tinnitus

standard one

I have a hearing aid a year now and i only hear it now and then usually when it is quiet . but keep trying to block it out I found that helped

the_syco

Has anyone tried other noise apart from white noise, such as pink noise or brown noise?

jaonphoto

Hi Sorry to hear about your tinnitus. I got this a few years ago and the first month drove me absolutely crazy. After reading up on the subject I just got more depressed, which in turn made the tinnitus worse. I decided that if stress was making it worse then it was important to de-stress myself to help me live with this affliction. I took up yoga and started feeling much more in control after a while. I also found an Iphone App called "Tinnitus Help" which really helped me get through the nights. The app allows you to program itself to the sound of your tinnitus and then create masking sound (very pleasing sounds of nature). Once you have created a mask it then allows you to play soothing music over the whole sound. The theory of this method, is that it allows you to de-focus on the annoying ringing sound. After a while you should notice an improvement. For me this really did help me through the worse part. The app cost around 12 quid I think but it was the best few quid I spent in years ;-) I also tried other similar apps but found this one the best so far.

Good luck
John

maninasia

I've had it on and off over the last year. It's still not clear what's been causing it, but after a few months I have figured out how to manage it.
The major factors which exarcebate it are simply tiredness, caffeine and beer. The major way to resolve this, not surprisingly, is to get more sleep and drink less alcohol and coffee!

This has been surprising to me because I have gone to a few different doctors and specialists, and none of them had focused on stress and tiredness although one did recommend to cut back on alcohol and caffeine. They tested my hearing professionally which showed some minor hearing loss and then prescribed some drugs to help with circulation. I took them for a short while but rather than that I think the doctors should focus on emphasizing other ways to improve one's health.

Now I can sense when I am tired and force myself to go to sleep ON-TIME so to speak. The caffeine was interfering with my sleep patterns and I just drink earlier in the day now. Weirdly some brands of beer (naturally yeasty ones perhaps) seem to set off my tinnitus more than others.

I understand there are many different causes of tinnitus aswell as symptoms, but I recommend everybody to try and get more sleep and check your tiredness levels (hopefully before the tinnitus starts up of course!). I talked with my wife and realised she also suffers from tinnitus from time to time due to lack of sleep.

There has also been research that has come out that shows there is a significant benefit to getting 7.5 hours of sleep a night rather than 6.5 hours sleep a night, just one hour difference makes a LOT of difference.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-24444634

Dr Simon Archer and his team at Surrey University were particularly interested in looking at the genes that were switched on or off in our volunteers by changes in the amount that we had made them sleep.

"We found that overall there were around 500 genes that were affected," Archer explained. "Some which were going up, and some which were going down."

What they discovered is that when the volunteers cut back from seven-and-a-half to six-and-a-half hours' sleep a night, genes that are associated with processes like inflammation, immune response and response to stress became more active. The team also saw increases in the activity of genes associated with diabetes and risk of cancer. The reverse happened when the volunteers added an hour of sleep.

So the clear message from this experiment was that if you are getting less than seven hours' sleep a night and can alter your sleep habits, even just a little bit, it could make you healthier. "Have a lie-in, it will do you good" - that's the kind of health message that doesn't come along very often.

I was also quite anxious when I first started experiencing it, you don't know what's happening, how bad it's going to get, and it sets off a bit of a negative cycle which can make things worse, harder to sleep and relax etc.

It's definitely a comfort to me to realise I'm not the only one out there who suffers from it.

Mars Bar

I've always thought that on a night out, it was a loud venue that causes my ears to ring like mad. But tonight, I was out for a good few drinks (most I've had in a while) in quiet venues with friends and my ears are ringing like mad. it has to be the alcohol. Serious consideration will be going in to going tee-total.

waynerooney

I've found that too. Even one drink, and tinnitus becomes more noticeable. I must say that I have been on an antidepressant for the last 18 months and that my tinnitus (while still present) has caused me pretty much ZERO annoyance since.

SpaceTime

I have it as a result of trauma due to ear surgery to repair a hole in my eardrum.

