Tinnitus//Constant Ringing in the Ears//No Sleep

Severe tinnitus that keeps you awake and makes daily life a misery is awful! The most significant problem with diagnosis and treatment is that nobody can hear it but you. Moreover, unless they have personally experienced tinnitus, nobody can comprehend what you are dealing with. One very annoying but effective method is to load a tone generator app on your phone. Find the frequency that matches what you hear. The next time you are at a health care provider, have it ready to play at the decibel level that you perceive the tone. They'll tell you to turn it off, as it's annoying as hell. Exactly! 

My phone will only go up to 82 decibels. I perceive the tone at about 90 dB in my left year, and 72 dB in my right. Sleeping was difficult, as the tone woke me up at least three or four times each night. 

Treatment options include white noise machines, including speakers in the pillow for more severe cases. This was good enough for me when I had mild tinnitus after a careeer in the military. After head/neck radiation, I would not be able to sleep through anything that played load enough to mask the tones. I have found only one effective treatment: hearing aids that play a white noise. It works. The best part is that you don't have to play it quite as loud to diffuse the tinnitus. Mine is set at 72 dB, which effectively masks 90+ dB tones. I also have mild to moderate hearing loss as well, so I also have some amplification. I'd have needed them regardless. The tinnitus treatment was a happy bi-product, but more welcome to me than being able to understand people when they talk.