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Ask HN: Has anyone gotten complete, permanent relief from tinnitus?

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Re: Ask HN: Has anyone gotten complete, permanent relief from tinnitus?

#201

Post by User23 »

If you mean dead silence in your ears when you’re in a quiet place actively listening for tinnitus then no, I’ve never heard of such a thing. Although I am curious if even people without tinnitus can will themselves into hearing a ring in those circumstances.

On the other hand staying in a quiet place and rarely using headphones for an extended period of time has let my symptoms drop below the threshold of irritation. They’re still there it I focus on them, but except for the occasional very noticeable passing flare up they cause no distraction or annoyance.

Re: Ask HN: Has anyone gotten complete, permanent relief from tinnitus?

#203

Post by throwaway161718 »

I found out about my Tinnitus the most embarrassing way - my wife and we were admiring the relative quietness of the place we were living in, until I freaking blurted out - "but for vibrations of the universe"...... Ever since, it becomes worse, when I read a posting on HN about the subject and it slowly fades away into the background of tolerability. I now view the vibrations as Universe's gift to me :)

Re: Ask HN: Has anyone gotten complete, permanent relief from tinnitus?

#204

Post by tinyshi »

I have about 18 years of experience with tinnitus. I remember when it started, initially with frantic ear cleaning, MRIs, classical music.

Later I tried everything, I have come to the conclusion that you learn to live with it. It means it's not going anywhere. I was in my twenties at the time.

I think if you can't get rid of it, you have to make a friend of it.

Worst case scenario, something like loud banging your finger behind your ear to tap it helps. Noise also helps. For me, head position changes it, as does contracting the muscles in the neck and neck. Poor sleep, hypertension.

https://generalfuzz.net/acrn/ you can try this (found here sometime long ago).

Stay strong, look for direction, not a solution.

Re: Ask HN: Has anyone gotten complete, permanent relief from tinnitus?

#205

Post by ysavir »

> If you can't tell, I'm trying to establish an "existence proof" here, if no one has ever gotten permanent relief then it seems like it might not be worth bothering with the "symptom reduction" therapies since they would most likely lead to focusing on the symptoms more intensely.

There are many possible causes for tinnitus, and looking for a singular solution to solve it all may be a fruitless errand. Even if someone found one, it may not correspond to your root causes.

I've noticed my own tinnitus seems tied up with muscle strain in my neck and shoulders. A frequent trigger is when I turn my head very quickly--a sudden bout of ringing starts in the corresponding ear. I've also seen my tinnitus wind down when I take the time to stretch those muscles, get massages, get acupuncture, etc. The solution here requires upkeep, not a singular, one-time expense. At least in my case.

Re: Ask HN: Has anyone gotten complete, permanent relief from tinnitus?

#207

Post by qwertox »

I know that sometimes external factors and certain foods make my tinnitus almost unbearable, where I think that this has risen to a new level which is of great concern. There's nothing I can do about it until I kind of forget about it after two or three weeks.

Forgetting doesn't mean that it isn't there, it's permanently there, but that I can forget about it for some time, sometimes for hours.

Re: Ask HN: Has anyone gotten complete, permanent relief from tinnitus?

#208

Post by jtwoodhouse »

I had horrible tinnitus for three months. I couldn't hear anything out of my right ear. Foolishly, I went to see Inception with it. That was so disorienting.

My audiologist said I was SOL and there was nothing to do about it. A few months later, I went to see a nurse practitioner about something unrelated. The ear came up and she wrote me a Rx for a steroid just to try it and see what happens. Two weeks later, I went for a walk. I heard this rush in my ear and suddenly I could hear again and the tinnitus was gone.

It was a miracle. I still had some permanent hearing loss but it was 90% better. I could function and make music again. Second opinions FTW.

Re: Ask HN: Has anyone gotten complete, permanent relief from tinnitus?

#209

Post by lxgr »

mettamage wrote: post #198
lxgr wrote: post #180

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But active noise cancellation removes (perceived) sound. Wouldn't that make it worse, then?

The way I experience it is as follows. Normally: - Tinnitus: 100% With ANC: - Tinnitus: 50% - Bose ANC: 50% I like the ANC sound more than my tinnitus. I haven't noticed my tinnitus becoming worse or less worse.

Oh, by “the ANC sound”, do you mean the white noise floor of the ANC?

In that case, have you tried something like the Bose Sleepbuds? Same idea, much more comfortable to sleep with.

Re: Ask HN: Has anyone gotten complete, permanent relief from tinnitus?

#210

Post by oooyay »

No, but you get used to it. If it's really quiet and I focus on it I can hear the 1KHz tone in my right ear. The last checkup I had indicated I didn't have hearing loss, but frankly I struggle in some of those tests. Sometimes I find myself inadvertently angling my ear in a way that I can hear people better.

Other times something in my body seems to make the tinnitus flare up and then I can't hear anything but the ringing for a few seconds. This doesn't happen all that often and I'm more conscious of wearing ear protection these days.

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