Never been able to get rid of it. Basically it just sounds like a constant ultra high pitch whirr. A bit like what you'd hear from a faulty power supply or an old CRT tube in a television or maybe a capacitor charging.

Usually it's relatively easy to ignore but sometimes it's just a loud tone that will distract me enough to make me turn my head. It would be as loud as a mobile phone ringing. I mean it will just suddenly switch on at random for a few seconds or minutes and its so loud its distracting. Swallowing or rebalancing my middle ear pressure by popping my ears (gently) usually stops it.

I asked my GP about it and got a fairly patronising response that it's probably psychological.

I think the surgery traumatised or even damaged my inner ear. That's when it started and it's been present ever since.

My hearing is fine - perfect and above average in one ear and just very tiny bit down at low frequencies in the repaired ear.

The noise just never, ever stops though.
If it's really bad it wakes me up or even gets incorporated into my dreams/nightmares.

I think all you can do is tune it out and ignore it.

If anyone has similar problems or any tips I'd be delighted to hear about them as so far, it looks like the only solution is to train your brain to actively ignore the tone.

Mars Bar

SpaceTime wrote: »

Usually it's relatively easy to ignore but sometimes it's just a loud tone that will distract me enough to make me turn my head. It would be as loud as a mobile phone ringing. I mean it will just suddenly switch on at random for a few seconds or minutes and its so loud its distracting.

Sounds like fleeting tinnitus. I genuinely thought there was something seriously wrong with me when I got it first but apparently it's pretty common. It's very, very unsettling though!

the_syco

SpaceTime wrote: »

I asked my GP about it and got a fairly patronising response that it's probably psychological.

Funk your GP. Get a 2nd opinion!

TBH, you'd goto an optican to check your eyes, so consider going to a recommended audiologist (Bonovox/DeafHear/Hidden Hearing) for them to check your ear.

Probably Deafhear, as they sell a selection of devices and CD's that are meant to help tinnitus suffers.

SpaceTime

I might check it out, usually I just leave the radio on all night.

manutd4life

I was diagnosed with tinnitus back in September 2012 coming from playing drums without ear protection. It got to me at the beginning but I have learned to just get on with things. I'm lucky in that my mates are clubbers and don't really head out to nightclubs so I don't really have to worry about loud noises. Anytime we do go out for a birthday party or anything like that, I usually bring earplugs with me which really cuts out the noise.

Not2Good

what else could cause T? Had it as long as I can remember, hissing away now.....

the_syco

Not2Good wrote: »

what else could cause T? Had it as long as I can remember, hissing away now.....

Workplace noise, such as jackhammer on building site, etc, and also loud noises from guns, from the military or your hobby. A lot of people shooting clay pigeons use silenced guns as otherwise it'll affect your hearing after a few shots if you shoot without ear protection.

Not2Good

Cheers thanks for that, I am beginning to blame the 'Aerosmith' concert (fado fado ) when I was young and foolish!

the_syco

Not2Good wrote: »

Cheers thanks for that, I am beginning to blame the 'Aerosmith' concert (fado fado ) when I was young and foolish!

Unless you were right at the speakers, it generally wouldn't be the cause. Tinnitus is most often caused by loud noise over a period of time (not a doctor, so can't give the music the all clear, but it's doubtful that that's what caused it.

echancrure

I am 44 and got tinnitus 4 years ago after a very bad ear infection.

I haven't found much on the web about tinnitus after ear infection.

I was probably run down at the time and also too a couple of flights which I read did not help matters. I also went to my GP too late.

The ear drum burst because of the infection pressure and it took a couple of weeks to find the right antibiotics after that to clear things up.

The result is permanent tinnitus in my left ear. Went to private consultant because I had health insurance at the time and I did not find the experience useful at all, got an MRI as well etc. probably just to bump up the bill. Never got any useful advice out of it.

I live with it, it is OK if annoying if I think about it.

I've ditched the health insurance, not because I can't afford it, not because I distrust private health care, but because I cannot live with the guilt of jumping waiting list in front of people more deserving than me while not paying the full price.

Not2Good

Sorry that you have it too, ear infection .. I am sure there are many who got it the same way?

echancrure

Not2Good wrote: »

Sorry that you have it too, ear infection .. I am sure there are many who got it the same way?

