Tinnitus

[Chris Parks]

Has anyone found anything that helps? Mine is getting so loud it is masking people talking to me. I had a test many years ago and the audiologist said then it was the loudest he had encountered and it is a lot louder than that now and has risen again in the recent months. I used to be able to ignore it but not any more.

[wheelinround]

Has anyone found anything that helps? Mine is getting so loud it is masking people talking to me. I had a test many years ago and the audiologist said then it was the loudest he had encountered and it is a lot louder than that now and has risen again in the recent months. I used to be able to ignore it but not any more.

I thought it was just me and mine......
Last night I had to go to bed with headphones on listening to radio to drown it out. It settled down somewhat enough to take them off and go to sleep. Those two darn chocolate biscuits.
My old GP's father gave up ALL caffine for 12 months and his went away.
I know if I dont have coffee or chocolate it settles down.

[Chris Parks]

I started to investigate it some years ago and stopped because the more I chased the answer the more aware of it I became. I recall seeing on TV many years ago a doco on it and the sufferers were given an injection of adrenalin, or something like that and it went away for about 1 minute (literally).

[kiwigeo]

Hi Chris,

Sorry to hear your Tinnitis has got to the stage where its interfering with your life at a serious level. Ive had the condition for the last 15-20 years, largely a result of too much heavy metal music through headphones during my youth and later on working on noicy oil rigs without much attention paid to protecting my hearing.

I tried Ginko pills a while back but found them totally useless and an expensive rip off. There are a few other "alternative" remedies for tinnitis around the most interesting of which is "feedback training" where you basically undergo psychological training to concentrate less on the ringing and more on the "real" sounds entering your ear. Check out here for discussion on feedback training:

http://www.bixby.org/faq/tinnitus/treatmnt.html#feedback

and here for general info and links on tinnitis:

http://www.tinnitus.asn.au/

http://www.tinnitus.org/home/frame/THC1.htm

Best of luck and hope you find some relief

Cheers Martin

[Rossluck]

I was listening to a segment on ABC radio about this recently. I'm sorry to be vague with the details, but someone (a female is all I can tell you) has written an apparently comprehensive book on the subject. I tried to look it up on the ABC website, but failed. If you want to pursue it it was on Madonna King's morning show in Brisbane.

http://abc.net.au/brisbane/contact.htm

[Chris Parks]

I suspect mine started when in the army due to rifle shooting. I didn't even know I had it until I saw a doco on the ABC describing the symptons, I thought everyone had ringing in the ears! I am aware of the attempts to re-educate the ear/brain to ignore the sound but I remain unconvinced. I am also sure the more you pursue a remedy the more it starts to dominate your life. It is contradictory that the only time you are free of it is in and around a noisy environment.

[Gingermick]

I was told the other day that a local bloke has had some success with coils of some sort. I'll contact him when she finds the details for me and let you know.
Mine is the result of a serious head injury. My right ear now doesn't hear anything at all except the ringing.

[Gumby]

I was listening to a segment on ABC radio about this recently. I'm sorry to be vague with the details, but someone (a female is all I can tell you) has written an apparently comprehensive book on the subject. I tried to look it up on the ABC website, but failed. If you want to pursue it it was on Madonna King's morning show in Brisbane.

http://abc.net.au/brisbane/contact.htm

That could be the one who was on 3AW this week

www.soundtherapy.com.au

I wonder if it works ? It's not cheap for a book and couple of CD's :cool:

[joe greiner]

That could be the one who was on 3AW this week

www.soundtherapy.com.au

I wonder if it works ? It's not cheap for a book and couple of CD's :cool:

Theory of operation (exercising inner ear muscles) sounds interesting. Google of [tinnitus "sound therapy"] provided a bunch of hits, and apparently many more sources of tapes, CDs, and sound generators. I'd like to see some independent studies, and better communication to the quacks; some of them are clueless.

