Noise-Induced Tinnitus — Positive Success Stories

I sympathize, back pain is no joke. Best to take things slowly and not push it.

 

I hear ya Emma. That's easier said than done sometimes.

 

I did back exercises this morning. I should have started doing them sooner. It's a gentle stretching and strengthening routine. A man and a woman do the workout together giving you options for difficulty level.

25 Min Lower Back Exercises for Lower Back...

 

I wouldn't blame yourself, a lot of people get tinnitus without hearing damage, and i know people who dont have hearing damage who have tinnitus.

If you are prone to it seems like it's inevitable for some, both my parents have it and i do as well.

My mother has no hearing damage, and my fathers showed up when he turned 60.
The doctor said his was from concerts when he was young, mine and my mother's has no known cause. I try to see it as when we get old our ears start to fade anyways and tinnitus can happen to anyone, maybe yours will get better, or maybe you would have had a few more years of silence, the good news is that you will find new and more sustainable ways to find peace without silence for the time being, i also have friends who had tinitus from hearing damage for a few months on the offset of their exposure to an airbag going off 170db and her ears stopped ringing after 4 months.

Imagine all the people who you know who have been in car accidents and its not always their fault. And yet tinnitus and hearing damage can occur from so many accidents.

I hope that enough people realizing the importance of silence will bring about more technology and safety for our hearing, even though my ringing is loud i enjoy being places where there is no noise in nature i can still become aware of silence. And the less stimulation my mind and ears have in a queit place the easier it is for me to let go of reacting to the sound.

 

@Seawater7

That was very well said.

 

I took this picture today from a clients driveway. While it may appear I'm walking through a forest I'm standing on the edge looking in. If you look to the left of the biggest tree there is a deer watching me.

 

@New Guy

This is a lovely photo! Just look at that deer, she is watching you for sure.

 

Tonight my neighbor visited and we talked a while. He's in his 80's and worked construction all his life. Driving dump trucks, driving bulldozers, etc. He's an excellent mechanic. He's refurbished several old tractors since I've known him. Using power tools, banging metal on metal, welding and grinding, air compressors, etc.

His generation never wore hearing protection. Not out of ignorance, they just didn't wear it back then.

We talked in my back yard, away from the busy road I live on. He doesn't wear a hearing aid and understood every word I said. I shared my predicament seeking guidance. Hoping for hope.

He shared a couple stories.

Sometimes he would be standing next to a bulldozer talking to someone and both people had to yell to understand each other because the motor was screaming so loud. He didn't like that noise and the expression on his face showed it.

A dump truck was also very loud. "When I drove under a bridge the noise would make my head rattle" he said as he held his hands to his head. He told his boss he wouldn't drive the truck anymore because it was so loud.

I asked if his ears ever rang. He said yes, plenty of times, and it goes away. He would be watching TV at night and the clanging would start, again gesturing to his head with a not happy expression on his face.

I asked how long it took to go away and he didn't give an answer. He replied his did go away and mine will too.

Our talk today gave me hope. Sometimes hope and a little bit of patience is all we need to make it though.

 

Is this UK?

 

@Bill Bauer Southern New England in the good old USA!

 

Driving a country road I saw this pond with Lilypads in full bloom. Lilypads in bloom isn't a big deal but something about the colors caught my eye. There are pink, white and yellow lily pads.

One thing t has (re)taught me is to stop and smell the roses. The first month or two my anxiety was so high and future so uncertain I had no clue where I'd end up. I still have no clue where I'll end up but for now I'm ok with that as long as nature gives me great scenery to take pictures of and keeps the anxiety in check.

I've been exercising my back and it's a non issue right now. I have to be careful not to lift too much or improperly but I feel good about my recovery. I need to continue with the exercises. I haven't been to a park in almost a week. I need to get to one soon and spend some time with my friend Mother Nature.

 

Went to work in a rural area. Got to the job and as soon as I started pruning someone cranked up a chainsaw with either no muffler or a bad muffler. I immediately got in the truck and took off for an hour hoping for things to be quiet when I got back. The saw was at least 2-300 yards away but it was loud.

Got back and the chainsaw was still going and there was road construction using pile drivers a couple houses down the road.

Back in the day I would 'tough it out' or 'get the job done.' It doesn't seem worth the risk right now.

