Define Tinnitus and Habituation

How many people here on Tinnitus Talk have habituated to moderate/severe tinnitus, and how would you define that habituation?

 

I am not yet completely habituated but was wondering if you have and if so, what your definition of it would sound like.

 

I have mild to moderate head tinnitus and 2 extra sounds.

I forced myself to habituate. I kept to a busy schedule and every day I said do I feel better and I was not feeling for a long while, but part of my problem was anxiety. I sort of worked on that first. Calming myself down every day than one day I heard my body go pop and I felt great. Now my head just comes along with me.

And a little while later my tinnitus got better. I do hear it, but I go about my day easier. And when it acts up I tell it I'll put my maskers on. To mask you.

 

Hi Bart -

I hope you are hanging in there! I habituated at the 12 month mark. I posted a workup on the experience here:

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/thread...-to-survive-the-anxiety-and-depression.30720/

best of luck!

 

Tinnitus
A medicorely understood neurological condition that usually relates to hearing loss due to less input from the audiotory nerve causing the dorsal cochlear nucleus's nerve cells to become hyperactive and eventually spreading to other regions of the brain independent of hearing. Trigeminal nerve disruption, and head injury can also lead to tinnitus like in cases of TMD or TBI's that will directly insult the auditory brain.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4208401/

Habituation
Not caring about wanting a treatment and just living a life of mediocrity but now with a broken auditory brain and damaged cochlea and possibly the added insults like hyperacusis, recruitment, visual snow, balance problems or possibly other horrifying inner ear diseases.


Let's face it we are stuck with a real shitty condition and we have two options.
1: Man up, be tough, have a positive mindset and get over it

2:Raise awareness in hopes we can change history and get a treatment

 

Hi @Bart

Tinnitus comes and many forms and intensities and no two people experience it the same. Therefore, habituation can mean different things to different people. I have habituated twice. The first time took 2 years and the second 4 years. My tinnitus is now variable from: complete silence, mild, moderate, severe and can reach very severe levels. When it is severe or very severe, I sometimes take clonazepam to help reduce its intensity to a more manageable level. I see myself as completely habituated. Some people think being able to ignore the tinnitus completely and not be bothered by it is true habituation but this is not the case. Please read the post below.

The habituation process.

Habituation is frequently talked about in tinnitus forums and probably comes in at second place to the popular question: when will a cure be found? It seems some people have become quite taken with this word and believe it is the most important thing to strive for when dealing with this condition. Everyone wants to habituate as soon as possible and carry on living their life doing everything that they want to and putting tinnitus firmly behind them.

I can honestly say that I see nothing wrong with that, but wanting something in the speed that we would like it isn’t always achievable, especially with something like tinnitus. A few people that have had tinnitus for a while, have contacted me to discuss just that. They have concerns about the length of time it’s taking to habituate. Similarly, I have heard from those new to this condition that want the habitation process to start as quickly as possible. Both groups tell me they are doing all the right things but it seems patience is giving way to despondency and despair and some are starting to believe habituation might never happen for them.

It is of little comfort to these people when they hear family and friends say, tinnitus is just a minor irritant and something that can easily be ignored. Occasionally, it might be intrusive but this is never more than temporary and they are still able to carry on with their life unperturbed. I often sense the frustration a person is under when they are relaying this to me. Whether I’m talking to them on the telephone, private messenger or answering an email. It is then that I’m often asked: why is it that the habituation process doesn’t seem to be happening for them?

Answering such a question isn’t easy because there is no single answer that I can provide but I will say this. Tinnitus is a common condition that comes in many forms and intensities and no two people experience it the same. It can be very troublesome especially in the early stages of onset, but gradually this gives way and the condition settles down and in time many manage to cope with it when it’s mild or moderate. Sometimes this may involve treatment via a hearing therapist or a person achieves this naturally without being referred to a clinic.

It should be noted that tinnitus can be a complex condition, depending on how loud and intrusive it is for the individual? So what I’ve just outlined won’t apply to everyone. There are other factors that also come into play. A person’s make-up or rather their outlook on life. Whether they are positive or negative thinking can help or delay the habitation process. In addition to this, stress and anxiety are often associated with tinnitus and a person might be taking medication such as an antidepressant to help cope with it. There are a myriad of scenarios that I could relay to you on how tinnitus can affect someone’s quality of life, their well-being and the habituation process. For now I will say this:

When a person habituates to tinnitus it means they are able cope with it but this doesn’t mean they will never hear it. Although some people habituate to a level where the tinnitus is rarely heard or stays at a very low level. Whether the tinnitus is silent for periods of time or remains low, mild, moderate or is occasionally intrusive, it doesn’t really matter, because it all means the same thing. When habituation is reached a person will know, because whatever the level it will not bother you. However, like everything there are exceptions and tinnitus is no different. I believe there are some limitations to habituation. As I have previously said the condition comes in many forms and intensities. Some people have variable tinnitus that can fluctuate from silent, mild, moderate and severe. When it is loud and intrusive (severe) and this level is sustained for long periods it can become very debilitating and a person might have to take medication to cope with it, which is usually supplied by their doctor. This level of sustained intrusiveness shouldn’t be confused with a tinnitus spike, which usually returns to baseline within a short period of time.