I think that having tinnitus during an ear infection is common but having long term damage by an ear infection causing non curable tinnitus seems much rarer.

But I am no expert.

roundymac

I got an ear infection, gp missed it at first, took another gp in the practise to spot it, any way the ear would not drain, got sent to a consultant who deceided to insert a gromet, cleared the ear but left me with tinnitus.

doney84

echancrure wrote: »

I think that having tinnitus during an ear infection is common but having long term damage by an ear infection causing non curable tinnitus seems much rarer.

But I am no expert.

Probably rarer but I suffered from ear infections all through my childhood and by the time I was 21 I needed a mastroidectomy on my right ear which left me with permanent tinnitus & at 22 I needed the same operation on my left ear again leaving permanent tinnitus ... My consultant says I'm very unlucky to have needed the operation on both sides but the constant ear infections destroyed my middle ear on both sides so bad that the operations were needed.

echancrure

doney84 wrote: »

Probably rarer but I suffered from ear infections all through my childhood and by the time I was 21 I needed a mastroidectomy on my right ear which left me with permanent tinnitus & at 22 I needed the same operation on my left ear again leaving permanent tinnitus ... My consultant says I'm very unlucky to have needed the operation on both sides but the constant ear infections destroyed my middle ear on both sides so bad that the operations were needed.

That is bad luck indeed.
Hope you are coping well.

doney84

echancrure wrote: »

That is bad luck indeed.
Hope you are coping well.

Thanks ... Like you said yourself, I live with it, some days are better than others. I just try to forget about it and keep myself busy with other things.

Dude111

doney84 wrote:

Probably rarer but I suffered from ear infections all through my childhood and by the time I was 21 I needed a mastroidectomy on my right ear which left me with permanent tinnitus & at 22 I needed the same operation on my left ear again leaving permanent tinnitus ... My consultant says I'm very unlucky to have needed the operation on both sides but the constant ear infections destroyed my middle ear on both sides so bad that the operations were needed.

Im so sorry buddy

DmcF

Is all tinnitus accompanied by ear and head pain?
I have bad tinnitus but its the head pain and ear fullness/ache thats probably the worst part.
Thanks

doney84

DmcF wrote: »

Is all tinnitus accompanied by ear and head pain?
I have bad tinnitus but its the head pain and ear fullness/ache thats probably the worst part.
Thanks

I don't think all tinnitus is caused by ear & head pain as some people get it by being exposed to loud noisey places eg. concerts

If u have ear fullness/ache , I'd get a doctor 2 check it out cos if ur ear needs syringing it could relieve the pressure and get rid of the tinnitus.

DmcF

Thanks,
Yes I've had my ears checked for wax etc.. and all is fine. I am around loud sounds quite alot but always wear ear protection, but its still getting worse.
Was involved in a bad car accident many years ago and had a lot of neck and back trouble, have been told there could be a link there to tinnitus?

SpaceTime

DmcF wrote: »

Is all tinnitus accompanied by ear and head pain?
I have bad tinnitus but its the head pain and ear fullness/ache thats probably the worst part.
Thanks

No, tinnitus is just a noise in your hearing system. It can be caused by a whole load of things.

doney84

DmcF wrote: »

Thanks,
Yes I've had my ears checked for wax etc.. and all is fine. I am around loud sounds quite alot but always wear ear protection, but its still getting worse.
Was involved in a bad car accident many years ago and had a lot of neck and back trouble, have been told there could be a link there to tinnitus?

Is your head pain caused by the accident? If not, and it is caused by sinus problems, I have heard before that this can cause tinnitus.

DmcF

SpaceTime wrote: »

No, tinnitus is just a noise in your hearing system. It can be caused by a whole load of things.

So what if I have tinnitus (10 years now) and over the past year have started getting headaches, ear ache (kinda)? As well.

DmcF

doney84 wrote: »

Is your head pain caused by the accident? If not, and it is caused by sinus problems, I have heard before that this can cause tinnitus.

Really not sure what's caused it, driving me mad trying to find out