Exercise and Tinnitus — Experiences

[Steve]

Permanently worse? Do you have reactive T?

Not permanently worse, more that it gets louder directly related to heavy lifting. When I back off and do some easier lifting it subsides again.

This is probably a lot to do with my own personal causations though, the strain gets me around the neck area and jaw and this affects my tinnitus pitch and volume.

Yes, my tinnitus is reactive to sound.

 

[Suzerman]

Hello everyone.

I have had mild tinnitus for over a year now, and since getting this condition I have stopped doing a lot of things and take a lot of preventing measures as well. I still don't really know what the cause of my tinnitus is. I have retracted ear drums, which implies some kind of eustachian tube dysfunction, however I also have TMJ, which I am seeing a jaw therapist for. I posted a thread here once on how I feel those two conditions are linked. However, I also get a lot of fleeting tinnitus attacks that mostly seem to be triggered by bad posture or how my neck is bent. Besides these possible causes I also do not fully discredit the idea of this being related to some type of mild hearing loss, besides the hearing test results. I used to be quite abusive with my iPod and used to go to quite a few night clubs back in the day. It's been driving me nuts to try and figure out what the direct cause is, but because of the strong physical component in all of this I have been scared to exercise.

I used to have quite an active work out routine, which included a lot of aerobics, strength training etc. I have been really scared to attempt to do this again, because I feel as if it could make matters worse somehow. Sometimes I get fleeting tinnitus by just sitting down weirdly, or bending my neck a little bit, which makes me scared to make myself do a sit up or push up of any kind. But at the same time I talked to my aunt who has tinnitus also, and she said she works out because it helps her a lot with her tinnitus. I am also overweight so it would be nice to just get a bit more active and feel a bit more healthy. And overall I just feel it would be good for me.

What do you guys think? Am I overreacting ? Should I just work out and maybe see if it has an effect? Is any effect likely to be permanent? I'm just gathering information on this subject to try and decide what to do. Thanks everyone in advance

 

[coffee_girl]

I run for 2 miles every day, rain or sunshine. It has maybe increased my tinnitus for 15 minutes afterwards...(I think due to blood rush) but it calms down every time.

 

[Bam]

1. How active you are

I wake up and don't stop all day, every day. 2-4 hours of dog walking/running. Then between 6-8 hours of cycling 7 days a week in my job as a courier. If I didn't drink every night to sleep I would be very very fit.

1. What sort of exercise you do

Cycling, running/walking.

1. How loud your tinnitus is?

Loud. Audible over everything but multiple loud sounds over approx 90db.

1. How annoying your tinnitus is

Let's just say I would be very pleased to be dead.

1. Experience with exercise and tinnitus - does it go louder / quieter in the sort and long term, is it dependent on the type of exercise you do?

Zero change to volume but without extreme amounts of exercise I would have killed myself already....simple as that.

1. Anything else you can tell that could help us understand more about any links

Nope. Wish I knew more.

 

[Agrajag364]

Hello to all.

We're going to be putting a survey together, working with some researchers, to understand more about exercise and tinnitus.

Can you please share your own experiences with me?

For me personally I've had a good uninterrupted year of the gym, going usually 5 days per week. It's coincided with just not caring about my tinnitus so much, despite it being louder (possibly due to the intensity of the exercise I do). Could be coincidence...

We're interested in:

1. How active you are
2. What sort of exercise you do
3. How loud your tinnitus is
4. How annoying your tinnitus is
5. Experience with exercise and tinnitus - does it go louder / quieter in the sort and long term, is it dependent on the type of exercise you do?
6. Anything else you can tell that could help us understand more about any links

The hypothesis is that exercise regulates cortisol, the stress hormone. Less cortisol equals less tinnitus distress. Do people who have bothersome tinnitus exercise less, feel more stress (increases in cortisol) which makes it harder to cope, thus increasing the stress response?

• How active you are

I go through phases of cycling daily to a few times a week. Before I lost my job due to the tinnitus and other conditions I walked about 7 miles a day to/from work/as part of my job

• What sort of exercise you do

I go through phases of cycling daily to a few times a week. I struggle to do this due to limitations placed by other physical health problems (not the tinnitus)

• How loud your tinnitus is

It varies day by day. Some days moderate - audible over sound masking but blocked by a windy day outside. Some days loud - audible over everything

• How annoying your tinnitus is

Very. I struggle with it particularly on loud days, probably due to being a noise sensitive person and having other health problems to deal with

• Experience with exercise and tinnitus - does it go louder / quieter in the sort and long term, is it dependent on the type of exercise you do?

I think my tinnitus gets a bit quieter after exercising. Walking is not enough, it seems to have to be cycling.

• Anything else you can tell that could help us understand more about any links

My tinnitus does seem to be linked to stress somewhat.

The hypothesis is that exercise regulates cortisol, the stress hormone. Less cortisol equals less tinnitus distress. Do people who have bothersome tinnitus exercise less, feel more stress (increases in cortisol) which makes it harder to cope, thus increasing the stress response?