Tinnitus making me mental

[troutsqueezer]

Maybe been said before but I'm too lazy to go back and read all the replies.

The only cure-all treatment for tinnitus is TIME. Whether it goes away or stays, you will be back to normal anywhere from 6 months to as long as two years, depending on how fast your brain stops worrying about it and moves on to other things. Hard to convince people who are new to the symptoms but that is the way it works. I've got 7 different manifestations of it but somehow the brain overcomes.

They say if you can turn on the water in the sink and not hear your tinnitus, consider yourself lucky.

 

[burnieman]

Mine has gotten so loud that my doctor can hear it with his listening thingy

 

[Gale Hawkins]

I wouldn't say my tinnitus is cured by any stretch but the improvement I've had in the last year is so significant that its almost a non issue these days. I firmly believe that if you tackle the problem, rather than try and ignore it, then some degree of self-healing is possible. I do not believe that its always an incurable condition!

Heres my tips...

ALWAYS wear ear protection. DONT say to yourself that its too late to bother with ear protection. You must stop the problem worsening and you must help your ears to start healing themselves. Nowadays I always wear hearing protection when I'm driving the tractor or the mower or using any power tool or using a hammer. My 'muffs' are just very simple lightweight 'headband' style - about $6 each. They are so light you'll forget you are wearing them or have them hanging around your neck. They are very quick and easy to put on, and that's important. Its pointless having earmuffs or plugs that you dont like to wear. I have about 4 pair of them lying around in easy reach.

Keep your ears clean and dry. I religiously dry my ears every morning after showering with those little cotton bud stick thingies. It takes some practice and care to do it right but its worth it. I believe that bacteria has a negative effect on 'self healing', and wet ears are great breeding grounds for bacteria.

Disinfect your ears with methylated spirits occasionally. 2 or 3 times each week I put a couple of drops of meths in each ear for a few seconds , then dry them with a cotton stick. Following from the point above I think this is also a good way to eliminate bacteria.

Give up or cut down your smoking. As a very occasional smoker I can tell you that it dramatically worsens the tinnitus whenever I have a smoke. Its almost like turning on a nature sound track. So if you smoke regularly and you have tinnitus you better decide your priorities. I think alcohol also has a negative effect but its not so strong.

A couple of years ago I was pretty depressed about my tinnitus. Nowadays it doesn't bother me much at all. Sure, I'm probably just 'used to it' to some extent but I do believe that I have actually reduced the ringing. So dont give up, it might take a long time to hear the results but its well worth persisting.

Thanks for the tips that helped you.

 

[oosik]

My Harley riding buddy got a case of tinnitus. It got so bad, he started drinking - didn't help the tinnitus and he drank so much he had to quit riding(state of inebriation, all the time). He's like me - VERY hard headed and stubborn. We finally got him to a Dr and now some two + years later, its finally at a level he can mentally block it out, he no longer drinks and we ride again, like the old farts we are.

 

[troutsqueezer]

The high pitch constant frequencies I have I tuned out (mostly) in only six months. The humming sound in the other ear took 2 years but I got there. Figured I would but the brain works on its own schedule.

 

[Firemanbuck]

Mine came on about 6 years ago during a rafting trip down the Salmon River in Idaho. Every night it got a little bit louder. Saw an ENT who sent me for a brain scan (nothing found :laughing and then said, well if it isn't a tumor, I don't know what it is. Saw a woo woo therapist and after a couple of weeks of "energy healing" the ringing/whooshing sounds actually stopped one Saturday morning. The quiet lasted for a couple of weeks but then it came back. Most times the noise is in the background, but saws, tractors, etc. annoy it.

Check this out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GkigtfejdII

I bought the album off Amazon and listen on the ipod a couple of times a week. It works!

And, is it pronounced TIN-I-TUS or TIN-it-us?

 

[troutsqueezer]

Both.

 

[bcp]

Drink more coffee?

Caffeine Intake Linked to Lower Incidence of Tinnitus : News : University Herald

"Researchers from Brigham and Women's Hospital found people with a higher intake of caffeine has a lower incidence of tinnitus,..."

Bruce

 

[oldpilgrim]

interesting, from the VA

New Treatment Options for Tinnitus Sufferers - Veterans Health Administration


My hearing loss and tinnitus started in the Army. Luckily for me, it was documented so the VA is helping me manage it.

My ringing is constant and loud, It actually masks some sounds resulting in a hearing loss and BTE hearing aids. The aids help mask the ringing some, and do help me hear. They help but are not the cure I was hoping for.

I find that the worst situations for me to be in are very quiet areas and very noisy areas. They both magnify the ringing but the noisy areas cause me wicked headaches, and I can't help but focus on the sound.

Either situation makes me want to leave in a hurry. When I took my hearing test in the silent booth, the VA doctor told me from behind the glass to wait a minute after the test as he was studying the data. The silence almost made me crack up. When he came in I told him if he hadn't come in when he did, I was going to throw the chair thru the window.

Everyone tells me all anyone can do is try to manage it.

Troutsqueezer, you might be able to tune it out, but many, if not most, aren't that lucky.

 

[Bird]

Check this out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GkigtfejdII

I bought the album off Amazon and listen on the ipod a couple of times a week. It works!

Yes, an obnoxious racket like that WILL partially drown out the tinnitus, but I'd rather listen to the tinnitus ringing.:laughing: