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Tinnitus: Any hope in the future

Posted on 12/05/2016 6:55:23 AM PST by far sider

Hey guys. I'm 58 and have had tinnitus for about 30 years now. It has always been just an annoyance. But this year the volume has increased A LOT. It's like a very loud dentist's drill in both ears. I have heard that tinnitus can make you suicidal. I always scoffed at that but I'm starting to see why it would be attractive to some people.

I have a few questions and would appreciate any feedback.

1. I know there is not cure but do any of you know of anything that can reduce the volume?

2. Do cochlear implants help tinnitus?

3. Is there anything promising down the road?

My doctor doesn't have any answers.


TOPICS: Health/Medicine
KEYWORDS: ears; tinnitus
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To: Vinnie

Oh, and I’ve got tinnitus, high pitched ringing.
I’ve love to find some relief.


121 posted on 12/05/2016 3:17:48 PM PST by Vinnie
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To: Berlin_Freeper

Ping for later. (I have had it about 5 weeks. I shot a rattlesnake in the garage and I reckon the echo/blast was just a little too loud.)


122 posted on 12/05/2016 4:47:33 PM PST by SisterK (its a spiritual war)
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To: GreyFriar

>>> Were you in California, Massachusetts, or Illinois?

Georgia. Humidity aggravates allergies.

On top of the Tennitus, I was suffering some pretty bad vertigo with it. Had to be allergies.


123 posted on 12/05/2016 6:05:25 PM PST by Safrguns
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To: far sider; All
5 decades of beating things for a living with guitar players and loud Marshall amps has left me with a rather serious case of tinnitus (which I've always mispronounced as tin-night-tus rather than tin-a-tis).

I'm finally getting around to seeing the audiologists at the VA even though my primary care physician recently told me nothing can be done.

20 years ago they treated me with low dose Xanex and that seemed to help (although the VA eventually canned that Doctor as his 'better living through chemistry' philosophy seemed to involve Xanex for all his patients.

In order to get the hearing tests they're sending me for a "cleaning" which is a high-tech ear wax removal. I watched some videos of the procedure on u-tube out of curiosity. The videos are gross as the attachments they use gently suction and brush gobs of ear wax from deep within ear canals. It seems that using q-tips can actually force ear wax deeper and impact it into the ear drum and some of the recipients claim the wax removal helped with their tinnitus. I can only imagine what they'll find in these old ears, but I'm willing to try anything at this point.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=99u02vOvNvg
124 posted on 12/05/2016 7:07:31 PM PST by Drumbo ("Democracy can withstand anything but democrats." - Jubal Harshaw (Robert A. Heinlein))
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To: Titan Magroyne

* ping *


125 posted on 12/05/2016 7:09:53 PM PST by Drumbo ("Democracy can withstand anything but democrats." - Jubal Harshaw (Robert A. Heinlein))
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To: far sider

bump for later


126 posted on 12/05/2016 7:17:47 PM PST by Chickensoup (Leftists today are speaking as if they plan to commence to commit genocide against whites. Beware.)
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To: LambSlave

I’ll have to try that.

I don’t have tinnitus, but I do have a raging case of hyperacusis. I’ll try anything at this point.


127 posted on 12/05/2016 7:56:48 PM PST by Ellendra (Those who kill without reason cannot be reasoned with.)
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To: Rappini

Like was stated in the description. Put your palms over your ears with your middle fingers around the back of your head near the base of your skull. Then put your index fingers on top of your middle fingers and ‘snap’ them down on your skull 40 to 50 times. Not sure if there is a correct way, I ‘snapped’ my index fingers simultaneously.

Good luck.


128 posted on 12/05/2016 8:46:08 PM PST by Rubble Rouser (The Flint Hills of KS....an amazing place!!)
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To: far sider; All

I’ve had a ringing in my ears as long as I can remember, it’s like a thousand crickets but higher pitched.

Playing loud guitars for the past 40 years hasn’t helped it much either...not to mention all the times I ran a box of 22 rounds at a time through a rifle or pistol...

I’ve looked it up before, but just did a quick refresher course. Nobody has found a definite cure, though I had never heard of drumming the fingers on the back of the head before, I’ll have to try that.

According to what I’ve been able to find of recent developments, it seems Ginko Biloba might help, but the scientific corroboration is weak.

Ear masking might help. That involves keeping an ambient noise source such as a radio or tv on at a comfortable volume, and concentrate on that rather than the ringing in your ears.

I learned to just ignore it many years ago, otherwise it would have driven me to suicide. This is a constant, never ending, always there very high pitched sound like a million crickets, but higher pitched, and it never ever stops. NO matter how wasted I got in my younger days, it never quit. A 5th of Jack Daniels wouldn’t kill it. Damn near killed me...but not the insane crickets. A 5th of Tequila...same thing...(should have known by then...)

Here is what Dr Andrew Weil has to say about it, one of the ones I actually trust a little...

http://www.drweil.com/health-wellness/body-mind-spirit/ears-nose-throat/natural-cures-for-ringing-in-the-ears/

I don’t trust many doctors, they kill more people than diseases do. I avoid doctors if at all possible.