Can't say whether it's helped the tinnitus, but I get distraction from other aches and pains (some real, some "only" nerve damage) by operating big mean machinery. Especially woodturning, where a moment's inattention to the immediate task can result in a real mess.

Best of luck, all.

Joe

[TTIT]

When my audiologist said "You'll have to learn to live with it!" I nearly jumped the table to snap him - - but I guess I have - - that was 14 years ago :shrug:. Mine is the result of industrial hearing loss so all the voodoo about chocolate and such is not going to make any difference to the nerve endings that's for sure. My only 'therapy' is a CD/alarm clock that I play very quiet chill music on to get to sleep easier. The choice of music was aided by the tinnitus association newsletter way back then - one whose voice actually helps cancel the ringing - Enya (believe it or not!) :o

[silentC]

I think it's soothing, like wind rustling through the trees.

I actually notice it a lot more since moving up into the foot hills. When I lived next to the surf, I couldn't hear it. So maybe that's the solution: move to the coast.

[rod1949]

Like the rest of you I have it. A few years ago I went to Western Hearing Clinic to have it diagnosed. The audiologist advised it is relievable/controlable with some little gizmos inserted into the ears. But they wanted some $ for them.

I also hear radio adds saying respite is avaliable... one day.

[ozwinner]

You mean this buzzing in my head isnt normal ? :? :doh:

Al :U

[wheelinround]

They reckon mine came from industry also air compressors & air hoses leaking, heavy metal working, loud traffic, screaming kids, nagging woman.

Have a pond out the back water splashing seems to help give me a repreive but in this weather bbbbbbrrrrrrrrr ...maybe I should go for a roll in the rain.

Yeh thats why I had headphones on nice n low so I had to listen with more clock radio all I can here is background noise..............choppers, trucks

[Carry Pine]

It's amazing how many people have got it. My audiologist had a look and said, " Where did you do all your surfing as a teenager?" He could tell there was damage from swimming too much. Since then I've had an MRI (not recommended) and found nothing really bad - and that was a good thing. I guess it's not as bad as some of you fellas.

It's bloody hard too, living with SWMBO who can hear ants crawling on the letterbox across the road!!!

CP

[mick101]

Man...im not that alone after all. I have it from spending most of my childhood plowing on a Chamberlain Super 90 with a 3 cyl 2 stroke GM and a huge super-charger hanging of it...oh & a fibreglass sun canopy to make sure the noise is held above your head.

Every time i get used to one level...it jumps to the next. Its a terrible thing we have thats for sure. It can really start to get a hold on your temper & sanity.

I notice 'another' supposed remedy the other day at a brisbane southside chemist & am yet to try it so maybe someone here might like to try it. It was called tebonin (http://www.tebonin.com.au/how_can_tebonin.asp) if anyone is interested.

[Chris Parks]

Every time i get used to one level...it jumps to the next. Its a terrible thing we have thats for sure. It can really start to get a hold on your temper & sanity.

I notice 'another' supposed remedy the other day at a brisbane southside chemist & am yet to try it so maybe someone here might like to try it. It was called tebonin (http://www.tebonin.com.au/how_can_tebonin.asp) if anyone is interested.

If anyone finds a sure fire remedy I am going to buy shares in the company because they are going to make a lot of money. Mine has gotten a lot louder recently to the point I am sure it is waking me during the night.

[TTIT]

.........I notice 'another' supposed remedy the other day at a brisbane southside chemist & am yet to try it so maybe someone here might like to try it. It was called tebonin (http://www.tebonin.com.au/how_can_tebonin.asp) if anyone is interested.I tried it and it did nothing for me - yet my mum reckons it fixed hers :shrug:

[scooter]

An alternative to headphones in bed, some electronics retailers (Dick Smith?) stock a "pillow speaker", it's fairly flat I gather so it can sit unobtrusively under your pillow.


HTH............cheers................Sean

[joe greiner]

Every time i get used to one level...it jumps to the next.

