[Closed] Tinnitus Aaaaaaaaaargh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A friend of mine is also a tinitus sufferer. His is related to stress so when it gets bad he has to try and reduce his stress levels. I am pretty sure he gets medication for it, too.

I'm in here with you, wind rush on the bike and in ear headphones are making it worse I think, but a bit of light music or classical for a couple of hours at low volume keeps me sane. Have had a jaw infection (abcess/boil) since Thursday and it's been hell, worse than it's ever been.

Unfortunately stress is pretty much unavoidable for me unless I win the lottery and give up work!

Would be interested in the medication though I will have to look into that, thanks.

I have tinnitus myself - loud tonight but not as loud as yours at a guess.

I don't think there is much that can de done directly to reduce the noise. a few things might help.

White noise generators can mask the noise and make it less noticeable
It can be linked with alcohol - if I have been drinking I get the tinnitus worse the next day
cognative behaviour therapy CBT) can help some people learn ways of coping
Stress makes it worse for me as well - so be relaxed.

I was hoping it might go away over time, no such luck.

TJ, I was wondering about alcohol as I had a couple of pints earlier this evening.
But then again alcohol helps me relax! Its a double edged sword!

Nope - you have it for life. 🙁 sorry

Mine was caused by motorcycling and loud gigs.

edit - alcohol - it does seem to make mine worse.

I've got it too - drove me mad for a while, found it really hard to get to sleep and it really messed me up. I can mostly tune it out now - I think stress is a big thing for me as well though. Alcohol definitely can make a big difference too.

Too much DJing is what caused it for me, though I think it was made worse by an ear infection.

I think mine was caused by going to see My Bloody Valentine, jeez they were loud!

No, I've had tinnitus since about 2002 after a dunking in cold water (waterskiing in November) triggered it. Was initially fairly quiet, these days it's loud enough to cover the TV fairly well and my brain has started to filter out that frequency range so I now am losing hearing in that approximate area, but primarily in one ear. It's a royal PITA. The slightest noise makes it worse - I'm hyper sensitive to things like electric drills, hoover noises, stuff like that and if I go out to a loud pub I know about it for about a week afterwards.

I've been through all the hospital routes (of which there are not many) and there's sod all that can be done it seems. Best I can do is ensure I have an mp3 stereo to listen to to get me to sleep (can't sleep otherwise) and try to ignore it during the day.

On the positive side, mine doesn't seem to be made worse by anything other than sound.

I hadn't noticed it today until a read this thread. Now its howling and annoying me! Usually I does not bother me at all.

However fairly randomly it seems to change and sometimes annoys me much more than others. I think cbt / relaxation / meditation might well be worth trying if it bugs you badly as certainly for me there appears to be some psychological component that varies.

I seem to be able to live with mine without it actually bugging me much. Maybe its not as loud as some but its so hard to quantify as its totally subjective.or maybe its just I can relax and cope with it better. My dad has it badly but once he retired it stopped bugging him so much.

My Mum has it, but she's never been a drinker, never been subject to regular loud noise (retired teacher), never been subject to a one off extreme loud noise environment (to her recollection) and always been financially sound (don't know about any other stresses). For whatever reason, some people just suffer from it. I don't think she has ever found a solution, hers is manageable tho, a certain pitch or noise level triggers it. I've ended up with loads of free stuff that unfortunately have caused her problems, TVs, vacuum cleaners, CD players etc

Sorry the thread started off your tinnitus TJ. I think thinking about it makes you more aware of it and in turn makes it seem worse.

For whatever reason, some people just suffer from it.

There's a school of thought which says that everyone has it to some degree, but the extent to which you are aware of it is very different.

I know from experience that when you start to get it, you focus on the noise and you're always listening out for it - which makes you more sensitive to it and can make it seem genuinely louder.

Nae worries Oxboy - its fading again - I am used to it now after 15+ years of it. it was more of an observation than a complaint

I do think there is something in that Grum. certainly either mine varies in volume or I vary in awareness.