 

I realllllly don't want to jump the gun, but here goes.

Since my mallet-on-metal incident four weeks ago which caused 24/7 T, it seems to have reached a state where it's making itself known like an oscillating electronic gizmo in my right ear for hours at a time... then suddenly vanishes for a few hours. It comes back, and then goes. I consider that good because before it sounded like a bloody dial-up modem.

I actually wonder why it does go, considering it's pretty much evident damage to that little snail fella inside your inner ear. Or maybe it's not?

Anyhoo, I'll keep ya'll posted. Hopefully after four more weeks, I'll have some proper progress.

 

You cant undo it, so better to be safe and take it slow. Thats what I should have done

But it gets better. One day you dont notice the super market beepers, and later it will be something else you get used to.

 

@DBT

I learned my lesson with some emergency sirens about a month and a half ago. I think we all mess up a time or two when recovering. I don't know of one member who didn't have a setback during recovery.

The supermarket beepers are getting better and I feel good about that. I've also learned to linger at the end of the belt away from the beeper when at the store.

 

4 Months

I'm not sure how long I'll write monthly updates. I feel like progress slowed or stopped the last month and writing monthly posts feels like pressure.

Physical t

The T has been mostly eee the last month. Before the sirens a couple months ago I felt like the t varied more and was changing to something else. Now it's mostly eee. I've noticed sometimes my left ear will get louder than my right ear. That was something I noticed before the sirens so perhaps I'm getting back to where I was.

I get crickets, more in the morning than the afternoon, along with the eee. The crickets play under the eee and don't cancel it out. I can't remember if the crickets cancelled the eee before the sirens.

The t isn't very variable except for the crickets and it reacting to loud noise. Days are the same for the most part.

The volume of the t isn't getting lower. Perhaps I'm getting more used to it? If I'm in a room with the windows and doors closed the t is there and very noticeable. If I go outside where there is no traffic the level of the t is just above the ambient noise. I can hear the t if I look for it but it's easy to ignore or hear in the background.

I've been wearing ear muffs and ear plugs a lot the last month and a half. When I put them on I can definitely hear the t. I'm not as freaked out by the noise but if I stop and listen with muffs or plugs it's really cranking.

I remember how loud the t was the first month when I put ear muffs on. I feel like it's a little quieter now but not by much. I admit I switched my ear muffs. I was using 30 db muffs and now I'm using Peltor x5a's which are rated at 31 db but probably higher. Perhaps that's the difference?

The fullness has mostly gone away. I don't want to say that too confidently because I'll jinx myself. Feeling like I just got off an airplane hasn't happened for a couple weeks but I know from experience it can come back.

The h has been going down. I'm still very sensitive to noise but noise doesn't seem as loud. I still jump when a Peterbuilt tractor trailer or Harley goes by the house but it doesn't seem 'as' loud.

I listen to the TV and computer at half, if not more, of the volume I used to. My children, both under 12 years old, complain that they can't hear the tv when I'm listening to it. If I'm watching a show where there could be shooting I put the volume too low and guess what they're saying for fear of the noise. I rented Pacific Rim II last week and I kept the volume control in my hand the whole time and did my best to anticipate explosions. The last 1/4 of the movie I turned way down.

How is it they can build giant robots to fight the kaizan/bad creatures but can't build a few giant ballistic missles? How hard would that be???

Mental t

I'm burned out!

After 4 months of ups and downs I've grown tired of focusing on t. I still spend too much time thinking about it but I'm tired of thinking about it. I want to get back to something like life was before.

When I think about t my inner voice says, "Whatever."

I don't monitor my t as much as I used to. It is what it is and there's little I can do about it besides stay away from loud noise. Yes, I constantly listen to it but I don't focus on it and don't compare the volume or tone as much as I used to.

The last couple weeks I've made an effort to get back to some form of my former life. I've started working 2-4 hours at a time, working in the gardens around my house and trying to help my wife around the house. I have a way to go on the latter but the guilt is there for how little I've been doing.

Last weekend my sons Boy Scout Troop was selling hamburgers and hot dogs and stayed for 4 hours. It was outdoors so I felt ok about being there. I brought my ear muffs and ear plugs in case I needed them. This may seem like a small step but it was probably a big step considering where I was a few months ago.