Young neuro told me it doesn't really work that way, just that I notice it more. In other words, it's all in your head. Well, of course it's all in my head, ya quack! That's where my ears are. Maybe in a few years, he'll have some clinical experience instead of just reading about it. Sheesh!:((

Joe

[wheelinround]

It's amazing how many people have got it. My audiologist had a look and said, " Where did you do all your surfing as a teenager?" He could tell there was damage from swimming too much. Since then I've had an MRI (not recommended) and found nothing really bad - and that was a good thing. I guess it's not as bad as some of you fellas.

It's bloody hard too, living with SWMBO who can hear ants crawling on the letterbox across the road!!!

CP
I used to swim heaps too, body surfing, seems like any activity the individual has doen then thats the cause...so how do accountants that sit in corners and paly with others money get it .????

I went for MRI at locla Hospital but shoulders wouldn't fit into the machine only small enough for a pigmy. They scrunched me up so much I couldn't breath told me I'd be like that for 15 to 20 minutes.
Told them to call the morg cause thats how they'd find me if I didn't breath for that long.:doh: needless to say the MRI didn't go ahead had CT scan instead


An alternative to headphones in bed, some electronics retailers (Dick Smith?) stock a "pillow speaker", it's fairly flat I gather so it can sit unobtrusively under your pillow.


HTH............cheers................Sean

Trouble with that is left ear is one with tinitus right ear is one on pillow and besides like Carry Pine said SWMBO can hear ants in letter box across road but can't hear me reply and I have to repeat what I said about 3 times.:doh:

Enya not bad, prefer Moody Blues, The Who, Mike Oldfield, R&R, Rick Wakeman and some classical

[munruben]

We can put man on the moon but we can't cure Tinnitus:(

[MurrayD99]

"Man...im not that alone after all. I have it from spending most of my childhood plowing on a Chamberlain Super 90 with a 3 cyl 2 stroke GM and a huge super-charger hanging of it...oh & a fibreglass sun canopy to make sure the noise is held above your head."

Me too... IH BTD6 crawler with a straight pipe that finished roughly at eye level. At night, it would sport a blue flame. Ears would ring for 12 -24 hours after a few hours of that. Also firing .303s for the Air Force on a 25yd concrete range about 1963. That experience was spectacular. I have to say the ringing doesn't really worry me, only hear it when I think about it. Now I wear ear protection whehn using the chainsaw, at least we learn something.

[Stuart]

Sorry - did you say something?

[Matt88s]

Theory of operation (exercising inner ear muscles) sounds interesting. Google of [tinnitus "sound therapy"] provided a bunch of hits, and apparently many more sources of tapes, CDs, and sound generators. I'd like to see some independent studies, and better communication to the quacks; some of them are clueless.

Can't say whether it's helped the tinnitus, but I get distraction from other aches and pains (some real, some "only" nerve damage) by operating big mean machinery. Especially woodturning, where a moment's inattention to the immediate task can result in a real mess.

Best of luck, all.

Joe

Interesting that you should mention "exercising the inner ear muscles". I've had tinnitus since I was a wee lad, I can remember laying in bed when I was probably 3-4 and listening to the ringing in my head. I could however, alter the volume my contracting muscles in my ears. Unfortunately , although I could/can decrease outside sounds/noise by 50%-75%, doing so only increases the ringing in my head. :roll:

I'm alright as long as there is noise around me, even a whisper is all I need, its simple distraction I suppose. If its dead quite though, it can drive a fellow insane. :no:

I've always wondered if it wasn't related to all the frequencies we have bouncing around us, in the power cables outside, running though our walls, going though the air from radio stations, TV stations, cell phones, pagers, we are exposed to a lot of frequencies. Frequencies are simply vibrations are they not? Same as sound? Maybe some of us can hear them and they are manifested as ringing. Or perhaps hearing damaged makes us susceptible. I don't' know what to say about myself though as I've always had this for as long as I can remember. Perhaps I suffered hearing damaged as a baby, perhaps I was born this way. I'd have thought a fellow would get used to it if they grew up with it like that and I suppose to a degree I am, but it still is bothersome at times. :cool:

[Colin Howkins]

Mate,
I have tinnitus since Cook went up the coast! Tried all sorts of stuff & I think there is a whole industry out there of people/quacks/charlatans/ cunjurors - you name it saying they have come up with a miracle cure. Sad to say there is none.