It would appear to be connected with the filters in your brain that control your hearing threshold / sensitivity as well. Learning not to listen to it helps for sure

long term sufferer as well. I had a mastoidectomy some 2 yrs ago this help greatly, not cured it but it helped. Exercise brings it on for me, seems to be the extra blood pumping around my head. 😥

playing in a rock band...pretty un-avoidable unless you wore earplugs from the off...cymbals are the worse for me...especial when I've got a head cold. Got a ringing now, typing and watching telly....

I got a new LCD TV from my mum last year, she still goes on about the slight 'background noise' from it, I have no idea what she's on about. They got another TV with no problems.
About 12 months ago, I started grinding my teeth at night, again, said to be stress related, but with absolutely no change in my life/circumstances what so ever (as far as I know).

+1 tinnitus sufferer here. Mine caused by too many nights in loud clubs/working in loud environments.

Things that help me: have computer on as I fall asleep so fan masks tinnitus to some extent, use noise cancelling headphones when in unavoidable loud environments (aeroplanes), keep busy all the time whether at home or work - helps to focus on something and makes me more tired when I get to bed!

No real pearls of wisdom just little things that help me forget about it. I just hope there's some real advances in medical technology in my lifetime as I would give just about anything to hear silence once again!!

Strange as it might seem, I quite [b]enjoy[/b] my tinnitus

Perhaps it's really the sound of blood rushing through my arteries and veins . . . and I don't want that to stop anytime soon 🙂

A very good mate of mine is an EN&T consultant and the bad news is that generally there's not a lot you can do.... some surgery can help but is no way guaranteed.

Exercise brings it on for me, seems to be the extra blood pumping around my head

some of these posts are making feel good about my tinnitus!!!

for me the main problem seems to be narrow eustachion tubes and lack of ventilation to the inner ear. Plus some loud clubs/DJing when younger.

If I pinch my nose and pop my ears it helps a little - I have a decent hifi so can hear the change in sound balance.

mountain biking/climbing up hills and squash all help due to the way it makes me breath/pant, but jogging doens't help and serves to block up my tubes.

I listen to in-ear phones all day as I am sensitive to sound and can pick up conversations from the other side of the open plan office.

At night I sleep with cotton wool in my ears as plugs would make the ringing an issue.

Lack of exercise combined with heavy workload/stress would make it appear worse.

I've had it for around 15 years - one night in a nightclub in Newcastle was all it took.

I've never worked out the extent to which my hearing is reduced, though I'm sure that cycling, ipod use, driving an open-topped car for 5 years have all contributed to its worsening.

I managed to f=go through a bit of a mindset shift, and became quite accepting of the ringing. Sometimes it does feel more noticeable than at others, but generally there's enough background noise in my life that I don't notice it. I go to bed so tired there isn't time for me to listen to it.

Sorry, can't help, but I hope it gets better..!

I had it for three months following an ear infection caught surfing. It was dreadful, and you have my sympathies. I also had a brief episode last week after a loud party. I have the very sensitive hearing of a teenager (just three times older!) and the episode has passed. I suspect however, that if you can relate the emergence to prolonged exposure to loud noise, then it is likely to be more permanent. As TJ says, distraction, white noise or music will help.

for everyone - carry earplugs always. wear them on aeroplanes and trains and in cars on the motorway - all high enough noise levels to do damage. Always have them in in nightclubs and at gigs or when using power tools or anywhere else noisy.

The aspect that really gets to me is poor noise discrimination - in a quiet room I can hear a pin drop but in a noisy pub I cannot follow a conversation - I mainly have to lipread

I do think for those that are bothered by it CBT / relaxation techniques / meditation would be useful. It certainly helps me to go thru a set of relaxation exercises

I get it every now and again, blame years of glastonbury clubs, gigs, whatever. Comes and goes for me.

I've had it for a few years, but don't really notice it any more. This thread has made me notice it again, but I'll soon forget to listen!

