A ringing or buzzing sound is what the majority of individuals hear when they suffer from tinnitus. But that description, though helpful, is woefully inadequate. Tinnitus doesn’t always occur in one of those two ways. Rather, this specific hearing disorder can make a veritable symphony of various sounds. And that’s important to note.
Because, as useful as that “ringing and buzzing” shorthand may be, such a restricted classification could make it difficult for some individuals to identify their tinnitus symptoms. If Barb from down the road hears only crashing or whooshing in her ears, it might not even occur to her that tinnitus is to blame. So everyone, including Barb, will benefit from having a better idea of what tinnitus can sound like.
A List of Noises You Might Hear With Tinnitus
Generally speaking, tinnitus is the sense of noise in the ears. Sometimes, this is an actual noise (this is called objective tinnitus). And sometimes it’s an artifact of your ears (that is, the sound doesn’t really exist and isn’t heard by others – that’s called subjective tinnitus). The exact type of sounds you hear will likely depend on what form of tinnitus you have. And there are a lot of conceivable sounds you may hear:
- Static: In some cases, your tinnitus might sound like static. Whether that’s high energy or low energy static varies from person to person.
- Whooshing: Some people hear a whooshing noise caused by blood circulation in and around the ears which is a form of “objective tinnitus”. With this type of tinnitus, you’re basically hearing your own heartbeat.
- Roaring: This one is often described as “roaring waves”, or even simply “the ocean”. It might sound calming at first, but the truth is that the noise is much more overwhelming than the gently rolling waves you might think.
- High-pitch whistle: Picture the sound of a whistling tea kettle. Sometimes, tinnitus can sound like that specific high-pitched squeal. Needless to say, this one can be quite annoying.
- Ringing: We’ll begin with the most common sound, a ringing in the ears. Frequently, this is a high pitched whine or ring. The ringing is frequently called a “tone”. When the majority of individuals consider tinnitus, most of them think of this ringing.
- Buzzing: Sometimes, it’s a buzzing not a ringing. This buzzing sometimes even sounds like an insect or cicada.
- Electric motor: Your vacuum cleaner has a rather specific sound, in part because of its electric motor. Tinnitus flare-up’s, for some individuals, manifest this exact sound.
- Screeching: You know that sound of metal grinding? Maybe you hear it when your neighbors are working on a building project in their back yard. But it’s the kind of sound that often comes up when a person is suffering from tinnitus.
This list is not exhaustive, but it definitely starts to give you an idea of just how many possible sounds a person with tinnitus may hear.
Over Time Tinnitus Sounds Can Change
It’s also totally possible for one person to hear a number of tinnitus-related noises. Brandon, for example, spent most of last week hearing a ringing sound. He met up with friends at a noisy restaurant last night and now he’s hearing a loud static noise. It isn’t unusual for the sound you hear from tinnitus to change like this – and it may change often.
The reason for the change isn’t really well known (mainly because the causes of tinnitus aren’t always well known).
Treating Tinnitus
There are usually two potential strategies to treating tinnitus symptoms: helping your brain learn to ignore the sound or masking the sound. And in either situation, that means helping you identify and familiarize yourself with the sounds of your tinnitus, whatever they may be.
