Somebody got a clue the hard way...

[allthatwhichis]

I have a feeling I suffer from this also. I have had it most of my life as far as I can tell. I have memories of sitting in my grandparent's house when I was 4 or 5, and there would be no noise and my ears would just ring. It has been happening for as long as I can remember. I seem to have good hearing, beyond the ringing. IF you find any solutions let me know. The ringing plays with my sainity on occations also.

Does anyone else here the high pitch noise a tube TV makes when it is on? I have always been curious as to what frequency that noise is. If I didn't know better I would say it is higher than 20kHz...

[buffo]

Does anyone else here the high pitch noise a tube TV makes when it is on?

Yes. (Raises hand)

I have always been curious as to what frequency that noise is. If I didn't know better I would say it is higher than 20kHz...

It should be 14.7 Khz, from the flyback transformer. On some TV's, the frequency can be much higher though.

If you're already sensitive to high frequency noise, and especially if you're one of the few that can hear into the ultrasonic range, then some brands of motion detectors will give you a headache as well. (They also emit high frequency audio.) The good news is that as you age, you loose your ability to hear those higher frequencies. (As a kid, I could hear the ultrasonics from the motion detectors at the mall, but now I can't hear them.)

Adam

[mikkojay]

Hey Adam,
That sound clip is almost the same as what I hear most of the time, except mine does not have the hiss/white-noise part.
I cannot figure out if:
1) it is always there and my brain just filters it better some times than others
2) the sound actually comes and goes
I worked on an aircraft carrier flight deck for 2 trips to the Persian Gulf, and I would bet money that my ears ring today because of it.
I am guilty of jamming music on my headphones at unsafe levels, so I may be partially to blame for all I know.
I usually have a fan blowing in my bedroom to help fall asleep- that seems to help.
-Mike

[trwalters001]

Hi Buffo -
I'm pretty sure the horizontal oscillator frequency in the US is 15,750 Hz...
Tim

[Admin]

Sorry to hear that you're suffering from it, Spec... Hopefully you can find relief in some of the treatment methods listed above. It's good that you're doing your own independent research too. Be *very* concerned, however, if it ever gets to the point where it wakes you up while you are asleep.

Already there. I'm lucky if I can get 2 hours in before I wake up for a couple seconds. While this is certainly fucking annoying I feel it to be *relatively* safe as it is longer than the average cycle to REM and back. But yea, its messing with my already primacord like temper.

I notice that I phase out and can't concentrate as well. Hell if I know, its really hard to be objective when a constant stressor is there. Its also really freaking hard to pinpoint the frequency of the noise, unlike that mp3 link the noise I hear is relatively stable in both tone and intensity. The *closest* I have managed to guess with a freq.gen is a slight dance around 4Khz. Once again, really hard to listen for as I am not trying to pinpoint the output of the speakers so much as when it feels close to the "background" noise in my head.

One oddity I have noticed is that after I shut down a 6:1 pink noise source it is louder for a fraction of a second.

I've even used my biochemistry book to generate chemical cocktails and documented the results to the best of my ability given this is not even close to a double blind study. I had a very short period of time where the noise was noticeably quieter while sucking down enough aerosol delivered epinephrine to render coughing a bad idea(Tm).

The above does play into a theory I have with regards to neurochemistry and migraine headaches; If extreme sensitivity to stimuli is a common effect of migraines and given that it is a depressive wave of neural activity then it would stand to suffice that forcing ones brain to eat up its available chemical sources faster would lessen the "payload capacity" by increasing the rate of reuptake.

They say the best "medicine" is to learn to deal with it: They can all bite my ass.

[buffo]

Hi Buffo -
I'm pretty sure the horizontal oscillator frequency in the US is 15,750 Hz...
Tim

Oops! You're absolutely right! 15.7 Khz, not 14.7. My bad! (I should have caught that when I proof-read the post before I submitted it, but I totally missed it.)

Though it's interesting that just because NTSC video runs at 15.7Khz (OK - 15,750 Hz to be exact), the flyback transformer can actually be running much faster - like 31.4 Khz or better.

