Tinnitus thread

[Deleted78083]

From experience, the more stressed I am, the louder the noise is.

Here are below 27 ways I have managed to decrease the noise, which are usually linked to decreasing stress.

I use "I" a lot because it helped me. I do not know if it will help you, even though, I hope so.


1. Decrease stress: in my case, tinnitus is directly linked to stress. The following points explain what I have done to decrease its level.

2. Get some sleep. The more I sleep, the lower the tinnitus is. Sleeping for +9 hours enables me to wake up and experience about 5 seconds of silence.

3. Exercise: it positively impacts your brain, strengthens your body, releases endorphins that make you happy, helps you sleep better, and decreases stress. No need to say more. When I don't exercise, the noise is loud. When I do exercise, the noise is softer, and I feel happier, which decreases the noise naturally.

4. Cut out sugar entirely: there isn’t even one positive impact sugar has on your body. When I cut it out, I first switched to a ketogenic diet (which helped a lot at the beginning) and I went completely carnivore after two months or so.

It got me rid of brain fog, increased energy, considerably reduced anxiety and depression which in turn have helped to deal with the noise.

I have heard a story of a woman who got rid of tinnitus with the lion diet, but I have not tried it.

5. Cut off alcohol entirely. As you surely know, tinnitus is a problem originating from your brain, not from your ear. Taking care of your brain is the very first step you should take if you want to lessen the noise.

I have noticed that my tinnitus was extremely loud when drunk and got the occasion to confirm that relation with a doctor. In fact, she told me that any addictive substances would increase the noise.

Therefore, I have cut all of them out.

6. Cut off weed: same point as above.

7. Cut off porn: porn is overly stressful, messes up with your sex and social life, and increases relationship expectations which lead to disappointments and…more stress. Cutting it off enabled me to decrease stress and enjoy sex more, after which I rarely think about tinnitus.

8. Spend time touching people: when the quarantine started, I stopped seeing my friend and family and stopped touching people on the same occasion.

I noticed that staying home all day and not seeing anyone increased my stress level and the volume of the noise.

After a while, I was feeling so bad mentally and it was so loud that I said f*** it, and started hugging people again. It made me feel better, happier, and decreased the noise in my ear.

9. Have sex: Same explanation as above

10. Don’t spend your time alone: being social with people helps me focus on other things than the noise and decreased stress. I noticed my tinnitus was almost quiet after I spent an evening playing board games with my sisters.

11. Avoid screen time as much as you can: I am actually considering quitting my office job to go work as a barista. Spending so much time on my chair in front of a screen increases stress, prevents me from sleeping well and the fact that I work from home makes me put on some music not to hear the noise, which is annoying and extremely tiring.

12. Be happy: I have noticed that being sad increased the noise in my ear, but that being happy lessened it (which has subsequently been confirmed by science).

Now, of course, no one can choose to suddenly be happy and full of energy, but you still have a share of control over the way you interpret your reality. If you’re positive about life, you’ll naturally start being happier. I know it is hard, but it is worth it.

13. Spend time in nature: spending time in nature enabled me to breathe some fresh air, decreased stress, and being surrounded by noises that naturally cancel the noise in my ears. Furthermore, being back in our natural environment is always comforting and stress-decreasing.

14. Listen to a tinnitus sound therapy on Youtube: some videos really helped me as they matched some noises that I had. Personally, my tinnitus is weird as it keeps on evolving after 4 years. Sounds are different, patterns are different and frequencies are different. These sound therapies also help me fall asleep.

Here are some videos I have watched. The last one helped me a lot.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKFTSSKCzWA

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xUZOSg3a1rk&t=2114s

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nKo4jYDO9FQ

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q6pNkxgpr2U&t=15s

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4LZv3ta13Ws&t=1146s


15. Stop using headphones: it seemed to me so natural that I forgot to add it to the list originally. Headphones only weaken your eardrum cells. NEVER wear them again.

16. Stop consuming media content: I did this challenge randomly one day to try if it would impact my mood, stress, and noise, and OH BOY, IT DID.

I am naturally competitive and always compare myself to others (even to presidents and prime-ministers and yes, I know, it is stupid).

For a week, I didn’t read the media, didn’t read any business articles, and didn’t read about stories of more successful people than I am.

I was not only happier but less stressed. Suddenly, the world outside my city did not exist anymore. No global warming, no protests, no virus, no economic downturn, no nothing. I felt much better, happier, and lighter and as a result, the noise decreased.

17. Delete ALL of your social media accounts: they are even worse than the media. No need to explain why.

18. Don’t leave your house if you are not carrying your earplugs with you: even if I had a meeting with the Queen of England, I wouldn’t leave my house if I wasn’t able to find my earplugs. You absolutely need to treat your ears as the number one health priority in your life if you hope to decrease the noise.

