Tinnitus is NOT incurable!

[Bassmaticmatt]

I have had mild tinnitus in both ears since i was a teen. A few years ago I was in a car accident where i was T- boned on the passenger side. Since then my right ear has constantly rang. It's not too bad most of the time. But i have trouble making out words in a somewhat noisy environment. But I guess that's not out of the ordinary.

 

[burpgun]

Glad to see this thread. I'm 46 and have been dealing with this for the last three or four years. Entirely self-induced. Super-loud bands for about 20 years, never wore plugs at shows. Cranked the cans up while recording. When I got the diagnoses I was bummed out, but not that mad, because I felt like the bill for being a dummy had finally come due.

I'm not around super loud music that often now--I see a show maybe once a month--and I've made a conscious effort to turn down the volume on any headphones I'm using. That helps a little.

I tried kicking caffeine, as I'm a huge coffee drinker, but that made no difference. I have a difficult time getting adequate sleep, but I've found the best remedy is just that: get proper rest.

Interesting to see the topic of salt come up. I don't have high blood pressure but I do know my salt intake is high--thanks Chipotle!--so that's something I could try to cut back on. I also smoke the green pretty regularly and I know that affects things. I've cut out alcohol for long stretches but never found that to influence the ringing.

Kind of amazing science has solved this ultra-common problem.

 

[fakeneckplate'65]

I find that any ear ringing I experience tends to coincide with excruciating anxiety or perhaps vice-versa?

 

[rodak]

I find that any ear ringing I experience tends to coincide with excruciating anxiety or perhaps vice-versa?

I've found that if I'm anxious or depressed, the ringing just makes it worse. If life is good (which, fortunately for me, is most of the time), it doesn't bother me much at all. The only time it bothers me these days is if I wake up at night with stuff on my mind bothering me and I can't get to sleep, the ringing just makes it that much harder. In those cases, liquid melatonin helps!

 

[KevInDaBassment]

Very glad to hear you're doing better! I know this isn't exactly the same thing, but I noticed my hearing starting to go bad where it was very difficult (especially in my right ear) to discern sound or sometimes speech on a phone call unless it was loud and super clear. Over time, my hearing has gotten better and I can't say I notice any difference between my two ears. Perhaps it's just the human body doing what it does best? Healing itself? I'd imagine steering clear of loud noises and protecting your eardrums so they have a fighting chance goes a long way too. For me, I quit cranking the music in my car, didn't play unprotected with a drummer, and stood another 5 feet away from my mother when she was nagging at me

 

[gjohnson441496]

Wow. Posting personal information like this is really helpful and I'm glad you were thoughtful enough to tell your story. Yesterday at practice my guitar player surprised me and ask me to turn up my bass. As far as I was concerned we were loud enough, but my immediate reaction was "What the heck?", and I turned that bad boy up (Fender Rumble 100's can get very loud with master and gain at noon). From now on I'm just going to tell him to turn down.

Thanks

 

[bdplaid]

I've had tinnitus for decades, including middle/inner ear problems which landed me in the hospital several times with severe vertigo. I feel pretty good these days. What do I think improved things? Time.

The body will heal itself or the brain will compensate if one doesn't continue to re-injure it. The issue with all the holistic nonsense that people cite as cures is that it will take people away from real science that actually does help. I understand the desperation, but really... for awhile MS patients were getting bee stings as treatment. No, it doesn't work.

So as regards all my ailments (some pretty severe), I go to the doctor, do what they say, then go on with my life. I ignore the symptoms as much as i can. The brain has a rather large capacity to filter things out. I haven't heard ringing in my ears in quite some time, except right now it is coming back as i write this because apparently my brain is focusing on, "yes, you still have tinnitus."

The short answer, at least for me: Ignore the things that I can't change.

 

[tlc1976]

Tin ears here too. Aspirin and NSAIDS (non steroidal pain meds like ibuprofen) can also cause it. I have experienced increased levels when self medicating for aches and pains.

A family member who is a speech pathologist and does hearing tests for a living (if you can't hear you can't learn to speak very well) gave me some advice: wear ear protection whenever you are exposed to prolonged sonic pressure. That includes lawn mowers, weed whackers, outboard motors etc......and she quoted some research about B vitamins. I chow B complex before and during every gig, and before every practice.

