Anyone successful in dealing with Tinnitus?

I recently cut out my morning coffee routine, and this does seem to have helped.

My stereo listening level never goes above 75-80 dB on peaks. My bum gets sore long before my ears do.

This is my first post on this subject on the 'Gon. I'm not sure as to what the severity of my tinnitus is, as I have not seen an ENT about it. I've had tinnitus for about two years now. Root causes are: operating lawn equipment with no hearing protection when I was a teen; loud concerts; listening to the stereo too loud; and possibly (?) road noise. I've since taken measures to minimize these harmful things. The ringing is always there, but its level fluctuates. Things that seem to make the ringing louder are: road noise from inside the car; any high-speed fan such as a bathroom ventilator; playing the stereo too loud; and to a lesser extent stress, not getting a good night's sleep, caffeine and alcohol. Always seems to be worse in the evening/better in the morning. I'd like to throw out a few questions to those of you with tinnitus:

(1) Anyone find that road noise inside the car bothers your tinnitus? What do you do about it? I currently wear soft earplugs everytime I get in the car, as I have a long commute, but I'm worried that this is pushing earwax further into the ear canal. (side note: bring a decibel reader inside your car and see what the level is when going 70 mph. you might be surprised. mine showed 85-90 db)

(2)Does your stereo seem to aggravate your tinnitus? If so, did you make changes to your stereo? What changes? Did the changes help?

(3) How long/how often can you listen to your stereo before your ears say "enough!"

Thanks for your consideration.

I thought I might be getting it intermittently, until I realized it disappeared when I turned off a ceiling fan.

Two months ago I had the flu, blew my nose too hard and since then have had a pulsing vibration in my right ear. Went to an ENT no tumors or closed down arteries so now I'll start changing medications and see if this helps. I'm listening at lower levels now, down from 75-85db to 60-75db. Inserting a foam ear plug when not listening to music helps to reduce the intensity of the vibration and sometimes seems to eliminates it!! The vibration is similar to the pulse of the bass in a loud car audio system thumping it's way down the street!!! So one of the things I dislike the most is now something I feel/hear pulsing constantly, life's strange.

I'd be curious to hear from other audiophiles as to the 'level' of their affliction.

Mine isn't noticeable except when there is no other sound. Music masks it perfectly, but in a quiet room it's there, and in varying degrees I assume caused by what I'm consuming (ie how much coffee). I don't play my stereo loud enough to aggravate it - my normal listening levels are in the ~80-85db range max.

I enjoy a fine cigar every evening. I do notice the increase in tinnitus after the cigar.

i'm in the same symptomatic boat as chazro, and at 36yrs old its a concern. when i saw the ear Dr, he said, its life, its with you, but try not to make it worse.

ie: i no longer use power tools / lawn equipment without hearing protection. its not the stereo that kills your hearing...my rig wont hit 100db, but my lawnmower? concerts? absolutely, and that's where you need to use protection.

I am a bit hesitant to enter this discussion because I am a research physician, but I have had this problem for about three years. Rich is correct: one possible cause is a tumor either in the nerve from the ear or in the brain. An MRI exam should find these; surgery may be possible. My problem was from a blood clot that "knocked out" the nerve from my right ear, only partially. There is good research ongoing at MIT/Harvard if you want to look into it. People have occasionally had tinnitus reduced by a large number of different drugs, but no one drug works for everyone. Elizabeth is partly right; many of the drugs that have worked have effects on the brain such as sedation which can be unpleasant. Above comments about aspirin, Tylenol, alcohol, etc., making it worse are also true for many of us. And, you can "learn to live with it", but it can be very annoying in quiet settings especially when you want to listen to music. I have been using headphones a lot recently, and I have found that listening at loud volumes seems to make it worse for the next several days.

Newbrook--you are welcome--there seems to be some doc hostility on this thread--people get very frustrated with tinnitus because there aren't any miracle cures and more research would help as well as educating the public about noise--the ipod generation is already developing hearing loss at an earlier age . People like Elizabeth who sounds liked she has traumatic tinnitus have to adjust to this sudden problem without any good treatment and the masking devices are no picnic so we can understand her frustration. However, not getting an appropriate work up and finding out that one now has an inoperable tumor would really be a tragedy. Rich

One thing I've never read about is the different levels of Tinnitus. By looking at commercials, one would think that to have Tinnitus is akin to having a high-decibel audio tone ripping through your head 24/7. And maybe, for some, it is. I've had it for decades but it's always been a very low-level type of ring. So low that it isn't audible if ANY audible sound is present, such as conversation, TV. or audio appreciation ;) is happening. Only in moments of total silence, like when I go to sleep, is it noticable to me. But not ever to the point of hampering me, I sleep like a baby. Would I rather not have Tinnitus? Of course, but I guess I've been lucky.

