Why Does Treadmill Make It Worse :(

Was having a "good" day until I got on the treadmill. I wear noise canceling headphones with low volume.
Trying to stay healthy but what a price tag. I know BP is up while walking/running.
Any suggestions? Thanks everyone.

 

stop the treadmill or listen to music until it goes down

 

Hi Leah,I got my T through skipping a jump rope,do you think it could be the impact of the treadmill?
I know there was research which suggested high impact exercise could cause T by damaging crystals in the ear,i use a stationary bike now and dont have a problem,although sometimes incresed heart rate can increase pitch,but tends to go down after a while

 

Thanks, had no idea that high impact exercise could do damage!!

 

I got noise cancelling headphones for the gym over a year ago, when I used them for a while they seemed to make my T worse, left my ears feeling strange. If I use them sparingly I don't seem to have an issue, maybe it's something similar?

But the impact may also be an issue as Hotspur said. Do you have tension around your neck and shoulders?

Steve

 

Use the treadmill often. Define what a "good day" is in terms of whether or not you work out as opposed to what your tinnitus sounds like. Do not give your tinnitus the satisfaction of dictating how you live your life.

Dr. Stephen Nagler

 

Thank you for the great advice.

 

I do not think that tinnitus is a subjective entity capable of deriving satisfaction from our suffering.

I also find exercise can have a negative effect on my tinnitus. I put it down to a physiological effect which seems temporary. Although, I used to be a keen cyclist until an increase in my tinnitus seemed to also make it much more sensitive to the wind noise past my ears whenever I got up speed (or it got windy). But I think that is a different issue.

 

"I do not think that tinnitus is asubjective entity capableof deriving satisfaction from our suffering."
I have to agree, it is hard to ignore the screaming getting louder and louder as I increase my place.
Takes the joy out of the run.

 

I find exercise helps me manage my ANXIETY; which impacts on my perception of my t.

 

Dr.Nagler, it must come down to volume.
When it is a tolerable day, why would I want to turn it into a suffering day?
Only way to stay sane is to relish the "good days".I understand what you are saying to just get on with all activities and not let it control my life, but am I teaching my brain that the T can't get the best of me? It is not like I can talk to my T and have it obey me by staying low even while I do everything that makes it worse. Very early here and might not be as articulate as I would like.

 

Yes, I found I was no longer enjoying cycling because I was worried about the effect. But that wind noise can get really loud on a bike so I was becoming genuinely concerned about further hearing damage. Is it worth maybe getting a dB meter to check the noise level when you are on the treadmill? Might reassure you or tell you there is a potential issue?

I do have reservations about what Dr Nagler says. I think our bodies give us warning signs sometimes and that it is wise to be attuned to them. Carrying on regardless when your ears seem to be responding negatively is a bad idea in my opinion. This is not to say that we should let tinnitus 'dictate' our life, just that we recognise that there has been damage and that we do not want to make it worse. It is a decision that should be thought through carefully.

 

I agree with you @dboy, if you have a bad / loud day then it is often a barometer of how you feel. I think it's fairly universal that tinnitus is louder after not getting enough sleep, when stressed etc. If you don't listen to your body when it tells you that you're doing wrong then it's a recipe for disaster.

When I exercise (weights) I usually have louder T for a short time after but I know that I feel better in the long run for the exercise. The more strenuous the exercise is the more I have a somatic response that raises the T for a time, I take it as an indicator to drop the weights and concentrate on form as I'm straining too much.

 

So it seems that in general terms there is a contrast between a very short term increase of perception of T while the body is physiologically stimulated from the exercise, and a slightly longer term increase (a day or two) that might be noise or impact related. The first is no cause for concern and the second might be worth taking a little more seriously, without panicking or being consumed with worry of course.

I miss weights reading the above. Might have to start again.

