Tinnitus who suffers from it

wolfie138 said:
are you sure it's blocked on the outside and it's not the inner part that's causing the probs? I've used almond oil and then warm water in the 3 jet thing which i'm assuming is the one you're talking about and it's always worked fine. I was at the docs at the beginning of the year w/ a tinnitus type thing and it was apparently an internal eustachion tube issue. unless you can actually see some compacted wax in there (dunno what would be compacting it though) i'd suggest you try and leave it alone in case you damage something by chasing erroneous symptoms.

of course, could be it's not wax, and is actually a big spider.
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There's definitely a wax block there, the Mrs can see it (I know she's the one for me after the crap she's fished out of there recently :D). I can't say with 100% certainty that's what causing the block but considering the history, a very likely bet.
 
doodah said:
Really starting to grind my g̶ears. I have always had overtly waxy ears, with one of them blocking several times a year for a short period but always getting unblocked either by itself or with some minimal intervention.

This time, it won't budge. I hate wasting the time of a doctor so trying out all the home remedies before I go; hydrogen peroxide, another type of a earwax drop that loosens, some weird football shaped pump and a three headed syringe. Bar one minor success, this block is so compact/solid - it won't go away. Have got tinnitus in the effected ear as well. Doctor can't see me until May 8th :p:( so going to comb through this thread for any unknown solutions.
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I bought a 'waterpik' electric flosser from Superdrug for my ears as i read online about it being awesome at removing all the gunge trapped down those ears.

WAW! It is truly amazing! Best money i ever spent. Used it twice since i bought and you ought to see the lumps and bits of wax that it forces out. It has 2 settings. I use it on low. Warm water and away you go. Can take quite a few passes but watch those bits plop out! I held a clear, large, beaker under my ear while i used the Waterpik. The water was yellow! Yuk.

Tinnitus still there but boy, does it clear the ears. Hearing much better.
 
I can't remember not having tinnitus. I think it was clay pigeon shooting when a mid-teen. However, it gets worse on the left side when I clench my jaw, so I suspect a physical cause. When I was shooting small arms in my late teens, we had hearing protection, so I don't think that was a contributing factor. Except when one of the .357 revolvers literally blew up due to a faulty round ... that was a heck of a bang.

Went for a hearing test in Jan. Fortunately, despite knocking on 50, my hearing is only down about 10db across the range of both ears. They were actually impressed with my hearing. Unfortunately, too impressed. They won't do anything about the tinnitus and said that as I'd been living with it for so many decades, that the techniques they teach might make it worse for me.

Generally, my brain blocks out the high pitched whine, unless it's too quiet. At night it can get quite bonkers, especially when I'm under stress; and as I'm currently, "at risk" of redundancy, you can bet that many of my nights lately have been sleepless.

These days, I usually listen to music through 'phones and a valve headphone amp, and I try to keep the volume down. Current favourite combination is a Pro-Ject USB DAC going to a LittleDot 1+ (which had to be repaired due to a common fault) and a pair of Senn HD-600 headphones.
 
I really think they'll have this more or less sorted within the next few yrs. For most at least. Firstly you have the neuromod device which will launch in Ireland sometime this yr, and maybe even the rest of the EU before the end of 2019. (UK maybe too?) They're also seeking FDA approval to launch in the states maybe sometime in 2020. These guys are running with Dr Hubert Lim as their chief scientific officer. He was leading the pack at Minnesota University on biomodial stimulation, before getting whipped up by Neuromod. Then we have the Michigan device, which works in a similar fashion. This is led by Dr Susan Shore, who's one of the worlds leading scientists on Tinnitus. They're in the final stages of clinical trials, before submitting efficacy to the FDA and hopefully commercialization sometime in 2021 / 2022.

Then there's also what i consider to be a game changer. FX-322, which works by allowing our own bodies to unlock the genetic code to regrow the hairs in our inner ear. This has passed the first stages of clinical trials. Which has proven to be extremely safe for humans, and much safer than anyone could have ever hoped / expected. (being unlocks our own code, so no need to heavily modify cells) Anyway regrowing the hairs are thought to restore hearing, and (hopefully) reconnect the synapses / neurotransmitters, that are thought to trigger tinnitus. This wonder drug could be cleared by the FDA as early as 2021 and literally reverse hearing loss for millions upon millions.

