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12/19/2008 11:53:52 PM · #1
My husband has been suffering from tinnitus for a while. It's more on than off and at the worst of times, he has to sleep with the TV loud just to drown out the ringing. I feel awful as it is obviously become over-bearing for him.

Has anyone here ever had any success in relieving Tinnitus?
12/20/2008 12:10:12 AM · #2
Asprin or coffee can aggravate it. I played drums for about 15 years, and I have it pretty noisy in my head too. I just imagine that I am camped out in an oak forest and I fall right off to sleep.
Vitamin B complex may help some. It's good for all kinds of nerve things.


12/20/2008 12:24:28 AM · #3
I don't know if this will work but normal head noise and tinnitus can be aggravated by dehydration. The human brain will shrink if someone has less than normal amounts of water in their body. Has he tried to increase his fluid intake to see if it helps. Stay away from coffee, soda, or any caffeinated drinks. Water is good but something on the lines of V8 juice may help.

Message edited by author 2008-12-20 00:25:21.
12/20/2008 12:35:09 AM · #4
Both great insight, thanks. He currently works outdoors pulling meters and replacing them with automated ones. He's been doing this for several years in different climates. He really pushes himself, often pulling more than the younger guys. Easy to get dehydrated, I imagine. When he is home for longer than a week he seems to feel better.

Aspirins prolly an issue, too, if it aggravates it. He is often sore at night after pulling and pushing in 100 electric meters a day. He tends to take a Tylenol PM just about every night when he is out of town working.

Problems started when he became a carpenter almost 15 years ago... lots of loud equipment. And yeah, he was in a band for quite a few years too.
12/20/2008 05:16:40 AM · #5
I suffer from Menieres, and tinnitus is constant, permanent, and LOUD! You do learn to live with it, and to block it out for periods of time. If I am having a hard time coping with it I will play an 'ocean sounds' type CD designed specifically for tinnitus sufferers - it is better than the TV in the long run, as at least your partner can get to sleep, and is soothing and relaxing rather than arousing the senses like the TV does. The problem with tinnitus is that when it is getting you down, at night without anything to take your mind off it you just focus in on it and it can become unbearable (now there's a thought - night-time distractions may be the answer...)
12/20/2008 05:55:20 AM · #6
Originally posted by cynthiann:

My husband has been suffering from tinnitus for a while. It's more on than off and at the worst of times, he has to sleep with the TV loud just to drown out the ringing. I feel awful as it is obviously become over-bearing for him.

Has anyone here ever had any success in relieving Tinnitus?

I don't have Tinnitus, but my mom does. There has been some studies that show that Botox injections help to relieve the symptoms. My mom's isn't that bad yet, but it's something she's considering if it gets worse.
eta: Botox/Tinnitus

Message edited by author 2008-12-20 05:56:53.
12/20/2008 07:19:37 AM · #7

My husband and I both suffer from tinnitus, and have for many years. It gets worse at times, but it is constant and never goes away. I frequently get bad headaches that I believe are a result of the tinnitus.

One thing that I have found that helps me get to sleep when it is bad is to listen to audiobooks on my ipod. I set the ipod on the nightstand and listen until I get really sleepy - (usually I actually fall asleep) - then I just reach over and stop the ipod, pull the headphones out and fall right asleep.

Oddly enough, I recently found this little homeopathic "treatment" (OK, I actually thought "yeah, right" when I first read this treatment) but have found that it actually reduces the severity of the ringing, though it has not yet made it go away - Homeopathic "treatment"

12/20/2008 09:03:52 AM · #8
Tinnitus sucks big time and I have to say to any young kids reading this, PROTECT YOUR HEARING! Wearing hearing protection if you do things like playing in a band or going to a loud concert (or anything that 'temporarily' makes your ears ring) might not seem cool, but it's a lot more cool that getting tinnitus as you get a little older. I played synthesizers (loudly) in a band in college & my ears started their permanent ringing by the time I was in my late 20s/early 30s. You can ignore warnings and feel invincible all you want at your young age, but tinnitus WILL come back to haunt you if you don't protect your hearing.

Originally posted by LindaLee:

One thing that I have found that helps me get to sleep when it is bad is to listen to audiobooks on my ipod. I set the ipod on the nightstand and listen until I get really sleepy - (usually I actually fall asleep) - then I just reach over and stop the ipod, pull the headphones out and fall right asleep.

This is exactly what I do. If I'm tired enough I can sleep through the ringing, but sometimes I need to put on a podcast. I have some very comfortable earphones I use so I don't keep my wife up. Then I just yank my earphones when as I'm well on my way to sleep.

Without a distraction, sometimes I lay in bed totally unable to sleep & I focus in on the various frequencies ringing in my ears (& yes, sometimes I start thinking about what notes they are, what intervals they are from eachother, and it gets depressing thinking about the fact that those are frequencies I've lost or am losing).
12/20/2008 04:40:00 PM · #9
Originally posted by SaraR:

I suffer from Menieres, and tinnitus is constant, permanent, and LOUD! You do learn to live with it, and to block it out for periods of time. If I am having a hard time coping with it I will play an 'ocean sounds' type CD designed specifically for tinnitus sufferers - it is better than the TV in the long run, as at least your partner can get to sleep, and is soothing and relaxing rather than arousing the senses like the TV does. The problem with tinnitus is that when it is getting you down, at night without anything to take your mind off it you just focus in on it and it can become unbearable (now there's a thought - night-time distractions may be the answer...)