Oh, and it's so good to have a calm, sensible, helpful thread for a change, without the usual bitching 😆

for everyone - carry earplugs always. wear them on aeroplanes and trains and in cars on the motorway - all high enough noise levels to do damage. Always have them in in nightclubs and at gigs or when using power tools or anywhere else noisy.

Definitely, I bought a set of the musicians ones that deaden across the range evenly so you can still converse with them in. Helps a lot, but takes a bit of getting used to putting them on in loud public places. And I can't leave them in when it's quietened down or I notice the ringing more due to the silence. Which is an issue as I then need to concentrate on whether it's noisy or not, which makes me notice the ringing more. Ughhh

Which musicians plugs did you buy? I bought some about 4 years ago now but they don't seem to offer a lot of protection compared with the bespoke moulded ones I got from work, but with these you really can't hear much at all! I'm looking for a comprimise between the two.

It is a pain when it quietens down again as the ringing is ten times louder with plugs and little background noise!

I got the ACE ones, though I can't see the same ones on their site anymore:
[img] [/img]

You have my sympathies, as I've had it for years. Sorry, but I haven't found any 'silver bullet' cures that I can pass on. I guess the only thing I can suggest is to try and identify things that can make it worse - then try and manage or minimise effect.. As others have mentioned, booze can have an effect (makes mine worse). I've found that even half to two hours of moderately loud music or cinema soundtrack type stuff can make mine worse for 12 to 24 hours afterwards. Someone suggested wearing 'medium density' type ear plugs when in the cinema - not tried 'em, but apparently, they reduce but don't totally block out the volume, so you can still follow dialogue easily.

p.s. just seen above replies that mention 'plugs, I think those are the ones I was thinking of.

ACS maybe, that's what mine are - survived a freakin loud DJ Shadow concert recently with them.

ACS ones:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/er20-musicians-high-fi-earplugs-case-er-20-ER20-/250884909651?pt=UK_MusicalInstr_Access_RL&var=&hash=item801136aa0e

etymotics

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Etymotic-Research-ER-20-Ety-Plugs-Earplugs-ER20-BLUE-/190579339489?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2c5f69f0e1

Elacin ones:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Drummers-earplugs-ELACIN-ER20S-FREE-SHIPPING-/360380321230?pt=UK_MusicalInstr_Access_RL&hash=item53e8574dce

spot the difference...

(search for ER20 on ebay)

I have a link at home for somewhere that does custom molds for something like £160, but I think the attenuation is exactly the same they are just comfier.

It does depend on how severe it is, but my mum got very bad tinnitus in both ears due to an infection, which caused permanent nervous damage. She now uses hearing aids in both ears and she says that the whistling is lessened when wearing them, as they make the brain concentrate on the sound coming from the hearing aid instead. I presume the OPs symptoms aren't quite that bad, but if they worsen it is worth investigating.

To midlifecrashes, if the tinnitus is a lot worse due to infection, you should ask your GP for something to treat it. My mum's permanent damage might have been preventable or at least not as bad if she'd taken something against the infection, apparently.

for everyone - carry earplugs always. wear them on aeroplanes and trains and in cars on the motorway - all high enough noise levels to do damage. Always have them in in nightclubs and at gigs or when using power tools or anywhere else noisy.

This^^^

I was aware of what tinnitus was when I developed it, as my mother has it. Hers is different though - all whooshes and gushing. Mine's just ringing.

All gigs, nightclubs etc I went to for years afterwards I would wear earplugs. I have also worn them on planes (but prefer in ear headphones for attentuation and entertainment). I have worn them on ling motorway journeys when we had a Mazda MX5, but don't normally. My motorway mileage has recently increased significantly, and I'm aware of the additional noise.

Everyone with tinutus should consider the above plugs if they don't use some already - especially seeing how cheap they are.