19. If you need to wear your earplugs, leave immediately: I used to still go to nightclubs with earplugs on, and leave the venue every 30 minutes or so to rest. Unfortunately, the noise would always come back louder the next day.

The alcohol and lack of sleep didn’t help.

Since I value my health above anything else (sad that I had to end up with tinnitus to do so), I leave immediately when the sound is too high. It's a golden rule of mine, it doesn't matter if I am eating dinner with Peter Thiel or Warren Buffett, I will just leave.

Once, I was on an organized tour in a bus and the music was too loud, so I asked the guy in charge of the music to decrease the volume. He kindly did.

20. Take care of your mental health: I found myself at a point in my life where I had to follow a cognitive-behavioral therapy. It helped me deal with stress in my daily life and lessened the noise. My therapy took 2 years and a half, a lot of effort, and unpleasant moments. But, it was worth it.

21. Move to a sunny place: it boosts vitamin D, decreases chances of being depressed, and overall is excellent for you.

22. Stay hydrated: go figure why.

23. Massage your jaw: since it is connected to your ear, it may help decrease the pressure inside it if your tinnitus is somehow caused by physical pressure against your ear-drum.

24. Practice the “tambour céleste”: I could not find the name of this practice in English, so there it is in French. The tambour céleste is a sort of massage of the ear with some small noises aimed at making your brain and ear more relaxed. Here’s the link.

25: Go to an ear doctor for a complete wax removal: my tinnitus at some point started increasing without me doing anything, so I went to an ear-doctor who removed a big plug of wax from my ear. Tinnitus decreased afterward.

26: Go to the sauna: I don’t think the heat has any impact besides the fact that it is good for your body and relax you out.

27: Massage: personal experience.

Mind that other strategies exist and that I still haven’t had the chance to experience yet.

There are:

1. Meditation: I know it would be good for my brain and mind, but I find it hard to meditate with the noise. Some white noise cancellation would probably help.

2. Yoga: yoga has been reported as an efficient method to decrease stress, impacting both the mental and physical of your body.

3. The lion diet: the lion diet is a diet entirely made out of beef, salt, and water. I am still skeptical as to why the lion diet would better help me than my current zero-carb diet. But who knows, if it helped one person, it may help others too.

4. Acupuncture: some people have reported some actual benefits out of acupuncture. I am not well versed in traditional medicine methods, but I believe it is still worth a try.

5. Special sound therapy: some laboratories and treatment facilities are experiencing special sound therapies with long-lasting positive effects. I believe it could work since Youtube tinnitus sound therapies have also helped me.

6. Having a girlfriend: I know it sounds stupid, but I think I’d be less stressed if I had someone to fall asleep next to every night. Loneliness is not good for stress.

7. Cutting salt: from what I know, salt is only as bad as the amount of sugar you eat it with. Since I have cut off all sugar, I am not sure salt has any negative impact on my body, but it may have some on yours.

8. Psychedelic: there is little research on this, but there are several accounts of people with T using psychedelic to rewire their brain and fix the subsequent problem. I will write more about it once I do more research.

DISCLAIMER: Some people have reported their T to be WORSE after they used psychedelic. DMT, MDMA and LSD apparently, worsen the problem. Psylocibin helped many people, but made it worse for others. Whatever you try, do an extensive amount of research first, and take some micro doses to make sure not to worsen the problem.

9. Ketamine: ketamine blocks some receptors that play a role in the problem. I have read about a therapy where you are injected with ketamine directly inside the ear.

 

[MJ DeMarco]

@Simon Angel - unless you have something constructive to say, something helpful, please keep your thoughts to yourself. My cancer was worse than yours! is highly inappropriate.

The thread isn't to brow-beat others because you feel their suffering isn't bad enough, or bad enough to warrant a civil discussion. Please stick to remedies, solutions, and helpful insight. Thank you.

 

[Deleted78083]

Maybe it is going a bit off-topic, but I thought I'd start a tinnitus thread. If this problem concerns other people, maybe they'll be happy to talk about it too (or not, as this is a very, very sensitive topic for people that have it).

Tinnitus is a permanent ring in the ear that happens after a lesion of the cells that communicate with the brain. Since the neurons are no longer receiving any signal because the cells were destroyed after exposure to loud noises, the brain "fills up" and makes the signal itself, which results in a permanent ringing or buzzing.
Maybe you have heard about people that lose a limb but still feel pain in that limb. Well, it is the same problem here, kinda. The noise victims hear is not real, but is a consequence of brain activity that should not happen. Normally, the brain itself should cancel the noise it makes. If it doesn't, it means it is a problem of brain plasticity (I am not a doctor and only know as much as I read, if I'm wrong, please don't hesitate to correct me).

Veterans are prime victims of tinnitus because it is usually associated with a strong emotional event. We know tinnitus may not only be a consequence of loud noise exposure, but it is also often a consequence of emotional trauma.

