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I have tinnitus. I don't recommend it

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Re: I have tinnitus. I don't recommend it

#151

Post by ggandv »

tim333 wrote: post #143
0hijinks wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Tinnitus is sometimes neurological, seemingly caused by the brain compensating for a loss of sensation. I can imagine a horror story in which this just makes it a thousand times worse, on top of permanently losing all hearing. Now, being able to use a hot-swappable audio sensor instead of an ear made of tissue would be pretty dope.

I hear that theory but I don't believe it - I have tinnitus. Nothing else in the nervous system behaves that way - lack of light doesn't suddenly make you see blinding light etc. It's much more likely the sound sensor in the ear is jammed in the on position.

Amputees have phantom limb sensations including pain. I believe this is more than theory. Certainly medical science has collected at least some case studies over the past century about people who have had their auditory nerve severed for one reason or another. And, as I recall, the auditory system actually does behave unlike other parts of the nervous system like vision which is more mechanical and less dependent on the brain for basic functionality.

Re: I have tinnitus. I don't recommend it

#152

Post by tyleo »

plaidfuji wrote: post #64

I “got over” mine after many months of “tinnitus meditation” (there’s a short book on this written by a guy who has some crazy disease that causes extra-bad tinnitus). Basically, you meditate by purposefully focusing on your tinnitus. It starts to flip your brain’s response from one of fear to one of relaxation. Even within the first session, you’ll find that when you try to focus on the noise for as long as you can…

It reminds me to the intro to Odesza’s “A Moment Apart” album where an astronaut is up in space with a ticking sound and decides he has to fall in love with it for his sanity.

Re: I have tinnitus. I don't recommend it

#153

Post by harvey9 »

anonzzzies wrote: post #15

I have it from being a death metal singer/guitarist 30 years ago, but it gets much worse when tired or higher blood pressure (handy though ; most people don't have an actual audible alarm for that). It's indeed not recommended, it is, however very clever how the brain mostly filters it out unless I actively think about it. I am in my 50s and the most notable 'side effect' is that I must avoid conference calls; it see…

From this I extrapolate people at risk of high blood pressure should be offered death metal concerts on prescription.

Re: I have tinnitus. I don't recommend it

#154

Post by kaitak »

acjohnson55 wrote: post #90

I get a weird transient tinnitus where my hearing drops out in one ear or the other for about 15 seconds, and is replace by a tone, which slowly fades as my hearing comes back. It sometimes happens multiple times per day, and sometimes not for weeks at a time. I've seen a couple specialists about it, but no known cause. I also notice a low-level tinnitus when I'm in very quiet places. I keep white noise machines arou…

This happens to me as well, I believe the official term for this is "Sudden Brief Unilateral Tapering Tinnitus". Seems like it is fairly common, and can occur regardless of whether one has tinnitus or not [0].

[0]: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21970850/

Re: I have tinnitus. I don't recommend it

#155

Post by Spivak »

inverted_flag wrote: post #10
Spivak wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The bilateral stimulation devices aren't a cure, but they do meaningfully help. My tinnitus is much quieter after using it.

Did you use the Lenire? I was hoping the Susan Shore device would be available by now since it supposedly had a much better study backing it but it seems to be stuck in limbo. I’m not even sure if it’s been submitted to the FDA yet.

Yep, I used Lenire. Based on the the comments on the internet I expect the other device to work better but Lenire was what was available and it did the job for me.

Re: I have tinnitus. I don't recommend it

#156

Post by ggandv »

Yeul wrote: post #132
presentation wrote: post #115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Young people like intense experiences, blasting your ears out is fun when you're 18-24.

Kids cannot grasp long term health. The military likes recruiting them because they think they're invincible.

Also have fewer qualms killing other people. Young people are more idealistic/poltical/murderous on average.

Re: I have tinnitus. I don't recommend it

#157

Post by tim333 »

ggandv wrote: post #151
tim333 wrote: post #143

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I hear that theory but I don't believe it - I have tinnitus. Nothing else in the nervous system behaves that way - lack of light doesn't suddenly make you see blinding light etc. It's much more likely the sound sensor in the ear is jammed in the on position.

Amputees have phantom limb sensations including pain. I believe this is more than theory. Certainly medical science has collected at least some case studies over the past century about people who have had their auditory nerve severed for one reason or another. And, as I recall, the auditory system actually does behave unlike other parts of the nervous system like vision which is more mechanical and less dependent on…

Well, perhaps some but I don't think it's the usual cause. Phantom limb isn't just loss of sensation, it's also having part of the body chopped off. Just having part of your body go numb doesn't usually cause that.

Re: I have tinnitus. I don't recommend it

#158

Post by JayDustheadz »

justmedep wrote: post #86

Best way for me to get rid of my tinnitus was to get a hearing aid. In my specific case I got the Lyric hearing aid which is a totally invisible hearing aid positioned deep inside the ear canal and it is worn 24/7. It is known to reliably eliminate a tinnitus that is caused by hearing loss in the high frequency range.

Sadly not everyone is able to keep anything in their ears for a longer period of time. For me, it quickly gets very tiresome to the point where my ears start to hurt.

Re: I have tinnitus. I don't recommend it

#160

Post by thrway482119 »

sepositus wrote: post #72
plaidfuji wrote: post #64

I “got over” mine after many months of “tinnitus meditation” (there’s a short book on this written by a guy who has some crazy disease that causes extra-bad tinnitus). Basically, you meditate by purposefully focusing on your tinnitus. It starts to flip your brain’s response from one of fear to one of relaxation. Even within the first session, you’ll find that when you try to focus on the noise for as long as you can…

I've recently developed tinnitus within the last few months, so I'm still early in my researching. However, I've found a lot of people that discount this approach and swear it only makes things worse. That's why I've been hesitant to try it. Do you think a lot of it has to do with having the right mindset?

I haven't used this technique myself but I can ignore it most of the time, and I think that's an important place to get to. For me, I feel that a big part of it is simply acceptance. If I'd get worked up over it every time I'm noticing it, I think it would be a lot harder to ignore over time. It sucks but this way it sucks a lot less.

It's a funny thing - like a bear in the woods type thing. Sometimes, when its existence gets called to my attention, like when I started reading this story and the comments just now, I suddenly realize how loud it is - but also how I've gone about my whole day without any problems, despite it having been there all the time. Not sure if that makes sense, but that's my experience and it's - fine, really.

Not saying that you shouldn't try other things, and I also don't really know how to get there beyond going easy on yourself. I'm just saying that to me being able to ignore it makes a huge difference in my life quality and so I think it's very worth pursuing. Good luck!

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