Hearing Loss Help  

 by Neil Bauman, Ph.D.

A man wrote:

My 87 year old mother has of late begun hearing music, conversations, and other noises which aren’t there. The examples you mentioned in your article describing ‘Musical Ear Syndrome‘ were exactly the situations she’s describing. I was ready to ascribe her hallucinations to her age, solitude and hearing loss until I read the following paragraph.

“Another cause of auditory hallucinations is drugs and medications. Elderly people tend to take more and more medications as they age. Unfortunately, numerous drugs can cause auditory hallucinations.”

Have you any references to or about drugs which may be a cause? My mother is taking a few drugs. If there’s a generic type or class of medication (e.g., for some specific organ, bodily function, condition, etc.) that’s most likely to be a culprit, it would be hugely helpful to know.

There are a good number of drugs that known to cause hallucinations—the vast majority of which are auditory hallucinations. So far, I have found more than 280 drugs, herbs and chemicals with this property.

Unfortunately, the drugs are scattered throughout many of the drug classes, so you can’t just say, for example, “Stay away from these 3 classes of drugs and you’ll be fine.”

Appendix 2 in “Phantom Voices, Ethereal Music and Other Spooky Sounds” lists all the hallucinatory drugs and herbs of which I’m aware.

by Neil Bauman, Ph.D.

A lady wrote:

Strange things are happening now with my eyesight. I used to get a head-size black spot in front of one eye. Recently I got a large white one. On Sunday, when I took a bath, it had changed suddenly to a real face. I opened and closed my eyes again and again, it did not disappear. I just laughed at it. What else could I do? I did not let it frighten me.

You have Charles Bonnet Syndrome. This is when you see things that are not there, especially when you have vision problems like you have. It is analogous to Musical Ear Syndrome—which is where you have hearing loss and hear things (music, voices) that are not there.

It’s nothing to be frightened about, especially once you know what is happening. Some people see the wall of their room disappear and be replaced by a field of sheep, or a children’s playground and the kids playing there.

Actually, a high proportion of elderly people with certain vision problems “see” such things, (around 30%) but seldom talk about them for fear of being thought crazy. (This is exactly the same as those who hear phantom music and don’t want to talk about their phantom sounds for fear of being thought crazy too!)

Some people even have both conditions at the same time.

I’ve written a book on Musical Ear Syndrome so people don’t have to needlessly worry about the phantom sounds they are hearing. In it there is even a chapter on Charles Bonnet Syndrome.

Learn more about Musical Ear Syndrome here,  or get my book “Phantom Voices, Ethereal Music & Other Spooky Sounds” here.

by Neil Bauman, Ph.D.

A mother wrote:

My 6 year old daughter just recently told me she is hearing voices talking. She is happy and socially adjusted, thus I don’t believe it is psychotic in nature.

She has been taking Zyrtec for approximately 1 year. She said she had already told me before, but I must have dismissed it. She is not able to tell me how long it has been happening, but she states it did not happen while she was in preschool a year ago. I suspect she may be having ototoxic side effects from the Zyrtec. I stopped the medication yesterday and am giving her Loratadine instead to manage her allergies since it is allergy season. I am concerned that her doctors may think she has a psychosis or some psychological problem. Her doctor suggested a hearing test. Do you believe this is necessary? If it is a side effect of the medication, has it caused permanent damage? Will it go away if we stop the medication?

I agree with you. It does not sound like your daughter has an mental problem. First, I’d check to find out the kind of voices she hears. Are these “personal” voices talking to or about her—or are they impersonal voices such as you would hear on the radio or TV? If the latter, then she likely does not have a mental problem.

Second, find out whether these voices are distinct—can she understand everything they are saying, or are they vague like people (or a TV) talking in another room—you know they are talking but can’t really understand what they are saying? Again, if the latter, they are likely not of a psychotic origin.

Third, find out when she hears them. Is it all the time, or when it is quiet such as when she is in bed, but not when she is up? More often people hear these non-psychotic phantom sounds when they are not actively doing anything and the house is quiet, thus, this occurs when they go to bed.