Per a previous post, I also read about a German company that had a treatment where they matched the frequency of an individual's tinnitus, then added that signal to recorded music played over headphones. The article said it worked. Haven't tried that.

I have, however, tried N-acetyl cysteine (NAC), available from online supplement vendors. I had read that the Marines were testing it as a treatment for hearing loss. link follows: NAC For Tinnitus | Tinnitus Treatment | Arches Tinnitus Formula

While reading this I tried the JoeNerve hand cupping and the jaw jutting, both work short term. I'm pleased......

Finally, as with all things medical, cures and treatments vary by individual. Now, I'm going to buy some local raw honey and high oil content cinnamon to add to my morning tea spoon of cider vinegar........

I get tinnitus when taking a little too much aspirin, and dissipates over time. Sounds like a chord on a Hammond organ being played in my ear. Need the aspirin to keep my legs from swelling and blood clots from forming. Already had one DVT treatment. They say aspirin works about the same as Coumadin, but half the risk of brain bleeding. Xarelto works great but I don't have $300 a month.

Which makes me think, if tinnitus can be caused by something medical, perhaps it could be reversed by something medical as well.

 

[Heisenbass]

...modern medicine has just not yet determined how to cure it.

This is going to be a long one, but I can't do it any other way.

I'll start with a brief history and the reason I'm writing this. I've had tinnitus for at least 30 years. For 20 of those years I dealt with it, considered it an occupational hazard, and didn't feel it was a huge deal. It was there every minute of every day, but I could live with it. Didn't understand those who complained like crazy. My thought was, "Just shut up and deal with it."

I started wearing ear plugs to further protect my hearing, but one day at a show at the Bitter End about 10 years ago, I left them home. I said screw it, and played without any protection. That night was life altering. My tinnitus went from what seemed like a 3 right up to 11! And it stayed that way for days, slowly lowering itself to about a 7 or 8. Suddenly, I understood how people went into massive depressions over this. How they even killed themselves. The screaming in my ears was unbearable. No noise machines, air conditioners, or any other background noise could relieve it. I lived with it for about 5 years at that level, and then started doing things that made it a little more bearable.

While it was at that level, a car horn could send me back to 11 with a 3 second beep. A cymbal crash without earplugs in, any kind of music that hit certain frequencies at any volume whatsoever. I went to a friends clarinet concert once and literally almost started crying. Stayed out of respect, but would never repeat that.

Point of this all being, I know full well what tinnitus is. And I know full well the levels it can go to. I even purchased $4000 hearing aids in hopes that it would help. It did absolutely nothing, and I had to take a $400 hit (restocking fee) when I returned them after 90 days.

Two days ago I was driving, with music down low in my car and it occurred to me that I heard no ringing. I shut my stereo, pulled the car over and heard dead silence except for a few birds!​

My eyes got teary, I took a deep breath, and just got super grateful. I hadn't experienced that in years! I know this is reading like an infomercial, but I promise I'm not selling anything. Only trying to help anyone if I can. The fact that I experienced that tells me I'm capable of getting rid of tinnitus altogether. I'll say also, that right now it's only returned to the barely noticeable level, and it comes and goes. It's not bothering me at all.

So now the bad news - I don't know HOW to stop or cure it, but I know I did. And I'm about to list everything I did that I believe helped it to end. It could be just one of these things that worked, or it could have been a combination of any number of them. All I know is that it worked, and if you suffer from this the way I did you'll probably be willing to try anything.

My help with this came from a mix of psychological, physical, and spiritual things I applied:

1. I refused to believe tinnitus was incurable. I somehow knew and completely believed nobody has yet figured it out.

2. I was willing to try ANYTHING, and very open minded about healing it
.
3. I DID in fact try many things that had absolutely no effect, including expensive vitamins that did sheit.