Officially, it can't be cured yet, but there are in fact thousands of accounts online of people that managed to get rid of it.

350 million people suffer from tinnitus in the world, among which many, many very rich people (musicians). You'd think that this business opportunity would have gotten us a cure a long time ago. Unfortunately, it is not the case. Despite the intensive research, we're still not quite sure how tinnitus works, as its mechanism seems to depend on each individual.

However, many treatments aiming at decreasing patients' pain have been commercialized lately, and so I hoped people concerned with this matter would share about their own experience, as I will share about mine further down the thread.

Before I stop, I want to say that there were some days when the noise was unbearable, which led me to have some very dark thoughts. However, I have taken many steps to improve my lifestyle and my "brain health", which has considerably helped me. Tinnitus led me away from porn, alcohol, sugar, toxic relationships, and more. It's not a blessing in disguise as it is one of the s****** conditions you could ever get, but I try to remain positive.

If you suffer from tinnitus, don't lose hope. I posted below what helped me decrease the noise.

 

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[Primeperiwinkle]

This is a picture of your sternocleidomastoid or SCM.


It runs from the back of your skull just underneath your ear to your sternum.

It’s on both sides of your head underneath a layer or sheath of connective tissue which I removed to show you the SCM’s length. This is what you actually feel when you press on your neck.


The auicular nerve (important ear nerve) runs up, around and between the fibers of your SCM.

And another angle..

The reason that some individuals get relief from tinnitus by massage MAY be due to a correlation between this nerve and muscle being caught in a tight loop where, the tinnitus causes pain so the person clenches or holds their breath or tucks their head down (typical pain response) thus shortening the SCM and compressing the nerve.

All nerves run through and around muscles and you usually don’t notice them. Tinnitus caused by a short/tight/weak SCM is easily treatable if the client uses their fingers with a small amount of lotion to glide, press and massage this muscle WHILE ALSO turning the head from left to right (or right to left).

It is important to note that the LEFT SCM affects the right side of the head and the RIGHT SCM affects the left.. for reasons much more complicated so, be sure to work on them both.

Also, all of this is much easier to explain in person.. hopefully it helps.

 

[Knugs]

I have tinnitus, Crohn's disease, PTSD, anxiety, depression, ADHD, OCD, and a few more chronic health diseases, disorders and the like.

What now? Am I supposed to wallow in pity like the rest of you? There's a shit ton of people way worse than any of us here.

Say what you want about me. A grown man saying tinnitus is "one of the worst conditions you could ever have" is ignorance.

And yet you still have no idea about the spectrum of severity one disease can have? Sounds suprising to me when you have so many. The diagnosis doesnt entitle you to judge others with it.

I have operated on 20 year olds with chrons disease, who spend many months of the year on the ward with me, because they have a severe form of it. Do you run around with a stoma or are you currently in hospital too?

I have seen PTSD patients with severe anxiety that cant leave the house without a full blown panic attack. Or is that also weak for you?

There are such severe depressed and suicidal patients where we had to carefully treat their depression, because they might become well enough to kill themselves. Probably not you since you can form comprehensive sentences.

The ADHD can make some people extreme social outcasts that fail in our systems. Or are you one of these patients that barely have had any issues with it?

What about the severe OCD patients?

And obviously your tinnitus is so well managed, you get to say everybody who has it and moans about it is weak?


____

Let me tell you, you have absolutely no clue.

You didnt see somebody suffer from severe tinnitus. Severe enough to break a succesful man down who overcame all kind of challenges in his life, quit his surgery practise and his job, lose all his relationships, barely sleep the night due to the constant loud ringing noise until he took his life, to relieve himself from suffering. Or is that weak for you? Or is that not a "grown man"? Please explain to me why tinnitus cant be "one of the worst conditions you could ever have", when death seems to be the best option?

 

[Knugs]

"It's not a blessing in disguise as it is one of the s****** conditions you could ever get, but I try to remain positive."

Say that to the kids with stage 4 cancer or ALS, or any other autoimmune disease. If you think tinnitus is one of the shittiest conditions you could ever get as a 27-year-old grown man, then you're just weak. I don't care how offensive this may sound to you.

You are unbelievably ignorant but thats because you dont have any real comprehention of what such a disease could do to you. Thats obvious from your useless comparative sentence above.

Chronic tinnitus can drive people mad up to the point of suicide. For some thats the only way out of suffering.

That part about weakness, I dont even know what to say about it. You should be ashamed about yourself.

 

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[Primeperiwinkle]

Does it mean that posture and breathing exercises could help?

I had never heard of this before, thank you!!!!