The ones I linked to above just attenuate the sound but leave the balance alone - at the loud concert I mention above I could follow the conversation of the guy I went with who was standing next to me behind the mixing desk - possibly easier than without the plugs as they cut the volumne of his raised voice. The music was also correctly balanced.

The plugs above have a triple flange earpiece just like on normal etymotic iem phones. They can feel hard to start with - but you get used to it. You might be able to retrofit some of the other types, like the soft silicon ones that Shure do, but I think you might struggle with the foam ones.

The triple flange bit fits into a clear plastic tube which folds back on itself so the sound has to enter at the bit closest to the ear and then travel back out towards the end of the clear plastic tube and then back round on itself before travelling down the central pipe that feeds into the triple flange and your ear.

At the point of the fold back there is an angled cut which probably helps keep the sound balance.

Anyway - highly recommended - I wear them if I go to a concert, cut the grass, trim the hedge, go to wimbledon, etc. Not to sleep through as they stick out a little.

I felt that caffeine made mine worse. Stopped drinking it and feel that has helped but still suffer from it. Never thought about where it came from, but I saw my bloody valentine a couple of times, I think so that could be he lead. +1 for white noise on the grim days / through the grim nights. I like rain sounds.

Here the custom link:

http://www.acscustom.com/uk/

I developed tinitus following an ear infection. I work offshore and the constant background noise tends to cover the squeel, however putting ear plugs in makes me notice it again and the first couple of nights at home are hellish, especially with the absolute quiet of night time when lying in bed.

Nothing makes it better and if someone is talking to me from the side with the tinitus then I usually miss the first half of what is said. This does come in useful when I want to ignore my wife........

Suffer here too.

Out of interest, when people are wearing ear plugs, like the ones talked about, do you find that all sorts of vibration cause a big drum like sound. ie walking barefoot on a hard floor, or going down some rough bits on the bike. Sometimes it sounds like this drum sound is worse than the sound I'm trying to block out.

I know what you mean about the drum-like noise. I get this sometimes but not sure its worse than the sound I'm attempting to block out. Tends to be most noticable with cheap foam earplugs but not so much with the musicians ones, or custom fit ones.

yep - not bad with the er20s, with my shure phones it is worse.

Yet another sufferer here too ... a left over from the menieres.
Stress, lack of sleep and a too salty diet seem to make mine worse.
I find if I go for a hard ride on the bike it almost always clears it ... I put it down to getting the blood pumping, maybe its just psychological really ... works for me anyways.

The alcohol link is prob correct. The fluid levels in the ear will alter due to alcohol dehydrating you to some degree.
I drink very little, so can not give much of an opinion on that.

Suffer here too.

Out of interest, when people are wearing ear plugs, like the ones talked about, do you find that all sorts of vibration cause a big drum like sound. ie walking barefoot on a hard floor, or going down some rough bits on the bike. Sometimes it sounds like this drum sound is worse than the sound I'm trying to block out.

I dont wear them when it's not noisy, i.e. MTBing isn't noisy for me. I'd only wear them when not wearing them would hurt, not to block out irritating noises like next doors bass. So I use mine when tuning engines (under the standard industrial ones!), when doing DIY with drills/grinders/sanders/compressors, when out in a club.

I do notice I'm hyper-sensitive to sounds though, I can hear stuff (and it drives me nuts) that my other half doesn't even notice. Next doors bass drives me BONKERS because I struggle to distinguish the words on the TV from the bass and the rhythm gets stuck in my head and conflicts with the TV music/speach.

Horrible.