4. I had a talk with a guy one day that really stuck with me. He was an intellectual, scientific type of dude who did his dabbling with LSD back in the day - but he told me he had tinnitus pretty bad and he "willed" it away. Said the he did a lot of reading on it, and realized he could focus differently and at first minimize the ringing, then eventually eliminate it. I tried and tried and tried, and think it may have had a cumulative effect. What really resonated with me though was that I believed him, as his conviction was strong. This helped to give me hope.​

The crazier stuff:

5. I read somewhere that raw honey and cinnamon cured tinnitus. I didn't believe it, but I know raw honey and cinnamon are both very good for you anyway so I said what the hell. Did a teaspoon of each, every day for about 4 months straight, and I don't know if it was a placebo effect or the real thing, but it brought that above mentioned 7-8 volume down to 4-6. The tinnitus from that point on would only hit the unbearable mark if I had some sort of auditory assault.​

Over the past 2 years I've made a few more changes:

6. I was always using the highest noise reducing earplugs for every show I did. Just recently started using IEMs, thinking they were actually going to make things worse, but I think the noise cancelling qualities of them are working wonders. I was playing only once or twice a month the past few years. Now I'm playing 2 or 3X a week, and despite that I'm in much better shape.

7. I learned to do this ear cupping thing, and now do it religiously after every show. I cup my hands tightly on my ears with my fingers on the back of my head. I tap the back bottom of my skull to get a "boing" sound, and do that about 20 times. I then squeeze my ears as hard as I can, which intensifies the ringing, hold it a few seconds, and let it go. I might repeat the process if I feel necessary. IT WORKS!!!! It's a temporary reduction, but it lasts 10-15 minutes. I do it again when I get home or before I go to bed.

8. And this is as crazy as it gets. Gotta put it in here because who knows - maybe this is the one key to all, but I don't think so. I was taught to perform Reiki (an energy healing technique) many years ago. When I do the above ear cupping thing, I also rub my hands together first, draw the Reiki symbol on my palms, and apply the healing technique. Don't know how or why this works, and I'm still skeptical, but I've been doing anything and everything possible. It might have something to do with the heat in my hands from rubbing them, a placebo affect again, or maybe there truly is a healing force in the universe that I've been taught to tap into. If so, I believe prayer would have the same effect.

9. I eat well, exercise and work at having a positive attitude always. I believe that to has aided in my healing.​

That's all I've really. I'll reiterate that I'm crazy freaking happy my life is pretty much back to normal now. It's been over 10 years of torture. Hope this helps someone, and I hope other add what they did that helped. I now know we can beat this, and if not, at least make it completely bearable.

Share your thoughts, tips and ideas. I'm done for now .

Link Removed

This is not a joke. Over here in Germany, it's an approved medical product and several major public health insurances reimburse it.

 

[Fender_Bender]

I don't have it but I did have a scary bout of vertigo last year. I thought I was having a stroke or something. Puked, the whole nine yards. Had I been able to crawl over to the phone I would've called an ambulance. I still get the occasional "scrunchy bubble wrap " sound in my left ear after that so I can sympathize.

 

[seamonkey]

This ain't a good place for medical advise, yet I'll offer some.
That is after you see a science based doctor.
Some types of tinnitus are like phantom limbs. The nerves are gone and your brain is hearing something that is not there.
Just listening to good low volume hi-fi music can train your brain to know what's real of not.
Don't listen to the ringing, and don't look for the blind spot in your eye or watch the floaters. Meditate.

 

[jwilson67]

This ain't a good place for medical advise, yet I'll offer some.
That is after you see a science based doctor.
Some types of tinnitus are like phantom limbs. The nerves are gone and your brain is hearing something that is not there.
Just listening to good low volume hi-fi music can train your brain to know what's real of not.
Don't listen to the ringing, and don't look for the blind spot in your eye or watch the floaters. Meditate.

The ringing is always there for me but my brain has just adjusted to it. Like how other people have no hissing/ringing, mine is just a part of life now. My only duty now is to protect what's left as I figure it's never going to go away and if it doesn't I'm OK with that.

 

[NathanDetroit]

Just gonna leave this here.

 

[pbass2]

I started playing back in the late 70's and nobody thought of wearing hearing protection in my experience until maybe the late 80's, early 90's. So, yeah, I got some from years of playing hella loud. But now mine comes and goes. These days, it's almost non-existant. I've been 90% in the studio the last 10 years, not much live playing at all, always working at a very conservative volume and it has reduced greatly over that time (how often it pops up and how loud it seems.) In fact, most of the time I notice nothing. So that would suggest that it CAN heal. So, I can't attribute mine improving to anything other than being super careful about levels over many years, very consistently. Otherwise, I just live a super healthy lifestyle--diet, exercise, sleep--who knows if that has an effect.