I have meniere's too. Fortunatley for me my tinnitus is either NOT as loud as it used to be or I am used to it. It only bothers me when its completely quiet though.

Tinnitus is not caused by the ear but by the brain because the brain "makes up a sound" when there is nerve loss (hearing loss) in the ear. You can never make it go away, but doing what others have suggested will help it not to be so noticable.
12/20/2008 04:47:33 PM · #10
Tinnitus can have many causes. Exposure to loud noise, infection, high blood pressure, pinched nerves, and more can be the cause.

I work in an industrial environment, and am very protective of my hearing. At 59 I still have great hearing. I've had three bouts with Tinnitus.

First was about 26 years ago, and was the after effect of an ear infection. Lasted about six months, drove me nuts, and went as quickly as it came. Happened again about three years ago, and no ear infection. Turned out my blood pressure was 185 over 155. Getting the blood pressure under control did the trick.

Early this year, it happened again. No infection, no high blood pressure. My back was killing me, and despite an aversion to Chiropractors, I went to one to see it if would help. The back is a little better, but minutes after he "manipulated" my neck my tinnitus was gone, and hasn't come back.

09/11/2014 02:19:41 PM · #11
My tinnitus is a high-pitched hiss in the left ear. It goes away, sometimes for days at a time, for no apparent reason. I've tried doing without caffeine, ibuprofen, Viagra, etc and there seems to be no rhyme or reason. It appears to be worse when a storm is coming but nothing concrete there either. What it tells me though is that is isn't always and forever.

I have had massages to my neck and jaw - that might help. I have been to doctor, ENT doctor, audiologist - and I get the same story - nothing you can do - there are masking devices.

If it can stop sometimes and my hearing returns to normal, it can happened again and for longer. I will keep searching.

Message edited by author 2014-09-11 14:20:42.
09/11/2014 03:09:54 PM · #12
my friend used to complain of headaches so i'd punch him in his arm or leg really hard. Immediately he'd forget about the headache for a short time. I'd imagine the same trick works for for tinnitus.
09/11/2014 03:25:30 PM · #13
About 2 years ago I developed what I was pretty sure was tinnitus. For maybe a year, I would hear a high pitched ringing sound any time it was anywhere near quiet. It was especially troubling when I was trying to sleep. I was without health insurance at the time, so I was consulting good old Dr. Google. everything I read suggested that tinnitus was not likely to ever improve. I was especially bothered by the fact that I had been terrified of getting this condition since I was a kid, and they used to run these scary commercials about it on TV that would fade out with a ringing sound playing in the background. I was usually the person who would bring ear plugs to concerts. So to have somehow been careless enough to let this happen was a major disappointment.

One thing I read had an interesting perspective on the condition. That tinnitus, as far as its impact on patients, isn't about the sound. whether some external factor is making the patient hear "real" sounds, or whether nerve damage or something is just causing the false perception of sound, that isn't what people suffer with. the author claimed that really, tinnitus is a psychological condition. where the patient suffers is in regarding the sounds as something "wrong". It was compared to the sound of a new refrigerator or the creaking sounds of a new house. we are around these things all the time, and very perceptive of them at first, but after a while, our brains just regard them as background and we don't even notice them. Someone can sleep with a loud TV on, and then wake up when you turn it off.
Over time, the author claimed, the ringing in ears could become like the sound of the refrigerator. one just has to stop actively worrying about it. This is very difficult, since it is present when one is trying to sleep, and there may be feelings of guilt or regret associated with the activities that brought on the condition. There was also some talk of a therapy which would help this process along. essentially listening to white noise which has been specially designed to complement the pitch of the sounds the patient hears. gradually the noise pattern is adjusted (I can't remember the exact details of the process).

I never received any formal treatment for the condition, although I did try a few white noise generating apps on my phone at the beginning which helped me get to sleep without thinking about it too much. What I can say for sure is that thankfully, I don't seem to be experiencing it at all anymore. Even when plug my ears and block out all ambient noise, I don't hear anything I would consider abnormal. I can't explain this with any certainty, since the condition persisted for about a year. It is possible I had an undiagnosed ear infection (I had ruled something like that out because I assumed there would be other symptoms). It is also possible, I suppose that I have successfully pushed it into the realm of background noise. Although I would think that if that were the case, I woulds still be able to hear it if I actively tried to pay attention.

