Combat veteran and programmer, seeking relief.

Hello, everyone! My name is Brian. I am a combat veteran of the United States Army, and I've had tinnitus since my deployment to Iraq in 2003, during OIF. I am an IT student at Penn State University, and I do iOS App and Web development to help pay my bills. More info about me can be found at my website: NittanyGeek.com

My audiologist equipped me with ReSound Alera TS hearing aids, which I initially felt were working semi-well. My hearing improved, in that my tinnitus isn't quite as loud as it used to be, and I've had fewer "spikes" that would leave me temporarily unable to hear much of anything. I was scared for several years that I would completely loose my hearing. I didn't see a doctor about my hearing problems until almost 10 years after I began having problems. Although my hearing aids have somewhat improved my hearing over the past year, my hearing has recently been getting worse.

I've been searching the Internet for ways to self-treat my problem. I've paid for several cheap or free Apps from the iOS App Store, and have been scoping out other DIY methods as well. Because many of the programs I've found are out of my budget, I decided to start coding my own solutions based on existing treatments ... which is what lead me to this forum.

I've already been sent an unofficial cease-and-desist email from Josephine Swinhoe, the Managing Director at The Tinnitus Clinic, in regards to using Acoustic CR® Neuromodulation because of it's related patents. I am not a lawyer, nor do I have any interest in stepping on anyone's patents, so I've refrained from exploring any development utilizing it. What I have done though, is begin development on a Web-based App for tinnitus treatment (it's in super-early beta development right now: http://nittanygeek.com/labs/tinnitus/) and I'm seeking to integrate available therapy solutions.

Awesome forum, btw!

 

Welcome to the forum,Brian.

 

Hi Brian,

Welcome.

Good inititive regarding your web based app and integration of available therapy solutions.

It is a pitty you can't integrate ACRN. At the other hand, from a business perspective understandable. Not nice for sufferers like us but that is the real world isn't?

Nevertheless keep up the good work!

 

Thanks Sherri786 and Meestijn!

Yeah, dealing with copyright and patents can be a bit of a drag at times, but I'm optimistic in finding more open solutions. I have some ideas of my own that might help, which I'll be integrating into the web app.

And after reading through a lot of users intros and comments, it's reassuring (to some degree) to see that I'm not alone with many of these symptoms. I've learned to tune out my tinnitus as much as I can, but it's the painfully loud spikes that I wish I could get more under control.