Anyone successful in dealing with Tinnitus?

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.