My doctor was straight forward in telling me that there is no cure for that yet. I have it. Most of the time you don't notice it. You learn to live with it.
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Avoid loud noise from here on is number one on my list. There's a vitamin (lipoflavanoid) that's supposed to help, I can't say it did anything for me. An ENT friend of mine read a paper suggesting a metabolic cause with regard to calcium ions moving across the cell membranes as the nerve cells in the inner ear repolarize, which may explain why my tinnitus is more pronounced after exposure to loud sounds. High sodium intake was suggested as a cause by an audiologist, although I can't say that was much of an issue for me. Of course avoid any aspirin or NSAID compounds. They absolutely cause tinnitus. Allergic congestion will cause tinnitus. I had a bad tooth that caused my ears to ring, see your dentist. Once the tooth was fixed, quiet again. |
Interesting post I read on another forum: This is not medical advice. It is anecdotal information. When I was a licensed massage therapist, I found that many of my patients who were suffering from tinnitus also had muscle spasms in their sternocleidomastoid muscles (SCM), By gently working these muscles, many of them experienced some degree of relief. For some, the relief was long lasting. For others merely palliative, but when it's your palliation, even an hour can seem like a Godsend. The SCM makes a long, narrow triangle shape from the corner of the top of the sternum near the notch, out along the upper edge of the clavicle, and then sweeps up to the mastoid process, the round, lumpy bone behind the ear. If a person lies down, face up, placing the opposite hand on the neck below the jaw area, and begins to lift their head toward the ceiling, the SCM will contract like a cord under the fingers. This is one of the muscles that keeps your head hooked on! So if you are often about to lose your head, you may have SCM troubles. Seriously, if you spend a lot of time with the phone cradled to your ear by one shoulder or any other similar activities, your SCM can develop problems. If you strain and lift heavy loads improperly, pulling with your neck and shoulders, you could also have SCM trouble. Carrying heavy loads, purses, or children can also cause SCM strain. This muscle is often very tender in most people. Gentle massage, rolling, or squeezing between the fingers can help relieve the spasms. Patients often felt relief when gentle pressure massage was applied to the SCM attachment sites along the notch in the "breast bone", along the top edge of the clavicle, and on the mastoid process behind the ear. It is critical to apply the pressure very gently as a chronically spastic or inflamed SCM can be incredibly sensitive to pressure. Both sides should be treated equally. During treatment, some patients reported an increase in the loudness of the ringing, but this was immediately lessened when treatment stopped. Be careful if you have long fingernails! This is a job for the stubbynailed among us. Many of my patients learned to do the procedure themselves and would do it at home 2 - 3 times per day for about 10 minutes per session. Some got long term relief, others got some short term help, but if it is driving you crazy, then short term is better than no term! HTH Please consult a physician or other appropriate professional before taking advice from some person you have never met from the internet. I could be a real bean head! |
One bout 4 years ago, recovered after an 8 month period(hell on Earth) of being very careful about exposing my ears to loud sounds (all types). Re-emergence 2 months ago after stupidly playing music too loudly for extended periods of time. One night just pushed it too far.......result tinnitus & hyperacusis. Now following the same regiment to try and recover. Protect ears from loud noises. Listen to music as infrequently as possible. When I do listen, its at much lower levels, limiting the amount of time and not listening acutely. I've seen some steady back and forth "improvement"- reduction of tinnitus and cured from hyperacusis. If my "life" were not tied up in this hobby, I'd give up listening to music permanently. Seriously, I'm thinking about packing it in. Just not worth the trade off. As it appears, I'm one of the few that in the past recovered from this. That does not mean I'll make a full recovery this time. Even if I do, the recent events support that it will may re-emerge in the future. Having the stereo set-up is very tempting. I fear one day I will become complacent (thinking I'm cured) turn it up too loudly - yet again emerging back into hell on Earth. |
I haven't been successful but have noticed that too much coffee will certainly exacerbate the problem. If I wasn't addicted, I would eleminate my coffee consumption completely. The other day, after only a couple of cups in the a.m., I thought the ringing had disappeared, only to hear it while in a quiet environment. No beans for me past lunch. |