@ Oxboy: when i first had tinnitus I was given some anti-depressants in a mild does which serve to deaden the nerve endings which does seem to help some.

you should have a scan on your nut to make sure you don't have a (sounds like acoustic but not sure it is) nuroma - a type of non malignant tumor on you acoustic nerve.

a friend on mines tinnitus was caused by an over build up of calcium on the small bones in her ear. these were replaced with artificial ones and the noise stopped.

chech out the British Tinnitus Ass'n web site which has some useful stuff on it

yes it is a horrible affliction,
people have been known to top themselves because of it!
i got mine courtesy of years on a jackhammer and a 120mph Triumph Bonneville....
its got worse, now i avoid socialising with younger people,
eg my kids and their friends,
they tend to talk quiet and i just can`t distinguish their voice over the relentless hissssshssssshshshshssss
..."sorry i didn`t catch what you said".... for the third time,
or like when somebody makes a humerous quip,
everyone laughs! ....... exept me, i didn`t catch it :/
its a weird sort of deafness, now i can hear the wall clock ticking away in the kitchen
[edit], a while back my factory manager asked me to walk round and listen for any air leaks in the compressed air lines,
how i laughed!!:)

bighendo - Member

[edit], a while back my factory manager asked me to walk round and listen for any air leaks in the compressed air lines,
how i laughed!!:)

finding punctures can be hard - is that a hiss I hear? 🙂

watch the number of people that flinch when a tube trains comes into the station and puts its squealing brakes on...

One that really gets me is sirens no ambulances and police cars - I have to stop the bike and get my fingers in my ears as they come past

+1 for ambulances and police cars. Fingers straight in the ears as soon as I hear them!

Tinnitus- the hallucination of soundis a very distressing condition affecting 7% of the population, more prevelentif you have a hearing loss. If you have tinnitus in one definitly have a hospital appointment to rule out an acoustic neuroma,technically a vestubular schwannoma.
Relaxation techniques and modified cognative behaviour therapy has good results.
Keeping the amount of caffine, alchol and a low salt diet have been shown to help
The British Tinnitus Assoc tinnitus.org.uk have good resourses and local self help groups
Keeping the amount of noise exposure to a minimum less than 70db, slightly louder than talking, during the day will lessen the aggreivation of the condition.
Using noise cancellation ear defenders are the best, followed by musician ear plugs. These contain sintered filters that less the force of the sound, therefore, work best with impulse sounds like shotguns and drumming.
Hope this of help

CoffeeKing, interesting. I find that when out on the bike the wind noise can really be uncomfortable.

Thing that drive me wild is putting tea spoons in the draw. Almost painfull. And I even ended up buying a "quite" keyboard for work, as that drove me up the wall. Strange.

Oh, that reminds me. Does anyone else suffer from this...get ready, really hard to explain thing coming up...Sort of wierd buldge, crackle, swooshing noise, almost a feeling like a muscle tensing/relaxing, in the ear when yawning, talking loudly, laughing etc? Just wondering if it normal, or something unusual.

I think thats the Eustacian (spelling?) tubes issue?

Oh, that reminds me. Does anyone else suffer from this...get ready, really hard to explain thing coming up...Sort of wierd buldge, crackle, swooshing noise, almost a feeling like a muscle tensing/relaxing, in the ear when yawning, talking loudly, laughing etc? Just wondering if it normal, or something unusual.

Could be caused by TMJ? I have it to some extent and I think it's another cause of the tinnitus.

Does anyone else get a thing where if you lay on your side in bed, with your ear touching the pillow, you can sort of hear/feel your pulse really loudly/strongly in your ear? Very strange/disconcerting.

Yeah I get the weird noises when yawning too. My tinnitus seems to be connected to my jaw in some weird way... Just try not to yawn much/ignore it! Really annoying though!

I currently have a ruptured eardrum (again 👿 ) in my 'bad' ear. All I hear on one side of my head is the high pitched whine. I am soooo looking forward to this healing so I can get on with ignoring it. 😀

After a while you do tune it out. I find that having music on in the background helps and keeping my mind occupied (biking helps!).

I may try all the caffeine-free/low salt stuff soon to see if it helps.

Grum, nice one. Never heard of TMJ. When I saw a specialist (about 2yrs ago) I made a very botched attempt at describing those issues. Since then I've made a sort of diary of all the odd things that happen with the intent of going back being better prepared. This thread is pushing me to make that visit 🙂

Thing that drive me wild is putting tea spoons in the draw. Almost painfull. And I even ended up buying a "quite" keyboard for work, as that drove me up the wall. Strange.