I agree with you that she may be experiencing an ototoxic side effect of the drug she is taking. Since she began hearing these phantom voices after she began taking Zyrtec (Cetirizine), and since Cetirizine can indeed cause hallucinations, you may be correct in your assumptions.

If stopping the Cetirizine makes these phantom voices go away, that’s stronger evidence yet. However, replacing the Cetirizine with Loratadine (brand name Claritin) may not solve the problem. You see, Loratadine is also as H1 blocker as is Zyrtec, and it can also cause hallucinations. Thus, there may, or may not, be any change in her hearing voices. You can find a complete listing of the drugs that are known to cause these phantom sounds in our book, “Phantom Voices, Ethereal Music & Other Spooky Sounds“.

Having a hearing test is a wise precaution, especially testing her in the frequencies above 8,000 Hz because Cetirizine can also cause hearing loss. Actually Cetirizine is the most ototoxic of the H1 blockers. Loratadine, or any of the other drugs in this class, would likely be easier on her ears than Cetirizine.

I think that if you stop these drugs, the phantom voices should disappear in a couple of weeks or so, but as with anything connected with drugs, there are no guarantees.

by Neil Bauman, Ph.D.

A lady wrote:

I just discovered references to you on the Internet while I was trying to Google information about what I now know you have coined “Musical Ear Syndrome”.

The MES reference fits me to a “T”, and I am so relieved to find that others experience this, too. I am 47 years old, and I have been hearing music all day long for about a decade. But what I’ve found is that it waxes and wanes depending on my level of anxiety or depression. Its reappearance coincides with increased stress/anxiety/depression.

I have taken Paroxetine three times since 2000. I most recently began taking it again about 12 weeks ago. Prior to that, I had heard music in my head increasingly for about six months. After beginning the Paroxetine, the MES disappeared. However, over the past two weeks it has returned, and I have noticed along with it a slight elevation in my anxiety/depressive symptoms, enough so that I am increasing my dosage.

What I was wondering is whether you have any information about why this seems to be the case with me, is it dangerous (i.e. a precursor to eventual hearing loss or dementia, etc.), should I be checked out for other causes, as I am not elderly, do not live in a totally quiet environment (though I try to keep it that way as much as possible), and am not hard of hearing. Do you think it’s linked to my depression/anxiety issues? Should I be concerned?

You are perceptive. Stress, anxiety and depression are all factors associated with Musical Ear Syndrome.

When I was researching musical ear syndrome, I found 5 things in common in many people, but since then, I’ve heard from numbers of people more or less in your boat—that do not fit the typical MES mold—but nevertheless have the same phantom music.

I’m still trying to figure out why it affects people like you—but I have noticed that anxiety/stress/depression may be a common thread.

I do not believe that it is a precursor to anything such as hearing loss or going crazy. I think it is just the way your body/brain reacts to stress/anxiety/depression.

Let me explain the roles of anxiety and depression in this. When you are anxious, essentially your body is in the “fight or flight” mode—and all your senses are heightened. This means your hearing is more sensitive too—so you hear things you wouldn’t otherwise—and maybe this includes faint phantom sounds rattling around in your auditory system that you were not otherwise aware were there. (This is also why anxious people tend to have hyperacusis—hear normal sounds as too loud—the internal volume control is turned up too high and stays there.)

Now for the role of depression. When you are depressed you normally turn your focus from the external to the internal. Thus, you become more aware of the internal workings of your body and “notice” the phantom sounds. Because you are depressed, you focus on these sounds more and more wondering what is happening to you—and these sounds become more and more intrusive and louder in the process because your limbic (emotional) system is flagging them as important since you are worrying over them. Thus begins the vicious circle.

What you need to do is get your anxiety and depression under control and hopefully these phantom sounds will begin to fade into the background again.

To learn more about Musical Ear Syndrome, read this article about it, or get the book “Phantom Voices, Ethereal Music & Other Spooky Sounds“.

by Neil Bauman, Ph.D.

A young lady wrote:

I was very interested in your article on Musical Ear Syndrome (MES). The description seems to accurately describe what I have been experiencing throughout my life, and I must say it is relieving to find out that I am not insane. However, I am still a little concerned because I don’t seem to match the description of someone typically suffering from MES.