Yes. That’s exactly what it means. Furthermore, people who have been through significant trauma tend to keep the SCM engaged to “protect” themselves. It’s almost unconscious. They have to be taught that the muscle is fine when relaxed, that they’ll still be ok. I recommend laying completely flat on a surface (or as near as you can get without any pain) while you do some type of deep exhalations. Also, if your shoulders are anteriorly rotated or your neck is jutting forward (like in caveman desk posture) or both then your SCM has to be tight to support the extra angle of head tilt. So those two things will need to be addressed first.

There are basically two schools of thought about sports massage. Some ppl use a lot of pressure and kinda punch through the pain. Some therapists use very subtle pressure but never cause any pain. I’m officially telling you that both types help - differently. So get both if you can until you can figure out which is helping more. It will probably be the therapist who you are more comfortable with. Until you can get in to see an orthopedic/medical/sports massage therapist you can try doing it yourself which might be all you need. I’d start with hot towels on your upper chest and neck.

 

[theag]

Haven't read the thread yet, but will in the next few days.

I have tinnitus in both ears since I was 16, so about half my life now. Got it from a heavy metal concert.

Basically I don't even know what real silence is anymore and haven't for a long time.

Never really looked for any treatment. Just ignore and override.

In my experience, the more you stress about it, chase treatments and optimize yourself to supposedly deal with it better, the louder and more present it will become.

Just reading and replying to this thread made me aware of it again for the first time in forever lol.

 

[SteveO]

Thought i was going mad for a while. Felt very claustrophobic.

Over time it has gotten worse. Louder than most background noises.

Fortunately, i have gotten used to it over time. I try to imagine it's just the sound of crickets.

To all the youngsters.... wear hearing protection...

 

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[c4n]

How about we stop the pissing contest and talk about the thread title instead?

I've had tinnitus in my right ear a couple of years ago. Bad enough that I could barely sleep. Had my ears checked a few times, nothing seemed wrong and nothing helped. Luckily, it went away after a month or so.

One thing I learned back then was also to get your teeth checked. I was told a tooth infection or a wisdom tooth could be causing it.

 

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[Deleted78083]

@Knugs I appreciate the efforts you are making, but please stop responding to @Simon Angel. His attacks are personally driven and motivated, and to say the horrible things he said, I suspect he must not be feeling well either.

I started this thread so we exchange experiences and propose solutions. Not to debate about who has it worst.

I'd also like to highlight that solving tinnitus is a formidable business opportunity, which remains the focus of this forum!

 

[Deleted78083]

much of this is just a recipe for a good life

Everything is connected. When you start improving your lifestyle, everything improves at the same time, and this is why I love self-development! It all started with the desire to be more social, and it eventually led me to the Fastlane!

 

[monnffffiiiiiii]

It's a shame the OP has deleted his account, I wanted to thank him. I have had tinnitus for years now, I don't think it's as bad as others because I am largely able to ignore it, but some days it's really bad.

Glad to have discovered the tinnitus relief videos, I think for my mild form, they might just work!

I am the OP, you're welcome : )

 

[reedracer]

My tinnitus is in the 480hz range and has been constant since my Navy days over 30 years ago.. It's true, depression amplifies it somehow. Also, the earwax does affect it. I keep my ears dewaxed and try to have and alternate sound I can zone on instead of what's in my head. Fans to sleep, tv or radio on as background sound, etc. I've never been suicidal, but I can see how one could be.

 

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[Jon L]

Gosh. A brouhaha caused by someone I'm already blocking, how shocking. (That ignore button works really well, FYI)

@mon_fi thanks for this thread. I developed intermittent tinnitus about 6 months ago from medication I took. It comes and goes even after the medication was stopped. Fortunately, its not very loud and it doesn't bother me much. I can't imagine what it would be like if it were louder.

Its amazing how much overall 'life hygiene' (sleep, stress levels, exercise, etc) affects stuff. I'm going to try a few of your tips. Thanks!

 

[Choate]

In January 2020, I had sudden hearing loss in one ear, no real reason for why. I don't remember how or why, but it went away in around a month. Also at some point, I developed tinnitus in the same ear, which has persisted for 8-10 months. I told my doctor, she told me to see an ENT (ear-nose-throat specialist).

The ENT basically told me it was likely a result of two things, a viral infection which has compressed the tiny microscopic hairs in my ear, or loud noise. However, there's a possibility of other more sinister things, such as an acoustic neuroma, for which I'd have to get a brain MRI and ABR (auditory brainstem response).

This just happened recently and I have another appointment upcoming to discuss the results with my ENT. I know that my MRI came back clear so I'm mostly good, and I'd say my tinnitus is a result of either previous use of earbuds while at the gym, stress, or poor sleeping habits in 2020.

However, it's very important for everyone to know that if you have random tinnitus in one ear which isn't a result of noise exposure, that you should see your doctor/ENT. It could be an acoustic neuroma, which is a benign (non-cancerous) tumor that slowly grows between your ear and brain. The chances of it are extremely low (I think around 1/100 or 2/100 people who have one-ear tinnitus have it). Other symptoms usually include dizziness, headaches, vertigo, etc. It can be fatal if it grows and pushes on your brain/brainstem. This is one reason why tinnitus has to be taken serious and can't be written off fully as something to only deal with emotionally/mentally.

