Hello everyone,
About a half a year ago, I suddenly got hit with an onset of severe, depression-inducing, painful, high-pitched shrieking tinnitus that knocked me out for months and made me wish I was dead. There was no reprieve. There was no hope. All there was was trying to bear with it and struggle through the day until I could take a sleeping pill and knock myself out for a few hours, but even sleep wasn't a reprieve. My work life suffered. My home life suffered. I was afraid I could never be the father my daughter needed, as I could barely function well enough to sustain myself.
I tried everything - supplements (some found on this board, like NAC, Ginkgo Biloba, Magnesium, etc.), various physical treatments (chiropractor, cranial osteopathy, physical therapy, meditation, psychiatry), and anything else I could attempt in order to get my life back. And nothing seemed to be consistent.
One day, and I don't know why or how, I was just listening to my body and trying to have it direct me to where the problem could be. I realized my jaw was way out of line, and that I was actually holding a lot of tension in my jaw, at the back base of my skull, and actually in the region near my temples. I made a concerted effort to check in on these areas every now and then to assess if they'd re-tightened up, and of course they did. So, I started doing strong massages to these areas, am doing TMJ jaw stretching exercises, and applying topical pharmaceutical compounding creams of Ketoprofen (as an anti-inflammatory for TMJ) and Cyclobenzaprine (as a muscle relaxant).
As of now, I have gone from days being an 11 to days being a 2. I can listen to and write music again. I can talk with my wife and listen to the TV without constantly winching in pain. Sometimes it flares up again, but I know it's because of stress and tensing up the muscles in my head, which have apparently been affecting my ears - it's all connected, but once I made that realization, I can get it to calm down again if I close my eyes and focus on relaxing those muscles.
I know Tinnitus has a lot of possible causes, and everybody's case is different. But for me, cranial tension seems to be the culprit. I'm not cured, it's still there, but NOW I CAN HABITUATE since it's not constantly changing tone or reverberating through my skull. For the first time since this started, I feel hope. And I honestly wish we all could have a eureka moment. Stay strong, and I'll continue to report back.
About a half a year ago, I suddenly got hit with an onset of severe, depression-inducing, painful, high-pitched shrieking tinnitus that knocked me out for months and made me wish I was dead. There was no reprieve. There was no hope. All there was was trying to bear with it and struggle through the day until I could take a sleeping pill and knock myself out for a few hours, but even sleep wasn't a reprieve. My work life suffered. My home life suffered. I was afraid I could never be the father my daughter needed, as I could barely function well enough to sustain myself.
I tried everything - supplements (some found on this board, like NAC, Ginkgo Biloba, Magnesium, etc.), various physical treatments (chiropractor, cranial osteopathy, physical therapy, meditation, psychiatry), and anything else I could attempt in order to get my life back. And nothing seemed to be consistent.
One day, and I don't know why or how, I was just listening to my body and trying to have it direct me to where the problem could be. I realized my jaw was way out of line, and that I was actually holding a lot of tension in my jaw, at the back base of my skull, and actually in the region near my temples. I made a concerted effort to check in on these areas every now and then to assess if they'd re-tightened up, and of course they did. So, I started doing strong massages to these areas, am doing TMJ jaw stretching exercises, and applying topical pharmaceutical compounding creams of Ketoprofen (as an anti-inflammatory for TMJ) and Cyclobenzaprine (as a muscle relaxant).
As of now, I have gone from days being an 11 to days being a 2. I can listen to and write music again. I can talk with my wife and listen to the TV without constantly winching in pain. Sometimes it flares up again, but I know it's because of stress and tensing up the muscles in my head, which have apparently been affecting my ears - it's all connected, but once I made that realization, I can get it to calm down again if I close my eyes and focus on relaxing those muscles.
I know Tinnitus has a lot of possible causes, and everybody's case is different. But for me, cranial tension seems to be the culprit. I'm not cured, it's still there, but NOW I CAN HABITUATE since it's not constantly changing tone or reverberating through my skull. For the first time since this started, I feel hope. And I honestly wish we all could have a eureka moment. Stay strong, and I'll continue to report back.
Member
