Hot Compresses

I have found that by applying hot washcloths to my ears, and pushing my finger, from behind the cloth, right up against the ear opening, I can usually get relief for a short period, sometimes even total silence when the tinnitus was low to begin with, even after removing the cloth. It only lasts for about 15-60 seconds before the tinnitus comes back. Has anyone else had found this to work this way for them?

 

I have had some lowering for a few minutes of my tinnitus from applying a warm washcloth yes.

 

A few weeks back, I used a heating pad a few times. My goal was to find some way to get the middle ear fluid/gunk to drain out, and I was not successful in that with the heating pad. However, I did notice that it calmed down the tinnitus somewhat.

 

Calms mine, too. An ice pack also works. Maybe it’s simply a placebo affect or maybe it relaxes nerves?

 

It even seems possible that muscle tension compressing nerves is making the tinnitus stronger; in this case, then doing some of the kinds of neck work that @Greg Sacramento likes to talk about could be really helpful.

 

I found some exercises on youtube (by Austin Goh) that involve pressing (without wash cloth) into ear... this helps me a bit for a few seconds...

 

@Luman
tried the washcloth yesterday for the first time (thanks for the advice!) and I had relief for a bit more than one hour !!! Great feeling: no sound for a while !!!

 

Wow, that's great @Hilde -- I think I tried a hot water bottle briefly early on, but didn't notice anything. Things could be different now, so I'm going to have to give this a try. Thanks for your encouraging note. A sanity saver, if ever I heard of one!