New to the Group

Hello. I'm new here and I am looking forward to sharing, contributing and learning about tinnitus with the members here. I have had tinnitus for over a year. I have constant ringing in both ears and at times it drives me absolutely crazy. I am trying to figure out how to deal with the ringing during times of silence. -Sherrie-

 

Welcome ... I don't understand what you want to convey about coping in times of silence. Please explain. I think I can give you ideas when I know. Again welcome...

 

Welcome.

my suggestion is nature sounds or any other form of audio (TV) or maybe even the radio playing in the back.
Try to not set it too loud,just enough to have some degree of masking going on.

 

Hi Sandy B. I didn't convey that well. What I mean, is when things are supposed to be silent, away from noise, and I have this loud ringing. I miss having that complete peaceful silence...like when I take walks in the woods, or I am relaxing with no radio on, or tv, etc.

Dutchy: I do try to keep background noise going, but I don't always have access to background noise. Maybe carry earphones with me and play music??? I guess I have to get used to having something always with me that can play music.

 

Well try to avoid in-ear headphones when you can,maybe it's wise to not always mask but only in the most silent situations.

 

Welcome....Ahhhh do I miss silence!

 

@ringmybell - Try listening to some of the sounds from http://mynoise.net. I particularly like Dark Water and Spring Walk. The Dark Water is soothing and Spring Walk is just like it sounds, a walk in the woods in spring. After they're playing for a while, I don't really notice them because they become part of the background.

I recorded some of them using Audacity, load it into my iPhone and listen pretty much all day and all night, just very low volume. The nighttime white rain noise has helped me to sleep better. Even though I still wake up 2 or more times at night, it's easier to go back to sleep. One of my favorites for daytime is Flying Fortress. Don't know why, but the radio communications and sounds of the props are calming for me.

There are many sounds to choose from. I used to keep things very quiet in my environment because I don't like noise on top of noise, but the nature sounds from myNoise are realistic. Also, the white noise and rain noise are soothing, not harsh. Give it a try.

 

@ringmybell . Hi welcome to the forum.

 

Thanks. I don't like the idea of "masking" I just want the ringing to go away. But since this is not possible, I have to quit being stubborn and just try it. I like your recommendations!

 

Thank you!

 

Same here. I resisted masking up until last month, when a very kind member of this forum suggested that not having sound enrichment might be doing me more harm than good. He said that, in time, I could go back to having a quiet environment. However, the myNoise audio streaming is so nice that I enjoy listening to it and would still do so even without tinnitus. Another one of my favorites is Flying Fortress, believe it or not. It's a B29 with the sound of the props and radio communication.

There are exceptions. Last night my tinnitus was so loud, intrusive and reactive that I had to turn off the audio. Nothing helped and it couldn't be masked.

One thing I've noticed is that by playing the White Noise Rain all night, or one of the water sound generators from myNoise, that even though I still wake up in the night 2 or 3 times, it's easier to fall back asleep.

 

Thanks. I am going to get a good set of headphones and try this. I am sorry to hear that your tinnitus was so horrible last night. I don't have it that bad, but enough to be annoying! At work it is hard because I am at a quiet desk. My supervisor said I could put headphones on at work, though. Fortunately, I don't have a problem sleeping from tinnitus.

 

You have a good supervisor, then. My entire environment is fairly quiet, and always has been. I work, or should I say, I used to work from home. The tinnitus has pretty much disabled me from my job as an audio transcriptionist, although I'm thinking I need to bite the bullet and start back at 10 hours a week just to keep my head above water.

If you're wearing headphones and tend to stay in one place, try open-backed headphones. They still allow ambient sound to enter your ears and create less "amplification" of the tinnitus sound in your ears or head. I don't own a pair yet, but @Steve recommended them to me for my situation.