My Story

[Craig1987]

Hello, my name is Craig.

So my story took place at a construction site. I'm an electrician and I work on commercial jobs that have all sorts of noise on them. This never effected me until one day I made a mistake that I constantly wish I could get back. I was cutting a piece of metal pipe in an enclosed area which magnified the noise.

As soon as I got off my ladder I knew something was wrong. I went home that night and it persisted. I had ringing in my ears before but I knew right away this was different.

Long story short it hasn't gone away and i struggle on a daily basis with it especially Bc construction sites are so loud and I'm constantly paranoid of the sounds around me. I'm even considering going back to school. I wear rap protection at work constantly but my T still hasn't gotten better. Even going out to night clubs I wear them but they don't seem to help to much and I regret going out the following morning. I do have faith that there will be a cure at some point.

We just have to all raise awareness and money to the situation. I'd never even heard of T until I got it which is absurd to me. But hopefully we have breakthroughs in the future! Thanks for reading truly appreciate it.

 

[glynis]

Welcome to tinnitus talk

Sorry to hear your you have tinnitus and hope over time it might settle down for you.
Make sure you keep protecting your ears around sounds above 80db health and safety is 84db.
Try sound therapy through the night playing natural sounds lower than your tinnitus and as your brain works hard to pick the lower sound up it will help your brains natural filter to push your tinnitus sound to the back and won't see it as a threat.
When clubbing keep away from speakers as sound can go through your mastoid bone behind your ear...lots of love glynis

 

[MikeL1972]

Hi Craig,

Do you work for yourself or part of a company? If the latter, I would think your employer would have to furnish you with both eye and ear protection in order to be in compliance with OSHA.

Like you, I never heard of tinnitus until I got it back in March 2016 as well by being at the wrong place at the wrong time (essentially through no fault of my own). In terms of dealing with it, I was fighting it head-on for the first two weeks, but quickly came to the conclusion that it was a losing battle, especially when the ENT specialist told me my ears and sinus were all clear. The best thing for you to do is to unclench your fists and stop trying to fight it. It is a gradual process, but over time your mind will perceive it as less of a threat and thus it will not trigger anxiety on your part. As an example, my ear is ringing as I type this, but I could care less. This is what the term "habituation" is all about.

Regarding a potential cure, I can easily see it happening in my lifetime (I am 44). The missing piece of the puzzle (to put it mildly) is a clear understanding of how the brain works. However, there are initiatives underway now to map the human brain so you can only imagine the mountains of information this will yield.

In the meantime, enjoy life to the fullest, yet try to keep away from loud noises. Good luck!

 

[leledany]

Hello Craig from how long do you have tinnitus?