I'm very nervous about indoor public places, especially restaurants. You never know what is going to happen or who is going to turn up the music. I always carry my ear muffs when indoors and if there's a fire alarm, loud child, whatever I'm ready.

I use ear plugs when outside in the yard. I don't know if I have them in perfect. If my t gets louder and I rub my fingers by my ears and can't hear them I feel like I've got them in good enough. I don't stand right next to the road so the plugs lower the volume enough.

I like ear plugs more than ear muffs for lower volumes because my head was getting sore from wearing ear muffs so much. If I know the noise is going to be loud and/or unpredictable I go with ear muffs. I never wear glasses with ear muffs because sound can get under the frame.

Other Thoughts

I've heard the longer you have t the slower progress comes if you're going to have it. I wonder if I've had t long enough that progress has slowed down or if the sirens a month and a half ago set me back. The sirens set me back 1-2 months and I'm not sure I got back to where I was before.

I was taking some supplements, which I'm not going to list, but I stopped because I was relying on them too much. I was afraid I was going to take too many and create another problem for myself. I'm going to start taking some again but more conservatively.

I'm getting used to having t and my hopes of t going away are diminishing. What I've got wouldn't be that horrible but I'd prefer to have none of it. Like everyone on this site I want to be one of the lucky ones.

The last week I found myself craving repairing my truck for enjoyment or going to see a movie to disconnect with the world for a while. I also wanted to grab a weed wacker and trim the edge of my lawn that I now have someone else mow. I can't do any of those things right now for fear of making my t worse. Someday I'll be able to do them again but with care.

I feel indifferent/melancholy about what I can't/shouldn't do right now. Some on this site say life is for living so have at it while others say protect your ears at all costs. I fall more in the protect your ears category so I'm not going to push loud events.

Unfortunately I've learned that life is a loud event; tractor trailers with ridiculously loud Jake brakes, freaking airplanes and helicopters, people honk as they go by and see me in the yard, my diesel truck is crazy loud, my wife dropped a dish as she put it in the dishwasher tonight, dogs like to bark, people talk louder when they're excited about something, tv's and radio's at local delis are often ridiculously loud, air conditioners are loud but usually tolerable, you get the idea.

I should go back and clean up this post but I'm tired so please forgive the grammar or punctuation mistakes (I went back and cleaned it up). I'm tired because I worked for 3 hours today in 90 degree heat and then worked around my yard for another hour. Yes I could do more but it's a start.

May peace be with you friends.

 

@New Guy @Mellow7 I noticed my tinnitus after moving to a very rural area with little to no noise apart from the very few cars that pass by in a day. Part of me wonders if I actually had tinnitus for a long time prior to moving to the country.

 

@devonlee

There was a night 2-3 years ago I couldn't sleep. I listened to the noises in the room to try and distract myself. I heard the fridge running, traffic going by the house, the fan on the tv and an ever so faint eee sound. I literally had to look for it to find it and I heard it perhaps only once since that night until I got t.

They say no one hears complete silence. I don't know if that was my lack of silence or t back then.

 

For the last few days I've been trying to get up earlier and be more productive than I have for the last few months. I'm not talking about getting back to old routines, I've been trying to be more active helping my wife around the house getting small chores done. The t is still very much there but if I have decent background noise I can ignore it.

I'm anxious about exposing myself to a noise that will increase my t after the sirens a little over a couple months ago. They definitely set me back. All I can do is carry my ear muffs and plugs with me and be prepared. I know I won't subject myself to loud noise on purpose but there's not much we can do about the motorcycles, tractor trailers, falling plates, loud exhausts on cars, screaming children and who knows what else. A few days ago I was checking out at the hardware store and someone ran a shop vac 5' away from me. My Peltor X5A's got me through that.

Yesterday a friend of my wife's needed to borrow my drill. In the course of showing them how to use it I hit the trigger for a few seconds. It didn't occur to me that this was a mistake until about 5 minutes later. This is the world I live in now. I thought the t got louder that night but it was only an issue for the few minutes I thought about it.

I won't try to subject myself to loud noises but I can't sweat brief noise exposures. I don't see how I can possibly avoid them. If a dish drops or my neighbor lights off more fireworks than the town all I can do is cover my ears as quickly as possible. I always have the Peltor X5A's in the room with me just in case. I put them in the same spot so I know where they will be if I need them.

