Where Will Tinnitus Success for Each of Us Come From?

Surgery?........I personally doubt that.
The cochlea, the brain......all too delicate to tamper with.
Does anybody out there fancy being a guinea pig??

Drug treatment?....a treatment tablet is a nice idea, and convenient, but it hasn’t happened yet, and almost every drug seems to be ototoxic.
There would be bound to be unpleasant side effects.

So what realistically is left?
I don’t like to admit it, because I /we, all want a proper CURE.
The only way forward for the individual, as I see it, is a better adaptation to, acceptance of, and accommodation of the symptom itself;
the noises we are all experiencing, minute by minute, day after day.
For theee years I thought I would either go mad, or even end it.
I am not the heroic type at all.
I could not see myself winning through in psychological terms. I am not tough.

BUT - I am getting better at it.
I used to take a rest, or go to bed, dreading the noise I would have to wake up to.
Not any more.

I know I will wake up to my noise,
in my case a loud unrelenting hiss.
I EXPECT it....it comes as no surprise,
......and I care much less.

While we are waiting for the elusive CURE, that may or may not ever happen, we can change our way of thinking.
I really believe this is possible.
It is working for me.
Airy-fairy Nonsense?
Try it......

 

I don’t think a cure is on the horizon yet. I still think we are many years away, likely decades, from any real advancement. We have already tried many brain procedures such as TMS, direct electrical stimulation of the brain (similar to what they do for Parkinson’s), selective auditory nerve stimulation, and many different vagus nerve stimulation techniques including implants.

There have also been some drugs such as Autifony’s AUT0063 which ultimately failed in phase IIa I believe it was. Then there was AM-101, which also ultimately failed. Trobalt, which was extensively tested on here, and did seem to show some anecdotal improvements for some, is no longer made. There is currently another drug called SciFluor SF00034 which I haven’t heard much about lately.

Then we have the other treatments such as acoustic neuromodulation, and selective frequency cutting programs, but none of them have provided any overwhelming clinical significance.

Probably the best approach, in my opinion, is mindfulness, or just plain relaxation techniques. Anything that can take your mind off it. This includes having a deeply interesting hobby as well. Eating well and exercising on top of this gives you the best chance of seeing some form of improvement. This and the good old fashioned passing of time. Relieving yourself of any depression and/or anxiety is absolutely vital.

Saying all this though, I really wish there was more money going into tinnitus research. It’s hard to get any funding or recognition because only the people who have it know how devastating it can be.

 

Don't dismiss this too quickly. It really depends on the root cause for your T. For example, if your T is due to otosclerosis, then surgery (a stapedotomy) has a 50% chance of completely resolving your T.

 

@Ed209 .......I couldn’t agree more.
Finally I would like to say, when a good psychological adjustment is actually becoming part of the psyche, and therefore a reality, it does feel like a ‘sea change.’
I can not say that I won’t ‘dip’ again, and get low, but for someone not essentially known for their optimism, I am feeling good about it.