First off, my heart goes out to those who have struggled with severe tinnitus, even those of us who ( dumbly ) stood in front of the speaker columns at a rock event years ago, deserve some sympathy. My symptoms are intermittent, aggravated by long drives in my noisy truck (probably because I turned up the radio to hear it over the road noise? I no longer do that.) I always wear ear protection when using the chain saw or log splitter and any other loud equipment. I notice the ringing when sitting up in bed while listening to music, but only when the music has very quiet passages. Loud music causes increased symptoms for several days. Modest listening levels are best ( for me ) and and I find it helpful to go to sleep while listening to quiet music which masks the ringing. As Jdoris mentioned, I think there may be some merit in having non-fatiguing speakers that are designed for extended critical listening at modest sound levels. I think that my Harbeth m30 monitors do this. I have had other speakers with metallic tweeters that were difficult to listen to for more than a half hour. I also think that listening to music with lots of energy at high frequencies may aggravate one's symptoms. Cymbals, triangle, high electric guitar solos, and other electronically synthesized high energy music. From what I've read here and elsewhere, there are multiple kinds and causes of tinnitus, so seeking a specialist seems to make sense if one has the resources. As for the kids and their car subwoofers, I am afraid that no amount of warning will dissuade them, BUT if you are a parent of preteens, you are obligated to have that conversation, and hear what they think about preserving their own hearing. If the culture continues as it has, hearing loss in younger people will continue, and I'm thinking that a long term investment in impaired hearing services and hearing aid companies will pay off handsomely. |
Cmjones, I think my tinnitus was also brought on by a similar accident with a my old Mac laptop and Etymotic earphones. Or perhaps it was just getting to middle age? Over the last 3 years it has faded. I only hear it when I wake up (because of inner ear orientation or low blood sugar?) or sometimes if I drink a lot of strong coffee. |
A few weeks ago, I touched the vol+ on my remote and it jammed, pushing the volume to the very limit. It took about 5 seconds to turn the sound off. Since then I have had a regular high pitched ring for most of every day. I have had it on and off over the years, but never for long - just a few minutes at a time. I have noticed in the past that if I spend too long at the laptop, the whir of the disk drive triggers the ringing. The irony is that I just bought a brand new DAC which I installed a few days after the extra loud noise. Of course, this has resulted in longer than usual listening sessions, and the ringing has become more noticeable, including when I wake up at night. Today I was going to Burning Amp, but canceled because I don't want to expose myself to a lot of potentially high volume sound. I guess it's wait and see, while limiting my exposure to loud sounds. Too bad, the Lampizator DAC is great. |
solution. I got mine from 10th row center seats at a Bruce Springstein concert about 1982. What I thought was going to be the time of my life turned into me not being able to hear for 3 or 4 days. The speakers were SO loud that my ears felt plugged and the sounds were muffled. It was just plain painful. When my hearing finally returned, I had tinnitus and I've had it 24/7 every since. I went to a specialist in the 90's and he prescribed some things, none of which worked. Maybe there have been some advances since then. It occasionally changes pitch or tone and I think maybe its going away, but it always returns the original ringing after a short time. There are a lot of things that can damage your hearing. For example, I ride motorcycles, and even with a full-face helmet, the high speed wind noise can cause damage to the auditory nerve. I always wear ear plugs on the bike, and have started wearing them for other jobs around the house, even things like using the vacuum cleaner. I just can't afford to take the chance that it will get worse. Every time I see guys with their huge car amps and subwoofers shaking the windows, I want to tell them what it's like to have a constant ringing in your ears for 28 years. But they wouldn't change so I just walk away from their noise pollution and hope they don't damage too many people with their stupidity. |
It surprises me that no one mention this website www.tinnitus.org. Reading their material and following the practice from their papers helps eliminating 100% my Hyperacusis and 95% of my tinnitus. The ringing is still there but rarely it bothers me for more than a few minutes. You should give it a try especially one with Hyperacusis. |
I have played drum set for 38 years, done thousands of loud concerts, & loved loud music shows(I still remember the intense volume Of Mountain in the top, last row of the balcony of the Fillmore East in 1971!). I have often experienced ringing, but it developed into a loud, rushing water sound after a concert about 15 years ago. I also experienced sounds as much louder than normal, so I started wearing headsets at concerts & when I played on stage. This condition has come & gone over the years. I found that extended periods of quiet really helped. During these times, I tried to not expose myself to any music, TV, or other background noise. I used to drive a 1988 Toyota window van, & found that the high level of road noise from the tires really made it worse. A guy in the band I was playing in owned a tire shop, & he found some tires that were extremely quiet for the van. This helped considerably. I think most people underestimate the level of noise when on the road. After a number of years of being careful about any noise exposure, the water sounds went away. Recently, the ringing returned. My doctor told me that a number of meds I am now taking can affect it. I lowered the dosage of 2 of the meds & eliminated a third drug, & the ringing went away. Anyone on drugs should ask their doctor about the side effects. |
