Howdy All!

[Bill S.]

My name is Bill... and I have Tinnitus!

It began about year and a half ago. I asked for a referral and was sent to an audiologist who said I had a bunch of hearing loss in my right ear (where 85-100% of my tinnitus occurs depending on the day.)

While I went to my share of concerts in the day I don't know that that is what brought this about.

I recently went to an ENT which a specialization in Meniere's and Tinnitus. He doesn't believe it Meniere's. They documented hearing loss (though with hissing in my ear I don't know how much I am missing). He suggests either one or two hearing aids, possibly with Tinnitus Retraining Therapy (TRT).

My frequency is around 8500-8700 so I'm not among the lucky below 8kHz crowd who get the best results. The sound presents as a "hiss" sound but matches the tones when I generate tones between 8500-8700.

I've been reading about Notch Music Therapy (NMT) and have created my own notch therapy to listen to every night. I am also combining the NMT with Vagus Nerve Stimulation (through the tragus of both ears with the use of ear clamps and a TENS machine) hoping to tame down the hyperactive auditory area that is most likely the cause in my brain.

I do not know if my ENT will be receptive to NMT or not as he proposed TRT which is apparently the reference standard.

 

[Starthrower]

Seems like you should/could avoid the cost of TRT @Bill S.

I also made my own music therapy which I still listen to every single day.

Some people here have a lot of experience with hearing aid information so hopefully they can address your hearing loss issue.

Glad you found Tinnitus Talk!!

 

[Bill S.]

It's a bit sad, but I'm on week 2 of my regimen of listening to notched music with vagus nerve stimulation and my tinnitus is now louder. I realize this could be perception because of paying attention to the tinnitus, but it seems worse.

I've been wanting to discuss what I see as 2 opposing theories that present themselves in the studies of treatments for tinnitus. Should I talk about it here or elsewhere on the forum?

Some studies use a notch filter to stimulate the areas around the tinnitus frequency while not exciting the tinnitus frequency itself using either noise or music. The other type of study I've seen is where they've targeted the tinnitus frequency and increased that frequency so that it increases the sound at the tinnitus frequency. Both studies have shown positive results. It's hard to know which modality to follow.