A New Approach to Tinnitus

I have seen people very desperate, this is a horrible condition, who is expected that their ears can torture the mind every day, there are two exits and I say it clearly, they are not worth half truths, to all the people that desperate I tell them to hold on like I do, my tinnitus is bilateral, very acute and difficult to carry, it has taken away many things in my life, I do not know what it is to have peace, but perhaps a human being is not a living proof of survival, forget your past, do not look back, you need to reinvent yourself before the challenge, it's just a noise in the mind, it can be strong like mine, it has not made me crazy in six months like many others, I've followed my life and I'll follow it, I do not believe in happy habituation that some comment, I believe in a deep resignation of this condition, I do not speak of a happy state, I speak of a new state that we have to live

 

Welcome to the forum. The new state that we have to live, as you point out, is what we often called the 'new normal' here. It is nice that you recognize the need to face our T and willing to accept the new state or new normal. Many don't want to accept and adapt to the new state and suffer a lot mentally. As far as the happy state, it is not easy to get to this level when our T age is young. I was in a mess initially and suffered on and off with every setback for the first few years. But after that, the body is used to the high pitched ringing so that T is no longer treated as a threat. As time goes on, the perception of T also changes with time. The brain is able to enjoy things it once was robbed by T as it gradually breaks free from the tyranny of T. Eventually, T is treated as part of our being. It's stimulus is neutral and it is not able to trigger any negative emotions, leaving the brain free to enjoy what joy and fun things that life can bring. It will take time but it is doable.

 

So true Billie. By accepting T as a fundamental part of who you are, there is room and space created in your brain to enjoy life again. Acceptance takes away the negativity, the depression, the fear, the lethargy. Acceptance brings joy again, lets the sun shine through. That's the power of the human spirit.

 

A new approach for tinnitus would be something like the science of signal timing/vagus nerve stimulation to target areas of the brain causing tinnitus, cochlear hair cell regeneration and synapse repair for the inner ear to restore native input hopefully unwiring tinnitus by restoring hearing, or experimental drugs for epilepsy that seem to help with tinnitus and phantom pain.

Habituation no matter what you call it is the same ol approach that has been done for all of human history, it's time for something new. Basically science is the only hope we have. generations before us that had tinnitus did not. I'm looking forward to those approaches in the near future.