First, I am only 21 years old. I began hearing phantom music when I was very young (quite possibly before I reached ten years of age). I vividly remember hearing a distinct pianist serenading me to sleep on many occasions. I would sit up in my bed, listening intently, but as soon as I sat up the sound would disappear. Once I returned to my previous position in bed, the music would continue.

I forgot about this strange phenomenon for quite some time, and as far as I can recall the music stopped as I entered adolescence. I have never had any hearing problems what-so-ever, so I didn’t bother with it. Recently, however, the single pianist seems to have decided to get fancy. Earlier this week I was settling down to bed in my new apartment and I could have sworn that a full orchestra was being carried to my ears over the air conditioning vent. It was very soothing and playing one of my favorite tunes (“Carol of the Bells” by Trans-Siberian Orchestra), so I didn’t bother trying to make the sound go away. I did notice that when I sat up the sound ceased, just like in my childhood. Similarly, as soon as the air conditioner turned off the music went with it.

I know that for the most part this sounds typical of MES, except I am not elderly, not hard of hearing, don’t lack auditory stimulation, am not on medication, or under any particular stress. The only symptom I may possibly share is tinnitus, but of that I am not positive. Occasionally I hear a high pitched single drawn out beep, but I had always assumed that I was hearing an alarm system or something.

I was just wondering as to your opinion on the whole thing. I figured I may as well make sure I am not crazy.

Don’t worry. You are not crazy. Nor are you alone in your experiences. What you are hearing is a rather interesting phenomenon. Furthermore, there is a perfectly rational explanation for your phantom music.

Since you are hearing a special variety of Musical Ear Syndrome phantom music, you do not have to fit into the typical mold of being elderly, hard of hearing, having tinnitus, etc. Younger hearing people experience such things too.

 Here’s what is happening.

Sometimes, when you are relaxing, or laying down trying to go to sleep, your brain decides it’s time to have some fun. Somehow it modulates certain constant external background sounds so they sound musical. Examples of sounds your brain uses includes jet plane noise, road/wind noise when riding in vehicles, fans and other motors and even running water. In your case, as you discovered, your source was the constant background sound of the air conditioner.

You heard the phantom music when you were trying to go to sleep—but when you sat up, it went away because now you were focused on something else—discovering the source of this music, so your brain stopped the phantom music to do some real work for you. Then, when you laid down and relaxed again, your brain went back to its old tricks—and there’s that music again. This continued as long as there was a background sound on which to piggyback the music. Thus, when your air conditioner stopped, so did your phantom orchestra.

You are not alone in hearing such things. Here are some examples of similar experiences other people (some hearing and some hard of hearing) have had. The first example is very similar to your experience.

A lady wrote:

For years I’ve been hearing phantom music of various sorts when I lay in bed waiting to go to sleep–a wide variety, from band and orchestral, to Irish folk music, symphony, opera and so on. My only explanation for it was that my inner ear was making sense of faint but rhythmic sounds in the room, for example, the fan of the air cleaner.

Another lady, elderly in this case, came to the same conclusion about fan motors and phantom music. Her cousin explains:

The music she hears can be initiated by her proximity to various electrical appliances! Not only initiated, but even terminated when the appliance is switched off. It appears that the source of the trigger is the noise produced by the fan in each of the appliances, viz. a fan heater, an exhaust fan above hot plates, and a fan in a microwave oven. The phantom music can be started, then stopped, by switching the fan on, and then off.

This kind of phantom music can also be derived from airplane engine sounds. One lady wrote:

My mom is hard of hearing. Recently on a flight to Arizona with my dad she commented to dad when they arrived at their hotel that she really enjoyed the music on the plane. Dad said there was no music on the plane. On the return trip, mom started hearing the music again and told dad to listen. He said, nope, no music. But mom continued to enjoy it until the plane landed.

