I'm Fine — Tinnitus Is Basically Not a Thing Anymore

[Tom Cnyc]

Hey all,

I haven't posted a success story here in many years, even though I've been doing well for a long time. Not sure why, but I want to share something positive now.

My tinnitus is gone most of the time. And it used to be awful. Louder than a teenager blasting terrible music just to annoy his parents. Now, when it's there, it's just a mild hiss. It took about three years to improve, and I've been fine for the last six.

I also had hyperacusis. That's 100 percent gone.

Now, the part everyone wants to know: how? Honestly, in my experience, tinnitus fades like a mythological god that only grants your wish once you no longer desire it. You have to stop caring about it, and eventually your brain will calm down. The same goes for hyperacusis.

Now for the part I really want to talk about. Tinnitus is a nervous system hyperarousal issue. You get stuck in fight-or-flight mode. And while it's helpful to connect with others and share experiences, be careful how much time you spend thinking about it. Visit places like this, Reddit, or Facebook groups when you need information, but don't live there. I promise it makes things worse.

I'm posting this now because I recently went through a serious concussion and had long-lasting dizziness. I'm still not back to one hundred percent, but I'm mostly there. During the worst of it, I was living in Reddit forums, constantly triggering my sympathetic nervous system, and making everything worse. It wasn't until I stopped re-traumatizing myself that the psychosocial aspects of my symptoms began to fade. This was the same pattern I experienced when I had tinnitus.

Seriously, I can't say this enough... get out of the house. Feel the sun. Wear earplugs when necessary, but don't fear sound. If you constantly live in fear, your brain will stay on high alert and keep the volume turned up on your tinnitus. And even if the volume doesn't go down, how much you notice it definitely will.

This is the message from everyone who has overcome it — Julian Cowan Hill, Dr. Nagler, and many others. You need to calm your nervous system, and peace will follow.

Look into bodywork.

Look into somatic tracking (this one is big).

Read The Way Out by Alan Gordon.

Listen to music every day, and slowly turn the volume up over time.

And most importantly, stop traumatizing yourself by reading horror stories. It does not help. Forums are often filled with the most miserable cases, and your brain will start to believe you are one of them. Neural circuit pain is real. Do not nocebo yourself out of healing.

You are going to be fine. I promise. And absolutely anyone who is suffering can reach out to me for support.

 

[Joeseph Stope]

Congratulations! Wishing you a long and happy life.

Just one small point that I think is important to mention:

If every one of us, man or woman, were to follow your advice and simply ignore the intrusive sound within and the pain inducing noise of the environment, let us suppose for a moment and suspend disbelief, then what would happen?

The collective of ENTs, audiologists, research grant committees, lobbyists, charities for the deaf and hearing impaired, and politicians pushing for better healthcare might all assume that because no one is speaking up about their suffering, there is no problem, or at least not a serious one.

I still remember the first time I heard the word "tinnitus." It was in the early nineties while I was in the hospital. A relative of mine, who worked in the medical field and was also an early internet enthusiast, had done some research and told me that back in either 1970 or 1980, I do not recall the exact date, there had been a major breakthrough in academic hearing research. That was when the field formally acknowledged "ringing in the ears" as a legitimate ailment and disability, and began using the term "tinnitus." From then on, it was officially recognized and given serious attention by researchers.

Why was I in the hospital?

Well, I will let you guess.

 

[sophia1688]

What caused your tinnitus?

 

[Tom Cnyc]

If every one of us, man or woman, were to follow your advice and simply ignore the intrusive sound within and the pain inducing noise of the environment, let us suppose for a moment and suspend disbelief, then what would happen?

You completely missed the point of what I wrote. But cool—spend as much time thinking about this as you'd like. There is no magic bullet for this, and all the science points to a hyperactive amygdala, as shown in fMRI studies. This is your nervous system caught in a negative feedback loop.

Reading horror stories on forums all day, including ones from people who actually got better but never came back to tell you, is only making things worse—not better.

Also, research grants are not awarded based on how many hours you spend on Reddit, dude.

What caused your tinnitus?

I have written about it extensively here—it's linked below my name and avatar. I had serious noise exposure for decades, and now, after dealing with tinnitus and hyperacusis for years, I can play drums without any flare-ups.

 

[SafeMusicFan]

A lot of what is written here resonates with my own tinnitus experience.

