How Many Are Using Back to Silence with Success?

[noisebox]

I'm really curious how many people are using the amazing Back to Silence technique who have had partial or total success?

I'm one of life difficult cases so to hear success stories would help me a lot.

 

[daniel1111]

I have some success with it, but I'm not following it to the letter. I don't think being completely honest and saying "I hear my T and I'm sad, depressed, want to die, etc" is healthy. That could just make depression related to T worse, which makes T even worse.

The useful part of it for me is that it redirects your thoughts when trying to measure and analyse your T sound and I think that's the main reason it works. I supposed there are multiple ways of acheiving that goal though.

 

[Natalie Roberts]

Seems like a form of mindfulness. Acknowledging something, being kind to yourself and moving on. I don't use this method but I do practice mindful meditation and I find that help full

 

[Andersson]

Tried it for a few weeks but no success so far.
Tried it after my T increased, but I guess since I got a depression and high anxiety it's hard to make it work.
I am still trying to not messure the volume, just my response to it (just that I hear it 24/7 now again over everything so I would litteraly have to respond every second I am awake, which just is impossible)

 

[Atlantis]

I tried it for a week, no help.

 

[Phil-O]

I have been doing BTS for several months, some success, but need to be more consistent / determined. Anxiety and depression do make it harder. Regards Phil

 

[Aya]

Been using BTS since October. T isn't gone and does flare up from time to time (especially after things that trigger it), but looking back I must say that lately I hardly respond to it, even if I hear it. Now, I don't know if that's proper use of BTS, but what I don't need, I don't use ;-)

The problem I have with saying: "I hear the T, I feel..." is that most of the time I have no feelings toward it. It is there, I hear it and accept that it's there and that it will drop back down to base level, either in little time or a couple days.

I've tried the words and tried to muster up feelings towards it, but the only thing it does to me anymore is make me very slightly nervous on occasion. I have been using only one sentence: "I hear the T, I am relaxed" (I do a couple of breathing exercises when I whisper that like 5 times and relax all my muscles). After that I go about my business, whether I still hear it or not.

Maybe it means that the BTS is slowly kicking in, or I have built up a tolerance for it, because as long as I can remember I have suffered from headaches (originating from my neck and shoulder muscles) and when I had those, I learned to accept that I had them and all I could do is wait until my muscles relaxed again and the headache would subside, which usually took a whole day until like 3 in the morning. I had no feelings towards that either, I just waited it out.

My brain apparently looks at (a spike in) my T the same way as it does at headaches, because I hardly respond to it anymore and just wait it out. I try to get my mind occupied with other things and try to ignore it.

 

[noisebox]

I think I need to hear about some more people using this process with success.

 

[Bobby B]

I tried it and it works - each time I was able to totally not hear my T for a few minutes, 5 or 10 min right after talking to myself how I feel about it.
But I need to be more consistent throughout the day...I sort of did run out of things to say about T without being repetitive.

Not sure if I am doing it right..if you feel the same about T then you repeat the same stuff over and over ?

On my days off I'm mostly just too lazy to do anything about my T and end up listening to it out of habit and passivity, just like you would watch people passing by when sitting in a cafe...not thinking much about anything ...which after a while does make T fade away eventually..I call it the Lazy T method.

As long as the brain does not flag it as danger sound - it will sort of fade away.

Workdays are better when I concentrate on issues and work stuff. Lunch breaks & commute are hell because my T reacts to noise as the ear cells/nerves are damaged so even with earmuffs the music and noise amplifies my T. Maybe that's when I need to do more BTS..

 

[Phil-O]

I tried it and it works - each time I was able to totally not hear my T for a few minutes, 5 or 10 min right after talking to myself how I feel about it.
But I need to be more consistent throughout the day...I sort of did run out of things to say about T without being repetitive.

Hi @Bobby B @I who love music
That's my problem exactly. When the method starts to do its magic I get lazy and let the T volume thoughts back in. Need to be more resolute. Regards Phil

 

[Telis]

If this method works for you, I would imagine that you probably have some phycological issues and not tinnitus. If you can make your T go away by thinking certain things then honestly I don't know what to say but maybe go see a shrink and skip the ENT.

 

[Bobby B]

@I who love music has had T longer than most of us here so he knows what he is talking about.
I have firearms - rifles and machine guns not small hand guns- shooting induced T and hearing loss from the army , and we also did shoot very loud anti tank rockets and bazookas in one or two occasions back then. I was in the anti-tank unit.