 

[Deleted78083]

This is a picture of your sternocleidomastoid or SCM.
View attachment 36345

It runs from the back of your skull just underneath your ear to your sternum.
View attachment 36346
It’s on both sides of your head underneath a layer or sheath of connective tissue which I removed to show you the SCM’s length. This is what you actually feel when you press on your neck.
View attachment 36347

The auicular nerve (important ear nerve) runs up, around and between the fibers of your SCM.
View attachment 36348
And another angle..
View attachment 36349
The reason that some individuals get relief from tinnitus by massage MAY be due to a correlation between this nerve and muscle being caught in a tight loop where, the tinnitus causes pain so the person clenches or holds their breath or tucks their head down (typical pain response) thus shortening the SCM and compressing the nerve.

All nerves run through and around muscles and you usually don’t notice them. Tinnitus caused by a short/tight/weak SCM is easily treatable if the client uses their fingers with a small amount of lotion to glide, press and massage this muscle WHILE ALSO turning the head from left to right (or right to left).

It is important to note that the LEFT SCM affects the right side of the head and the RIGHT SCM affects the left.. for reasons much more complicated so, be sure to work on them both.

Also, all of this is much easier to explain in person.. hopefully it helps.

Does it mean that posture and breathing exercises could help?

I had never heard of this before, thank you!!!!

 

[Xeon]

I have tinnitus in my right ear. First got it about 10+ years ago one night and I freaked out. Ever since then, it has been there, always, but it's not the chronic type though.

As long as I don't focus on it, I can't hear anything, but if I see the word "tinnitus" or hear about it, my brain will get reminded of it and I'll start to hear it again for a few minutes then forget about it again lol. You know how you want to yawn when you see someone yawns or watched a video of yawning? Yeah that.

Haven't seen a doctor yet, but aren't there treatments for tinnitus, at least the milder ones?

Physical and mental stress/exhaustion makes the tinnitus louder and worse (e.g.. marathons). I don't agree with the part about porn being stressful though. It's the opposite. Also, "lion diet" is the most ridiculous diet I've heard about in a long while.

 

[DiamondDog]

I have had tinnitus since I was 14. At the beginning it would really F*ck with my head but I don't even notice it anymore even tho it's always there.

If it bothers you at night, use a fan or air conditioner to mask the ringing. Or you can look up white noises on Spotify if the other two options are not viable.

 

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[CHEntrepreneur]

Hi guys
As child i had also Tinnitus because I did not eat right.
But in Switzerland we have a company. The name of this company is Bio Strath AG.
The founder of this company had also Tinnitus and created a solution.
You can watch this video. In min 1:57 you will find more informations

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=taF2AaRyPHw


I think it does not help people where the eardrum is damaged. But it can help people who have tinnitus because they do not eat right. I hope i can help with this post some peoples.

I wish you all the best!

 

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[Deleted78083]

UPDATE


Following Primeperiwinkle's advice, I went to see a specialized physio-therapist.

He did feel my neck was tied and gave me two pieces of advice.

1. Don't grit your teeth. Your jawbone should be relaxed.
2. Don't look down on your phone, or computer. It tenses the neck. Try to always look straight. So I bought one of these structures onto which I can put my laptop so I look straight and not down.

Also, I switched my carnivore diet (pork, eggs, fish, beef, lamb, chicken, and other processed meat, salt, and water) for a lion diet (goat-lamb-beef-salt-water only) and I feel much better, which also decreased the noise of the T.

In my case, there is definitely a link between tiredness, emotional repression and T. The happier I am, the more I talk and express my emotions, the better I feel and the lower the T is.

Also sport is very important. I hurt my foot after I walked 43 miles in 48 hours and cannot walk anymore, and I feel the T stronger.

Finally, I heard of a plant called gingko that is supposed to help with T. They say you need to take it for 4 weeks before noticing the effects. It has only been 3 weeks since I started, but maybe it will help.

 

[EmotionEngine]

My dad has been getting some pretty bad tinnitus, I just sent him that video.

I tried this years ago many times and it's just a way to get a psychosomatic result. It doesn't last or work at all. There were a bunch of these videos out there to get views years ago. It's almost like bashing your hand with a hammer to take away foot pain.

When my tinnitus would flare up in bed and I couldn't sleep, the way I would find sleep was actually focusing ON the buzzing/wooshing sound of the tinnitus. Accepting the sound in my mind helped. I know it sounds counter-intuitive.

Edit:
I rarely get it these days and I believe mine was linked to blood pressure. I changed my diet to remove fatty foods and started biking 45 minutes a day. I lost 17 lbs and I'm now slim and the tinnitus events rarely occur.