I sometimes have the same experience when I am flying. To me the noise of the jets eventually modulates and becomes “vague” orchestral music.This phenomenon is not new at all. One man recalls:

During WW II, I was a passenger in C-47 (DC-3) military aircraft given mostly to hauling freight and the like in the southwest Pacific area. Flights were long and very noisy. I discovered I could hear music in the noise and used it as a form of entertainment. I heard a lot of choral music and popular orchestras. If one were lucky, one might have a lot of mail sacks to bed down on, and the music made a very nice sendoff to dreamland. I just thought it was a normal response to a very much overdriven sensory system trying to deal with the auditory bombardment.

The same thing can happen when you are riding in a vehicle. When I used to drive my old jalopy with the windows open. I’d have the radio turned up so I could hear the beautiful classical music I like. When I’d turn the radio off, often I would still hear the music for miles and miles. The wind and road noise combined in my brain and took on a musical quality. I knew what was happening, but it was very pleasant, just the same.Others have had similar experiences in their cars. For example, a man perceptively explained,

The [phantom] tunes I hear appear to feed upon the noise of the expressway.

This is also Martha’s experience. She explains:

I have been hearing humming music when I was traveling 70 miles each way to work on the Interstate. I associated it with the noise of the tires on the road.

As you can see, a lot of people experience phantom music when the conditions are right—constant background sounds, they are relaxing and their brains are on autopilot. So relax and enjoy your music. At least it is better than listening to the air conditioner!

To learn more about Musical Ear Syndrome and the many strange experiences people have with their phantom sounds, click on the above link.

by Neil Bauman, Ph.D.

A man recently wrote:

Thank you for your research into Musical Ear Syndrome (MES). Also, thank you for your website postings on the subject, and for your book “Phantom Voices, Ethereal Music & Other Spooky Sounds”. My condition is similar to other people that you describe, but there are a few differences. And more importantly, I want to tell you how I have nearly cured myself of MES.

I have had MES for about 11.5 years. I am 53 and in otherwise good health. I am not hard of hearing. However, all my adult life, I have been acutely sensitive to noise when trying to sleep. I run a fan at night to block out noise when sleeping. I played clarinet & violin in school, but played nothing as an adult. I enjoyed classical and rock music as an adult, until the onset of MES.

I cannot pinpoint the exact onset of MES, but my best estimate is August 1996. Living in an apartment, I thought that neighbors were playing music all night. At first, I only heard the music while trying to sleep. Back then I also heard radio & TV sounds. I could hear a voice (sometimes dialog), tones of voice, and content (beer commercials, radio comedy, nature programs, etc.), but I could never quite make out the words. Eventually, I only heard music.

I approached neighbors, asking them to turn down their music. Naturally, they denied that they were playing music. Eventually, I started hearing music during daylight hours. It was so real I firmly felt that the music was external—that it was coming from the outside, not from within me. I would walk through my neighborhood, trying to find the source of the music. For the first three months or so, I insisted that the music was external to me.

By November 1996, I was starting to break down. The music was so loud and intrusive, that it prevented me from sleeping. I could only get 1 to 2 hours of sleep per night. I could not concentrate, eat, or sleep. My time-horizon contracted to simply getting through the day. The music nearly killed me through sleep deprivation.

There was one odd correlate to the music. It would increase in volume whenever background white noise increased in volume. This puzzled me greatly, because I was accustomed to masking intrusive noise with white noise. But white noise just made the problem worse.

The only way that I could convince myself that the music was in my head, and not external, was to leave the city. A friend and I took a road trip. When the music remained unchanged, I realized that this was a hallucination—something in my brain.

I started going to neurologists and psychiatrists in December 1996. If nothing else, I had to get sleep, or I would die. In all, I saw 3 neurologists and 3 psychiatrists. The neurologists couldn’t find anything wrong via their standard tests (EEG, MRI, blood & urine tests). I received a variety of diagnoses—depression, obsession-compulsion, schizophrenia, malingering, etc. I went through about 25 medications, trying to suppress the music. I also had to take medication simply to get sleep at night.

Only three medications had any effect on the music. The first two, Tegretol and Topamax, worked OK, but they only lasted about three months. I finally tried Klonopin, and that was nearly a miracle. It suppressed the music 48 hours after I started taking it. My dosage was 2 mg/day. Even more miraculous, it suppressed the music for over 7 years. I did not need to increase the dosage over time. I settled on a pseudo-diagnosis of “seizure”, because these three medications were all anti-seizure medications.