Hey Adam,
That sound clip is almost the same as what I hear most of the time, except mine does not have the hiss/white-noise part.
I cannot figure out if:
1) it is always there and my brain just filters it better some times than others
2) the sound actually comes and goes

From what I understand of tinnitus, it's mostly #1 and a little bit of #2. And yeah, not everyone hears the hiss - though some of that hiss is due to distortion from the low bitrate MP3 file.

I worked on an aircraft carrier flight deck for 2 trips to the Persian Gulf, and I would bet money that my ears ring today because of it.

Bingo. Exposure to loud noise is the # 1 risk factor, and you don't get much louder than a fighter jet at full military power being launched off the deck...

I am guilty of jamming music on my headphones at unsafe levels, so I may be partially to blame for all I know.

Yeah, that's certainly possible. Headphones can create dangerous sound levels because they're so close to the eardrum. (Remember when the i-pod first came out there was a huge backlash because the volume could be turned up to unsafe levels?) Of course, firearms are another big contributor...

I usually have a fan blowing in my bedroom to help fall asleep- that seems to help.

Yeah, my Dad used a fan (actually multiple fans) to help him sleep for as long as I can remember. But during the later stages it just didn't help.

I'm lucky if I can get 2 hours in before I wake up for a couple seconds.

Are you sure it's the tinnitus that's waking you up? And more importantly: Can you get back to sleep afterwards?

I feel it to be *relatively* safe as it is longer than the average cycle to REM and back.

It's safe *only* if you are still able to get 6-8 hours of sleep consistently. If you wake up after 2 hours and you can't go back down again, you're in *deep* trouble dude. Remember: Chronic Sleep Depravation is universally fatal to all mamals. (Read "Sleep Thieves", by Stanley Coren for more details.)

But yea, its messing with my already primacord like temper.

Careful buddy... This is the very road that my father went down. You already know how that ended. Seriously - see a doctor.

Its also really freaking hard to pinpoint the frequency of the noise, unlike that mp3 link the noise I hear is relatively stable in both tone and intensity. The *closest* I have managed to guess with a freq.gen is a slight dance around 4Khz.

Yeah, some people hear it at different frequencies. But even 4 Khz is pretty high in pitch when you think about it. (Compared to most musical instruments, for example, 4Khz is *way* the hell up there.)

the noise was noticeably quieter while sucking down enough aerosol delivered epinephrine to render coughing a bad idea(Tm).

Epinephrine, or albuterol? I've never heard of Epinephrine delivered as an aerosol, and frankly, it sounds really freakin' dangerous. (Can you say Miocardial Infarction secondary to accute tachycardia?)

They say the best "medicine" is to learn to deal with it: They can all bite my ass.

I agree. Medicine has too many solutions to offer; it's retarded for people to just try to "deal with it". For one, there may be a simple and effective cure available (so why suffer), and secondly, you may not be *able* to deal with it no matter how hard you try. (My father certainly wasn't able to deal with it.)

Adam

[trwalters001]

I'm lucky if I can get 2 hours in before I wake up for a couple seconds.

Are you sure it's the tinnitus that's waking you up?

I was having serious problems sleeping at night and staying awake during the day until I went to a sleep lab and found out about my sleep apnea and snoring. I also had high blood pressure and tinnitus...
A CPAP machine fixed it all...

[trwalters001]

HEY!! Whaddaya know...

Now my member status (senior) matches my age!!!

Happy days be here agin!!

[allthatwhichis]

I was having serious problems sleeping at night and staying awake during the day until I went to a sleep lab and found out about my sleep apnea and snoring. I also had high blood pressure and tinnitus...
A CPAP machine fixed it all...

CPAP fixed you high blood pressure? I'm not doubting, but I am slightly shocked. There is no imediate connection that I can see.

[trwalters001]

My blood pressure dropped from around 155/87 to around 135/82 with the addition of CPAP. I also sleep through the night and don't get sleepy during the day. It has no-shit changed my life.
AND - my wife can sleep in the same bed all night now too!!

Check with a doctor - he (or she) will tell you the same thing. (about the CPAP, not my wife... )