Nothing else I can find has anything different, but this link does have a good explanation of what it is.

http://www.home-remedies-for-you.com/remedy/Tinnitus.html

Both mention Ginko Biloba, and both point out that research hasn’t proven it effective, but it can’t hurt much either.
Dr Weir says:

I recommend trying ginkgo, two tablets of standardized extract three times a day (not to exceed a total dose of 240mg a day) with meals to treat ringing in the ears. Ginkgo may help by increasing blood circulation in the head and neck. Give it at least a two-month trial

Nothing I’ve ever found will stop it but I might try the finger drumming trick, anything is worth a try after at least 50 years of listening to this...if it’s really quiet at night I can’t get to sleep. I can’t tell if the crickets are outside or in my head...except during winter and I Know crickets are hibernating...and I still hear them...


129 posted on 12/05/2016 8:58:59 PM PST by Paleo Pete (When the sun comes up, nitrogen turns into daytrogen.)
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To: Vinnie

ROFL!!


130 posted on 12/05/2016 9:38:54 PM PST by Yaelle
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To: RedWulf; 353FMG

RedWulf is right: you don’t need to spend ANYTHING to learn how to do keto. It’s all online.

Some surprises I found you can still be in keto while eating a dessert each day. I was doing VLC while pregnant and was so healthy. But my doc didn’t like me not gaining enough weight so he made me eat ice cream every night. And I stayed in keto.

However, starting is very difficult. You have to adjust and the first 4-5 days will have powerful cravings for sweet things. But after those first few days, those cravings are GONE. Make sure to eat some fiber every day, powdered and/or from fibrous veggies. Cooked is fine.


131 posted on 12/05/2016 9:46:22 PM PST by Yaelle
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To: far sider; Drumbo

I’ve nothing new to add, other than a caution on the Lipo-Flavanoid. I read a lot of the user reviews. For some it seemed a miraculous cure. For others, nothing or so-so results. But for the so-sos who stopped taking it, the symptoms came back worse, making them more miserable.

I’d been delighted to discover this marvel of medicine & was going to buy it for my FRiend Drumbo who has tinnitus, but we decided after research to avoid it altogether. Who needs tinnitis to return with a vengeance?

Years ago I had a coworker who wore a noise-cancelling machine with buds in his ears. He seemed satisfied, tho of course it blocked his regular hearing. Hmmmmmm, maybe that was a benefit.

My mother has told me that back when door to door salesmen were common, my grandmother was always having hearing aid drummers over to pitch their wares to her husband, my grandfather. He would great them on the porch. Very much aware that she was listening from only a room away, Papaw would roll his eyes kitchen-ward & bellow that he could HEAR ENOUGH, THANK YOU! and send the disappointed salesman along his way.

Because of tinnitis, Drumbo has to sleep with white noise, like from TV. That’s fine with me - it’s just a matter of learning which programming to avoid (infomercials) and which satisfies both if you have a sleep partner. He’s fine w/ Fox news but I can only tolerate a drama where the actors are talking to each other rather than directly at the viewer like a news reporter, LOL. Cable music channels (not videos, just music) are great, too.

Sorry, wish I could be more helpful to you.


132 posted on 12/05/2016 10:35:29 PM PST by Titan Magroyne (What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving.)
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To: Safrguns

Ah yes, Georgia. I’ve spent several TDY’s to Ft. McPherson and also to nearby Anniston, AL & Chattanooga.

I’ve had a very mild Tennitus all my life, never really knew what the ‘ringing in my ears’ was until a few years ago when I heard the advertisements about it. Of course, spending a few years in field artillery and tanks, probably didn’t help it.


133 posted on 12/06/2016 4:29:07 AM PST by GreyFriar (Spearhead - 3rd Armored Division 75-78 & 83-87)
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To: GreyFriar

>>> Of course, spending a few years in field artillery and tanks, probably didn’t help it.

Ahh... cool... I was on M1IPs myself.


134 posted on 12/06/2016 5:40:26 AM PST by Safrguns
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*ping*


135 posted on 12/06/2016 7:30:19 AM PST by ccmovrwc
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To: LambSlave

I just tried it and felt an immediate improvement. Will do several more times over next 48 hours. It would be such a relief to not hear that buzzing/ringing. Heading to Disney World on Friday and hoping my hearing improves with it too by silencing or at least turning down the volume of the buzzing.

THANKS~!


136 posted on 12/07/2016 8:31:54 AM PST by Qwackertoo (Worst 8 years ever, First Affirmative Action President, I hope those who did this to us SUFFER MOST!)
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To: far sider

I don’t have time to do the search right now, but there was something recently about a class of antibiotics, the class of which Cipro is a member, that causes hearing loss and tinnitus. I got mine in the hospital after a surgery in 2013. It is a swooshing sound. It’s not that bad. Left ear only.

I at first thought it was the air conditioning. Then when I went into the bathroom, where there is no air conditioning, it was still there. I told a nurse and she said uh-oh.

My ENT said it is not fixable. It is a loss of cilia in the middle ear. My SIL who is a nurse said it is the antibiotics, or one of them.

If there is a tinnitus list, I would like to be on it to be sure I hear of any breakthrough.


137 posted on 12/07/2016 8:44:15 AM PST by firebrand
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