I think only father time will tell if your tinnitus will ever resolve. I'm in my 40's and was recently in a freak accident with a major blow to the head, concussion, brain contusions, a bunch of staples in the head, etc. I am just thrilled that I can read this thread and type this note. I lost 20 db of hearing (compared to a baseline hearing test a year or so ago) and have 24/7 tinnitus. Just ride it out and be as positive as you can be. There's a lot of "don't do's" as listed in this thread, but not much (if any) active, significant things "to do" to improve the condition. |
I was dealing with tinnitis myself and still do occasionally. It has been an ongoing battle for me. I have sinus allergies as well as a bout of sinusitis and when they get a whiff of something that's on the bad list, I'd feel a bit more irritation and then an increase in the ringing. I am no dr but I think that the inflammation of the sinus including the eustachian tube, which can travel to the inner ear due to whatever the cause, can bring this ringing on. Something important that I experienced was, that a tooth infection can be missed by both the dr and dentist leading to a sinus infection. This caused problems for years. When this was finally dealt with due to my persistance, and finally anger (it was messing with my ability to listen to music), the headaches and ringing again slowly dissapeared. |
I just wanted to report on some sucess! As I remember someone else posting earlier, "silk tweeters" etc... . This shouldn't be taken lightly!!! I recently changed speakers and amp. Both are noted for "smooth" sound. This has been a "revelation". I realize, everyone's situation is unique, but THIS MAKES PERFECT SENSE! My life is perfected by great sonics! |
AL - Thank you. I googled it with Tinnitus and found few articles showing link. I will tell my wife about it. There was also diet recommended on internet to drink cold water because heating 1g of water by 1 degC burns 1 calorie. People drank very cold water in large quantities until somebody mentioned that food Cal=1000 calories. |
Drinking too much water might have create some chemical unbalance but stress is more likelyMight have been a mild case of Hyponatremia. -- Al |
Unerdog - my wife had it for a while. MRI and other test showed nothing. It was only for about 6 months more than 10 years ago and never showed up again. We suspect that it was either stress at work place or large amount of water she drank (some stupid diet). Drinking too much water might have create some chemical unbalance but stress is more likely (I read about it). |
I have a fair case of it myself, and while nothing makes the constant ringing lessen any, when I feel my eardrums and canal get itchy and inflamed, I use prescription ear drops that have Cortisone in it. There is also an anti-bacterial in it, so once you start using it, you should continue for the specified duration of time in the directions. They really help ease the itching and inflammation, it's also good to not listen too loudly, especially when inflammation is present, and maybe only listen at 85-90db's max at any time. If you don't already have one, get a Sound Level Pressure Meter so you can get an idea of how loudly you are actally listening. Happy listening, Dan |
Here's a web site that may answer a few questions http://www.lef.org/protocols/prtcl-105.shtml |
sounds as though we all have plenty of company here... I do use the soft earplugs often at work whenever in noisy locations, and that really helps. The ringing always worsens whenever exposure to loud, or even medium-loud noises or music occurs. Excess exposure to loud music, gunfire, and the continual din of cooling fans while working in computer rooms have all contributed. I too am curious about the quietus homeopathic; anyone stating that these are all worthless has obviously never tried Rescue Remedy (which BTW is not for tinnitus). I looked over the quiet relief website but the "click to order a trial discount special" hyperlink failed. I never did call the phone # listed; just seems suspicious or something. I really have to wonder if a ridiculous pricing structure might be a turn-off? |
Hi Slaw, a day in the life of a blob would be sitting in a chair, then sitting at a desk, then sitting in the car, then sitting at the dinner table, then sitting in front of the TV, then going to bed. As the risk of showing how little I know: Equalization of pressure in the ear may have an influence on hearing problems. Musicians can open and close their Eustachian tubes at will. Lymphatic drainage is also related to motion in the spinal column and can be related to the ears. I know people who are fairly active but still have no motion in their sacrum. When they lie on their back with their knees bent and calves on a chair, they get dizzy in a minute as their spine is so locked up. The point is, M.D.'s are overlooking a LOT of potential causes. |
