The Importance of Ignoring Tinnitus

I suppose this is self-evident to many people, but I have found that doing everything I can to focus my brain on the visual and auditory stimulation independent of tinnitus has resulted in some real improvements. I wonder if even reading forums like this is a bad idea. I certainly think that the converse-- constantly asking myself 'is the tinnitus still there' is the most destructive thing I can possibly do. I did that constantly for two weeks. I've forced myself to stop. It seems to be working. So far.

 

I have been wondering if reading about and obsessing about tinnitus in the early stages can effect the long term prognosis. From my understanding it takes weeks/months for tinnitus to become more centralized in the brain. If you are constantly looking for it and telling your brain to obsess about it, could that have an effect on the long term outcome?

I have been unable to get my mind off it.

 

You are so right. And yes, it is great advice to stay of this board and researching T in general.

 

Keeping focus off of the sound is extremely important. It's difficult to do especially for those in their first month.

Coming to this forum and reading about it can make you notice it more, but I think the support received and the opportunity to talk to people who actually care and understand about it is really worth it. There's also a ton of great advice, and sometimes you just need to hear someone say it's going to be OK.

 

Unless I'm in a distress state, I'm and to think about and experience my T without obsessing.

But, in a distress state, trying not to obsess over it is like when someone says "don't think of an elephant!"

 

The Norwegian TRT principles indicate that the most important thing you can do to PREVENT tinnitus from developing into a problem is to seek information. But, it is critical that you read the "right" kind of information. I find this difficult, so to be sure I have tried not to read too much about T online. I have received much information through my program, so I can now truly believe that there is nothing seriously wrong with me.

When you come to the point further down the line where you try to habituate to T, the main rule is NOT to think about T. Not yours, not anybody elses, not the concept in general. Simply act brainwashed. So I guess to some extent the T can get louder or more noticeable when you spend time at tinnitustalk compared to other sites.

 

What is meant by this? You are talking after onset to prevent it from developing into a problem or prevention before it becomes a problem (ie wear hearing protection)?

 

Hey @Alue you seem to wonder about all this a lot and I think we're mostly on the same page about it but you're still spending a ton of time here.

If you just decided to force yourself to take 4 weeks off from TTalk and r/tinnitus to see what would happen, what's the worst it could be? You already know to protect your hearing right now, there are no more silver bullets here.

 

The problem is in the beginning when it comes, it is horrid, intrusive, unpleasant and then the Dr says it will never go away, bye bye go live with it.
I never thought of it as something seriously wrong, just that it was bloody awful and tiring, and it got fixed in my brain because I was told that was where it would stay forever. I never even got to ENT for over 6 months, because Dr then says it might go away before then.
So now its fixed, good and proper.

 

Hey there Alue - I am talking after onset to prevent it from developing into a problem. Of course people that work in noisy environments are recommended to wear hearing protection, too, but that was not what I was referring to. Sorry that this wasn't clearer - it's been some years since I last wrote english

 

Meh, the first 3 years were, overall, more severe for me than the 3 years since. Never say never, but also don't obsess on it being better. It simply is.

 

The more I talk and interact with people about tinnitus on here(as opposed to obsessive reading), the more I learn to accept it and thus ignore it.

 

The worse part is progressive tinnitus. You habituate then it gets worse, this is a killer.

 

Oh yes I obsess all day and night if I wake on it maybe being better.
It was better just over a year ago, it was fine and almost never heard it, then with the help of Drs being useless and anxiety because of them its back and different, and poisonous etc etc 2015 was lost to me.
Oh yes I obsess just about my old T, I would be glad to have that back

 

yup, I've been there... I think you'll figure it out! Try to be patient.

Yeah, things getting worse instead of better is difficult. On the other hand, life is a progressive illness, basically.... and plenty of people who have had tinnitus get worse, either slowly or suddenly, get on top of it again and go back to being unbothered by it. @Dr. Hubbard here on the board has talked about that experience somewhere.

 

Also, if you're concerned about it getting worse, then you really need to find a way to stop obsessing about it. I'm sure that some people get stuck with progressive tinnitus even if they're careful about how they think about it, but, chronic obsession with a negative stimulus, is a surefire way to make the brain pay more attention to it --- on a physiological level, that means those pathways are firing more frequently, and over time, I don't see how that can do anything but increase the hyperactivity that's generating the phantom sound percept.