[ferd]

For what it's worth, here's my case:

I have tinnitus, a 4khz tone on both ears, one more than the other. I have hearing loss at high frequencies (the curve of my hearing tests drops abruptively right around 4khz). The side with the worst hearing is also the one with worse tinnitus. My loss probably comes from many many ear infections as a child (plus hearing to loud music on a basement, and just bad genetics).

Things that make my tinnitus worse:

- Basically, any kind of "hearing effort" stresses me out and makes my tinnitus worse (busy places, bars, parties, etc. are the worse, but even music on my headsets, which I enjoy, make it worse). Maybe this puts some doubts on the "phantom limb" theory?

- Stress

- Not sleeping well

- After doing exercise. I play sports, run and lift light weights. After any of these exercises, it gets a bit worse

- Driving a car: the humming noise of car drive is probably the worse for me

- If I clinch my jaws (mimicking a strong bite) I hear another, surprisingly similar tone... However, I feel like it's a different thing, not related.

I wished I had a similar list of things that lessen it... I don't :-) However: I started using prescription hearing aids. And although they don't really help with tinnitus directly, I do feel much better: general noise doesn't bother me as much, and of course I hear better :-).

Recommendation: if you have some hearing loss, don't wait to use a hearing aid, just like you don't wait to wear glasses. They are expensive, but worth it. And no, they are not just simple "earbuds".

Confession: I play the drums, although very occasionally. I have no proof but I'm sure I had hearing loss way before I started playing. Playing my drums of course makes my tinnitus worse: probably due to the combination of the sound + "exercise".

[pacomerh]

I have hearing loss in my left ear, from mid frequencies to higher. So basically I can only hear bass on my left hear. Do people usually get hearing aids when one ear is damaged? I went to the doc and they said it was optional since I could still have a normal conversation, so I'm not sure if that's what you're referring to.

[ferd]

I was told the same thing 20-or-so years ago: if you feel like you can have a "normal" life, you don't need to wear one... Now I regret not trying them earlier. As others said here: your nerves stop receiving stimulus... which over time might trigger tinnitus. And even without tinnitus, unused nerves become atrophied... so using hear aids too late might not help as much doing so now.

It's a social thing... if it were about your eyes, you'd be wearing glasses for sure. Glasses are nowadays "fashionable". Hearing aids definitely aren't.

Now, I do have a big doubt about aids: Couldn't they make your hearing loss even worse?! (since they amplify sound and inject it right into your ear, the exact same thing that ear doctors say that kill your hearing)