A family member has this and is struggling with the effects. She’s tired, grumpy and finding it hard to deal with the noise.

Any tips for me to pass on.

Thank you.

Pardon?

SPEAK UP!!!

Muffs

Will only make it worse, surely?

Shirley?

I have it but doesn’t really bother me, alcohol makes it worse. Mine “pulses” with my heart beat so must be something to do with the blood vessels/veins in my ears

http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Tinnitus/Pages/Introduction.aspx

I have it, but only in a mild form. I have a whistling/whining sound constantly in the background. Most of the time I don’t really notice it too much, only if I can’t sleep and it’s really quiet, then it’s annoying 🙂

Is a recent thing for her? It does get better, your brain seems to tune it out (mostly) eventually.

No thanks, I already have some

Cutting down on my caffeine intake made a huge difference to mine. Also, and this can be hard, just tuning it out. Has she seen a Dr btw?

Had this for about twelve years now in both ears now. There are times where it still drives me mad, mostly at night trying to sleep in a silent room.
The only tip is to keep plenty of background noise going from tv, radio and so on.

Yes, recent and has started with the onset of labrynthitis.

nickc I think knows a lot about it. His vanity searching will get him here eventually. 🙂

Chances are it’ll get better if it’s linked to an ear infection?

As above, some light background noise really helps. Maybe some nature sounds or quiet music to help with sleeping?

I have had it in varying degrees for years. Initially told it was caused by tension in my jaw from being a stress head.
I always used to have to fall asleep with the tv or radio on but mostly tune out now.
It’s one of those things which is really hard to ignore but that’s ultimately what you have to do.

I’ve suggested the Dr. , however it’s my mum who’s affected and she’s prone to taking little or no advice from me, ever.

I have it really badly most of the time as part of having menieres disease. The following helps. Cut out alcohol, caffeine and salt (haven’t found a definitive answer to why salt makes it worse, could be it raises the blood pressure or perhaps interferes with the fluids in the inner ear). Do lots of exercise – ensure that you’re knackered by the time you go bed to help fall asleep despite the noise.

It does make you grumpy and irritable and to be honest there are occasions when just MTFUing and fighting it is the only option. One of the hardest things is trying to convince loved ones that it’s actually not just unpleasant but has a big impact on quality of life. Both my mum and my granny have it, so at least I have their sympathy (and their crappy genes unfortunetly).

Just the usual occasional outburst of it that I assume everyone gets. (That deafening high-pitched scream in an ear that lasts about 30 seconds).

Not always easy but, background noise and keeping busy does help greatly.
Mine seems to be worse when stress levels are a bit higher or mood is a bit lower.
People around you will not understand as it seems a silly condition – it’s not!

kja78 – good advice , I will try and pass on.

I have it, permanently in both ears, worse in one. I find background noise of music, radio etc if I’m on my own acts as a good distraction.

I struggle in noisy situations, pubs with loud music for example, so I tend to make sure I sit with my “good ear” to the rest of the group or just avoid that kind of place.

I’ve not found reducing caffeine intake, or indeed anything else helps at all.

Mine sounds like the flash on a camera charging up interspersed with louder 30 second bursts.

10 years ago they were looking into Ginkgo biloba as something to help people but I don’t think anything came of it.

If you go to the gp you should get referred for a scan to see if it’s nerve related. After that I think there’s a difference if it’s associated with hearing loss or not. There’s research to say that a low powered hearing aid can help, that’s what I’m trying ATM. It’s no miracle cure, in fact it doesn’t seem to have any effect when you fit it but when you later remove it the tinnitus seems to get immediately louder.

I have had it pretty loudly in my left ear for about five years. After being driven bananas by it you realise that the more you think about it the more you notice it. You’ve got to ignore it. It’s a psychological thing. Noise in the background can help and you can get pillows with tiny speakers in so you can connect an iPod/iPhone with white noise or sounds like sea shore etc. to help you drift off.

I read (on Kindle) ‘Tinnitus Treatment Toolbox’ by JL Mayes which helped a bit. Now I’m writing about it I notice a loud noise… bah! 😀

It hard to explain, but just finding something to take your mind off it is a really good cure. I’ve been sat here working, in a silent office all day, didn’t notice it one bit till I read the title of this thread. Now I can’t not hear it. Looking forward to leaving office, and going running just to take my mind off it.

As posted above by others you get used to it / tune out, much the same way you do as a parent in a room of noisy kids !

It’s worse with stress, it’s often a side effect of hypertension. So being stressed about having tinnitus is going to make it worse.

