My Tinnitus Story (Since About 20 Years)

Hello everyone!

After reading a lot of posts here, especially the „Positivity Thread“ (which helped me a lot!), I want to introduce myself.

I’m 34 years old male from Austria. I have tinnitus since I’m 16 or 17 after spending a night in a very loud disco. After that I received the standard treatment which was infusions and blood-thinning medications which didn’t help.

Because my tinnitus wasn’t really bad at this time and it didn’t affect me, I continued to go out, even though it was loud, which was not very clever

Through the years it became worse and I started to take care of it. I do not remember when it was but someday I decided to go to a tinnitus clinic for one week. I got the newest treatments which existed at this time but without success.

After that I simply had to live with it which worked well. Of course I had moments where I wished my tinnitus just disappears but actually most of the time it wasn’t a real problem. I just avoided concerts and very loud places which wasn’t a big deal for me.

In the last years I also had a few setbacks but I was able to overcome it and go on to live my normal life.

A few months ago I had a lot of trouble with my new car, which I bought second hand. Because this was very stressful for me and I was very worried about it I think my tinnitus increased or at least the tone became a bit higher. As you can imagine, I was more focusing on it and because of that my tinnitus seemed to be louder to me,. so to say a vicious circle.

Additionally, to my antidepressant I take since a few years, I also created some treatments for me like Yoga, relaxing exercises, Sport and try to find some other stuff I can do, to avoid focusing on my tinnitus. And so I also started to help my brother with teaching KravMaga (self-defense) which I really enjoy. Unfortunately, it can be a bit loud too. For example, when we do exercises with boxing mitts or we do some realistic scenario training with a full protection suit. And so it happened yesterday that after a hit with a flat hand onto the boxing mitt which was next to my right ear, my tinnitus increased immediately for a few seconds. After some seconds it went back to the normal volume or almost normal volume. I’m not completely sure if it is the same volume like before or if it is a bit louder than before, but it raised my anxiety and now I always thinking about the next time when it happens and if it is better to quit it completely.

As you all probably know, tinnitus brings the risk with it, to cut off all activities to avoid any loud incidents which results to withdraw from everything which makes your mind circling and focusing to the tinnitus which makes it louder again. On the other site the probability to encounter a loud incident during our KravMaga training is relatively high.

Not sure if someone has read this until the end but I wish you all the best and hope we all can manage it somehow so that we can go on in life.


TinniTom

 

finally found a fellow austrian here

immer wieder österreich

 

@TinniTom

HI Tinntom,
Welcome to the forum.

I read your post with interest. If I were you though, I wouldn’t be doing any sort of combat training where there’s the possibility I could be hit on, or to the side of my head considering I have tinnitus. In my opinion, the risk is too grave of making the condition worse. Since you’ve had relatively mild to moderate tinnitus for a many years and being able to cope, I don’t advise rocking the boat. Believe me, you don’t want your tinnitus to reach severe levels because it can be unbearable and not a pleasant experience!

You can join a gym or use home exercise equipment such as an elliptical/crosstrainer machine to keep in shape. Running on a treadmill or on hard ground, one needs to be careful. Many people have contacted me to say, they’ve noticed their tinnitus getting louder and more intrusive after running on a treadmill and on hard ground and it doesn’t settle back down. It could be something to do with impact (vibrations) travelling up the body to the head and auditory system and irritating the cochlear in the inner ear. We are all different so there’s bound to be people with tinnitus that won’t be affected when running but it’s something to keep in mind.

I see no reason why you have to restrict yourself from going out to places where music is being played. Again, you have to apply caution and that means wearing things like: noise-reducing earplugs. These will reduce environmental sounds but will not impair sound quality. They are different from foam earplugs which tend to shut off outside sounds completely; so not ideal. They are fine for protecting the ears when using noisy electric power tools and gardening equipment such as a petrol lawn mower, but that’s about it.

I advise you not to listen to music through headphones even at low volume, as there’s a risk of making your tinnitus worse. Some people with tinnitus use headphones without any adverse effects. However, in my opinion it’s not worth taking the risk.

You might want to consider using sound enrichment especially at night. Sleeping in a quiet room is not recommended for anyone that has tinnitus, even those yours is mild. The brain and auditory system never turn off. If the brain hears silence when we are in a deep sleep, it has the ability to increase its background activity. In doing so it will also increase the tinnitus making it louder and more intrusive during the daytime. One way to prevent this from happening is to use a sound machine that plays nature sounds by your bedside. Set the volume level low - below your tinnitus and to play throughout the night until morning.

Music is not ideal although some people use it. Music draws the brain’s attention, which again isn’t ideal for nighttime use.

Michael

 

Hi, bro, You have suffered tinnitus for so many years, does it affect your hearing? Do you have any hearing loss? Do you have T in both ears?

 

@hoper
haha, yeah! big community here and great people!

@Michael Leigh
Many thanks for your answer and your suggestions! I really appreciate it and I will think about it.
But I have to disagree with "sleeping in a quiet room". According to my experience it is better to sleep without any sounds. Of course this is a great help at the beginning and if someone is struggling with it. But for me it was important to go to sleep without any sounds or music. I would hate it if I dependent on background noises the whole time. I don't want fear silence,.. to be alone with my tinnitus, so to say. My tinnitus didn't get worse because of sleeping in silence. But as you wrote, everybody is different.

@shadbek
Yes, I have tinnitus in both ears. According to the last hearing test which was many years ago I have a bit of a hearing loss in very high frequency which didn't affect my normal life. This is probably the frequency which my tinnitus have which is also very high.

After so many years with tinnitus, the most important thing is to accept tinnitus and go on with life, even though if it is very hard sometimes. It doesn't matter if you are monitoring your tinnitus if it become louder or not. You have to live with it, no matter how loud it is. But I know, that's easier said than done sometimes.

I wish you all the best!
TinniTom

 

I always sleep in a quiet room as I find masking annoys me just as much if not more than the tinnitus! After a while you get used to your tones and drones.

 

I understand where you are coming from @TinniTom and you must do what you feel is best. I would like to mention: the purpose of using sound enrichment at night isn't to help a person with tinnitus get off to sleep or for them to become dependent on it. It is to provide the brain and auditory system with sound enrichment when they are in deep sleep. Many people have contacted me after they have habituated to their tinnitus and wondered why it has slowly become intrusive again. The first thing I ask, have you stopped using sound enrichment at night - often the answer is yes.
All the best
Michael