Being young my ears were still fresh so to speak. And we were motivated to practice against a potential invasion by the Soviet Union..not a name you hear often these days though

All these weapons will give you some hearing damage over time even with the best hearing protection (plugs & muffs) because the noise is just too much ....and lately I did shooting at a range which made it considerably worse and that gave me the current Tinnitus I had it the minute I left the range which has not changed much since...I guess I also prepped my ears for T with 3 decades of loud clubbing in Europe then Asia - the sound level is just crazy there with no rules whatsoever - and more loud music at home and in my cars as I had somewhat bad ears...no wonder how

I forgot to mention that I also removed the muffler from one of my 500ci v8 car so It went crazy loud for years but that's the way I liked it.

In perspective I am surprised it took me even so long to get the T ..seems like it was overdue.

back to the subject..

I am still able to put T in the background using his BTS method though - at least for a few minutes.

It does work not sure how.

I am not a depressive person by any shot and never visited a shrink or took any pyscho. medications in my whole life including sleeping meds, and I lost my jobs and various GF's and even my mother at some point in life too...but again,now the sound is there 24/7 even though its possible to put it back into the subconscious where it belongs and that's just one of the method using the mind power and no medications.

 

[I who love music]

@I who love music has had T longer than most of us here so he knows what he is talking about.
I have firearms - rifles and machine guns not small hand guns- shooting induced T and hearing loss from the army , and we also did shoot very loud anti tank rockets and bazookas in one or two occasions back then. I was in the anti-tank unit.

Being young my ears were still fresh so to speak. And we were motivated to practice against a potential invasion by the Soviet Union..not a name you hear often these days though

All these weapons will give you some hearing damage over time even with the best hearing protection (plugs & muffs) because the noise is just too much ....and lately I did shooting at a range which made it considerably worse and that gave me the current Tinnitus I had it the minute I left the range which has not changed much since...I guess I also prepped my ears for T with 3 decades of loud clubbing in Europe then Asia - the sound level is just crazy there with no rules whatsoever - and more loud music at home and in my cars as I had somewhat bad ears...no wonder how

I forgot to mention that I also removed the muffler from one of my 500ci v8 car so It went crazy loud for years but that's the way I liked it.

In perspective I am surprised it took me even so long to get the T ..seems like it was overdue.

back to the subject..

I am still able to put T in the background using his BTS method though - at least for a few minutes.

It does work not sure how.

Man, you've got the right mindset. "Put it in the background."
In my "Loud" years, I too loved loud cars (in addition to the music). I had a 69 LeMans with loud dual exhaust. it was fun though.

I am not a depressive person by any shot and never visited a shrink or took any pyscho. medications in my whole life including sleeping meds, and I lost my jobs and various GF's and even my mother at some point in life too...but again,now the sound is there 24/7 even though its possible to put it back into the subconscious where it belongs and that's just one of the method using the mind power and no medications.

 

[Alue]

I tried it and it works - each time I was able to totally not hear my T for a few minutes, 5 or 10 min right after talking to myself how I feel about it.
But I need to be more consistent throughout the day...I sort of did run out of things to say about T without being repetitive.

I just don't understand how talking to yourself can make the T disappear, even temporarily. Do people that have success using BTS experience this? That's the thing I can't understand, so you respond to your T but you can hear it immediately after, do you respond to it right away again? I haven't had a moment where I could not hear my T since onset, not a single one.

 

[Sailboardman]

I've tried this method for 3 months and to date, haven't had a moments silence, unless I'm asleep. When you throw in severe hearing loss, it's another ball game. Even if T wasn't present, the dull, din of deafness, is wretched. Any noise, just overloads the auditory system and it reacts with a heavy hand on the internal volume control. There's just no consistency with reactive T, so your brain just gets confused and has to try and re-learn yet another variation on a theme.

Even with a hearing aid, shit just sounds weird and the brain knows it. If the noise in your head, is way louder than your TV turned up pretty high, it's kinda hard, not to hear your T, intruding and distorting the overall soundtrack. No Jedi mind trick, can override shit hearing.

However, I still try to use BTS everyday and also find getting angry at my T, when I'm fed up to my arse with it, works somewhat. My standard chant with BTS, is: "I hear it and I don't want to hear it anymore today." My dark chant is: "I hear it and if it doesn't shut the f..k up pretty soon, I'm gonna kill it!" I'm leaning towards the latter lately! My last utterance in this world will be, Free at last! }

 

[noisebox]

I've tried this method for 3 months and to date, haven't had a moments silence, unless I'm asleep. When you throw in severe hearing loss, it's another ball game. Even if T wasn't present, the dull, din of deafness, is wretched. Any noise, just overloads the auditory system and it reacts with a heavy hand on the internal volume control. There's just no consistency with reactive T, so your brain just gets confused and has to try and re-learn yet another variation on a theme.

