julian were those two people. After 10 months of constant battle, I finally beat and cured my tinnitus. I went from 10 to a 0. I honestly hear silence again now.

These are my biggest advices:

1. Have faith and be sure that you WILL beat this if you absolutely believe that you can. If you listen to the negative people or read negative comments and doubt that you will be cured, than I promise you that you will not be cured.

This may upset people, but I am sorry. This is what I can say based on experience and this is what I believe. Total faith in yourself!

2. Do not go on the internet and read horror comments or negative shit about this condition!

3. Do not constantly check on your ear and see if it has become worse or better! Ignore it and breathe, stay calm. Relax! Even if it is a slow road, staying calm and having faith will allow you to get there quicker!

4. Focus on what you want to hear and your brain will slowly adapt and listen.

5. Live and behave as if your tinnitus is gone. Now, I do not mean listen to loud music....but trick yourself and your brain into believing that it has vanished or that it is going to vanish.

6. Do not focus on the amount of time you have had your tinnitus. Remember, STRESS MAKES TINNITUS WORSE!

7. Do NOT listen to people who say that there is no cure! There are no miracle pills, but with work and discipline you can beat this. I PROMISE you! I am living proof, and so are many more! Remember, people have beat cancer, learned to walk again and etc

8. Do not feel sorry for yourself or have regret about how you got tinnitus.

9. Remember to feel grateful! I know that this may sound strange. But it could be a lot worse. You could be blind, you could lose the ability to walk, you could have your face ripped off in an accident. (God bless all people who deal with these things)

Stay grateful!!

10. If there are nights when you have a spike, or if there are days when you hear a new sort of sound....CALM THE FUCK DOWN! It will pass!



Try fasting (I fasted for 18 hours every day), do not be afraid to eat meat (especially liver), meditate, drink less caffeine and alcohol, eat less sugar, exercise whenever you can.



I had to come back and write this down, because I was depressed and desperate. Now get your life back! You can do it, I promise you that you can. Save this and read it again when you feel despair.

Be a good person and be kind to people. It is ok to take the high road but at the same time do not let people disrespect you.

I am sending love to you all....you CAN beat tinnitus, and you WILL if you want to and believe you can!

[vishrats]

I have it too. For me, this happened about 15 years ago. It was in the middle of the night and I heard a dull thump(as if a cardboard box toppled) inside my head/ear. Instantly my ears started ringing. And it has never gone away since then. Drove me crazy for weeks. It is actually hard to hear what some people say because of this but I have learned to live with it. But I have recently come to realize that I speak very loudly. Now I understand it is because of this.

[dpqcinu]

I thought it was normal.
I can never have a moment without music or just someone talking.
Cause i constantly hear that sound.

[angelfranco]

I got tinnitus from a Concert I went to, I was in the very front where the loud speakers are. I was there for 2 days at this concert. 2 days in front of these loud speakers for hours and hours at a time. I discovered I had tinnitus when one day I started to hear this buzzing in my ear. For awhile I thought it was a bug. But no it got worse and worse and I got concerned and went to the doctors and from there sent me to get a hearing test and got diagnosed with tinnitus. I am 17 and in high school and tinnitus has been a huge struggle for me trying to focus. It's very distracting and loud and I always ask my teacher to put on the heater or something for white noise for me and frequently helps me. Tinnitus is no joke. I wish I could hear a pitch of silence. This is my life from bad decision making

[vladutcornel]

First ad on Youtube that I don't skip right away. Nice job

[castellorizon]

I was born with Tinnitus, and when I was young I asked “mom, what’s the ringing in my ear?” She said it was the AC. I was like Okay, weird. I didn’t know it was only me. I thought everyone heard it. I’ve never experienced complete silence.

[nevereverappleagain]

Same condition, but different pitch. Dealing with it for the past 20-25 years. Ringing doesn't seem to come from the ears, most likely from the brain. Getting worse for the last 3 years

[hellsbells]

I have had tinnitus for just over ten years now, the last 5 have been so very hard to deal with. I now have 3 distinctive sounds in my left side of my brain (I say brain because it no longer feels like it just in my ear but swirling, pulsating in the left side of my brain) there is a low lawnmower sound, a middle pitch hissing and an extremely loud cicada sound (like I have a thousand of them in my head) on days I am stressed, which is almost every day, it's louder. When I feel unwell, it is louder. It affects my mood, my motivation, my social life, and sometimes my will to carry on. It is an invisible and silent condition to others around me, but to me, it means I have no moments where I can sit in silence, it is with me during every second I am awake, relentless.

[unguschackus]

I didn't realise I had this for 12 years I just thought that was the sound of silence

[vanessamontgomery]

I developed tinnitus shortly after being diagnosed with Trigeminal Neuralgia.. it's been a very difficult couple of months. Seems like nothing will ever be as bad as the Trigeminal neuralgia, but this tinnitus is getting louder and more frequent. I try to remain positive. 💔

[jonaszkoran-mekka]

My tinnitus had started 17 February 2018 when I was 20. It was after my first presence on very loud music club (about 3-4 hours) because my friend did not want to go there alone and wanted to make me surprise. Now I am starting to forget how silence sounds. The saddest thing is that I miss a feeling of safety - I dont know how tinnitus will affect tomorrow and following days. When I told another friend about what has happened he smiled and told me that I should go next time on silent party. So guys don't go to the clubs whose owners think the loudest music is the best or at least take earplugs with you. And if you have already tinnitus you are not alone and I and many other people are praying for you.

22 January 2021 (in the next month I will be with tinnitus for 3 years)

[kellixakd]

I have The same one he does I started having it at 15 and 16 now and I’m going insane I’m scared what the rest of my life would be with this, it gets louder each day and It won’t stop and I try to listen to quieter things to make it softer but nothing will work