 

Noise cancelling headphones can give you nausea for some people. I am one of those. I had to sell my new Boses after only a few weeks of use.

http://gizmodo.com/355678/noise-canceling-headphones-might-make-you-motion-sick

 

It is my understanding that when you increase your interracial pressure it could make the ringing worse (if you already have tinnitus) since the fluids surrounding the brain communicate freely with the inner ear.

 

When doing cardio my T always gets louder the 4-5 hours after it but my tolerance is way higher after 80 mins on my spinning bike. I also notice that when i exercise regulary ( 7-8 hours/ a week) my T and stress levels are much more under control than a week with no exercise, cardio does wonder in the long run, at least for me.

 

Volume matters. But in the final analysis it all comes down to reaction. Why? Because if you can get to the point where you do not react to your tinnitus (as thousands and thousands have done), then volume becomes irrelevant.

So as I see it, you can let the volume of your tinnitus dictate your life, or you can begin to look at the problem differently.

There are three ways to overcome your tinnitus. One way is to cure it. Another is for it to go away in its own. The other is to effectively address your reaction. True cures are rare. After six months or so, "going away on its own" is also rather rare. So you can spend the rest of your days chasing volume - or you can do what all the rest of the folks who have overcome their tinnitus have done. And that would be address reaction.

One last thing. Before you reject my post out of hand as the ravings of a clueless madman, as yourselves how far your own volume-oriented approach has gotten you.

Dr. Stephen Nagler

 

We disagree. I say that chasing tinnitus volume is a prescription for failure.

If something is significantly "out of balance" with your system, it's going to show up a lot more places than your ears.

What if something is just a little out of balance? Well, it's supposed to be. We are humans, not machines.

Dr. Stephen Nagler

 

@Leah, if your T is more of a ciruclation related thing then the increased blood flow could make a temporary difference, too.

Just be careful not to label the treadmill as a bad thing that increases your T too soon. When I first had T, I went for a bike ride on a quiet day and when I got home, my T was abosolutely screaming. Did a bike ride make my T really loud, maybe, but I kind of doubt it. I think T seems to go up and down and we call whatever we're doing at the time the cause. Sometimes it might actually be the cause, but other times I think we're just trying to give a new/louder sound meaning. It's a condition that currently, in many cases, seems to defy reason, we shoudln't try to make it reasonable.

Keep running and see if you have the same problem every time, it might even out and make you feel a little more freedom to try new stuff, even with T

Hope all goes well!

 

Well, I never advised "chasing tinnitus volume" and I certainly did not say anything on the subject of being "out of balance". What I said was significantly more nuanced than you give me credit for. Straw men are easy to knock down.

To give a rather obvious example also from exercising, our bodies will often give us pain signals when we exert ourselves. Up to a point this is fine and good ('no pain, no gain'). But sometimes that pain might be a signal of something more serious - especially for example after an injury (as tinnitus is). If you ignore all pain and always force yourself to to keep going then you might worsen an existing injury or cause a new one.

My gut feeling is that a spike after moderate noise exposure is a warning - "Don't do that too long or too often". Noise damage can be cumulative and not manifest for years, so nobody can say with certainty whether there is a real danger there or not. But I would suggest caution, within reason.

 

I think I would agree...after onset tinnitus my ears felt like they were healing. My T went from very very loud to reasonable. I went out and lived my life again...pubs, hockey etc, my T went back up permanently...very gradually every time I went and did something with a bit of noise they got worse. I kept pushing it as I wanted to get back to life. I'm not sure at that early stage it was the right move. Every spike from noise stuck for me, now I'm truly paranoid.

 

@Dr. Nagler what you say does remind me of some discussion I encountered years ago around the use of CBT in psychotherapy. CBT is useful in many cases but does have its limitations. As I remember (going back a few years so apologies for being sketchy) CBT aims to adjust a persons perceptions of a situation on the basis that those perceptions are seriously distorted and that that is the root of their unhappiness. But this locates the problem entirely within the consciousness of the person suffering. What if the problem is with that persons world or society? Adjusting perceptions to be happy in a messed up world is actually creating distorted perceptions, as well as removing the impetus to work toward changing what is messed up and making a better world/society.