The Klonopin did not completely eliminate the music, but it made everything much better. The music was much softer and less intrusive. I could sleep without taking other medication. And the music became a few monotonous bars, rather than a complete orchestral symphony that changed melodies every 10 seconds.

One psychiatrist nearly diagnosed it correctly. He did not have a name for it, but he said that it sounded like an aural analog of the Charles Bonnet syndrome [where you see phantom sights]. To me, this sounded exactly like what I had. My problem did not have a name, but I could understand it as the auditory (music) perception neurons of my brain activating themselves without actual auditory input.

I analyzed and tried many things to see if anything was related to the music. The only things that affected the music were white noise (made it worse) and the three anti-seizure medications that could lessen the music. Alcohol, diet, rest, sleep, stress, any particular emotion, other sounds/noises, magnets to my head(!), various mental exercises—none had any effect on the music.

At its worst, before Klonopin, the music was loud, varied, and elaborate. It was simultaneously beautiful and oppressive. It constantly ran every waking minute, and sometimes in my sleep. (I would hear music in a dream, wake up, and hear the same music upon awaking). The melody would change every 10 – 15 seconds. It was common for the music to cycle through a dozen different melodies (Christmas songs, songs from childhood, TV jingles, and classical music were the most frequent types of melodies) within a 2-minute period.

At times, the music became extreme. At least three times, I heard two different orchestras playing simultaneously. Once I heard a mostly-string orchestra play Mozart, while a mostly-brass band played “Deep in the Heart of Texas”. At least 4 times, I heard beautiful, elaborate music, but melodies I had never heard before (usually strings and low-frequency wind instruments). It seems my brain was actually composing new music, melodies I had never heard before.

You have heard of similar or identical symptoms before. What I wish to share with you now is how I have suppressed MES. I cannot say that I am cured, for I still hear some music every day. But I have not taken any medication to the suppress the music, or to fall asleep, in over a month. I think that what worked for me might work for others.

What I did goes by many names—self-hypnosis, auto-suggestion, affirmation—I will call it self-hypnosis. I read how to do self-hypnosis, hoping that it could help me ignore the music as it could be used by some to ignore chronic pain. Through trial and error, I emphasized some aspects of self-hypnosis, and jettisoned others.

The self-hypnosis instructions I read emphasized the need for a “perfect” trance, the need to be in a trance for 15 – 20 minutes before listening to the actual script. This was too tedious and time-consuming. I just sit/lay back in a dark, quiet room, close my eyes, and after a minute of relaxing and clearing my mind of mental chatter, I listen to my script.

It was difficult to write the script. There was no pre-written script that I could use for such an odd problem. The literature says to use the present tense, use 1st person, only use positive-sounding words, use rhythm, repeat themes and phrases with some variation, and to visualize what you want to achieve.

It is hard to find words for “anti-music”. The word “music” normally has positive connotations. If I want to be rid of music, I cannot use the word “music” in scripts. It is also hard to define a positive script when the goal is to eliminate something. Eventually, I settled on concepts of silence, quiet, peace, and tranquility. These have positive connotations, and are opposed to constantly hearing music.

To give structure to the script, I thought of about 10 situations where the music is particularly bothersome (when trying to fall asleep, when hearing white noise, while working at my computer, etc.). The sentences of the script are along the lines of: “When XXX happens/occurs, I ZZZ”, where ZZZ is one of 1) I actively create silence, 2) the silence naturally happens, and/or 3) I enjoy the silence.

This was not a quick fix. It took me 18 months to get to the point where I did not need to take any Klonopin. The self-hypnosis has no immediate effect. I only started to hear/feel an effect after about 10 weeks. I did not fully believe that self-hypnosis would be helpful, but I was desperate, so I did it every night before I went to bed. After the first 10 weeks, I took a slightly lesser dosage of Klonopin, and found I could get away with it. About every month after that, I found that I could take a slightly lesser dose.