Even with a hearing aid, shit just sounds weird and the brain knows it. If the noise in your head, is way louder than your TV turned up pretty high, it's kinda hard, not to hear your T, intruding and distorting the overall soundtrack. No Jedi mind trick, can override shit hearing.

However, I still try to use BTS everyday and also find getting angry at my T, when I'm fed up to my arse with it, works somewhat. My standard chant with BTS, is: "I hear it and I don't want to hear it anymore today." My dark chant is: "I hear it and if it doesn't shut the f..k up pretty soon, I'm gonna kill it!" I'm leaning towards the latter lately! My last utterance in this world will be, Free at last! }

I'm not good at explaining the science behind this logic, but can I say dont use negative because your primitive brain is still at the age of a 5 year old and does not understand negatives.

 

[Sailboardman]

I'm not good at explaining the science behind this logic, but can I say dont use negative because your primitive brain is still at the age of a 5 year old and does not understand negatives.

I understand this, but quite honestly, the BTS method works on you current feelings towards your T. Most of which are negative feelings. "I hear it and I feel depressed," or I hear it and I feel anxious," etc. So, how can this work on the primitive brain successfully? You are reinforcing negative feelings. I have had low days, which just occasionally happens and have said, "I don't hear, so I'm at peace." Or, "I don't hear it and I'm ok." Unfortunately these low periods don't last long and I'm back to relentless noise and it wipes out all the progress I've made.

I think IWLM's 40 year span of having T, has a lot to do with his success. (I'm sure he'll disagree with me on this.) I would think he has habituated over time, or just has gotten so use to it and he doesn't hear it anymore. The BTS method just coincided, with all the years he's put in with T.

My brother's had it for 35 years and he doesn't hear it, unless he listens for it. He said it took years to ignore it. He lives a normal life.

 

[Cheza]

I think IWLM's 40 year span of having T, has a lot to do with his success. (I'm sure he'll disagree with me on this.) I would think he has habituated over time, or just has gotten so use to it and he doesn't hear it anymore. The BTS method just coincided, with all the years he's put in with T.

I think that has something to do with it, that either you've had it for a long time and there have been periods where you don't notice it so you already have established an alternate pathway for the signal, even if seldom used, or you've had it for a short time and can reroute the tinnitus signal pathway from the amygdala to the prefrontal cortex.

Another thing I'm wondering is whether being involved in a work environment with other people and activity around you throughout the day helps the habituation process. What about those who work from home or stay at home in a fairly quiet environment? Even with sound enrichment, it still isn't enough to distract from the tinnitus.

This is my second go-round with BTS, and this time I've been applying BTS for several months now with no improvement. I found an article about "amygdala hijacking" which might explain why we're having this trouble. It seems that the ability of our prefrontal cortex to wrest control away from the amygdala is significantly impaired. If living with severe tinnitus isn't a stress signal, I don't know what is.
Excerpt:
"If neurons in the amygdala receive stress signals continously from the same stimulus such as exams, fines or workplace hassles they become sensitized making it easier for the amygdala to be hijacked."

Another article supports that theory.
Excerpt:
"... during normal functioning, the enlarged prefrontal cortex in humans can modulate emotional impulses generated in the amygdalae. Continued stressful circumstances, however, can potentiate amygdalae functioning, allowing it to become more powerful—some might even say willful—over time, sometimes exerting subcortical control over our human cortical reasoning. Such potentiated activity can exacerbate symptoms of mental illness, including obsessions and compulsions."

I don't think it's a stretch to say that tinnitus is a form of obsession. I believe a tendency to OCD and ADHD may predispose someone to tinnitus. Same orchard, different tree.

 

[Wout]

I have had tinnitus since I was 6 (35 years now). It never stops, but at least it is outside conversation frequencies. Normally, I don't notice it. It gets more noticeable for a day or two when I visit these forums

I suppose I followed a similar route to BTS, I have 0 emotional response to my tinnitus, I just ignore it and eventually I don't notice it.

It is never gone, I can hear it whenever I want to, but I don't notice it. Big difference.

Another data point: the excellent book "The Willpower Instinct" explains in Chapter 9 how thinking about something you must not do ironically leads to you thinking about it more often. This is called ironic rebound. To get around this, they propose giving up instead of fighting: noticing it, accepting it, and ignoring it. I think that's basically BTS?

 

[Mario martz]

I have had tinnitus since I was 6 (35 years now). It never stops, but at least it is outside conversation frequencies. Normally, I don't notice it. It gets more noticeable for a day or two when I visit these forums

I suppose I followed a similar route to BTS, I have 0 emotional response to my tinnitus, I just ignore it and eventually I don't notice it.

It is never gone, I can hear it whenever I want to, but I don't notice it. Big difference.

