I Beat Tinnitus — A Beginner’s Primer

[Estan]

So you've got tinnitus. One of three things will happen:

1. It will go away.

2. You'll stop caring.

3. You'll discover you have an anxiety disorder.

When I got tinnitus, it brought my quality of life down close to zero for several months and bothered me for more than a year after that. As a musician, I was especially distraught. I absolutely did not believe I could ever get over it. Now, I think about it <1% of the time.

This post isn't to offer guidance, but to convince you to believe people who say they've stopped caring.

The other day I was experiencing some depression with negative looping thoughts, and reminding myself that I had beaten tinnitus greatly helped to get me out of it. My final advice from the other side is to take your mental health seriously and start thinking about your health as a single system, rather than focusing on the tinnitus. Good luck!

 

[Stuart-T]

Thanks - that's me and 10,000 users on here - sorted.

 

[Blackbird1016]

I don't think it's fair to say "you'll discover you have an anxiety disorder." This shit is real for the people dealing with it even if others can't hear it and doctors can't quantify it.

It literally keeps me awake at night when I never had issues before, as in never heard perpetual phantom noises before.

That'll give you an anxiety disorder but it sure as hell isn't the result of one. Constant noise is literally a military tactic to drive the enemy insane along with sleep deprivation. It's a literal torture tactic.

I'm glad you've made peace with yours but for the people still suffering or have it so loud they can't. Please do not join the league of doctors telling them to mind over matter through it or get on some anti-anxiety meds or anti-depressants.

It's incredibly screwed up that they try to emotionally dumb down tinnitus patients to the point of "not being bothered" by their tinnitus rather than figure out how to treat their tinnitus.

Just another reason to not trust the crony medical system.

If you work as a musician I hope you're spreading awareness because it's wrong people are not informed at concerts and shows and as players that this can occur from loud noise exposure.

I literally think the festival organizers should be sued for not having signs up and earplugs for free at shows, as well as a warning at the time of ticket purchase. If I ever can I will. OSHA has rules for construction sites but concert goers are blissfully unaware they're experiencing the same dangerous sound levels with no protection.

This was not worth any concert or show I have ever attended.

 

[Eliska]

Hi @Estan, so did you habituate or did your tinnitus fade away? If you habituated, do you hear it all the time and don't care or do you hear it only when you think about it? Good you are on the other side now doing good.

 

[Jupiterman]

@Estan, is/was your tinnitus mild, stable and monotonal?

 

[Paul Walter]

Forget ENT specialists. All they do is take your money and provide nothing.

 

[Strawberryblonde]

#1 and #2 apply to me and then #3 is where it all went wrong down the line and the tinnitus became louder. I hope to get to the point where the tinnitus is less bothersome or I can push it to the back of my mind. #3 is the hurdle I need to jump over and not look back!

 

[Stuart-T]

Forget ENT specialists. All they do is take your money and provide nothing.

Let us face it - we don't need ENT specialists - we need tinnitus specialists.

Despite the fact a very high percentage of the general population suffers from this condition - the authorities have not deemed it merits a department of its own.

So we try our supplements head tapping sound therapy etc etc and hope for the best.

Now if you will excuse me - I just need to go and take my B complex vitamins and Magnesium.

 

[Paul Walter]

Now if you will excuse me - I just need to go and take my B complex vitamins and Magnesium.

Good luck with that mate, all the best.

 

[Michael Leigh]

Forget ENT specialists. All they do is take your money and provide nothing.

The onset of tinnitus can be caused by many things and therefore, the correct medical professional to see for an examination of the ear and auditory system is an ENT doctor. If there is an underlying medical problem within the auditory system that is causing the tinnitus, the doctor will try to treat it medically or surgically, and sometimes both.

Exposure to loud noise is one of the most common causes of tinnitus. Typically, it is listening to audio through headphones at too high a volume. Going to clubs and concerts where loud music is played, working in a noisy environment or participating in a sport that requires firing a gun can cause it too.

Once tests have been completed at ENT and no underlying medical problem is found to be causing the tinnitus, as is often the case when it is noise induced, the patient should be referred to an audiologist that specialises in tinnitus and hyperacusis management. Treatments such as TRT, CBT, counselling, white noise generators, medication and hearing aid(s) can be used to treat a person with tinnitus.

Hearing loss can cause tinnitus. If a patient is found to have impaired hearing after an examination at ENT, they should be referred to an audiologist for the fitting of hearing aid(s). ENT doctors are highly skilled physicians, but they are not tinnitus specialists because this is not their area of expertise. They treat underlying medical problems that cause tinnitus, but they do not treat the condition.

Many audiologists that specialise in tinnitus and hyperacusis management, were either born with tinnitus or acquired it at some time in their life.

Michael

 

[SamRosemary]

This is probably true for some/many myself included, but not all. I see you were coming from a positive place, but some may take it badly.