 

[Joe Nerve]

Just gonna leave this here.

Didn't have time to watch the whole thing... but skipped through and saw that that's the technique I was talking about that's much better demonstrated in the video.

 

[MrPierre]

I've had tinnitus for almost 4 years now. Mainly because I play in a "stupid loud' band and I used to loathe earplugs because they changed the sound. I'm also a live sound engineer in a venue where thing get loud, and I hated mixing with earplugs.

I'm now paying the price of my dislike of earplugs for the rest of my life. Nowadays, I have always have on me high-end molded earplugs. Best purchase ever. Don't go for the cheap 40$ ones on Amazon, get the real molded things with high end filter, its like turning the level of the whole world down without touching the EQ.

I also found out that if I concentrate on "finding" my tinnitus amidst everyday noise, it would get louder. And when I don't think about it for a while (easier said than done), it get quieter. Pressure on my ear (like cheap earplug) also increase its level. Regular neck stretching exercise also help.

But, nonetheless, I can live with, its fairly mild.

On the other extreme of noise, one of my best friend started having HEAVY tinnitus last year. Like, so loud it would drown out a normal conversation and be physically painful. Doctors said it was caused by a mix of damage to the eardrum and natural hyper-sensitivity to sound. After a while my friend considered suicide if doctors could not do anything (not joking...doctors had his hunting rifle taken away for his own safety). He spent last winter isolated in his home trying to avoid almost all possible noise.

Then, a month ago I saw him in downtown, in a relatively noisy place without any problems. He said he tried hypnosis and it worked. He can still ear his tinnitus, but at the same time he doesn't or he just can easily ignore it. He says its weird but it work in a certain way, if you are receptive to hypnosis.

 

[Kmonk]

Everybody is different. I have two friends who gave up playing because of tinnitus. They have tried everything and seen many specialists, nothing worked. One of them has it so bad that he has spent thousands of dollars on hearing aids. He gets some relief but very little. I have it but can usually ignore it but occasionally, its bothersome.

 

[ThePresident777]

That does it, I'm getting some Rogaine ear drops, or maybe Grecian formula for men and putting it in my ear! Then I'm joining the ear hair club for men.

I don't know about that. These guys don't look too happy.

 

[Plutonium244]

Tinnitus and Tendonitis...two common banes of the modern bassist.

I am convinced, that in my case, tinnitus is caused by varying sinus pressure on the inner ear due to barometric and humidity changes in a direct relationship with the changing seasonal allergens.

In other words, it's all in my head!

My best 'cure' is regular use of a Neti Pot...relieve the pressure on the upper sinuses and the ringing goes away.

I agree strongly that inner ear pressure, and sinus pressures etc., have a lot to do with mine.

When I went to an ENT many years ago about tinnitus which bothered me a lot for a while until I decided not to obsess over it (it didn't go away but I wasn't letting it drive me mad any more), and he observed that I tend to have negative pressure (a slight vacuum) in my inner ears. He didn't suggest this, but it is in keeping with what he told me about negative pressure--sometimes if it seems bad I hold my nose and blow some pressure back into my ear (like you do in an airplane to adjust inner ear pressure), and it helps to diminish it. Mine doesn't go away but good sinus health and keeping things clear does help me.

Also, sometimes a thing that reminds me of the ear clasp in the OP-- putting my thumbs over my ears and putting a little external air pressure onto the eardrum-- can help too. Tinnitus is also associated with TMJ syndrome, as probably most of you know. Working the jaw and face muscles around the TMJ kind of moves things a little, and also helps some. None of these make mine disappear-- but help to manage it. Not sure if the following is true or not but I have been told that bass frequencies are often the culprit, and damage the cilia on the eardrum over time, but cause the hearing loss and tinnitus at higher frequencies. Not sure I buy that, but just putting it out there.

This is an interesting and fruitful discussing, it is interesting and helpful to hear about the experiences of others-- often it feels like you're alone, in dealing with a problem-- and sound-- no one else hears. Thanks Joe for starting it.

 

[Joshua Pickenpaugh]

Thanks for sharing. I started wearing ear plugs to protect my hearing, then pleasently found out that they made hearing the bass more audible (especially when playing with singers and horn sections).