1 Year Tinniversary

DirM

Member
Author
Benefactor
Aug 12, 2016
58
San Diego
Tinnitus Since
07/2016
Cause of Tinnitus
TMJ/TMD
A few thoughts on my 1-year tinniversary. I have been treating it as a TMJ problem, and had improvement from a 7/10 to a 2/10 after eight months, but seem stalled at 2/10, with hours here and there of 1's and hours of 3's occasionally. A few thoughts that I thought I might share:

- I used to love, love LOVE silence. An extreme introvert, I craved time alone with nature, soft music, or even just silence. I have not heard silence in a year, and am resigned to never getting to zero, but surprisingly this bothers me less than I thought it would. But this took a lot of readjusting and acceptance that I am not in control.

- I was debilitated with constant anxiety the first few months when it started, but today can go a few hours forgetting that I even have it. It does not go away, but getting involved watching TV, reading a book, or even enjoying a restaurant with friends or family I don't notice it, and forget I have it. I will then suddenly realize that - gosh - that ringing on my ears is still there.

- Three months into T I had to give a public speech (which I normally do well at), but the T threw me off, distracted me, prevented me from collecting my thoughts. Worst speech in my life. Work took extreme concentration. Today I have no issues, present to my boss and others often without hearing it.

- Like many other posters, I am surprised at the number of other T sufferers out here when you mention it - two brother-in-laws even, and I have known them for years. So many suffer without sharing.

- My T is not hearing-loss related, so as mentioned in the linked-post above I have more avenues for finding the reason and helping the T. My TMJ treatments have lowered the T from an average of 7/10 to 2/10, and I have noticed a clicking that used to happen when I walked (or any motion of my head) is now gone. However, after another 8-9 months of braces (I'm a tin-grin at 50) if my average doesn't go down, I will start looking at other causes/treatments.
 
A few thoughts on my 1-year tinniversary. I have been treating it as a TMJ problem, and had improvement from a 7/10 to a 2/10 after eight months, but seem stalled at 2/10, with hours here and there of 1's and hours of 3's occasionally. A few thoughts that I thought I might share:

- I used to love, love LOVE silence. An extreme introvert, I craved time alone with nature, soft music, or even just silence. I have not heard silence in a year, and am resigned to never getting to zero, but surprisingly this bothers me less than I thought it would. But this took a lot of readjusting and acceptance that I am not in control.

- I was debilitated with constant anxiety the first few months when it started, but today can go a few hours forgetting that I even have it. It does not go away, but getting involved watching TV, reading a book, or even enjoying a restaurant with friends or family I don't notice it, and forget I have it. I will then suddenly realize that - gosh - that ringing on my ears is still there.

- Three months into T I had to give a public speech (which I normally do well at), but the T threw me off, distracted me, prevented me from collecting my thoughts. Worst speech in my life. Work took extreme concentration. Today I have no issues, present to my boss and others often without hearing it.

- Like many other posters, I am surprised at the number of other T sufferers out here when you mention it - two brother-in-laws even, and I have known them for years. So many suffer without sharing.

- My T is not hearing-loss related, so as mentioned in the linked-post above I have more avenues for finding the reason and helping the T. My TMJ treatments have lowered the T from an average of 7/10 to 2/10, and I have noticed a clicking that used to happen when I walked (or any motion of my head) is now gone. However, after another 8-9 months of braces (I'm a tin-grin at 50) if my average doesn't go down, I will start looking at other causes/treatments.
@DirM Thank you so much for this! I love hearing about stories like yours! It really makes me happy and optimistic about my future, as I find myself getting a tiny bit better each day despite setbacks. Keep in touch! xoxo Rosemary
 
I thought I was the only one with clicking noise while walking.
Congrats on your success. :)

I get that too. But it seems to be coming from my neck, not my ears??? I'm not really sure but it is annoying. A bit. Nothing compared to T.
 
I have the same issue - mostly. Upper cervical chiropractic, Intra-oral massage and dry needling have helped tremendously. I'm starting the same dental splint therapy in a few weeks with an LVI dentist. What therapies have you tried other than splint therapy?

Danielle
 

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