The Positivity Thread

Since I got my ear problems, I've found out two people, a newish friend and a colleague both have tinnitus. My colleague, in his early 50s, has had it since his early 20s after gunshot noises (at least 100 shots inside a room, no ear protection). He lives a normal life and only hears it when searching for it. My friend is a drummer and has had it since his early 20s. He hears it after a night out, fire alarm going off etc, but after a few hours it disappears again. Both live a happy life. Positive.

 

I can no longer go to live events. ∴ I'm now less likely to get exploded in terrorist attacks.

 

So I have had unilateral noise-induced tinnitus since mid-November 2022. The baseline has been the same for 2 weeks now (around 5/10) after getting quieter every day, and I gotta be honest. I don’t expect it ever going away again. 0 expectations. However, I will not let this affect my life. I simply refuse.

I will still work out daily (without headphones), I will still go to the movies/cafe/restaurant every weekend with my friends (with earplugs), and I will still listen to my favorite hiphop artists and watch the best TV shows around, just not with headphones or my AirPods. Although this still irritates me immensely, it is a small price to pay for going on with my life. Since I’m a muslim, listening to music is haram anyway, so maybe this condition will get me closer to God

Reading this forum every day for the last couple of weeks has been both a positive and negative experience for me, as I get humbled by how moderate my tinnitus is compared to others, but also seeing people’s tinnitus get worse after years, even though they did everything right, which makes me very anxious, but I digress.

Can my tinnitus still get worse? Of course, but I will try my best to not let that happen. I can’t do more than that.

 

I have recently discovered that playing chess is a good distraction from my tinnitus. Maybe playing chess occupies a part of the brain that diverts the mind away from the noise. Using my time over the holiday to play chess on my phone. If you used to play chess, but have not played since getting tinnitus, then I would recommend giving it a try. Watch some Magnus Carlson videos on YouTube for inspiration. He is world number one.

 

I was given a new alarm clock as a present. Thankfully it is not like the one below, which I found amusing. Definitely not for tinnitus sufferers.

Warning: Don't play the video at loud volume.

World's Loudest Alarm Clock!

 

I marvel at Pete Townshend's lackadaisical attitude. Wish I could be that blasé about my tinnitus and ear problems.

Pete Townshend Speaks about his Tinnitus

 

I watched this clip. His description of his tinnitus sounds very similar to the tinnitus I had from birth - and I lived a perfectly happy life, until it worsened.

 

Tinnitus. It's a lot better than a poke in the eye w/ a sharp stick.