Signs of Improvement? How Did You Know Your Tinnitus Was Improving?

I've been reading a ton of threads on how people knew their tinnitus was getting worse / negative stories about their lives with tinnitus. Those are scary, not only for me but for other anxious, sometimes depressed people who just got tinnitus and they are looking for some help, some signs of hope.

So, for those who have gotten their tinnitus to be silent, or at least to the "can-only-hear-it-in-a-silent-room" phase, how did you know your tinnitus was improving? Or, looking back, what did you do to help your tinnitus get to the place it is now?

Also, on a personal note, my tinnitus has been getting more and more quiet since a couple of days ago, when I cleared out my eustachian tubes and started meditating. There are periods where I walk into a room where I usually hear it and I can't. I'll be sitting, doing something, and listen for it, and it won't be there. My ears will sometimes tingle. The sound goes from ear to ear, at different levels, and overall, not being consistent (which I read somewhere is a sign that this is not noise-induced hearing loss and the tinnitus is caused by something else- can someone confirm if that's true?)

Are those good signs? I don't want to get a false sense of hope.

 

I'm not the official in house expert (and I guess that doesn't exist bc everyone is different) BUT, I'd say those new symptoms are fantastic and positive. Sounds to me like your body is healing and keep doing what you're doing.

 

Hi @bellecooper77 -- Congratulations on your improvements! Could you briefly describe how you "cleared out your Eustachian Tubes?" Thanks!

 

It seems like it is always easy to find someone coming in here to share their horror stories of their tinnitus getting worse but not as easy to find people to talk about their tinnitus improving or going away.

I hope this is just a reflection of people moving on with their lives and not bother to come back here to report back.

It’s certainly nice to hear that your T is getting better, congrats! How did you clear your Eustachian tubes?

 

I definitely knew my T improved as the volume went down. It went from 8/10 at its worst, to 1-3/10 is the current. It hardly is a linear process, with good days and bad days in between, but definitely more good days lately. You also can't decide if there is improvement on a minute by minute basis, but looking back the trend is obvious. I have to keep reminding myself to keep up the protection as don't want to respike, and have a setback.

 

Well, today, 3 weeks after light acoustic trauma + extreme anxiety, if I plug my ears with my fingers, I hear silence - only the sound of my blood circulating. But it comes back as soon as I unplug my ears and it starts to fluctuate. Never one minute with the same noise. Weird isn't it? Reactive tinnitus?

Also my tinnitus is fading slowly. One to two weeks ago it was a 4-5/10. Now it is usually 1-3 at its worst...

I have mild hyperacusis without pain that comes and goes everyday.

So yes, I feel that it has improved very much! And honestly, if it does not want to go away, I will be okay with that if it stays at this level.

Tonight I smoked, drunk, and exposed myself to music at a decent volume. Everything went great, no spike, but to be fair, I never have spikes, it does not seem to react to anything I inhale/swallow. However I can modulate my tinnitus with my neck and jaw and I have a huge pain in some neck muscles just below my right ear (unilateral tinnitus and hyperacusis).

Wish you the best. Sorry for my chaotic English haha!

 

In order to clear it, I plug my nose and take a deep breath using my mouth. When I go to breathe out, I direct that air into my Eustachian tubes. This helps to open them! You then yawn after, or swallow a couple of times. I do this at least once every day, and it has helped me a ton! The first time I did it, the tinnitus went down from a 3/4 to a 1/2 - and it continues to go down every day!
here is a link to the video - the guy says that you do it with saline solution but it works out fine without the solution as well! It is around 11:25 when he starts demonstrating what to do.

How to Cure Tinnitus Linked to Eustachian Tube...

 

Do you know if you have problems with your jaw that are causing the tinnitus? I know for some people that their tinnitus is occurring because of their bad posture (which might be why I have tinnitus to be honest, but we have no idea why) and their neck is strained, which is causing the tinnitus.
Do you also know if you have TMJ? That is a cause for tinnitus as well, and what you are describing sounds like it a little bit.

 

I don't know anything about that for now because I haven't seen any professional yet. I will know in July! But today I can say that my neck pain has gone away.

I do not have anxiety anymore since I got used to my tinnitus and I think it was anxiety related.

 

@Blodorn - Thought you might find it interesting that anxiety can sometimes be traced to a tight psoas muscle. Below is a snippet from an online post where a guy changed his life by addressing his own psoas muscle. -- I wouldn't be surprised if some people's tinnitus could be positively affected by various similarly simple stretches and exercises. @Greg Sacramento
.....................

"I had excruciating insomnia, and slept only a couple hours in early morning, and when I woke, it felt like my body had been through war. During the day, I could not focus on the simplest of tasks.

A few nights ago, I came across this post about the psoas muscle. I did more research, and learned that the psoas muscle is the primary muscular mechanism in the fight/ flight response (receiving orders from the amygdala), as the psoas muscle is what moves the legs to run. I noticed how much tension I carry in the psoas muscle, and that part of my pattern of CFS was tension in the gut, and difficultly breathing, all related to psoas tension.

I looked up some simple yoga stretches for the psoas, and did them before bed. The first night, I slept a full night, and woke reasonably rested. I think it may have been easy for me to begin to correct the psoas tension, because in my past life (before CFS) I was a highly trained athlete."​