Six Months Later, Much Much Better

I wasn't very active on these boards, but I thought another success story might be helpful.

The first month or two was real tough. The tinnitus started all of the sudden in my right ear after some light head congestion. It was highly variable, and would be exacerbated (I believed) by external sounds. These were the darkest days, as I lived like a hermit, slept poorly, and threw solution after solution at the problem. I don't have to tell you how bad it was; you already know.

The ENT was useless, they found nothing physically wrong.

After a couple of months, the severity decreased substantially. It still comes and goes, but the volume is way down, and the quiet periods are longer. Also, I often simply don't notice it, and will realize all of the sudden it's going, and quickly forget about it again.

I don't know precisely why, but here are some factors I believe helped in my case.

1. I realized that external sounds had no effect on the long-term track of my tinnitus. Short-term, over the next few minutes or an hour, I think sounds would reverberate and increase or change the character of the ear noise. But long term, zilch. I could have a quiet day, and be hit with an upswing in the middle of the night. I could have a busy day out in the world, and have silence later. It did what it wanted.

This was very freeing. I could live again without worrying overmuch. And, living my life, made it much easier to ignore the ear noise.

2. My best lead was my nocturnal bruxism (teeth clenching/grinding). The dentist had bugged me for years to wear my bite guard at night. The jaw joint is very close to the internal ear apparatus. My right TM joint has long been the worst, clicking/popping, stiff and sore in better/worse cycles. That my tinnitus was only in the right ear, and didn't start after loud noise exposure, well that was too much of a coincidence to ignore. I began wearing my bite guard every night with discipline. I believe this has reduced my tinnitus, but can't prove it. As a bonus, my jaw isn't as sore these days.

3. Time. Humans can get used to almost anything. I started sleeping better at night. Waking up in the middle of the night with worn brake pad sounds in my ear wasn't as scary or disruptive as it used to be.

Hope this helps somebody.

-Wayne