It's a bit tough, but you have to get your head around it, live with it, ignore it, [Rum sometimes helps] taken internallly of course, I don't know about massaging it in though, that would just waste the rum.

Like most things in life, once you get your head around it you've just about got it licked.:doh:
Regards
Colin Howkins
Graceville Qld

[Priemsy]

Being an ex artillery bloke, I have it big time as well. Have been told that depression can accentuate the problem.

Paul

[wheelinround]

Being an ex artillery bloke, I have it big time as well. Have been told that depression can accentuate the problem.

Paul

gee that would mean all here are depressed:(:( guess it could be none of us are happy chaps when we have tools that don't work, projects not going to plan, not enough tools, someone has just bought the tool we can't afford, some other member just won the Free Prize Giveaway :C:doh:

Or someone bursts you bubble and slaps you silly cause you posted a stupid stupid comment question etc.:U

[Chris Parks]

I have found that the best cure is to ignore it. If you start to think about cures etc you become more aware of it and that's when it becomes a problem. I want to be the manager of the bloke who comes up with the cure as he is going to be rich.

[Cliff Rogers]

gee that would mean all here are depressed......Or someone bursts you bubble and slaps you silly cause you posted a stupid stupid comment question etc.:U
Yeah wheelin, he said accentuate not cause. :wink:

[Gingermick]

But it can cause depression.:(

[Baz]

A long time sufferer, would give my left nut for a cure. Has anyone ever heard of or know anyone that has one or has used this product http://www.enar.com.au/aboutenar.html , strongly suspect that if it worked we would all have one.
Cheers
Barry

[thumbsucker]

About just before Xmas I started to get ringing in my ears, I feared Tinitus as I had been working with a angle grinder, and wearing ear plugs. :(( They are just not good enough in my view.

I went to see the Dr yesterday and he believes that my ears are fine as a past a basic hearing test.

However he says that the Tinitus is caused by anxiety as this is something I am prone to. The fact that my jaw, temple, neck and ear canal are all in pain, and the strain of the muscle is causing the Tinitus.

The Tinitus comes and goes depending on how stressed I am and how my muscles are doing.

I can say that it would drive me mad to have the noise all the time. Sleeping is a real pain, the ringing makes you more nervous which makes the ringing worse. The Dr has refereed me to a shrink - to reduce my anxiety level. Not another one.

I am now super cautious with my ears, I have invested in heavy duty ear muff's. I would hate to live with this for life.

[rod1949]

Was watching the Sleek Geeks (scientists) the ABC TV the other night. They briefly touch on it saying that the fine hairs in our hearing canal that wave around actually have broken off. Just thinking about it now if this is so why the bloody hell haven't they self-repaired and grown back like hair everywhere else on our body.

[prozac]

I would say that I don't have it because it is only noticeable when there is no ambient sounds at all. In other words it doesn't bother me and I sympathise with those who it does bother.

All this talk of muscle control etc got me thinking that sometimes I go through periods when some muscle inside / below my ear bangs on in spasm. When this happens I take a mineral supplement that helps muscles relax. It has mangnesium as the primary ingredient and amino acids and vitamin B which all help muscles to relax and not spasm. Vit B helps with stress as well.

It is unlikely to help anyone with physical damge I would have thought, but for some may be worth a try. It is called "Ultra Muscleze" by BioCeuticals - www.bioceuticals.com.au (http://www.bioceuticals.com.au). Hope that someone gets some relief with it.

prozac

[wheelinround]

Prozac if it is noticeable more when things are quiet doesn't mean you dont have it. Ambient sound is just masking it or your not so consious of it

If I am concentrating on what i am doing I can often go beyond the irritating noise
or out around ambient noise and I can still here it is when it is at its worst.