Another data point: the excellent book "The Willpower Instinct" explains in Chapter 9 how thinking about something you must not do ironically leads to you thinking about it more often. This is called ironic rebound. To get around this, they propose giving up instead of fighting: noticing it, accepting it, and ignoring it. I think that's basically BTS?

interesting, ive been thinking about that lately, people who dont have any emotional response to tinnitus.
do you still go to loud places? does it spike with food?
just wondering.

 

[Wout]

do you still go to loud places? does it spike with food?

I go to concerts, if it was too loud I have ringing on top of my T.

My T doesn't change with food or anyhing. It sounds a lot like a train stopping. I can will it louder but not quieter. Sometimes there are some extra frequencies that come to whistle along, like the tones in a hearing test.

I have the hearing frecuency response of an 80-year-old.

When I want to concentrate on work, I use in-ear buds and mostly listen to trancey electronic music. Drowns out all other sounds, makes it hard to notice T. I often wonder if coping with T helped me learning to ignore sounds around me.

I see that for you T comes and goes? I suppose that makes it that much harder to ignore…

A little trick I use for being around loud sound: I block my nose, close my mouth, and suck in air, pulling a vacuum on my ears. This makes them a lot less sensitive to sound until the pressure stabilizes again. For me that takes a while.

 

[Ed209]

A little trick I use for being around loud sound: I block my nose, close my mouth, and suck in air, pulling a vacuum on my ears. This makes them a lot less sensitive to sound until the pressure stabilizes again. For me that takes a while.

This is the valsalva manoeuvre which is used to equalise pressure in the middle ear. It will have no protective effect on your ears whatsoever, and should only be used if your Eustachian tubes are blocked and/or you need to pop your ears to equalise the pressure when rapidly descending in altitude. You are essentially reducing your own hearing by altering the tension on your ear drum which can make sounds duller/quieter, but this is not really advisable as a method of protection. You should use ear plugs or muffs.

 

[Mario martz]

I go to concerts, if it was too loud I have ringing on top of my T.

My T doesn't change with food or anyhing. It sounds a lot like a train stopping. I can will it louder but not quieter. Sometimes there are some extra frequencies that come to whistle along, like the tones in a hearing test.

I have the hearing frecuency response of an 80-year-old.

When I want to concentrate on work, I use in-ear buds and mostly listen to trancey electronic music. Drowns out all other sounds, makes it hard to notice T. I often wonder if coping with T helped me learning to ignore sounds around me.

I see that for you T comes and goes? I suppose that makes it that much harder to ignore…

A little trick I use for being around loud sound: I block my nose, close my mouth, and suck in air, pulling a vacuum on my ears. This makes them a lot less sensitive to sound until the pressure stabilizes again. For me that takes a while.

Thank you Wout,
yes for me T Changes a lot.
changes with food, etc, ill try to follow your trick.

 

[Wout]

This is the valsalva manoeuvre which is used to equalise pressure in the middle ear. It will have no protective effect on your ears whatsoever, and should only be used if your Eustachian tubes are blocked and/or you need to pop your ears to equalise the pressure when rapidly descending in altitude. You are essentially reducing your own hearing by altering the tension on your ear drum which can make sounds duller/quieter, but this is not really advisable as a method of protection. You should use ear plugs or muffs.

While I agree that actual earplugs are vastly more efficient, setting the wrong pressure in the middle ear will make it harder for the eardrum to vibrate along to sound and therefore somewhat protect the ear from loud sounds, no? Much like putting your hand on a drumskin and tapping it muffles the sound and reduces volume?

 

[Ed209]

The theory of that is correct, but it's not good to put your ear drum under pressure. You can cause a barotrauma which is another way of getting tinnitus. When sounds become damaging I seriously doubt a tight ear drum would help much. Surely the risk of rupturing your ear drum also increases?

Ear plugs just go in and you forget about them. Job done.

 

[ChrisK]

Have had T for about 8 years and just started this method about 4 days ago. I have had great results. I always described my T by its volume which is what I think made it louder. Just saying that is messing me up. Lol.

Learning to focus on the feeling instead of the actual T was very challenging that first night. But I just did it even though it was almost constant.

I can't explain it but it has gotten far better. It doesn't actually disappear but it isn't at the front of my mind like before and I guess it just fades into the background sound of life.

Writing in this forum has made me more aware of it...probably because my brain isn't trained enough to completely ignore it.

And to the poster that said that if this takes away your t then you probably don't have t, it doesn't take away your t per se. I don't know what exactly it's doing but it makes it dramatically less noticeable.

I don't know the science behind why it works but it's been doing wonders for me in this short time.

And now to get out of here because all this focus on it is bringing that annoying sound to the forefront.

It is working out surprisingly well for me. Good luck.