If there really is a cure, I too want to know about it. I have simply learned to live with it, and that is my best recommendation to you. It won’t kill you, it doesn’t hurt, and in fact it’s physically harmless. I know people who have let it emotionally and mentally consume them. My brother-in law wears a set of headphones all day long and listens to “different noise” to take his mind off the ringing. That’s just crazy. Get your mind right. Grasp the facts. You can still hear, you can still enjoy music, you can still conduct business and communicate, make love, laugh, run, jump, skip….It doesn’t have to be something that gets you down, hinders your lifestyle or preoccupies your thoughts. YOU ARE OKAY. Now, live your life…This is how I have beaten the damn thing! I hate to see anyone end up like my brother-in law. By the way, my Tinnitus is so severe that I truly can’t “hear” the quite. If I go into the wilderness to a peaceful isolated place that is as quiet as things get on earth, I just can’t appreciate the lack of sound because of the damned ringing. This is one of the few times that the ringing really affects my lifestyle. At this point, I say #$%@ it, and I have a drink of my favorite medicinal and I take in the visual beauty of the setting. I still appreciate the serenity; I just don’t get to experience the phenomenon of silence. |
I think each one of us might have different reasons that have brought our problem to the point where it is currently at. My tinnitus constantly increases or decreases along with my hyperacusis. There is probably not "one" common thing everyone could do to decrease there symptoms. At one point, I unplugged my stereo and thought I wouldn't be able to use it anymore. (a very low point) I'm doing fairly wll now as long as I'm careful in regards to noise exposure in "ANY" situation. Cdc... What did you mean..."life of a blob"? |
To all you naysayers out there: How can you be so sure hair cell degeneration in the Cochlea is the reason for your tinnitus? Is your tinnitus constant or does it come and go. Or at least increase or decrease? If it isn't constant doesn't it stand to reason that something you are doing is affecting your hearing? And if something is affecting your hearing, then shouldn't you have some control over the problem? There is something called Cranial sacral fluid which, no surprise, goes up your spinal canal from your sacrum (a small triangular bone at the base of your spine) to your head. Dr. Fullford, an osteopathic doctor, found by unlocking children's sacrum, he could eliminate their terrible headaches. Do your symptoms increase with stress? Stress causes the muscles to tighten and lock up the spine more. It also happens with age. Especially if you live the life of a blob or have had trauma to the spine. |
I have had tinitus for at least 15 years. As I type this in a quiet office I can hear it loudly in both ears.it is always a little louder in my right ear which also has a little more hearing loss. A cpl of years ago I read an article that stated the tones my be the brains way of substituting sound to compensate for the lost hearing. I don't know if that is true or not. My thinking is if the mind creates the noise the mind can overcome it. I have found in my case that relaxing, taking a long hot bath with my ears below the water line, and concentrating on relaxing and reducing the noise through meditation can at times reduce it to the point where I have to concentrate to hear it. Mind over matter? I don't know, I don't even care, all I know is I can on occasion reduce the noise level substantially. I would not have believed it was possible a few years ago. My tinitus is not mild. I can hear it over normal conversation when it is at its worst. For the record I am 50 and have been in construction my entire adult life with lots of loud music in my youth. |
Many concerts and loud pounding music on headphones. Luckily, I have what I would term mild tinnitus and have managed to nip it in the bud I think. Occassionally I'll get a semi loud blast from my left ear. But it goes away. In any other sense, I have excellent hearing, thank God. Same as Chazro. Same age same symptoms. I WILL NOT let it progress! In fact, I'm going to a metal concert on tuesday in a small brick venue with 8 of my friends and yes I will be wearing ear protection. Oh hi I'm new here. Building my first hifi. Hopefully my first thread gets posted..... (wrote it last night, kinda puzzled as to why it's not up, I'm ready to buy!) |
What I was trying to say to sufferers is that symetrical tinnitus is unlikely to represent serious pathology and therefore not to be concerned regarding their health, not that they shouuld'nt worry about the tinnitus. You are right that audiograms are pretty unsophisticated and if you look hard enough you will find high tone hearing loss, because everyone develops that with age. Therefore everyone in their 60's has hearing loss. The days of my hearing up to 20000hz is long gone,if they ever existed, I will be lucky to get to 14000. I would put to you Hifitime, what does more sensitive testing get you, but to confirm this high tone loss, which is at present untreatable, except with crude hearing aide devices, which even at there best, often cause more problems than they solve. I take your point, that more research would be done in this area if there was more money in it. That's capitalism for you, we believe in that in the UK as much as you do. |
>>1) Symetrical tinnitus developing in your 50's 60's, is unlikely to be clinically significant. It represents hair cell degeneration in the Cochlea, usually, but not always accompanied with some hearing loss, mine is'nt.<< This statement seems impossible.How could you hear a test frequency when your ringing ears are masking it.I went to one ENT group years back and saw the equipment used for the hearing test and could say it was of poor quality.They said they only need to test the few frequencies that were printed out on the paper they gave me.If your ringing isn't in this this limited test range,it may give the illusion you have no hearing loss.If they changed the standards to high quality tests and equipment,there may be a lot of more accurate results.Apparently,if more money was to be made in this type of medical research,with more profit returns for the pharmaceutical and other interests involved,there might be better help for the affected people. |