 

[monnffffiiiiiii]

I learned a few days ago that a Swedish company developed a device for TRT.

TRT is Tinnitus Retraining Therapy, it has helped 80% of people.

Here's the website of the Doctor that came up with TRT: Tinnitus & Hyperacusis Center

You can find doctors in the entire world that have followed his training.

Anyway, I plan on ordering the device and test it. It's brand new, came out in January 2023.

If you want to check it out, the company is called Duearity.

 

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[Roli]

It's a shame the OP has deleted his account, I wanted to thank him. I have had tinnitus for years now, I don't think it's as bad as others because I am largely able to ignore it, but some days it's really bad.

Glad to have discovered the tinnitus relief videos, I think for my mild form, they might just work!

 

[Hai]

I had it for some time and cured it by listening to noise(similar to the videos you posted). It then disappeared.

 

[Knugs]

I prescribe some of my patients cannabis, seems to help with sleeping disturbances secondary to tinnitus.
Or as one patient said

“It doesn’t go away but I can cope with it”

 

[Simon Angel]

You are unbelievably ignorant but thats because you dont have any real comprehention of what such a disease could do to you. Thats obvious from your useless comparative sentence above.

Chronic tinnitus can drive people mad up to the point of suicide. For some thats the only way out of suffering.

That part about weakness, I dont even know what to say about it. You should be ashamed about yourself.

I have tinnitus, Crohn's disease, PTSD, anxiety, depression, ADHD, OCD, and a few more chronic health diseases, disorders and the like.

What now? Am I supposed to wallow in pity like the rest of you? There's a shit ton of people way worse than any of us here.

Say what you want about me. A grown man saying tinnitus is "one of the worst conditions you could ever have" is ignorance.

 

[Devilery]

I am taking a neutral stance here. There are for sure worse conditions to have, but tinnitus can also really drive you mad. Even in the literal meaning of the word.

I have had it for over a decade and I have "gotten used to it". It is always there, but I "don't hear it" when I'm working, working out, or doing anything at least a little fun and enjoyable. It's like a quiet background noise that is annoying, but I can luckily distract myself from it pretty easily.

In the past, when I was severely depressed, the story was way worse. I heard it all the time. It was LOUD. Like an annoying bee flying by your ear all day long. If someone thinks "it can't be that bad" then the next time you wake up, find one of those high-pitch dog-whistle-type sounds, put it on your earphones and wear them all day on a low sound level. Most likely, you will take them off because "it's stupid" to listen to it all day long. Before you turn it off, turn up the sound louder and imagine some people who can't turn it off.

I'm glad I'm doing fine mentally and it has gotten very quiet, but it's true. Tinnitus can quite literary be deadly if all areas of life don't get massively improved.

 

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[Mutant]

I know some people with it, & the idea always petrified me. I'm kinda audio sensitive as it is, & don't do well round "uncomfortable" sounds, so the idea of having one permanently in my head seems like torture. As a musician though, I knew I'd be around lots of loud sounds/live gigs, so I got some proper moulded-to-my-ears plugs when I was 16. It was a lot of money for a 16 year-old, but I'd gladly pay 10x that now in the same situation. They're still a normal part of my EDC (though less so at the moment, due to the current restrictions on where I'm going). I swear we had "the talk" at university (my course was music tech) but I was still the only person I knew that had the "fancy" ear plugs, & plenty didn't have any at all. Literally people seeking a career using their ears were taking unnecessary risks with their ears. I wish I knew how to get the message through, but then I suppose I'd solve the eternal "how to get young people to not engage in so much risky behaviour" conundrum, which despite the obvious nobel-prize-winning incentive, I doubt I'll succeed in soon.

From experience, the more stressed I am, the louder the noise is.

Here are below 27 ways I have managed to decrease the noise, which are usually linked to decreasing stress.

I use "I" a lot because it helped me. I do not know if it will help you, even though, I hope so.


1. Decrease stress: in my case, tinnitus is directly linked to stress. The following points explain what I have done to decrease its level.

2. Get some sleep. The more I sleep, the lower the tinnitus is. Sleeping for +9 hours enables me to wake up and experience about 5 seconds of silence.

3. Exercise: it positively impacts your brain, strengthens your body, releases endorphins that make you happy, helps you sleep better, and decreases stress. No need to say more. When I don't exercise, the noise is loud. When I do exercise, the noise is softer, and I feel happier, which decreases the noise naturally.

4. Cut out sugar entirely: there isn’t even one positive impact sugar has on your body. When I cut it out, I first switched to a ketogenic diet (which helped a lot at the beginning) and I went completely carnivore after two months or so.

It got me rid of brain fog, increased energy, considerably reduced anxiety and depression which in turn have helped to deal with the noise.

