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Find your tinnitus frequency

Short answer: A tinnitus frequency test helps you find the pitch of your ringing by comparing it with tones you control. Tonal tinnitus is often between about 3,000 and 8,000 Hz. Use headphones at a low volume, slide until the tone sounds like yours, then check the octave above and below, because octave mix-ups are the most common error.

A free, two-minute pitch match. Knowing your tone is the first step to notched sound therapy, which leaves a gap in the sound around exactly that pitch.

Before you start

  1. Put on headphones and sit somewhere quiet.
  2. Turn your device volume low. You can raise it slowly. The test should never be louder than your tinnitus.
  3. If your tinnitus pulses with your heartbeat, started suddenly, or is in one ear with hearing loss, please see a doctor as well.

How this test works

Most tinnitus is heard as a tone or a hiss between about 3,000 and 8,000 Hz, often close to where a person's hearing is weakest. Pitch matching asks you to compare a sound you can control with the one you hear. Research has found that careful self-administered pitch matching on the web can be as consistent as a clinic protocol. The most common error is choosing a tone one octave away, which is why we ask you to check.

What to do with your number

Your frequency is used to shape notched sound therapy. It also helps to tell your audiologist, who can compare it with a hearing test. Your tinnitus can drift, so re-match every few weeks.

Common questions

What is the most common tinnitus frequency?

Tonal tinnitus is often high-pitched, commonly somewhere between about 3,000 and 8,000 Hz, and it is often near the frequencies where a person's hearing is weakest. Everyone's is different, which is why matching your own matters.

Is an online tinnitus frequency test accurate?

A careful self-test can give a useful estimate, especially when you check the octave and repeat it on different days. It is a screening aid, not a diagnosis. An audiologist can measure your hearing and tinnitus properly.

What should I do with my tinnitus frequency?

You can use it to set up notched sound therapy, which removes a band of sound around your pitch, and you can share it with your audiologist. Re-match every few weeks, because tinnitus pitch can drift.

What if my tinnitus is a hiss rather than a tone?

Choose Hiss in the test. It plays a narrow band of noise instead of a pure tone. Broadband sounds such as rain or pink noise often suit hissing tinnitus better than notched sound.

Keep reading

This is a screening aid, not a diagnosis. Lullwell is not a medical device.