I want to say that I believe habituation is achievable for most people with time. In some instances a person might need the professional help of a Hearing Therapist or Audiologist, as there are a variety of treatment options available to help one in the habituation process. One should also try to be realistic. There are some people that will accept nothing less than a complete cure from their tinnitus and this is unfortunate, because they could waste a lot of time being miserable.

I have corresponded with people that have said, their tinnitus is very low and is only heard occasionally or in a quiet room, at night for instance. Yet these people are not satisfied because they want a complete cure and will deliberately seek out quiet surroundings to monitor their tinnitus, checking to see if it has increased or not. It’s as if they have become obsessed with this condition and to the point where is starts to affect their relationship with those that are close to them, and I don’t think this is healthy.

In summing up I want to say one last thing. Those that are having treatment with a Hearing Therapist, Audiologist, or finding that their tinnitus is becoming less intrusive and they are in the habituation process. Try not to read negative posts or associate with negative thinking people who are not in the same place that you are, as their beliefs can prevent your advancement, if you are not careful.

I wish you well
Michael

Further reading on habituation:
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/tinnitus-a-personal-view.18668/
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/hyperacusis-as-i-see-it.19174/
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/answers-to-hyperacusis-and-habituation.12058/

 

Not meme, meme.

 

I have not habituated in the last 2 years because mine keeps getting worse. But I have in the past and I would define it as ... simply not caring enough about the tinnitus to even bother paying attention to it. It's just a non-issue. The louder the tinnitus is the harder it is do. But there are those with severe tinnitus who claim it can be done. And those who say it can't.

 

Habituation means coping with it or getting used to it. For example, in my room a clock ticks and I can sleep and study (as it clicks) but it dosent cause any emotional response, in other words it dosent bother me.

 

For Mild Tinnitus it totally works. I have two friends who have Mild T and they live totally normal (happy) lives. I also know two older people who have T (they also live a nice life, can only hear their T at night). Moderate T maybe can be habituated to, but it will take positive thinking, will, effort, and a lot of time 2-4 years, anything beyond that level of T sadly wont work.

 

And there are times when you are completely unaware that the clock is ticking, correct?

 

Exactly.
The way I perceive Habituation is the mind literally filtering the noise out and pushing it farther away from your perception, thus you become unaware of it. Though this can only work with certain types of T.When I had Mild T, I was staring to habituate and would not be able to hear it when I was in a quiet room either. I remember waiting in the doctors office and not being able to hear it unless I looked for it (habituation + lowering). The louder the tinnitus, the harder the habituation will take place. I am trying to habituate now but I cant because my T is intrusive and I get an inventory of 5 sounds that change on daily basis, so by tomorrow I will have a tone that I had on Saturday.

 

I did something really stupid two days ago and my tinnitus is the worst it has ever been. Things felt like they were headed in a better direction, but now ... I had a few daydreams today about buying a gun, putting it to my head and ... but I'm trying to stay positive.

We are stronger than we realize. There is hope of a better life, I believe. And, hey, maybe that Frequency Therapeutics thing will cure us all. I'm staying tuned ...

 

I understand how you feel. This is absolutely terrible! Imagine graduating college, getting this, not being able to work, etc. I still try to spend time with my family (family trips), but its hard as I can constantly hear my T. I think the best thing to do is wait for these treatments to come out. Imagine a treatment coming out in 2022 where T can be reduced to very mild, that would make me so happy because I would continue life where I have left off Sep 23, 2017. How did your T get worse?

 

A toast to the cure.

(Or at least an increased quality of life.)

Screaming match with a relative I visited. They can really push my buttons. I should have kept my cool. But I just lost it.

 

Hmm that should not cause further damage.

 

Tell that to my ears. Hopefully you are right.

 

Sorry to hear of your circumstances @TuneOut Give it time and use sound therapy whenever you can especially at night. When tinnitus was originally caused by "exposure to loud noise" such as headphone use, concert or clubbing a person will usually habituate. The time scale will be different for everyone but in the most cases up to 18 months most people make good improvement and do habituate. As time moves on a lot of people tend to forget they have tinnitus and this is when they can be at most risk of it getting worse. Some people with "noise induced" tinnitus return to using headphones or frequently attend places where loud music is played and unfortunately this can result in the tinnitus becoming worse.

Someone that has noise induced tinnitus, if it gets worse, the usual cause is exposure to loud sounds or headphone use.

Michael

 

When I had Mild T I screamed for New Years and nothing happened. Things that would spike it was trips to cafes, stores, malls, resturants, etc. It wouldn't like music above 65db playing..... hahaha.

 

Can get it worse without further hearing damage? I assumed that T would only worsen if you damaged more hair cells.

 

I'm not sure this is the case, while doing further damage to your hearing is likely to cause your T to be louder, it's totally possible to have a spike that subsides without any damage being done.

 

Crazy

 

So when you get a random spike for no apparent reason and it returns to normal you assume hearing loss has occured?

What about a wax build up in your ear that dislodges itself?

Or fluid build up in the middle ear?

Or fluid build up in the eustachian tubes?

 

tinnitus = some BS
habituation = not a cure.