I work in the Audiology group at Manchester University. Tinitus affects diffent people in different ways and this depends not only on the severity of the tinitus but on the persons attitude to it. I can mostly ingnore my tinitus but some people will find it has a severe affect on their quality of life. It might be worth having a chat with the GP and getting reffered for tinitus counselling and a maybe a scan, there are thing that people find help like a tinitus masker (like a small hearing aid) and there are under the pillow speakers so you can play masking sounds or a radio through the pillow.
I use a small earpiece and play the world service in my ear when my tinitus is keepng me awake.

I deal with tinnitus by telling myself it’s just the sound of blood rushing through the blood vessels. I really wouldn’t want that to stop, would I?

White noise is worth a go.

I have the same kind of ‘rhythmic’ as Houns. Can be diverted, but when quiet, it’s very annoying. Had it for years.

It can also manifest as like a gas tap hissing.

Gets me down quite a bit to be honest. It’s not deafness as such; though I’m sure there’s correlation.

I’ve got tinnitus after a massive car crash and big bump on the head nearly 30 years ago.
I’m also a bit deaf in the same ear as well as the tinnitus too.

I can usually block out the ringing and the deafness can be a godsend when trying to get to sleep if there is noise I can hear with the good ear. It gets on my nerves most in noisy “social” situations wher I struggle to pick out individuals talking to me.

I try to look on the positive side though.

It’s a constant reminder as to how lucky I was, I was the only survivor, front seat passenger BTW

I have a constant ringing in both ears and have done as long as I can remember. I think it’s probably due to suffering ‘shed loads’ of ear infections as a kid and the resultant scaring in my ears.

I’ve learnt to ‘tune it out’ and it only really gets annoying when I think about – erm, like now!!!!

Background noise is a distraction and helps massively.

The Mother In Law gets it, but she let’s it keep her awake by listening to it, getting arsey and thinking about it. This kind of amplifies the effect (well it does for me). She won’t try something making some noise in the background ‘cos if she left the radio on, it would cause a massive electrical explosion or similar. I also try to stop her reading the Daily Wail, it hasn’t worked yet!

I’ve had chronic tinnitus for years with associated hearing loss.

I used to have severe dizzy spells but haven’t had a significant attack for years.

I have been told by a specialist that I don’t have menieres.

Mine is linked to pressure in my inner ear (labyrinth), I’ve been prescribed serc in the past which on the last occasion didn’t make any difference. Although in my late 20’s it appeared to work and I passed the army medical.

I’ve tried giving up various foods, coffee, cheese, chocolate…but nothing made a difference. The specialists have said there’s not a lot they can do to cure tinnitus, but as people have suggested there’s ways to manage it and minimise it’s impact.

The only thing that I think really helps me is being stress free.

Thanks to Phil Lynott I have it in both ears, louder in the right, typical whistling you get after a loud gig. (It was!)
It’s not that obtrusive, really, and over the last couple of years it does seem to have diminished a bit. I’m lucky in that mine hasn’t impacted on my life in any significant way. Perhaps if mine varied in tone it would be much more intrusive, but the constant nature means it can be tuned out more easily.

Hopefully it’ll be quiet when I’m dead.

😐

I’ve had it for years thanks to playing on too many loud bands. I have lost a lot of the top end of my hearing range. It bothers me when there is a lot of noise in the workplace and I am trying to talk to someone on the phone. Busy pubs are a nightmare for conversations and I have also found now that if any band I am in plays too loudly it actually hurts! Singing in a choir is also becoming problematic which is beginning to annoy me. I read somewhere that listening to violin music helps re-educating your hearing, but I’m sceptical.

I had it when I was 18ish, brought on my too much exposure to loud music in pubs (mainly 80s rock). I had some hearing loss and had to avoid anywhere loud for many years as my ears seemed to become super sensitive. It’s faded quite a bit and at the last hearing test I had my mid range had come back to normal (no idea how that happened). I still have mild tinitus 24/7 but can just ignore it.

Beggar me, just been on FB and there’s an ad from an ambulance chaser asking if I’ve got hearing problems. THEY ARE WATCHING EVERYTHING!!!!

It is worth seeking an mri scan to check for (spelling) a nuroma. There is also an anti-depressant which your gp can prescribe which dulls the nerves including those in your ears – see the BTA web site. This helped me at the outset.

Well I have severe Tinnitus in my left ear and I am also an Audiologist who also helps sufferers manage their tinnitus. the British Tinnitus Association is a good resource though BTA if you have any questions please email me I will do my best to help.