I Could Take It If It Weren't Sirens I Hear

I got tinnitus earlier this year after coming down with a horrible respiratory infection that somehow became an ear infection. After not being able to hear much of anything for about two weeks, my hearing slowly came back. As it did, I started to hear very nice music in my left ear. I never could figure out what the tune was, but it involved strings, horns, an organ and was quite nice.

A few days later, my right ear decided to join in, but instead of music, or even a single tone, it channeled sirens. Lots of them. It sounded as if dozens of fire trucks and police cars are on their way to a major disaster.

Reading up on tinnitus I learned that the sounds I was hearing were generated by my brain trying to fill in for the silence. Why my brain decided to tune to sirens is beyond me, and the aural details of the sirens, complete with blaring horns of fire trucks, was amusing -- to an extent.

My hearing wasn't all that good to begin with, but I'm pretty much back to where it was before the infection. The tinnitus is quieter, but still there.

I have have a few moments of peace each morning when I first wake up. But as soon as I wonder, "Hey, where'd the tinnitus go," the sirens start up again. That makes me think that it literally is now all in my head and there should be ways to tell my brain to move on to other things. Or at least change the sirens to something less dramatic.

Has anyone successfully used bio-feedback, meditation or other brain exercises to tell the brain it can stop providing noise after your hearing has returned?

 

@Carole F My brain does the same thing with the Tinnitus tones. My theory is that the brain is basically playing with the sounds in our heads. I have an active imagination, so it would make sense that my brain is provoking my imagination to hear sirens or music. The best antidote for me is to just focus the imagination to some other auditory stimulus like your favorite music or books. I like to think about what I read, and that usually stops the sirens. In specific, it's best not to ask where the sirens went. I'm glad when I don't hear them, and I rejoice. I believe this phenomena has a lot to do with getting a "song stuck in your head."

 

This is a good sign. Hopefully it will continue getting quieter (although it may take many months before it becomes bearable)...

 

Yes, the most read success story on this forum called "Back to Silence" by IWLM is all about talking to yourself about your feeling and not focusing on the loudness of T. You should give it a good read to see if you can adopt the method. Take care. God bless.

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/back-to-silence.7172/