I have heard a story of a woman who got rid of tinnitus with the lion diet, but I have not tried it.

5. Cut off alcohol entirely. As you surely know, tinnitus is a problem originating from your brain, not from your ear. Taking care of your brain is the very first step you should take if you want to lessen the noise.

I have noticed that my tinnitus was extremely loud when drunk and got the occasion to confirm that relation with a doctor. In fact, she told me that any addictive substances would increase the noise.

Therefore, I have cut all of them out.

6. Cut off weed: same point as above.

7. Cut off porn: porn is overly stressful, messes up with your sex and social life, and increases relationship expectations which lead to disappointments and…more stress. Cutting it off enabled me to decrease stress and enjoy sex more, after which I rarely think about tinnitus.

8. Spend time touching people: when the quarantine started, I stopped seeing my friend and family and stopped touching people on the same occasion.

I noticed that staying home all day and not seeing anyone increased my stress level and the volume of the noise.

After a while, I was feeling so bad mentally and it was so loud that I said f*** it, and started hugging people again. It made me feel better, happier, and decreased the noise in my ear.

9. Have sex: Same explanation as above

10. Don’t spend your time alone: being social with people helps me focus on other things than the noise and decreased stress. I noticed my tinnitus was almost quiet after I spent an evening playing board games with my sisters.

11. Avoid screen time as much as you can: I am actually considering quitting my office job to go work as a barista. Spending so much time on my chair in front of a screen increases stress, prevents me from sleeping well and the fact that I work from home makes me put on some music not to hear the noise, which is annoying and extremely tiring.

12. Be happy: I have noticed that being sad increased the noise in my ear, but that being happy lessened it (which has subsequently been confirmed by science).

Now, of course, no one can choose to suddenly be happy and full of energy, but you still have a share of control over the way you interpret your reality. If you’re positive about life, you’ll naturally start being happier. I know it is hard, but it is worth it.

13. Spend time in nature: spending time in nature enabled me to breathe some fresh air, decreased stress, and being surrounded by noises that naturally cancel the noise in my ears. Furthermore, being back in our natural environment is always comforting and stress-decreasing.

14. Listen to a tinnitus sound therapy on Youtube: some videos really helped me as they matched some noises that I had. Personally, my tinnitus is weird as it keeps on evolving after 4 years. Sounds are different, patterns are different and frequencies are different. These sound therapies also help me fall asleep.

Here are some videos I have watched. The last one helped me a lot.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKFTSSKCzWA

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xUZOSg3a1rk&t=2114s

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nKo4jYDO9FQ

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q6pNkxgpr2U&t=15s

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4LZv3ta13Ws&t=1146s


15. Stop using headphones: it seemed to me so natural that I forgot to add it to the list originally. Headphones only weaken your eardrum cells. NEVER wear them again.

16. Stop consuming media content: I did this challenge randomly one day to try if it would impact my mood, stress, and noise, and OH BOY, IT DID.

I am naturally competitive and always compare myself to others (even to presidents and prime-ministers and yes, I know, it is stupid).

For a week, I didn’t read the media, didn’t read any business articles, and didn’t read about stories of more successful people than I am.

I was not only happier but less stressed. Suddenly, the world outside my city did not exist anymore. No global warming, no protests, no virus, no economic downturn, no nothing. I felt much better, happier, and lighter and as a result, the noise decreased.

17. Delete ALL of your social media accounts: they are even worse than the media. No need to explain why.

18. Don’t leave your house if you are not carrying your earplugs with you: even if I had a meeting with the Queen of England, I wouldn’t leave my house if I wasn’t able to find my earplugs. You absolutely need to treat your ears as the number one health priority in your life if you hope to decrease the noise.

19. If you need to wear your earplugs, leave immediately: I used to still go to nightclubs with earplugs on, and leave the venue every 30 minutes or so to rest. Unfortunately, the noise would always come back louder the next day.

The alcohol and lack of sleep didn’t help.

Since I value my health above anything else (sad that I had to end up with tinnitus to do so), I leave immediately when the sound is too high. It's a golden rule of mine, it doesn't matter if I am eating dinner with Peter Thiel or Warren Buffett, I will just leave.

Once, I was on an organized tour in a bus and the music was too loud, so I asked the guy in charge of the music to decrease the volume. He kindly did.

20. Take care of your mental health: I found myself at a point in my life where I had to follow a cognitive-behavioral therapy. It helped me deal with stress in my daily life and lessened the noise. My therapy took 2 years and a half, a lot of effort, and unpleasant moments. But, it was worth it.

21. Move to a sunny place: it boosts vitamin D, decreases chances of being depressed, and overall is excellent for you.

22. Stay hydrated: go figure why.

23. Massage your jaw: since it is connected to your ear, it may help decrease the pressure inside it if your tinnitus is somehow caused by physical pressure against your ear-drum.