What I can say for certain is that just like any chronic ailment or disability, our ability to create suffering can be far worse than the actual condition. Everything is bearable unless you refuse to accept it. You can drive yourself crazy if you think things should be any different from the way that they are right now (that's not to say you can't take actions to affect the way they will be in the future, but right now, things are the way they are). Also, everyone, protect your hearing. Since this experience, I installed a decibel reading app on my phone, and any time I am around amplified music, I check what the sound level is. Almost always it reads at 95 dB or higher. that is only considered safe for exposure times of an hour or even less. One thing that surprised me is that at a large concert, just the noise of the crowd between songs could reach 95 dB, without any amplification at all. Pretty much, you have hundreds of people right around you, yelling and screaming. Yikes.

I hope your husband gets some relief, Cynthia. And the same for everyone else who is dealing with this.
09/11/2014 03:34:50 PM · #14
I've had it since I can remember. I can isolate about three [always, constant] sounds with specific directional and pitch and tone characteristics. Quite loud.

I got used to it and it does not "bother" me, rather I find it interesting, and ever so often, I tune into and wallow in it.

My wife has been getting it the last few months, she cannot sleep when it is bad. For her it's like a steam train [each heartbeat] approaching but never arriving.

No cure as far as I know, but you can train yourself to ignore it.
09/11/2014 09:53:05 PM · #15
As this is a 6 year old thread and Omega_Donkey is still active, I wonder if there's an update?

I've had a ringing in my ears since I was about 5, so I barely notice it usually. I found it cute that while reading people's stories, there was a high pitched ringing in my left ear the whole time, as if to say, "that's me, that's me!" One new thing that developed for me about 5 years ago was a thumping in my right ear. It's usually worst after a nap. Now THAT drives me insane. If I put my pinky in my ear, I can actually feel the muscles spazzing. If I could safely Botox that shit, I would.
09/17/2014 02:29:34 AM · #16
I remember reading that there is a distinction between tinnitus like the ringing which can follow exposure to loud sounds (subjective tinnitus), and various other kinds of tinnitus, which can be thumping, "whooshing" or throbbing. One has to do with the way the brain perceives sound, and the other(s) usually have to do with physical things artificially creating "real" sounds (objective tinnitus). I think this is similar to how I can flex the muscles which surround my ears under the scalp (which makes my ears wiggle a little) and while I hold that, I hear a sound like rushing wind. I could totally see how something could affect the shape or position of those same ear parts, and cause a similar sound that was involuntary. From what I have read, "pulsatile" tinnitus varieties such as the thumping or throbbing have significantly more options for treatment. //www.tinnitusformula.com/library/pulsatile-tinnitus-2/#.VBkpIkjZDJk
09/17/2014 10:04:34 AM · #17
Originally posted by aliqui:

As this is a 6 year old thread and Omega_Donkey is still active, I wonder if there's an update?

I've had a ringing in my ears since I was about 5, so I barely notice it usually. I found it cute that while reading people's stories, there was a high pitched ringing in my left ear the whole time, as if to say, "that's me, that's me!" One new thing that developed for me about 5 years ago was a thumping in my right ear. It's usually worst after a nap. Now THAT drives me insane. If I put my pinky in my ear, I can actually feel the muscles spazzing. If I could safely Botox that shit, I would.


I actually suffered a concussion several years ago and experienced my own ringing in the ears. I still do to an extent. Hubby still does too. Sometimes, very rarely it's unbearable, pulsating like has been mentioned. Sometimes it's a high pitched 'eeeeeeeeeeeeee'. Most of the time though, it's just a hum for me and only gets worse when I think about it.

Thanks ;)

But it's gotten better for both of us for the most part, though I can't explain why. He quit complaining about it so much when I started getting it. That actually might have helped. We still crank up the TV and the fans when we sleep.

Very interesting reading magnumruss...
09/17/2014 11:43:40 AM · #18
Tinnitus epidemic! I have had it for a very long time now, even though I have also been extremely protective of my ears. I carry earplugs in every pocket, and wear them on airplanes and any other place it might "get loud". Fortunately, it's mostly just very low, and I have about 3 distinct sounds: the high-pitched eeeeeeeee, a "chirping" sound (like metal pieces clinking against each other), and a low hum. Occasionally, the volume will up for unknown reasons.

During a recently-concluded bout of vertigo (with the louder tinnitus), a friend suggested chewing (either with a piece of gum or just the chewing motion). Oddly enough, it worked!! Don't know how or why, but it does.
09/17/2014 02:50:18 PM · #19
Check out Manganese for Tinnitus.. it's also good for stiffness.
05/13/2015 07:30:41 PM · #20
Tanguera where have you been! That chewing thug really worked! Instantly!

Message edited by author 2015-05-13 19:32:31.
05/13/2015 07:44:03 PM · #21
Originally posted by esperancecottage:

Tanguera where have you been! That chewing thug really worked! Instantly!


does the thug just beat it out of you or something?
05/14/2015 06:43:45 AM · #22
Originally posted by esperancecottage:

Tanguera where have you been! That chewing thug really worked! Instantly!

Funny how someone creates a new account here just to refresh an old thread. ???
05/14/2015 09:56:04 AM · #23
I have replaced the ringing with voices. However most of the time I don't like what they say ((€
06/05/2015 07:03:56 AM · #24
The Valsalva's maneuver works for me. Im also trying to get some weight loss going.
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