Like most of the morning out in the shed not noisy just busy didn't notice it, when i came inside it started.

[Tex B]

I have heard about a technology developed in Australia that works. www.neuromonics.com.

Be interested to know if anyone here has used it.

Tex

[tea lady]

Was watching the Sleek Geeks (scientists) the ABC TV the other night. They briefly touch on it saying that the fine hairs in our hearing canal that wave around actually have broken off. Just thinking about it now if this is so why the bloody hell haven't they self-repaired and grown back like hair everywhere else on our body.

The fine hairs they talk of are LIKE fine hairs. Are nerves, which don't grow back. Unfortunately.:C I have tinnitis too. and hubby, who has it from being in a band. I don't know where mine came from. Lots of little incidents perhaps. Loud factory. Loud concerts. Baby yelling in ear. (He was really loud.) I mostly hear it at night when lying down. Wonder if being horizontal has some effect. Why does it get louder if there is no further damage?

[silentC]

Tinnitus is a symptom and can have many causes - hearing damage from loud noise is only one of them. My Mum suffers from it and it is a degenerative condition, so as you get older it gets worse.

Mine doesn't get worse over time. I wear earplugs now when I do gigs, so that helps.

Perhaps you can hear it louder when you are lying down because that's when it is quietest around you. Is yours a constant white noise, or is it one of the clicking or pulsing types? Some people get it from blood flow near the ear or muscular spasms in the ear, rather than damage to the sterocilia.

[tea lady]

Continuous hiss. Sometimes a whistle as well just so I don't get bored. I think main cause is using air gun powered blunger to stir rather large buckets of glaze in ceramic factory. Also maybe loud concerts when I was young. (Vague memory of a particular Nick Cave concert that had my ears ringing for three days afterwards.):doh:

[Buzza]

Get the hearing aids, and wear them. After a full day of wearing them, and they will be no longer needed, take em' out and the silence is bliss. After some time the ringing starts again, but for a while, it is sheer bliss.

I got my new stereo (one for each ear) set, and walked out of the audiologist room with them in. The parrots in the gum trees were amazingly loud, and I hadn't heard them for years. I thought that sound was wonderful.

After a while, one learns to turn down the volume or turn it up, and the background cut out button is great. :2tsup:

Buzza Clothears. :wink:

[TTIT]

I have heard about a technology developed in Australia that works. www.neuromonics.com (http://www.neuromonics.com).

Be interested to know if anyone here has used it.

TexLooking at the way they edge around the 'cost' question, I doubt that anyone here could afford it - and it really doesn't look like anything more than an upmarket MP3 player with a lot of hype attached - but then if it worked..... :U

[thumbsucker]

an upmarket MP3 player

If you read scientific papers on the treatment of tinitus their are two areas of treatment that are proofing successful.

Both involve the use of specific sounds to help modulate the ear.

Of particular interest is Pink Noise (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pink_noise), and in 5 - 15 hertz sounds. By feeding these sounds into an MP3 players or hearing aid removes the Tinitus dead.

Vern said that enya helps his tinutus, and wheelinround says that splashing water sounds help. The reason for this is that these sounds or noises are modulate your hearing. Get the sounds on tape that help and plug in your ipod and you have a as good as a cure for your tinitus. Or get a hearing aid with this feature built in and tuned to your need, some sounds work better for some people.

Their is no need for fancy gimmick.

[Ivan in Oz]

I am lucky.
I do not have Tinnitus,

Though, I do have these confounded lawn crickets which keep following me around, Always staying out of sight; just behind my head:C

If I got rid of them:2tsup:
Then I'd be right:doh::doh:

[Gingermick]

Get the sounds on tape that help and plug in your ipod and you have a as good as a cure for your tinitus.

