Poll: Would You Choose Complete Deafness Over Tinnitus If It Meant No Tinnitus At All?

[Atlantis]

Please answer my poll.

 

[valeri]

In a heartbeat!

 

[Telis]

Hells yeah!

 

[Michael Leigh]

No I wouldn't.

 

[Ed209]

No chance!!!

As annoying as T is how can you give up the chance to hear your loved ones speak and to hear nature around you. To never hear music again would be career ending for me as well.

 

[uae96]

No f***ing way , to stop listening to conversations and music is something I wouldn't give up for anything

 

[glynis]

Would be tempted as told my doctor that a few times.
But no I love my life still even though its tough at times...lots of love glynis

 

[Jptsr1]

Hell No!!!!!!

 

[truesilence]

No bloody way!!!

 

[terry b]

thought about this - mine is totally messed up getting worse and have considered it but when it first happened , on the night i seriously thought i was going deaf and reality of being deaf is scary ..... hard choice

 

[Asvalian]

No, unless my only deaf ear is my left ear, then I wouldn't might so much.

 

[noisebox]

I went deaf when I was a teenager for a while, it was awful and so isolating. The day my hearing returned in a shop one Saturday afternoon was such a joy.
I find wearing earplugs now has the same isolating effect and I hate it.
I would however sacrifice a leg to have my old hearing back, especially getting rid of sound sensitivity and H.

 

[Cheza]

As annoying as T is how can you give up the chance to hear your loved ones speak and to hear nature around you. To never hear music again would be career ending for me as well.

Nature around me? My tinnitus gets worse when I go outside, for some odd reason. Are there birds singing? Usually I can't tell because of the metallic hissing and tea kettle duet in my head.

As for music, it causes my tinnitus to jump a notch or two. If I'm watching a movie or video, I have to turn down the volume to almost nil if there's music because it's so annoying. I used to love music, but now can only listen to it on the rare mild day, and even then I have to be careful.

Yeah, I think deafness is a better alternative than wanting to put a bullet in my head, which is how tinnitus makes me feel sometimes.

 

[Ed209]

Nature around me? My tinnitus gets worse when I go outside, for some odd reason. Are there birds singing? Usually I can't tell because of the metallic hissing and tea kettle duet in my head.

As for music, it causes my tinnitus to jump a notch or two. If I'm watching a movie or video, I have to turn down the volume to almost nil if there's music because it's so annoying. I used to love music, but now can only listen to it on the rare mild day, and even then I have to be careful.

Yeah, I think deafness is a better alternative than wanting to put a bullet in my head, which is how tinnitus makes me feel sometimes.

T can be awful, there's no doubt about that but wishing you were deaf instead is a whole different animal. Until you can actually compare I don't think anyone can give an honest answer, just one based on the emotion you attach to the T. Being deaf would be horribly isolating having lived a life full of sound.

 

[Cheza]

T can be awful, there's no doubt about that but wishing you were deaf instead is a whole different animal. Until you can actually compare I don't think anyone can give an honest answer, just one based on the emotion you attach to the T. Being deaf would be horribly isolating having lived a life full of sound.

I have always kept things as quiet around me as possible. A deeper level of quiet probably would not bother me as much as it might other people.

 

[Sailboardman]

Since I have unilateral T with severe hearing loss in my right ear only, I can hear things pretty good out of my left ear. With my hearing aid in, I can hear much better and can watch movies, (with a noise machine on low, right next to my head) and listen to low volume music in the car, but not to long. I have reactive T, so the more noise, the worse it gets.

So, based on that and only being 20 months in with this dreadful condition, I'd have to say no to total deafness. Being completely deaf in my bad ear with no T, maybe? No matter how you slice it and dice it, there is no panacea when it comes to issues regarding our delicate auditory system.

 

[vishalmarblekolk]

not at all..i have adjusted eith my tinnitus

 

[attheedgeofscience]

There have been several of these "would you trade your so-and-so for something else"-threads on TinnitusTalk over the years. I dislike them. The reason is simple: it makes a mockery out of other people's conditions.

See video below for instance...

 

[NineNails]

It all boils down to how bad your T really is. Thus highly subjectively. We all feel differently but the same.

I disagree. It doesn't ridicule other people's conditions for those that are innately deaf never had T to begin with. Moreover, it's a huge difference to gain versus losing something.

 

[RaZaH]

I went for massage to a blind guy , he told me never to "negotiate" with my condition.
I feel that is good advice.

 

[NineNails]

I went for massage to a blind guy

Should have went for a masseuse.

 

[Michael2013]

Speaking as someone who is already half deaf--never! If I had a choice to take a pill that would fix my hearing OR eliminate my tinnitus I would fix my hearing.

It's too bad this question doesn't also break it out by how long each respondent had tinnitus. I would be willing to bet that most of the people in the "yes" camp are fairly new to tinnitus (under 2 years). Over time, as people habituate, they switch from yes to no. IMO anyway.

 

[Ricardo1991]

Fuck yes.

 

[vader888]

yes i would. i'm almost deaf in the ear i have T. already asked the ENT doctor if i could do it. answer: No

 

[Fangen]

As tempted as I might be.. but no, I wouldn't.
Why? Because I want to hear my loved one's voices, I want to be able to listen to music, I want to still be apart of the world. Going completely deaf (hearing aid wouldn't help etc), that means that you lost a sense completely, you'd walk around on a busy street and hear NOTHING. That would creep me out, or see people laughing at a joke and you cannot understand what they said.
I don't know, my thoughts just went to how I'd never be able to hear my partner's voice again, or hear him say that he loves me. That would not be worth getting rid of T, it is so annoying and tiresome from day to day but I still hear normally and for that, I am grateful.

 

[barnacle]

If you had asked me two weeks ago, I would have said no. Since then (and major hearing trauma - dont ask!) I have gone from three bearable tones to six louder and unbearable tones. Now I would say yes. I would also throw in my legs if necessary. Hope that doesnt sound flippant. Is just that am pretty low at the moment and would do anything to lessen the T.

 

[NGC891]

Just affraid to have both!

 

[Richard zurowski]

NO WAY!!!

 

[JasonP]

Fuck yes.

I see you answered this in March. Do you still feel the same way? I don't think I ever wanted to be deaf but thinking about this choice puts things in perspective. For example, at least I have my hearing. I understand though if someone has extreme tinnitus why they would want this though. I wonder if these people were treated for depression and anxiety though if the feelings could go away and they could habituate to it. I think it would take time to do it and may involve hearing aids and some kind of masking or music device.

 

[Cameron C]

No I'd rather keep my hearing and deal with T. But the sad truth is that I think if you have T and then go deaf, T will still remain. It will just remove the ability to mask it with sound, that sounds like pure hell hearing nothing but your T.