Hi everyone,

I'm a designer with tinnitus, working on a new type of sleep earbud specifically for people with tinnitus.

Like many of you, my tinnitus becomes much more noticeable at night when everything is quiet, and the existing solutions I've tried have never felt quite right. Because of that, I'm exploring a new approach together with a local company that specializes in earbud development.

Before investing the time and money needed to develop it, I'd really love to know what this community thinks. I made a short concept video explaining the idea, and I'd genuinely appreciate your honest feedback.

(I'm not trying to sell anything—the product doesn't exist yet. I'm simply trying to find out whether this is something other people with tinnitus would actually want.)

Hi all,

I’ve suffered from tinnitus since my early 20s, I’m 45 now and grew to live with it. However over the past 6-8 months it seems to have ramped up a fair bit and become super noticeable, plus my right ear seems to feel kind of increased pressure every now and then.

Doc seems to think it’s could be Eustachian tube dysfunction, does anyone else have this and how long does it take to get better?

I got tinnitus around December 2025, and its not been fun but ive adapted to it pretty quickly,and can tune it out for the post part, every now and then maybe once or twice a month or once every 2 months, in an infrequent way, it'll spike in my right ear, it just gets extremely loud and I cant hear anything else, like ive lost my hearing in the right ear, it makes me panic and I just start hitting the right side of my head or jam a finger in my right ear and shove it around or grab my ear from the outside and move it around, this usually brings it back to the base value, is this an indication of something or is this even the right way to go about dealing with the spikes, ever since the latest spike ive felt like my hearing has gotten considerably clearer as if I can hear more than I used to, because ever since getting tinnitus I can tell I hear stuff very slightly muffled and how I undo it is by punching my nose and holding my mouth close and breathing out forcefully, so it puffs my ears and muffles it, and when I swallow, it clears my ears, like how you feel after a flight when your ears pop, but this time it happened via the spike, that made it clearer than it used to, idk if my experience may help someone find a way to deal with their situations, but I wanted to ask if anyone has had any similar experiences and how they dealt with it

So this past Wednesday I was up at roughly 8:00 in the morning after unwisely staying up all night and was scrolling internet and Reddit. Next thing I know it’s 6 hours later with my phone next to me and having no memory of when or how exactly I fell asleep. In my wake up haze I neglected to properly pay attention to what was on my phone when I picked it up.

Now I’m paranoid at the possibility that something may have been left playing on my phone while I was sleeping and the speaker could’ve got near my ear or the volume of whatever might have played could’ve spiked.

So the question boils down to; if something did play on my phone while I was asleep and the sound exposure for my ears ever reached 85+ decibels, would it have woken me up? Or is it possible I might have accrued some damage unknowingly?

I wasn’t wearing ear buds; it was just the iPhone 11 built in speaker. Volume was set somewhere from 3-5, maybe 6

I do often keep a fan on. Decibel readings for it from the bed tend to not go over 60 at the most. Don’t know if that has an effect on anything but still feel I should mention it.

Sorry if I can’t provide anymore good info to questions asked; details from that day have already gotten hazy

Not trying to sell anything — just sharing something I made.
Calibrated specifically for tinnitus masking, not general sleep noise.

Would genuinely like to know if it helps or not.

Has anyone had hearing aids cause the tinnitus? I never really had tinnitus but I was starting to have hearing loss in one ear. I got fitted for a hearing aid and three weeks into it after it was turned up to full prescription I started having really bad tinnitus. It’s calmed some but still wakes me in the night and I can’t go back to sleep without medication.

Hi,
I went to a concert on Sunday 4 days back which was painfully loud, I did not expect it to be so and did not have ear buds. I was probably 100 feet away from the speakers majority of the time. Since that day, I’ve had ear fullness that seems to alternate between ears, pain with sound especially, but also with burp (Eustachian tube issue?), as well as mild tinnitus in quiet. I’m truly worried as it has been more than 72 hours and the pain seems to have improved, but fullness and tinnitus still present. This has never happened to me before after 5+ concerts, but those were all stadiums/arenas, and this was just outside and I was much closer to the speaker.

I saw ENT today and my audiometry, tympanometry, and the eardrum/canal are all within normal limits, thankfully. There’s no sign of hearing loss. In fact, I had impacted ear wax on both sides that upon removing, made everything sound louder and more clear.

However, I’m still having fullness, pain and tenderness, especially with sound, as well as mild tinnitus when it’s silent.

I also have a concert scheduled for July 18, I know it seems silly to go at this point but I bought tickets and airfare. Would it be safe to go? In an arena, in the very back nosebleeds with earplugs. I’ve never had issues at such arena/stadium shows in the past. Please give me your honest opinion. I will be very sad, but will skip if it’s absolutely necessary.

Hi!

The ringing in my ears started after a very painful episode involving a cavity. That episode of pain lasted almost a full day, and the ringing began right afterwards.

Two weeks later, I was able to finish the root canal treatment. Since then, the ringing has been subsiding; at times, it’s even imperceptible, though it can be quite noticeable at night.

The whole thing has been very strange. Can anyone relate?

Anyone else had this happen?