I've been to three dr.s and one told me that ear plugs make it worse. Well, I had been wearing those for years at work and I stopped. I did notice some improvement. I started wearing noise suppression headphones and that helped further. (If you're a tradesperson, these are highly recommended) There is a therapy available (neuromonics) but it's $5k and not covered by insurance. |
Ack there you go, simple country Doctors do'nt know all the latest research. The Cochlear hair growth project sounds interesting, though as you know it is probably a long way from day to day clinical application. john I try to advise tinnitus sufferers not to get syringed. An ENT colleague has confirmed he has seen the same result from syringing, on occasion. I tend to recommend warmed olive oil repeated for over a week. That can be interspersed with baking soda in a little water, though that can cause reactions in the ear, as can many of the proprietry brands of wax softeners you can buy at your pharmacy. If that fails you can go for simple aural toilet, where you use a little hoover gadget to clear out the ear. |
All affected should be aware that there is research to regrow cochlear hair, and so far researchers have been successful in growing more (not re-growing after apoptosis or complete deafness) cochlear hair in mice (a mammal) as of 2-3 years ago, under certain laboratory conditions. They know regeneration is possible, and therefore there is hope. See http://audiology.advanceweb.com/Article/Regrowing-Hair-Cells-in-the-Human-Cochlea.aspx and http://depts.washington.edu/hearing/InnerEarHairCellRegeneration.php |
Elizabeth, I am one of the morons they call a Doctor and I have tinnitus and love my music. Essentially. as you say, it is untreatable as things stand. That, by the way is not Doctor's fault. It is if they charge you large amounts of money with no results, but then I work in the NHS in the UK, so that does'nt apply. Some simple observations of country doctor who has been working for 30 years. There really is no substitute for experience. 1) Symetrical tinnitus developing in your 50's 60's, is unlikely to be clinically significant. It represents hair cell degeneration in the Cochlea, usually, but not always accompanied with some hearing loss, mine is'nt. As it is degenerative and you can'nt transplant cochlears, there is no great cure on the horizon. I offer to refer to ENT specialists, but say to my patients, they are unlikely to offer any help. 2) Unilateral tinnitus is, in my view always worth investigating with an MRI, to exclude a benign tumour called an Acoustic Neuroma 3) Most people are'nt that troubled by tinnitus as it is a constant sensory input. To insult you all with some grade school philosophy of perception, the brain is designed to seek change in sensory input, not constant ones. You need to see the Tiger walking through the trees, not the trees. 4) A few people are driven absolutely crazy by tinnitus, to the point of suicide. That is very difficult. The definitive solution is surgical ablation of the Cochlea, but it makes you stone deaf of course. You can try white noise generators, they may help a bit. There are newer behavioural theray techniques, that are said to help, I have no experience with them 5) and most important, if you have tinnitus, AVOID EXPOSURE TO LOUD NOISE. I shouted so you would hear. Tinnitus sufferers are very sensitive, in my view, to further deterioration due to noise exposure. So be careful if you enjoy live Heavy Metal. I would also be careful about ear syringing for wax. I have seen it start or worsen tinnitus, I do'nt know why. Lecture over, let me know if you disagree |
FWIW: The human body, after all, is a machine and machines make noise when they function. I remember sensing "noise from within" as I lay in bed (around 5 years old). I asked my Mother about its source and she had no answer. I am hearing this same noise as I write and deem it "residual noise from electrical activity in my body". I think Tinnitus must be this noise on steroids. BTW, does anyone hear perfect silence? |
I don't think this has been mentioned, and am not at all sure what value-worth this info has. Years ago, I had this problem as well, a ringing in my ears. After working 30 years in a railroad yard, I think many can understand why. I seen a ear doctor, he cleaned me ears, and suggested mega doses of Niacinamide, as there seemed to be some promise from some that were afflicted. I remember him saying one possible downside to taking Niacinamide, was flushing of the face. I took the supplement for about 3 months, and don't honestly recall results from taking it, but after awhile, the severity of tinnitus seemed to recede to where only on a rare occasion do I hear some slight ringing for a few minutes at a time. Mark |
Nicotico: Your thoughts on car noise are interesting. Ear plugs impacting wax should not be an issue, if your ears are clean. The over the counter Murine kit is easy to use, though it may require repeated application, and it is not unlikely that reducing wax buildup helps with Tinnitus. Listening fatigue (and possibly, Tinnitus) can likely be ameliorated by gear choices. For me, getting rid of metal drivers and moving to silk dome tweeter and paper mid-bass helped. "Hard-sounding" SS electronics might also be an issue. Good luck, everybody! John |