I had Klonopin withdrawal symptoms—mostly insomnia, headaches, and muscle twitches. However, because I withdrew so slowly, it was manageable.

I hope that by reporting my experiences, others will be able to get relief from MES as well.

Thanks so much for letting me use your experiences. I’m sure this will help others who also struggle with the effects of MES.

Note 1: The above person does not fit the typical profile of a person with MES—typically a) elderly, b) hard of hearing, c) has tinnitus, d) lives in quiet surroundings and e) is anxious and/or depressed. Therefore, both the cause of the MES and the “cure” may be somewhat different as described above.

Note 2: Klonopin (Clonazepam) belongs to a class of drugs called benzodiazepines. If you take any benzodiazepines for very long, you can form a dependence on them. Once this dependence is formed, getting off a benzodiazepine can be very difficult, and for some, nigh impossible. So I do not recommend taking such drugs for longer than stated in the manufacturer’s guidelines—which is typically 2 or 3 weeks at the most.

To learn more about Musical Ear Syndrome and what you can do about it, read the article “Musical Ear Syndrome—The Phantom Voices, Ethereal Music & Other Spooky Sounds Many Hard of Hearing People Secretly Experience“, or get the book, “Phantom Voices, Ethereal Music & Other Spooky Sounds“.

by Neil Bauman, Ph.D.

A man wrote:

It is with great relief that I read your on-line article on Musical Ear Syndrome as printed in Hearing Health, Volume 20:4 Winter 2004.

My elderly mother (who lives alone after the death of my father several years ago) has been complaining to neighbors and her condominium board about other tenants playing loud music in the middle of the night.

Her most recent incident (last night in fact), resulted in her climbing a step-ladder and banging on the ceiling to complain to neighbors upstairs because she was convinced they were playing “U.S. marine corps” marching music. Originally, she thought it was her neighbor next door, until this woman convinced her satisfactorily enough it wasn’t her.

My mother is very hard of hearing. Given that she can barely hear a person 3 to 4 feet away speaking to her, I couldn’t see how she could hear music from an adjoining condominium! When I suggested that she might be experiencing auditory hallucinations (I used this term prior to finding your article), she was incensed that I might suggest she was “crazy.”

Nonetheless, I asked her to keep an open mind about it. Fortunately, I found your article, called her back (after she stopped fuming), and read excerpts from your article. She has now calmed and seems open to the possibility that her condition may be Musical Ear Syndrome (MES).

It is interesting to note that my mother is elderly, widowed and lives alone in an otherwise quiet environment. Also, she is prescribed by her family physician to take Effexor (an anti- depressant as I’m sure you know). I have read other articles on the Internet of people who seem to experience some symptoms, characterized by MES, who also happen to be on anti-depressants such as Paxil. I’m curious if some anti-depressants could be a compounding or contributing factor to MES?

Thank you again for your article. It may very well have saved my mother from becoming known by residents in her condo as the “crazy woman” downstairs!

In the same manner as this article helped your mother, a lot of people also find relief when they read it. Your mother’s experiences are certainly not unknown. I hear about such experiences all the time. For example, just yesterday I was talking to a lady—trying to convince her that what she heard was all in her head and not her upstairs neighbor.

You see, this phantom music sounds totally real, so it is almost impossible to believe that it has no outside source, but that it is generated completely in your head. As a result, you look for another logical source of this music (and often it happens to be your undeserving neighbor who bears the brunt of your wrath).

Like your mother, many people who hear such phantom sounds fail to realize that with their poor hearing, they can’t possibly hear real sounds outside of their apartments in the first place! Thus this is a strong indication that what she is hearing is phantom music, not real sound.

If you admit you are hearing phantom sounds, immediately you think you must be crazy because typically this is your only frame of reference. Few people realize that there are actually two kinds of auditory hallucinations—hearing one kind means you have a mental illness, but hearing the other kind (which I call Musical Ear Syndrome or MES) just means that your auditory circuits aren’t working quite right anymore—but it has nothing whatsoever to do with mental illness.

Being elderly, having a severe hearing loss and living alone are three of the common factors in people hearing MES. Being anxious and/or depressed are two more.