Hyperacusis

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperacusis

I get that - also had problems with cutlery on plates and clicky keyboards.

It seems to be related to my eustation tube thing - bad ventilation of the inner ear - I bet that you cannot dive either.

If I do not exercise it gets worse - but the exercise has to be the right form - a hard cycle with lots of panting as I climb hills is good, running is not.

Try pinching your nose and forcing your ears to pop - when you let the pressure go you will probably find that the sharp sounds aren't as sharp. If so do that ear popping thing regularly - but not with too much pressure.

Another things that really helps me a lot is towards the end of my morning shower I pinch one nostril closed and 'snort' out of the other - and vice versa. I often get little bits of fairly solid white stuff coming out 🙁

TurnerGuy. Diving you say. Good question, never tried, but was planning on giving it a bash next summer. Will keep you posted (if don't die trying!).

Best thing I've found for tinitus is keeping busy. Very seldom notice it when I'm actually doing something keeping busy. The big trouble is once you notice it you can't igore it for ages.

No expert here, but a few people have mentioned awareness and I've been told that's key. I have it - a high pitched white noise that's brought on most when I'm tired (mentally or physically). A neuro-psychologist I know concurs that there's no real cure, but observing other noises around you and opening up to them can help to switch your mind away from the tinnitus.

The people who've said reading this thread have brought there's on are proving that, and it does work for me. UrbanHiker ^ suggests the same - keeping busy, not thinking about it, thinking about (or better still, observing) other noise and activity are probably the right way to go about things.

I have no idea how or if this can affect some of the people who have it brought on by some form of damage though, but hope this may be of some help.

[b]TurnerGuy[/b], its your middle ear that the Eustachian tube (ET)ventilates via its opening at the back of the throat. Try using an Otovent ballon to inflate your ET as this safer than pinch and blow, a Valsalva manoeuver,as this could lead to a perforated eardrum.
[url= http://www.gluear.co.uk/_assets/pdf/otovent_gp_s.pdf ]Otovent ballon[/url]

[b]UrbanHiker[/b], this could be involuntary spasms of your tensor tympani muscle, one of the smallest muscle in the body. This pulls on the bones in your middle ear, a defense against loud sounds, causing the eardrum to move, the crackle wooshing noise you hear.

Using noise cancellation ear defenders are the best,

Can anyone recommend some good noise cancelling ear defenders suitable for use around a 660mw steam turbine, as all the ones I can find seem to be for use when shooting, which as far as I can make out is a totally different type of sound.

Sounds about right Gephaudio, any way to train that muscle? I've not come accross weight training for the ears!

Love the balloon idea, going to search one out.

[b]Dibbs[/b] Your employer shoud be providing ear protection to prevent any noise damage. You should be having annual hearing tests at a minimum

Google 'active noise cancelling ear muffs'

The people who've said reading this thread have brought there's on are proving that, and it does work for me. UrbanHiker ^ suggests the same - keeping busy, not thinking about it, thinking about (or better still, observing) other noise and activity are probably the right way to go about things.

Works in a general sense, but it can get very tiring having to be busy at all times and the worst thing is when you're shattered and need to go to bed, or worst of all when you're camping and looking forward to being lost in nature you have to ensure you've got in-ear earphones and a charged MP3 player at all times. Since I've had mine I've had steadily increasing exhaustion and every 6 months or so I crash completely from exhaustion. I can't sleep without sounds, my other half can't sleep with sound. Generally if I have to close my eyes I see coloured flashes left right and centre, so I have to sleep with light around me, preferably moving light which usually means the TV. So I have to sleep with in-ear headphones in (to make music loud enough to cover the noises) and the TV on mute to entertain my eyes.

