Acceptance of My Tinnitus

[PrimateSummer]

Hi, another new member here. I'm 23 and I've had tinnitus since the beginning of 2016. I had a very bad head cold and ear infection, I remember having very loud whooshing noises in my ears - much worse in my right ear. After the infection went, tinnitus remained. I had a hard time accepting it. I also have depression and anxiety, I found that tinnitus worsened this, and probably vice versa.

My tinnitus in mainly in my right ear. Luckily it tinnitus can be masked most of time by other noises. I sleep with a fan on at night.

I have found that over the years I have accepted my tinnitus. I know the chances of a cure/treatment are very low. Now it isn't something that takes over my life - it's just something that's part of my life. I found that not dwelling on it a lot has helped. Sometimes when I think about the future I get scared (maybe my tinnitus will worsen...) but then I remind myself to live in the present.

I have found that identifying things that 'irritate' my tinnitus helps, avoiding a lot of stress and anxiety, alcohol, loud noises, and maybe even caffeine.

Anyway, that's my story.

 

[JohnFox]

Good for you. So sorry you acquired this beast at such a young age. With your attitude, I think you will do just fine. It helps me to read stories like yours, so thanks. Positivity is so crucial. We don't have any choice, do we.

 

[Jiri]

Hi @PrimateSummer ,

I'm sorry to hear you got tinnitus. I'm happy for you that you managed to come to terms with this condition and moved on

I know the chances of a cure/treatment are very low.

Check out threads like: Q&A: Tinnitus Hub Meets Neuromod (Lenire), New University of Michigan Tinnitus Discovery — Signal Timing or University of Minnesota Tinnitus Research with Acoustic and Body Stimulation. We have members here who benefited greatly from bimodal neurostimulation and even got to hear silence for the first time. You might find interesting that other companies are working on treatments for tinnitus patients like e.g. Otonomy