Habituation Noises

Hello all
I have a question on habituation. Does it make any difference whether you use white noise or nature sounds when you are trying to train your brain. Will you get there quicker using one or the other. Thanks
mark

 

I start with waterfall sound, but sometimes it doesn't help much so I use the White noise app on my phone and that masks my T right away, the only down side its difficult to fall asleep with White noise, at least for me.

 

Only thing I ever heard: One specialist (a prominent inner ear surgeon who himself has tinnitus and uses maskers) advised me not to use anything with vocals, as your brain concentrates on the words vs the sound. He personally thought classical music was the best (better than white noise or nature sounds) because it has more tonal variety and better stimulates your brain. But I have seen no research supporting that opinion.

I would say: listen to the sounds your ears like for now. And try to keep the noise level low enough to hear your tinnitus. Your goal, as far as habituation, is to use masking sound less and less. If you use sound to cover up your tinnitus, you'll notice your T will be much louder when you first stop masking.

 

That's interesting LadyDi. I actually have another question. If you only have T in one ear should you still wear both ear buds?

 

Crickets seem to do the trick for me.

 

That's an excellent question and one I can't answer. Maybe someone here at TT can. I have tinnitus in both ears, so I always need head phones for both ears.

 

do you now if this guy wore maskers permanently?... sad if thats the case, of course tinnitus is sad

 

Actually, @Mpt: He did wear maskers. Every day, in both ears. But his story is not a sad one, at least not for me. Meeting him was one of the most inspirational things that ever happened to me and started me on the road to learning to live with my tinnitus.

Dr. B is a very well-known medical school professor here in Florida, and the go-to person in the state for inner ear surgery. He also travels to third world countries as a volunteer, to do complicated surgeries for the poorest of the poor. I had a consultation with him (he lives about five hours from me) during the time I was seeking answers about my tinnitus cause and possible treatments. It was about two months into my tinnitus. I still was having major anxiety attacks and was in deep despair, thinking I would never have a normal life, would have to quit my job, etc.

Although he was very busy and ultimately could offer no surgical solutions for my tinnitus, Dr. B was very kind. He spent almost two hours with me while the patients piled up in his waiting room. He was the first doctor to really listen to me on my tinnitus journey, and answered all of my questions patiently.

At one point, I began to cry and told him I feared my life was over. He assured me this was not true. He then pointed to his own ears and smiled. "I have been talking to you for a long time now. Haven't you noticed these things in my ears?" he asked. I had not, I said.

Dr. B told he wore hearing aids/maskers in both ears, all the time. He had tinnitus himself, he said -- had it for a long time and had hearing loss to go with it. He did not explain how he got his tinnitus but did talk about masking and other things that helped him. He was the first doctor to suggest I not stop working, if possible -- that having a purpose, and living the life you wanted was the best medicine, he said. Dr. B told me repeatedly I would get better and should not give up. It's hard to describe what an amazing and emotional experience it was. My husband and I held each other and sobbed after we left his office.

I think of Dr. B whenever I have a down day and remind myself that this man, with tinnitus in both ears, continues to do very complex medical procedures and travel the world helping others. I never will forget him and say a silent prayer of gratitude when I think of him.

Sorry for such a long story.

 

Wow, great sorry , thank you for sharing it... It is sad because people have to live with it, but its also a great story because it highlights the triumph of the human spirit

 

Thanks for reading it, @Mpt. I never have written it down and it was nice to share. I was surprised that I cried as I wrote it. I met Dr B a year ago this month and those feelings... good feelings... still are there..