The more I read about it, think about "solving it," or look for supplements that might soothe the volume even just a little, the more tinnitus seems to become abrasive, both in volume and tone. One could argue the opposite—that the more abrasive it is, the more I'll look into it. That is also true. But essentially, that describes a loop.

On the other hand, the more often I am genuinely distracted—not trying to distract myself, but truly absorbed in something to the point where I do not even realize I am distracted—the more peaceful and less abrasive the tinnitus moments become. This effect tends to continue even after the distracting activity ends. When I am reminded of the tinnitus, it still seems smoother than usual, which makes it easier to get absorbed in a second activity, helping to maintain that effect.

Interestingly, moments of forced distraction have sometimes helped me move out of multi-day spikes. For example, if I had to engage in a long activity despite the spike, after many hours, I would come out of it noticing a reduction in intensity.

The difficult part is that when tinnitus is in an unstable phase, mornings often act like a reset button. It is common to have a stretch of one, two, or even three good days, only to wake up and find the tinnitus loud and demanding attention again. In those moments, my gut tells me not to make a big deal of it, but getting through those days can still be very hard.

Long story short, I do believe that trying to carry on with life as usual and not dwelling on the tinnitus is one of the best coping strategies. But during spikes, it is understandably a difficult strategy to apply.

Thank you for sharing your positive words!

 

[Tom Cnyc]

A lot of what is written here resonates with my own tinnitus experience.

The more I read about it, think about "solving it," or look for supplements that might soothe the volume even just a little, the more tinnitus seems to become abrasive, both in volume and tone. One could argue the opposite—that the more abrasive it is, the more I'll look into it. That is also true. But essentially, that describes a loop.

On the other hand, the more often I am genuinely distracted—not trying to distract myself, but truly absorbed in something to the point where I do not even realize I am distracted—the more peaceful and less abrasive the tinnitus moments become. This effect tends to continue even after the distracting activity ends. When I am reminded of the tinnitus, it still seems smoother than usual, which makes it easier to get absorbed in a second activity, helping to maintain that effect.

Interestingly, moments of forced distraction have sometimes helped me move out of multi-day spikes. For example, if I had to engage in a long activity despite the spike, after many hours, I would come out of it noticing a reduction in intensity.

The difficult part is that when tinnitus is in an unstable phase, mornings often act like a reset button. It is common to have a stretch of one, two, or even three good days, only to wake up and find the tinnitus loud and demanding attention again. In those moments, my gut tells me not to make a big deal of it, but getting through those days can still be very hard.

Long story short, I do believe that trying to carry on with life as usual and not dwelling on the tinnitus is one of the best coping strategies. But during spikes, it is understandably a difficult strategy to apply.

Thank you for sharing your positive words!

You have this experience because when you wake up, your body performs a kind of "systems check." Asking yourself, "How do I feel?" upon waking is something we all do every single day.

And quite literally, if you always search for your tinnitus when you wake up, you're creating a neural network that treats it as a vital life function. So, you look for it, find it, and get upset—which reinforces the network, because your emotional reaction tells your brain it is important.

This is the same reason people get "spikes" from things they only think will cause them. It's also why reading about what causes others to get spikes increases the chances that those things will trigger spikes for you.

And no, this doesn't mean you're crazy. It really is happening, because we are our brains. Our brains control every sensation we experience. Literally every sensation exists only in our minds. That also means understanding this can help us better navigate how to deal with it.

And no, your tinnitus may never completely go away. Mine didn't—but it isn't remotely comparable to how it once was. Most of the time, it's truly gone. Some of the time, it's there, but instead of being a ~1200 Hz EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE (okay, technically it's closer to a D), it's more like a soft tape hiss.

This is also why it's extremely unlikely that a treatment will be developed to directly fix tinnitus. They may eventually address the root cause, but once the neural network is formed, the brain tends to maintain it. It's similar to how a knee injury can still hurt for years after the tendon has physically healed. (Seriously, read Alan Gordon and John Sarno.)

There are a number of psychosocial conditions that cause real physical symptoms. Tinnitus just happens to be the one many of us collectively experience.

It's up to each person whether to take my advice or to think I'm a moron. But I'll say one thing for sure: reading about suffering all day is not doing anyone's nervous system any favors.

 

[DamagedJoe]

I am in a similar situation, with tones at 1220 Hz and 2020 Hz, and I also experience reactivity. My question is, has your reactivity improved? When did you stop using masking?

Thank you for sharing your success story.