I'd be curious to hear from other audiophiles as to the 'level' of their affliction.

Thanks Dr Rich.

I did just that a while back, and my dr explained what he was looking for when he ordered an MRI. Once he saw that the MRI was fine and the ear itself (drum, canal, etc.) were fine, he said it's something I will have to live with. Aspirin and nicotine (neither of which I take/use) are triggers, by the way.

I didn't notice my ears were ringing until I read this thread.

No, actually, I notice my problem is directly related to exposure to loud noises: city sounds, loud music, other things. If I try to avoid these for a few days, I notice the ringing subsides and my apparent hearing acuity and enjoyment of listening to music improves.

Give up caffine AND alchohol? Maybe giving up one would make it easier to give up the other...

I just read an article that suggested this: Put your palms left and right over both of your ears with your fingers behind your skull. Put your index finger over your middle finger and slide the index finger so it taps the back of your head and makes a drumming sound. Do this fifty times a day. This is not a joke....

Stereophile had it in their website news : "url=http://www.stereophile.com/news/neuromonics_tinnitus_breakthrough/]Neuromonics Tinnitus Breakthrough?[/url].

'"Quietus" [...] I hope this is real...'

It's homeopathic, which is means absolutely worthless.

Lots of causes--you need a good ENT evaluation--after that then possible treatments--none of which are terrific---need ENT to evaluate ----to make sure you don't have an acoustic neuroma etc --Rich M.D.

Keeping your ears clean can help as excess ear wax build up can make tinnitus worse ....

Has anyone tried the free online software that generates various tones you are supposed to listen to via headphones/earbuds to help tinnitus? Here's the link.

My doctor told me listen to music - "it will cover up the ringing". This was actually a major victory, because my wife told me the ringing was **because** I listen to too much music ;-)

I have noticed that my tinnitus comes and goes with more or less caffeine. I am curious whether the Quietus stuff actually works, though not curious enough to try it myself . . .

Alcohol and caffeine as well as some pain meds can make it worse so managing (reducing) the use these substances can help ..... I have tinnitus (left ear) as well and have learned to manage it ....

There was a terrific article in the New Yorker a few months back written by one of their writers (Jerome Groopman of the Beth Israel Hospital/Harvard Med)who happens to be a world famous AIDs researcher and has written many books on health care.

Here is the link:

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2009/02/09/090209fa_fact_groopman

If your taking any medications,check with your doctor and see if any of them could be causing it.Also,ask your pharmacist since they may keep up with the meds than doctors might.Years back they gave me something(I can't remember what)that caused it while I took it.

I found reducing stress, eating right, exercising, all that old-fashioned stuff helped my case.

Elizabeth is correct I agree. No one knows more than the person that deals with it daily , weekly , yearly and into decades. Having gone through a situation myself Uru975 I could not agree more with you. Luckily I now have a practitioner who listens and learns and is great about the fact all the years of medical school do not equate to every individual the same. Cheers!

No, and Elizabeth is right.

Having delt with a malady for decades I agree all to readily with Elizabeth. Once one gets beyond the standard deviation medicine is trial and error. Your trials the doctors errors, training new doctors to understand what is happening and what works is wearisome but anything else is even worse.
One gets to know what works for one and why with luck even a doctor can be taught.

3 or 4 years ago I started having issues with occassional ringing in the ears. Too many concerts and amp/eqs in the cars I owned in my younger days.
I now wear hearing protection - for all power tools.....yard work.... and play my stereo at moderate levels at most. I also purchased a pair of musician ear plugs that cut the sound level considerably. Now I can attend concerts without blasting my ear drums and having my ears ringing for hours. I only wish I was smarter with my ears in my younger days. So far so good and my ears stopped ringing. Best wishes

Yes, too many years of construction work and loud car stereos. Dr. Elizabeth is right. BTW my days of loud music have been over for years. I have a db meter right next to me and use it. The slight ringing is like pops and clicks on vinyl. You just deal with it.

...and how long have you been practicing medicine, Elizabeth??

My dr recommended this. Make sure you go to an ENT expert. S/he should do a full hearing work up and maybe even an MRI just to rule out something awful.

http://www.neuromonics.com/patient/index.aspx?rollover=true

"Quietus" is being touted as a fix for this problem.

www. quietrelief. com

I hope this is real...