But then there are those of us (maybe only me) that developed tinnitus after head trauma. I lost the hearing in one ear and gained tinnitus, yeah, yeah, yeah. :no:

[munruben]

If I am not thinking about it, I don't hear it but when I focus on the noise, it gets worse. sometimes its worse than others and sometimes I don't even notice it. Seems to be worse when I am stressed over something.

[Bassa]

I have it also, green tea at night helps mine, but it is a problem

[tea lady]

Gawd!! Does everybody have it? We should do a poll or something. Maybe we could offer the forum membership for scientific research. Or Choice Magazine. We could all test different "cures" and evaluate effectiveness.

[Groggy]

Ayup, me too. Too many noisy flying shooting things in a previous life :(. Haven't found anything that makes it go away other than getting busy so I don't notice.

[Tisorp]

Those who are interested in factual evidence relating to the treatment of tinnitus (or any other medical condition) would be well advised to visit the Cochrane Library www.thecochranelibrary.com (http://www.cochrane.org)and to largely ignore (or take with a small aliquot of NaCl) other web based sources. (Especially before parting with money). If there is any convincing evidence that a particular treatment is effective Cochrane will advise you of it.

To quote from the home page:
"Welcome to The Cochrane Library
The Cochrane Library contains high-quality, independent evidence to inform healthcare decision-making. It includes reliable evidence from Cochrane and other systematic reviews, clinical trials, and more. Cochrane reviews bring you the combined results of the world’s best medical research studies, and are recognised as the gold standard in evidence-based health care."

Reviews can be read in abstract form, full text or a ´plain language` summary.

The claim that this is the gold standard in evidence based health care is not hyperbolic.

Cheers, Jeff

[Greg Ward]

When I was 31 (27 years ago), I had a stapendectomy (spelling probably wrong), I had tinnitus, was losing hearing in one ear and had the stapes bone replaced. The other ear was OK.

27 years on, the one with the plastic stirrup is still going well, it has become my good hearing ear, the other is calcified with little hearing, (which in some ways is an advantage, but can annoy other people), but I can't be bothered to have it fixed. One v. good ear is enough for me

I am not suggesting this as a solution, however gradual calcification inside the inner ear can be a problem; all I know is that 27 years later, the ear with the plastic bit is doing well, that this operation may assist some and could assist if deafness is also associated. It is not to be feared if suggested by your doc..
Regards
Greg

[rod1949]

Was just reading the Tinnitus site http://www.tinnitus.asn.au/default.htm . I see they have Bedside Noise Generators @ $76. Coming from the tinnitus association one would have to assume good potential.

Just wondering if anyone has tried them? Thanks

[bitza500]

Hi, I caught Tittinus in Hospital where I was in like a fully blown mind pain free state I have been there and done that and all the same result special hearing aids ???
I cannot go into a crowded room as it drives me nuts all you hear is jumble groaning noises
A 1 on 1 is ok but if 2 people are talking I just walk away and it gets worse not better so keep trying as there is a lot of good Aisan Doctors who may help and mine is part of a package deal with a small surgery going wrong and now I am TPD so good look and ask around as a lot of these Doctors are only found when you meet someone who has had treatment

all the best Derek

[Buzza]

I had my stereo hearing aids tuned today, with Blue Tooth technology. :cool:

The new models are far, far superior than the older ones. Turn off background noise (tyres humming as you drive), answer the phone, (mine has two positions for this). The thing is, I saw a docco years back, that showed how loud noises flattened out the very fine hairs way down inside the ear. These hairs can never be repaired. But this docco showed a process where waves of sound were used to push the hairs into standing position again. At the time, not a lot of the hairs were responding, but enough to make it worthwhile to pursue this method. I have never heard anymore on that topic. Perhaps money is being made from Tinnitus. Mine was from driving an extremely loud heavy truck.

On the lighter side, I take my "aids de aural" out at about 8.30PM so that I can join my internet cobbers in peace, and leave SWMBO to the TV. After having hearing aids in all day, it can be a relief to take them out again at night. :D