 

[Joeseph Stope]

You completely missed the point of what I wrote. But cool—spend as much time thinking about this as you'd like. There is no magic bullet for this, and all the science points to a hyperactive amygdala, as shown in fMRI studies. This is your nervous system caught in a negative feedback loop.

Reading horror stories on forums all day, including ones from people who actually got better but never came back to tell you, is only making things worse—not better.

Also, research grants are not awarded based on how many hours you spend on Reddit, dude.

Your contribution is much appreciated. The time and effort you put into explaining your situation, and the depth you went into, makes for a very good and thoughtful read. Without a doubt, it will bring hope to many people on this forum.

However, there was one small part of your summary that left me a bit uncertain:

"Duh… @Tom Cnyc has found the cure for tinnitus and hyperacusis!"

A quick look at the hyperacusis section suggests it may not be that simple.

As for my own history, for what it is worth: I developed noise sensitivity as a teenager. When going to discos and other loud places, I used to wear earplugs—the old wax kind—and they worked fairly well. Still, during a noisy train ride, when the wheels screeched on the tracks, I would have to block my ears.

In my thirties, I had never heard the word "tinnitus," but I landed a good job with decent pay, and I got along well with my colleagues. One machine nearby was rather loud, and after two or three years, tinnitus developed. I believe it may have been caused by that prolonged noise exposure. However, a few months before it started, I also had a severe throat infection and took antibiotics, which might have played a role.

I tried many different doctors and therapies. Eventually, I gave Tinnitus Retraining Therapy a shot. It is often criticized here, but while it did not lower the tinnitus volume, it did push it into the background somehow. It also helped ease my hyperacusis. I had maybe fifteen good years.

But time moves on, and perhaps because of aging and the brain's plasticity, the tinnitus and hyperacusis eventually worsened again. They never went away completely, but they did make a comeback. I am no spring chicken anymore.

As the saying goes, different horses for different courses, different strokes for different folks. Browsing through the threads in the hyperacusis section, I was surprised by your recommendation for people to expose themselves to loud noise.

You wrote:
"Reading horror stories on forums all day, including ones from people who actually got better but never came back to tell you, is only making things worse—not better."

There is some truth to that. It makes me appreciate the medium level of tinnitus that I live with. But I also wonder—what if it were severe enough to drive me out of my mind? That is a scary thought.

And then this line:
"Also, research grants are not awarded based on how many hours you spend on Reddit, dude."

That made me smile. I remember the pre-internet days, wandering through the state library archives, searching for ENT and audiology research booklets—anything to show some movement in the field of hearing research. Today, everyone has endless material at their fingertips.

Passive reading may not change much, but a site like this—which requires a lot of active effort—can. The posters here help keep it going, each in their own way.

Signing off now. I just got a letter from the welfare office saying my first ENT appointment is scheduled for next month.

I was lucky to have health insurance back when my tinnitus first began.

Best regards,
Joseph Stope

 

[Tom Cnyc]

I am in a similar situation, with tones at 1220 Hz and 2020 Hz, and I also experience reactivity. My question is, has your reactivity improved? When did you stop using masking?

Thank you for sharing your success story.

Well, given that my tinnitus is gone most of the time, yes, it has improved.

I cannot stress this enough. I used to have to wear earplugs just to talk to my wife. My tinnitus was louder than my dishwasher, television, washer, dryer, and air conditioner all running at the same time in a 619 square foot New York City apartment.

It is your nervous system. Stop trying to treat isolated symptoms and start addressing your whole self.

What does that mean? Begin by sleeping eight hours each night. If you are stuck in fight or flight mode, then run. Seriously. It might seem obvious, but when you physically respond to the instinct to escape, it can reset your nervous system. That instinct often fades if you never act on it.

Most importantly, practice somatic tracking.

Learn to breathe into the sensation. Stop fighting your tinnitus. It is not a warship, it is a pool noodle. You are safe. Until you fully understand that, your body will keep sounding both a figurative and, in many ways, a literal alarm.

To keep the analogy going, the alarm will begin to turn off when your brain realizes there is no fire.

Look up The Steady Coach, who has a free channel that explains the psychosocial side of audiology, neurology, and vestibular issues. She is an audiologist and physical therapist who works with these conditions, and she understands them far better than I do.

Personally, psychedelics helped speed up my recovery when things were at their worst. Do with that information what you will. Your experience may be different.