Some Advice for Habituation

Well, today is my three-month anniversary of my tinnitus. Since it is as loud as ever, I know I must replace my hope that this medication induced tinnitus might be reversible with the hope that I can habituate to it. I look forward to the time that I can say, like many in this forum, "yeah, it's still there, but it no longer bothers me."

To help me with my habituation, I received some advice from a very nice staff member of the American Tinnitus Association, a great organization. I have posted it below in case others, who are at the same stage that I am right now, might benefit from it. Cheers!

The primary goal of everyone with tinnitus is to habituate to it the best they can. In my option, almost everything else you read about tinnitus is a distraction. Focus on this....
Here are some simple tips:

Avoid places that are totally quite. If there are no competing sounds, you'll only be able to hear the tinnitus. Eventually you'll be able to enjoy a quite room again, but not if you are new to tinnitus. We need to train the brain to ignore it first before we achieve Zen master level of habituation

Always have some kind of distracting or competing noise in the background, that way your tinnitus has some competition. Tinnitus thrives in a vacuum, so don't give it the attention it doesn't deserve. You can use music, environmental sounds or even conversation as distraction. Complete silence should be avoided at all cost at this stage.

I've got a pair of good speakers hooked up to my PC desktop. When I'm doing long creative sessions in Photoshop, I've got some music or environmental sounds playing in the background. So, I'm totally absorbed and working in the here and now while the music is pushing the tinnitus into the background. Find absorbing, engaging activities that you enjoy and pair them with competing sounds when you can.

Don't lay there in bed and listen to your tinnitus. Plays some soft music or white noise. Fill that dead space immediately. If you can't sleep in on the weekends , get up and take on the day. Don't let the anxiety take over. Keep moving and listening to other stimuli. Were training our brain to push the tinnitus into the background. Tell yourself, it isn't important anymore.

This discipline is very-very difficult to practice at first. You've never had to do this before so it can get kind of frustrating. Baby steps. Each day you'll get better and better at it. Practice mindful distraction from the minute you wake up until the minute you fall asleep.

If you're on the Windows/Apple/Android bandwagon, you're in luck. In the app store, do a search on the word Tinnitus. You'll find lots of apps the have environmental sounds, (wind chimes, babbling brooks, waterfalls etc.) or music that have been selected to help mask your tinnitus. There's a large market for tinnitus therapies because there are so many of us.
When you find yourself listening for your tinnitus, stop and change the subject. Focus on the task at had, the music, and external sound or even you own thoughts about what you're planning to do tomorrow. How you habituate to your tinnitus is a very creative process. You get to design your own program, what works for you.

The more severe your tinnitus, the longer it will take to habituate. There is no timeline. Habituation happens as you become more receptive to the idea. It gets easier with time.

 

sorry mate it depends how loud it is and how your ears feel if they have a horrible pressure feeling everyday ,that is reality not negativity and I have habituated in the past,sorry.

 

@carlover, has that 'horrible pressure feeling' improved at all since onset? Does it vary at all from day to day? Or has it remained as bad as it was from day one?

 

Hello Fabrikat as you can see T has been in my life for 31 years since my mid twenties. Been there done everything to cure it ,,,,,this pressure thing its a massive red herring many people including me was/are convinced it is a eustachion tube issue ,well im saying it isnt its just part of the symptoms of someone with T when my hearing aids are in thank god my T is reduced by around 50% but also my ear pressure eases off as well. When I first got my T for the first few weeks thought I was going to go mad but over the years I did habituate ,an ear infection in 2010 has now finished me off with noise and pressure,good luck

 

Thanks @carlover! The addition of ear fullness to the triumvirate of hearing loss and tinnitus, is indeed a cruel misery. Each worse than the other! I agree that it is not necessarily due to eustachian tube issues, but a seperate phenomenon on its own. I've read theories speculating on its cause, but the fact that hearing aids alleviate the sensation, adds to the hope that hearing loss regeneration may eliminate it perhaps...........one fine day!

 

Does it also have an altering effect on your T when you create negative pressure in your mouth, by keeping your mouth shut and sucking? If I do so I can feel the negative pressure going up to my left ear (the bad one) and the T is diminuished. On the right side I feel and hear nothing.

 

The tinnitus is certainly temporarily reduced when I do that too @Marlino, but the kind of pressure being referred to here is more of a constant sensation. A kind of annoying, plugged feeling, that I suspect has more to do with hearing loss than tinnitus, in my opinion.