Spikes and Habituation

[Mark K.]

Hello Dr. Nagler
I was wondering if people who have Tinnitus, that aren't bothered by it at all, have spikes or H? I have a friend who has had ringing in his ears for over 10 years, but his T never bothered him at all, even though he can hear it loud and clear, he's not bothered by it, and its never affected his quality of life. I asked him if he ever had a spike, and he said there are times that it gets louder, but it still doesn't bother him, so he doesn't think he has a spike. Are spikes or for that matter, intrusive T determined by how much it bothers us? So the key is to have our T not bother us anymore, right? I guess that's what they call habituation.

Mark K.

 

[Dr. Nagler]

Are spikes or for that matter, intrusive T determined by how much it bothers us?

The intrusiveness of tinnitus is primarily determined by how one reacts to his or her tinnitus, and that it true whether or not one has spikes. The problem is you cannot consciously control your reaction to your tinnitus because your reaction to your tinnitus is largely a function of subcortical pathways that involve your limbic system (emotion) and your autonomic nervous system ("fight-or-flight"). Now I do suspect that folks who have spikes tend to find their tinnitus to be more intrusive. Just like I suspect that folks who have VERY VERY LOUD tinnitus tend to find their tinnitus to be more intrusive. But that said, the less one reacts to one's tinnitus, the less intrusive it will be regardless of spikes and regardless of loudness.

Dr. Stephen Nagler