24. Practice the “tambour céleste”: I could not find the name of this practice in English, so there it is in French. The tambour céleste is a sort of massage of the ear with some small noises aimed at making your brain and ear more relaxed. Here’s the link.

25: Go to an ear doctor for a complete wax removal: my tinnitus at some point started increasing without me doing anything, so I went to an ear-doctor who removed a big plug of wax from my ear. Tinnitus decreased afterward.

26: Go to the sauna: I don’t think the heat has any impact besides the fact that it is good for your body and relax you out.

27: Massage: personal experience.

Mind that other strategies exist and that I still haven’t had the chance to experience yet.

There are:

1. Meditation: I know it would be good for my brain and mind, but I find it hard to meditate with the noise. Some white noise cancellation would probably help.

2. Yoga: yoga has been reported as an efficient method to decrease stress, impacting both the mental and physical of your body.

3. The lion diet: the lion diet is a diet entirely made out of beef, salt, and water. I am still skeptical as to why the lion diet would better help me than my current zero-carb diet. But who knows, if it helped one person, it may help others too.

4. Acupuncture: some people have reported some actual benefits out of acupuncture. I am not well versed in traditional medicine methods, but I believe it is still worth a try.

5. Special sound therapy: some laboratories and treatment facilities are experiencing special sound therapies with long-lasting positive effects. I believe it could work since Youtube tinnitus sound therapies have also helped me.

6. Having a girlfriend: I know it sounds stupid, but I think I’d be less stressed if I had someone to fall asleep next to every night. Loneliness is not good for stress.

7. Cutting salt: from what I know, salt is only as bad as the amount of sugar you eat it with. Since I have cut off all sugar, I am not sure salt has any negative impact on my body, but it may have some on yours.

8. Psychedelic: there is little research on this, but there are several accounts of people with T using psychedelic to rewire their brain and fix the subsequent problem. I will write more about it once I do more research.

DISCLAIMER: Some people have reported their T to be WORSE after they used psychedelic. DMT, MDMA and LSD apparently, worsen the problem. Psylocibin helped many people, but made it worse for others. Whatever you try, do an extensive amount of research first, and take some micro doses to make sure not to worsen the problem.

9. Ketamine: ketamine blocks some receptors that play a role in the problem. I have read about a therapy where you are injected with ketamine directly inside the ear.

What struck me though with all your good advice @mon_fi, & it's often strikes me when looking into improving any condition (or no condition at all - just life!) is how much of it is the same! Not the ear plugs & tambour céleste of course, but truly, much of this is just a recipe for a good life, that also happens to help improve almost any condition you care to mention!* How can I not exercise/spend time in nature/get enough sleep/spend time away from screens/etc. wherever I can control it? It's almost like asking to suffer.


*I acknowledge the sweeping generalisation. Feeling a little hyperbolic today is all. Don't bother coming at me about the exceptions, I trust you're right.

 

[Knugs]

I had tinnitus that lead to a growth-stunting insomnia as a teenager.

I spent a total of 3 years in hospitals in my 22 years of life so far and since you're so keen on knowing, I pissed shit for months due to a bladder fistula complication, lost 20kg due to bowel obstructions and nearly perforated. I slept in the same bed as my mom because I had nothing left but her and we weren't sure if I would make it through the night. I had emergency surgery at age 20 and had a stoma that was reversed months later. I watched people who I spoke to in my ward die and wheeled off into the morgue, I was 19-20 at the time.

I had panic attacks every night for 7 years that lasted up to two hours.

ADHD that left me struggling and hungry and severely in debt with seemingly nothing suitable for me to earn money with.

Anxiety so bad that I'd run fevers and an increase inflammation after my first day at work. I couldn't work because my Crohn's would flare but I had to do something.

OCD that constantly tells me to do X or Y will happen (something bad or undesirable).

I get manic and psychotic episodes where I think everyone isn't real and/or is out to get me.

What now? Not severe enough for you?

This is a nice attempt to distract from the discussion and typical for people who cant rationally argue against the points made.
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What now? Not severe enough for me?

- I'm not the one questioning the severity of a disease and telling others with tinnitus: "you are just weak" or "you are not a grown man".
- I'm not the one who says people with tinnitus who say its "one of the worst conditions you could ever have" are "ignorant".
- and I'm also not the one who compares diseases with each other and makes statements about how bad my life was and therefore I'm entitled to etc. etc.

My point is that tinnitus can be "one of the worst conditions you could ever have", hence I have compared diseases with themselves, because there is a whole spectrum of how they can present themselves. And your story confirms it. So stop saying people are weak and not grown enough and questioning the severity of somebodys disease.
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Nice Edit, but you dont get to say you emphatize with these guys after shutting them down. Thats not what empathy is. And btw, I feel your story and there are people that are worse off but that isnt part of the discussion.