So hang in there fellas. Just remember this is no longer going to be a life long torment. Just a temporary annoyance for hopefully just another couple of yrs and nothing more. Just keep yourselves busy on the bad days. You will find no matter how loud it is, if you take your mind off it, it goes away. Hard i know. But possible. Do you think three quarters of the world that have crickets going off at night, always in the background, struggle with that sound (which is similar to tinnitus) ? No they just ignore it, because their brain doesn't see it as a threat and though the noise is a mere annoyance, it is a mere annoyance that is ignored. The difference between tinnitus and crickets is it doesn't trigger an emotional response, cos tinnitus is your brain telling you something is wrong with you.. Thoughts of oh, my life is ruined by this noise, it'll never go-away..................... (enter your own feeling sorry for yourself comment here) Unfortunately i do fall in that category of feeling sorry for myself because of it, fortunately its only on some days, but other days i'm fine with it... go figure ? Some people have it, and literally have just learned to completely ignore it and not resist it. That's where i'd love to be.. But knowing science is soon to have a solution is a great way to soften the blow.
 
doodah said:
Really starting to grind my g̶ears. I have always had overtly waxy ears, with one of them blocking several times a year for a short period but always getting unblocked either by itself or with some minimal intervention.

This time, it won't budge. I hate wasting the time of a doctor so trying out all the home remedies before I go; hydrogen peroxide, another type of a earwax drop that loosens, some weird football shaped pump and a three headed syringe. Bar one minor success, this block is so compact/solid - it won't go away. Have got tinnitus in the effected ear as well. Doctor can't see me until May 8th :p:( so going to comb through this thread for any unknown solutions.
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Just sodium bicarbonate over night then get rid of the wax in the morning, might help
 
i've had tinnitus for about 18 months. it's just a low buzzing sound in my right ear (which i can change the pitch of by moving my jaw). it started when i took fluoxetine and has never gone away. when i stopped taking fluoxetine, it got a little less noisy, but was still there. it was really bad at night when there's silence. i ended up using an app call Relaxiness to take the sound away (the app is just audio of rain). during the day, or if there's some sort of background noise, it's not even noticeable. but as soon as i go to bed, it comes. i took fluoxetine again a couple of months ago and it got really bad, so stopped taking them, and it went back to just a minor irritation.

i suppose i should really get a referral to ENT to get it checked out.
 
MIchelle Knight said:
I can't remember not having tinnitus. I think it was clay pigeon shooting when a mid-teen. However, it gets worse on the left side when I clench my jaw, so I suspect a physical cause.
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i've read stuff on the net suggesting a link between tinnitus and TMJ syndrome, the alignment/inflamation issues impacting the eustation tube etc, might be worth a bit research in that area for you.
 
I have had tinnitus for decades on and off.
In the past it hasn't been much of a bother but over the last few years either I've tuned into it more or it has changed in some ways to become more irritating.
Since having a couple of FESS (sinus surgery) operations the tinnitus seems more constant.
If I think on I'll mention it to the ENT surgeon tomorrow, I see him as a follow up to my recent sinus operation, just four weeks ago.
I do think there I is a relationship for me with tinnitus and sinuses.

For me it sounds like a high pitched single tone note, perhaps more so on the right.
 
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Just had an appointment with the GP about my Tinnitus, I've had low-level Tinnitus for years, but over the last few months it's gotten really bad and my ears sort of feel 'full' especially at night and in the morning. She had a proper look at my ear drums, apparently I have fluid there - coming from behind/around them, which apparently could be the cause, might be caused by a head-cold or something. So I got some nasal rinse kits to rinse out all the tubes with saline solution, hopefully it works, as it's been doing my head in to be honest!
 
Screeeech said:
Just had an appointment with the GP about my Tinnitus, I've had low-level Tinnitus for years, but over the last few months it's gotten really bad and my ears sort of feel 'full' especially at night and in the morning. She had a proper look at my ear drums, apparently I have fluid there - coming from behind/around them, which apparently could be the cause, might be caused by a head-cold or something. So I got some nasal rinse kits to rinse out all the tubes with saline solution, hopefully it works, as it's been doing my head in to be honest!
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I get that full feeling sometimes, can be releived by pulling on my ear lobe which makes it pop and the pressure goes wayfor a while. Is your tinnitus high pitched?
How did you get a GP appointment? Mines not doing any at the moment.
 