Since your mom is on anti-depressants it could be that these anti-depressant drugs that are causing her to hear the phantom MES sounds. (In case you didn’t know, both Effexor and Paxil are known to cause hallucinations.)

However, as I said above, depression is a factor in itself—and most likely, a relatively major factor—so the anti-depressants might not be the cause of the MES, but rather the underlying depression they are supposed to be treating may be a major factor.

Your mom might find reading my book “Phantom Voices, Ethereal Music & Other Spooky Sounds” will really help her. It is an easy book to read and includes hundreds of stories of others and their MES, as well as the causes of MES, and the 8 things a person can do to help themselves get rid of it. She will see that others hear exactly the same kind of things she hears (and react in similar ways too).

by Neil Bauman, Ph.D.

A man asked:

I was wondering if you could comment on Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation? I read in an article that this treatment has helped people with tinnitus.

A lady with Musical Ear Syndrome asked:

I have read that something called Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation reduces auditory hallucinations. Is this safe?

Good questions. People suffering with severe tinnitus or from hearing other phantom sounds (Musical Ear Syndrome (MES)) are always on the lookout for any new therapy that might alleviate their tinnitus or MES symptoms.

The new kid on the block (only developed in 1995) goes by the fancy name of repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (rTMS for short).

Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation works on the principle that a varying magnetic field will induce an electrical current in nearby “structures.” In this case, the nearby “structures” are the cortical areas of your brain.

A doctor typically holds a powerful electromagnet (basically a coil of wire encased in plastic) over the frontal regions of your skull and delivers magnetic pulses for about 20 minutes a day for 5 days. The treatment alters the biochemistry and firing patters of neurons in the cortex—that is, the part of your brain nearest the surface.

The frequency of the stimulation determines whether it speeds up or slows down the cortical activity in your brain. Numerous studies have revealed that chronic tinnitus is associated with increased activity in the primary auditory cortex. Therefore, in the case of tinnitus and auditory hallucinations, you want to slow down this activity.

Studies show that using a low-frequency (1 Hz) rTMS actually does reduce the “excitability” of the cerebral cortex, and can cause long-lasting inhibitory effects in tinnitus perception—up to 6 months or more.

In one study, after 5 days of rTMS treatments, there was a highly significant reduction in tinnitus perception, whereas people who received the sham treatment did not show any significant changes. This is good news.

However, rTMS certainly isn’t the whole answer for tinnitus and other phantom sounds. For example, in one study it had good effects in 25% of the people studied, partial effects in 28% of the people, and no effect in 47%. If this holds true for all people with tinnitus, then rTMS won’t help half the tinnitus sufferers. However, if you are one of the lucky ones, you may receive partial or omplete reduction in your tinnitus—so you may want to pursue rTMS therapy if nothing else is working for you.

So far, rTMS therapy shows promise, but there are still many unanswered questions such as: how safe is it? How long will the suppression ultimately last? Does it work for all kinds of tinnitus?

Although it is used in other countries, here in the USA, the FDA has yet to approve rTMS for regular use, so it is only being used in clinical trials at the present.

My personal opinion is that rTMS indeed shows promise in reducing or eliminating tinnitus and auditory hallucinations. However, I’d wait until further research determines that it is totally safe. For example, I’d want to be very sure that rTMS treatments don’t slow down other parts of my brain. My brain is already running slow enough as it is!

by Neil Bauman, Ph.D.

A grandson wrote:

It seems like my grandma may suffer from tinnitus or “aural hallucinations” as she’s complained of hearing music when she’s at home. We’ve discovered that there’s actually no music playing anywhere nearby. Only she can hear it. She asked me to ask you this; “Why is it that she only seems to hear this music in her own house?”

Good question. There’s a simple answer. Basically your grandma hears such phantom sounds when:

a) she is in a quiet environment such as her house, and

b) she does not have her mind focused on other things.

When she is out and about, there are many other sounds for her brain to hear. Furthermore, she is focusing on the things she is doing so doesn’t think about the phantom music. As a result it often fades into the background. (The same can be true when she is working around the house.)