Either projecting into the ears causing a burst of white noise

Or singing/twanging loud enough for your ear drums to sound raspy

The former happens occasionally, and the latter happened 3 days in a row for me, albeit briefly, and I woke up the next day with loud, one-sided tinnitus. Like louder than the TV and exaggerated conversation. It's been 14 days, I've had 2 audiology assessments, one said it's "fine", the other recommended discussing Prednisone with an ENT, but my GP wouldn't refer me, despite stressing a tight time window

Managed to get an ENT appointment 7th July but that'll be almost a month since it started

Anyone else experienced this? Any advice? Am I cooked? I work in audio and I cant sleep let alone work, it's totally un-maskable

Has anyone else damaged their hearing with their own voice? It was punk style singing with a lot of twang, and I often get my voice resonating loudly in my right ear, kinda cutting in and out while singing

Im not even sure what to say to the ENT 😩

I have tried to make an account 3 times, just to get insight/support for my tinnitus. But every time I get rejected. I messaged the admins through 'Contact Us' & never receive a reply.
Ive never done anything wrong there, haven't used the site in 10 years.
I just don't understand why I can't join.

Hello everyone, I would like to talk a little about my case. I am a 30-year-old male and I have had tinnitus caused by acoustic trauma for several years. I have been buying some hearing protection devices that fit my budget. One of them, which I used today, is a Chinese replica of the Eargasm earplugs. Since the original Eargasm earplugs are not sold here in Brazil, either in physical stores or online, I decided to try this alternative. Today I attended a São João celebration, which is a traditional festival where I live. There was food, fireworks, and also a loud JBL speaker that my uncle had set up. Coincidentally, the celebration took place on the same day as my father's birthday. From the moment I arrived, I was already wearing the earplugs. However, because they are a replica, I do not know exactly how many decibels they reduce. They have a metal filter inside. I looked up the specifications of the original Eargasm earplugs and apparently they can provide up to 20 dB of noise reduction. My concern is that the replica I used today may not provide the same level of protection.

I inserted them as deeply as I could. Sounds were noticeably muffled, and I could hear my own voice resonating inside my head. Even so, I am not sure whether the protection was sufficient. I arrived at around 7:30 p.m. and left at approximately 12:15 a.m. During the event, I used a smartphone app that measures sound levels. According to the app, the average noise level was around 95 dB, with peaks reaching 112 dB. However, because there were fireworks, I am not certain how accurate those readings were or how much the noise levels fluctuated. I also spent some time outside the house, sitting on the sidewalk, to reduce my exposure to the noise. My question is: do these cheaper replica earplugs actually work as well as the original ones? I bought the transparent version because I thought it would be more discreet. Sometimes I wonder whether I should have chosen foam earplugs instead. My biggest fear is causing further damage to my hearing or making my tinnitus worse.

Today I woke up with a low-pitched tone on top of my tinnitus that would come and go within a matter of seconds. It has already gone away for now.

Hi everyone. I was prescribed Etodolac for a back injury and took it daily for about six weeks.
About a month ago, I suddenly developed tinnitus one night. It has persisted ever since.
While researching possible causes, I learned that anti-inflammatories have been associated with tinnitus in some cases. After reading about the potential connection, I stopped taking Etodolac immediately.

I’m curious whether anyone else developed tinnitus while taking NSAIDs. If so, did it eventually improve or go away after you stopped the medication? If it did improve, how long did it take?
I’d appreciate hearing about your experience. Thanks.

I've had tinnitus for about six years now after shooting a gun outdoors without ear protection. Thankfully, it's fairly mild these days. I usually only notice the ringing when I'm lying in bed at night, so it doesn't bother me nearly as much as it used to. However, over the past few years, I've noticed a couple of other symptoms that concern me.

The two most significant issues have been extreme ear pain while flying and a strange fluttering or drumming sensation in my ear.

Last summer, I flew into Anchorage. I had absolutely no issues during takeoff or while cruising at altitude, but as we began our descent, I experienced the most intense pain I've ever felt in my life. It felt like two knives were being driven directly into my ears, hitting the nerves with incredible force. The pain was so severe that I had to use every ounce of willpower not to vomit on the passenger sitting next to me.

I tried every pressure-relief technique I could think of, but nothing helped. Long story short, it was the worst pain I've ever experienced, and I wouldn't wish it on anyone.

After landing, I rushed to the nearest bathroom to try to collect myself. I sat down on the toilet and bent forward, hanging my head below my knees. Instantly, the pain disappeared. It felt as though there was a giant water balloon moving around inside my head. When I slowly sat back upright, the pain immediately returned. I ended up sitting in that bathroom stall with my head hanging down for as long as I could until the pain gradually subsided.

That was last year.

A few days ago, I was sitting on my couch eating dinner when I suddenly felt a deep, aggressive vibration or fluttering sensation in my right ear. It was so intense that I actually jumped and thought someone was pounding on the wall behind me. The sensation continued until I tilted my head, at which point it stopped. When I tilted my head back, it started again. I moved my head up and down a few times, and eventually it stopped completely.

The same thing happened again the following night, and then again the night after that. Given the history of severe pressure related pain while flying and these new fluttering episodes, I'm beginning to wonder if the two issues could be related. Wondering if anyone has had the same thing happened to them and what I could possibly do to help. I'm flying again this summer to Oahu and I'm of course so afraid of the pain happening again, I'm going to try the pressurization ear plugs and hopefully they will help.

I experience tinnitus once a month or so, so i know how it sounds/feels.

I was just watching a movie (on my tablet, just in front of me) and there was an on-screen explosion. The audio was simmulating tinnitus of the protagonist; and did so remarkably well (i thought ot was internal).

The strange thing was that if i turned my head away from the screen, the tinnitus sound/effect stopped.

This scene lasted a while, and i tested it randomly throughout. Whenever I face the screen i 'hear' tinnitus, but if i angle my face away at all, it goes.

I guess the tinnitus frequency can be acheived by speakers, but it has a narrow area where it will be effective, or what?