It's up to me to protect my ears. If I think there is a possibility of loud noise the ear muffs go on or I'll be proactive and put the earplugs in and carry the ear muffs in case my premonition of noise coming becomes reality. I don't like to rely on ear plugs because it takes about a minute to put them on. Ear muffs can go on in a flash.

My son has a camp 4 hours away over the interstate next week. They need volunteers to drive. I want to help out but being on a highway for 4 hours there and back is more than I want to deal with. If I'm driving locally for an hour or two I can stop if my ears need a break or something doesn't feel right. If I'm 4 hours away I'm 4 hours away and there's not much I can do but keep driving. I don't want to regret trying to help out with an increase in the t.

The point of this post wasn't to talk about protection from loud noises but to say I feel like I'm moving in the right direction. I still have a loooooong way to go but I'll take whatever progress I can get right now.

I've eased up on the back exercises which I need to get back into and I've been walking on the road the last few days. Moving does seem to help the mind.

 

It’s good to hear that’s it’s going the right way again. Even small steps is still a step.

Getting something done is a good thing. It does something to the mind. It might just be that it’s a small victory somehow. Or just that it’s something normal.

We can’t be safe from everything and still get something out of life. Life is a hazard. Finding the balanced middle way is a challenge we will figure out as we go I believe. Some of it we figure out by doing mistakes like everything else in life.

I think it sounds like you’re moving in the right direction as good and safe as you can.

 

I screwed up today. This is strike 2.

I went to a power equipment dealer to test a battery powered weed wacker and battery powered blower. I wore my Peltor X5A's and ear plugs while using the equipment for 10-15 minutes each. The weedwacker wasn't that loud and the blower didn't seem that loud but I avoided full throttle with the blower.

It's been about 4 hours since I used the equipment and my t has gotten louder. I'm hoping it calms in a day or two. I was starting to get away from the eee and I think I'll be back to eee before the end of the night.

When I was exposed to the sirens the t had improved a little by the next morning. I hope that's the case this time.

I went for a walk in the forest which helped a lot with my anxiety. Half way through my walk I was calm and the increase didn't seem like such a big deal. I also took some nac.

The t is much more piercing/powerful tonight. I admit I'm wearing my x5a's to check but it sure is loud.

I don't need any I told you so's. Moderators please delete if any are posted.

 

The above post didn't show up in the feed. I wonder if this one will.

 

Chances are that this spike is going to be temporary.

Whatever ends up not causing a permanent spike, allows us to learn more about what our body can and can't handle, thus changing our future habits and behaviors and reducing the chance that we will get a permanent spike in the future.

 

I hope so Bill. This doesn't feel as bad as the sirens and I hope it doesn't get there. I'm going to keep masking vigilantly and pray it's a small bump on the road of this sucks.

Thank you for your support.

 

As you know, I care a lot about avoiding spikes. So I have been paying close attention to people's stories about their spikes, and especially to whether the spike ended up being temporary or permanent. Most of the time the spike ends up being temporary!

So, for now, tell yourself that it is temporary, and try to force yourself to ignore it.

 

Ive done many mistakes, and Im pretty sure many of them have affected my T. I have had days or weeks where I think it has gotten worse, but it always fades back to doing the usual up and down levels.

Its not easy for any of us, but try to stay calm. Do something you enjoy or that makes you happy. There is a lot of power in our mind. Controlling it is a challenge but it can be awarding(sorry if the grammar is off. Hope you get the point anyway).

 

So after almost six weeks, the T seems to be almost on its way out. Sometimes it's buzzing around in my right ear and other times completely gone. Thank god I work from home or else I'd beeeeeeeeee really done for.

 

At those times, can you hear your T if you wear earplugs in a quiet room?

 

Just tried it. Not at all.

I just went outside where it's pindrop quiet and I still couldn't hear it.

The relief may be temporary though since it has a habit of coming back.

 

This is wonderful!

As time goes by, it ought to spend more and more time in the "off" state. If this is what will end up happening, it will be the best possible outcome (better even than you never experiencing T) - you will appreciate the silence, and you will be more protective of your ears.