However, when she is at home relaxing, and particularly when she wants to lay down and rest (or sleep at night), the phantom music starts up, or at least becomes more intrusive. At this point, typically there is little or no background noise around. Also, she is not focusing on any tasks—her mind is relaxed—and that is the ideal breeding ground for these phantom sounds.

I can’t guarantee this is the reason in your grandma’s case, but it is the most likely reason.

One way for her to try to overcome these phantom musical sounds is to put some soothing music on the stereo or listen to the radio as she falls asleep. This gives her brain real sounds to listen to, and hopefully the phantom music will fade away.

by Neil Bauman, Ph.D.

A man asked:

What could be causing a rumbling, banging sort of sound in both my ears? It’s like hearing traffic from a distance, and a greater awareness of noise made by air conditioning systems?

I feel this super sensitivity is from hyperacusis. I don’t think it is tinnitus. I have had tinnitus for the past five years. My tinnitus was caused by stress and an episode of panic. It remained after that, and is a ringing sound, and occasionally a crackling sound.

I also have bilateral sensorineural hearing loss in the high frequencies.

My hyperacusis comes on periodically and goes away after a few months. More specifically, I have the following symptoms and find them very disturbing.

1. Awareness of heavy traffic (buses, trucks, vehicles) sounds heard from a long distance as rumbling, not noticed by others.

2. Awareness of the bass sounds from a music system, again from a long distance. I hear this as a throbbing, pulsating sound, again hardly noticed by others.

3. Awareness of the working of air conditioning systems with sound coming from the vents. I hear this as a low-level rumbling, throbbing sound, not at all noticed by other people in office.

This super sensitivity and acute hearing seems to indicate hyperacusis. Do you agree?

No. Hyperacusis is where you hear normal, everyday sounds as much too loud–a person talking is too loud. Cutlery clanking is too loud. The phone ringing is too loud, etc., etc. You are not hearing these normal sounds as too loud. Thus you do not have hyperacusis.

However, I do know what you are experiencing based on your very interesting set of symptoms.

You are not hearing real traffic sounds from a distance; not hearing real music; and not hearing real air conditioning sounds. You are really “hearing” phantom sounds, but phantom sounds that are so real to you that you cannot distinguish them from the real thing. This is why the people around you with normal hearing can’t hear them. In short, these sounds are all in your head.

What you are describing is not tinnitus, not hyperacusis, nor even hyperacute hearing. Rather, you are hearing some of the many sounds associated with Musical Ear Syndrome (MES).

People with MES almost always already have tinnitus and hearing loss such as you do. Furthermore, anxiety and/or stress is also commonly associated with MES.

Musical Ear Syndrome is fairly common, but seldom talked about. Just as you are doing, people try to find some other logical reason for “hearing” such sounds because they do not want to be thought crazy–which you’re not, by the way.

Your MES is more limited to lower-frequency rumbling sounds. Some people only hear beautiful music, but whatever sounds you hear, they are all just phantom sounds.

You don’t specifically say so, but I think you also sometimes can feel these sounds vibrating the floor/ground with their rumbling. Is that right?

You are not alone in what you are hearing (and feeling). You might be surprised to know that I “hear” the same things you do from time to time. So do many other people. For example, one sound I hear is a rumbling sound like a big truck idling outside the house. Another is hearing the furnace rumbling in the plenum under the floor. The strange thing is that these sounds are so real that I can actually “feel” them shaking the house.

The truth is, when I go to look, there is no truck anywhere around my house, nor is the furnace even running! When this happens, I am experiencing totally phantom sensations, just as you are.

Musical Ear syndrome is nothing to be worried about. You are definitely not going crazy because you hear these sounds, so you can put your mind at rest in this regard. These sounds are just symptoms of damage to your auditory system as evidenced by your hearing loss and tinnitus. Thus, when they occur, just ignore them–even though they seem so real.

You would do well to read my article entitled “Musical Ear Syndrome“. In addition, you can learn much more about MES in my book, “Phantom Voices, Ethereal Music & Other Spooky Sounds“. This book has brought peace of mind to many people with MES.