Bassmansam said:
I get that full feeling sometimes, can be releived by pulling on my ear lobe which makes it pop and the pressure goes wayfor a while. Is your tinnitus high pitched?
How did you get a GP appointment? Mines not doing any at the moment.
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Yeah, sometimes I can change the pitch of it by clamping my jaw shut, or by 'clenching' the weird muscle thing inside my ears, it's hard to explain..

And yeah mine is high-pitched, like a constant dog whistle, but it goes away when i'm concentrating on a difficult coding problem or something, it gets insanely loud at night sometimes... I use a Bluetooth speaker and play wind/rain on it.

Here in Dublin - my GP is doing telephone consultations, but they asked me to come in so they could take a look, (for anyone who has non-covid issues which need looking at)
 
Screeeech said:
Yeah, sometimes I can change the pitch of it by clamping my jaw shut, or by 'clenching' the weird muscle thing inside my ears, it's hard to explain..

And yeah mine is high-pitched, like a constant dog whistle, but it goes away when i'm concentrating on a difficult coding problem or something, it gets insanely loud at night sometimes... I use a Bluetooth speaker and play wind/rain on it.

Here in Dublin - my GP is doing telephone consultations, but they asked me to come in so they could take a look, (for anyone who has non-covid issues which need looking at)
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I can also make my ear pop by "flexing" my ear muscle, weird but it works. Ah, mines more like the sound you get when you hold a sea shell up to your ear but with a bit of fuzz thrown in.
 
I have used sinus rinses for years, have two different types of powered machines rather than the traditional bottle type. Make sure that you use boiled water cooled to a warm temp. Don't use tap water. You can make up your own solution, or buy sachets, made up from sodium bicarbonate and kosher type salt, with no caking agents etc.
Be wary of leaning over to the left or right when rinsing. It isn't that good getting the water up inside your eustachian tubes.
If they get plugged due to excessive mucous draining from the sinuses perhaps nasal rinses might help.
I have also used a facial steamer with a nasal attachment, that can help.
Not much showed up from my CT or MRI scans. Full hearing tests were also ok. Tinnitus isn't tho.
Seen a specialist privately and his final suggestion was to look at counselling type therapy to help to cope with it. Not much to see anatomically.

Another thought for tinnitus is that LPR can be a factor in its cause, or just make it worse.
 
I've had it for over 3 weeks now in my right ear, Had a suspected middle ear infection I think which set it off, been taking prednisolone this week for it, but it's gone from 5 or 6/10 to now being 8/10 on a loudness scale.

GP said they could refer me to ENT but an appointment could take up to 18 weeks, and add covid ontop who knows when, seems to be pushing to go private in that case :S

Tempted to go to A@E tonight, was gonna go private but BMI and Spire are closed now ;(

I'M GONNA GO INSANE WITH THIS IF IT GOES ON MUCH LONGER :(
 
Best thing to do is go for a long walk outside. That will help get rid of any anxiety it is causing and might quiet it down a bit. Don’t sit indoors focusing on it.

Another go to thing for me is a warm bath, head fully submerged and then listen to music afterwards with headphones. I can usually get the volume down like this.
 
I had a first session of CBT for my (pulsatile) tinnitus a couple of days ago, by phone from a hospital psychologist.

As it is about thinking skill development, it necessarily requires practice reps / exercises (of attention unpairing, etc). So far, it shows promise, although I have already made some improvements to the method. The logic used by the therapist was quite sound.
 
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koolpc said:
Had tinnitus for way over 25 years now. And, its very loud.
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Playing a noise-jamming frequency whose volume and pitch etc you can control can provide temporary relief.

The free mobile jamming app (a function generator) and settings I described myself using a while back in TIAM provided up to 15 minutes peace of mind after about 60 seconds jamming time in one ear.

Atm I have replaced that with a single hearing aid earpiece that has the same noise-jamming frequency (that provides the same ability to regain peace of mind) preprogrammed into it.

IIRC its a Signia brand earpiece.
 
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