Tinnitus is horrible. Spikes and bad days are horrible. This is not just a perception I can alter at will. I can get through it, I know I will wake up tomorrow and life goes on. But if I cannot enjoy my favourite music the way I used to, and I cannot enjoy walking in nature because the gentle sounds around me are overlaid by a horrible screeching, then I am not (and do not really want to) convince myself that this is OK. No amount of doublethink can fundamentally change that.

I am unhappy with many things in the world: global warming, the way democracy works in practice, a hundred kinds of abuse on the news every night, tinnitus. None of them are OK and that is my true perception of the situation that I am sticking to. Sorry for ranting and going off topic.

 

I'm not interested in knocking anybody down.

I am interested in providing information, hope, and inspiration.

Dr. Stephen Nagler

 

Same here.

And I try to make a difference where I can. But I do not let any of that stuff get in the way of my leading a full, productive, and enjoyable life.

Dr. Stephen Nagler

 

Hi leah,as i said in my earlier post i do believe there is a difference with impact exercises, I got mine by jumping a skipping rope,i would try gently on an indoor bike and slowly work the pace up and see if pitch increases

I found the article i was talking about earlier,im not great on computers,so if you google,EXERCISES THAT WORSEN TINNITUS LIVESTRONG,you will find a study was done on it,hope this helps

 

Hi @dboy, I just wanted to make a little note for anyone who is reading this - CBT isn't really about trying to make someone "happy in a messed up world." It's more about changing a thought like, "I'm miserable with tinnitus and I will never be happy again now that I have tinnitus." (a thought I was having when I first got T) into, "Many people have habituated before me and my tinnitus may still go away, other people have had a hard time with T and now feel pretty good. I can possibly get there, too." Just looking at things more openly gave me a lot of peace almost instantly. It didn't mean tinnitus didn't suck, but it got me out of my circular crappy thought loop. Eventually things did get better and my reality changed.

In that case, I was having distorted thinking - it doesn't invalidate the experience the person is having, it's more about also allowing for other (hopefully better) possibilities and points of view instead of catastrophizing (and other forms of distorted though processes.)

I don't think any CBT therapist out there is going to convince anyone that T is a great thing, I would put it in the category of not great things objectively (ha ha), but I also wouldn't be able to say, at present, that it is horrible for me, now. Hopefully someone else could look at that and change a though process from, "T is really horrible and my spike today is really making me feel bad." to, "T is really bad for me today, but maybe in a year it won't feel so horrible, even though it's not a fun condition. This random person on the internet, awbw8, had a transformation, so maybe it can happen for me, too." Just that little change can turn a really bad moment into a moment with just a smidge of hope and positivity, that's not much, but it's a step.

That's my understanding/experience from the little CBT I did back when my T started. Just wanted to share. I really think CBT can be helpful for anyone (not just those with tinnitus). It's not a cure, but it does make you more conscious of your thought patterns, which I humbly think is good.

 

@awbw8 thanks very much, your post is very useful too me. I got a 'bee in my bonnet' there with Dr. Nagler's earlier discussion about changing reactions to tinnitus, but I think I may have made a straw man of my own. I stand corrected and apologise for the clumsy and somewhat inaccurate nature of my post.

 

Aw, no problem by me @dboy, no need to apologize, but isn't it nice to have a civil exchange/disagreement on here, so kudos to you and thanks! I've definitely had the bee in my bonnet before, too, so I totally understand : )

 

I am open to CBT, but my hard to wrap my head around the thought of " I hear the dentist drill in my head, but tune it out". I have always been sensitive to sounds, odors etc. I have tried everything from A to Z for T and nothing helped. So what I have done has not worked, I would just be excited to gave more tolerable days.
What are the skills used in CBT? Any links to sites?
Great thread thanks everyone.