Plenty of people suggest concentrating on other sounds but that's a problem in itself - if the sound is low enough volume that I struggle to hear it I just notice my tinnitus is masking it and the tinnitus sounds (relatively) louder and louder until I give up and have to go somewhere noisy. I then get increased tinnitus from being somewhere noisy.

I'm a screwed up mess!

Coffeeking, sorry to hear it's really getting to you. Have you looked into those pillows with the speakers in? Apparently the other person can't really hear it. Def worth trying to train yourself not to hear it though if you can

You get used to it I guess, I'm sure there's people worse off than me eh! I've tried one of those pillows but it poses a couple of issues - one is that the sound is generally coming from one ear rather than two, which means the other ear can only hear "weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee" while the other hears music and second problem is the sound is not "internal" to my head so it has to be loud to mask it. I can have in-ear phones in at the lowest level and it seems to mask the "root" of the sound, but external music has to be about as loud as normal conversation to mask anything.

Stupid bodies!

Dibbs Your employer shoud be providing ear protection to prevent any noise damage.

They do, and ear defenders (as opposed to ear plugs) are mandatory in some area's where I work.

You should be having annual hearing tests at a minimum

I do, and have done for the past 25+ years.

Google 'active noise cancelling ear muffs'

I did, that's why I typed

all the ones I can find seem to be for use when shooting, which as far as I can make out is a totally different type of sound.

Anyone been to an Tinnitus forum/support group/chat thingy in local area? Any good?

I occasionally get temporary tinnitus, apparently at random. I can just be sitting at my desk, or exercising, or pretty much anything, and all of a sudden I get a loud whistling noise in one ear or the other - never both. It can last anything from a few minutes to all day - after a night's sleep it will have disappeared.

I found (no idea how) that I can often get rid of it if, immediately after it starts, I can close my eyes and concentrate on the sound. I visualise a sine wave and attempt to 'tune it in' to the frequency of the whistling (as I type this I realise how daft/surreal this actually sounds!) by allowing it to run across my vision until it seems to slow and become a static wave like you might see on an oscilloscope. If I can get it to match the frequency (which is complete bollox anyway, as I have no idea what the frequency of the tinnitus sound is, but it makes sense at the time) it usually goes away. If I can't get it within a minute or two of it starting, I'm stuck with it until it decides to disappear.

No idea how/why this works, but it usually does. And not really very helpful to those with a proper tinnitus problem, but thought I'd throw it in the mix...

Long time sufferer of tinitus since the early 1990's following a horrific car crash and bump on the noggin.

I than myself luck I only have tinitus though as I was the only survivor of the crash. Constant reminder of how bloody lucky I was.

Whilst I am also a bit deaf in one ear I also try to look at the advantages that brings rather than the negatives. Whilst it is hard to hear folk, especially in a noisy location (parties are a nightmare trying to listen to people who may be talking to me over the background noise) my deafness is also great when trying to get to sleep if there is a bit of noise about.

Avoid increasing blood pressure / stress, that makes it louder in my experience.

Hi Gephaudio,

thanks for the suggestion - I have only just noticed it.

I don't do it much and not with much force, but I do find the 'snorting' thing in the shower to be very beneficial. I will have a look at the baloons.

I also look on the bright side in that it force me to keep some level of aerobic fitness.

When I used to have time to listen to my hifi a lot that would also be a good incentive as, if I slacked off, my hearing balance would change and the hifi wouldn't sound so good. My in-ear phones are nearly as effective for this.

Luckily my hifi has always been based around LS3/5a speakers which I bought specifically as they sounded good and well balanced at low volumes.

I got tinnitus 6 yrs ago watching a mates band in a small venue,no help sound guy had overdriven the amps so the sound system was really clipping AND mates band moved down running order,'cos one of the other bands "had to go early"!!.Mine is faint high pitch tone.I find taking extra Vitamin C and Magnesium is a big help in masking the noise.Hope this is helpful worth a go as vitamins not expensive and should not kill 'ya!