tinnitus treatment?

[jimmer2880]

Yes - thanks for the link - Quietus for Tinnitus Relief | Welcome! Find Tinnitus relief products, as well as other ear health products and information.

When I played the sound that matched mine (the purple one - couldn't hear it) to my wife & daughters, they told me to not play that again, it would drive them nuts.

What a shame it's snake oil.

 

[EE_Bota]

When I went to see the doctor about the constant ringing in my ears in 1981, he said he could tell I'd had exceptionally good hearing in the past, but too much of those guns with no hearing protection had taken a toll. He was right, but I don't know how he would have been able to tell what kind of hearing I had before. At that time, he said I didn't need hearing aids, but that I would need them someday. He was right again. I've been wearing them since the summer of 1992, I'm on my third pair, and my hearing just continues to get worse.

Interesting...no doctor told me, but I in fact DID have rather exceptional hearing when I was young. I was on a call with a vet to a horse barn, but I could not tolerate being in the barn. The Dr. asked what was bothering me. I said "I have a horrible ringing in my ears. The woman pulled the plug on some device, and asked "did that help?" "YES!. Thanks! What was it?" It was an ultrasonic mouse chaser. To test, they had me look away and they turned it off and on over and over, and that was surely the cause.

Also, it seems to me that if noise causes hearing loss, a hearing aid ought to make it progress, since it is just an amplifier that turns the sound up louder and louder as much as needed for you to still hear.

I have ringing in my left ear. It is not too bad, but it gets me bad marks when the factory has it's annual hearing exam. I hear fine when the ear is not ringing. Unfortunately, one of the test frequencies matches my ringing, so I cannot acknowledge hearing that frequency until it is very loud. So some years my hearing is normal, and some years they report profound high frequency hearing loss in my left ear.

 

[Eagleview]

The only thing that I know that has an affect with me is Monosodium Glutamate. If I eat anything with MSG it really cranks up the volume to where I'm not able to ignore it.

MSG also affects me in this way , it also causes a kaleidoscope image in my vision and also a cold sore like blister on my lip immediately after eating it . Potato chips or any of the flavoured snack foods , French Onion soup mix etc. will have an immediate effect on me . Now that I know what causes it , I keep away from them . Some of you may have experienced the same things without knowing the cause .

 

[Opti-Mist]

Aspirin, and certain otc products that contain aspirin salicylates, or things that are are metabolized the same way as aspirin, can cause and contribute to tinnitus in some individuals. Many of these products are not well know as causing tinnitus.

Items I know of are Pepto Bismol, most antacid tablets like Titralac, certain toothpastes, (usually sensitive types), Kaopectate, Prilosac and Pepcid, Prescription meds include: Paxil, Lipitor, & Zyrtec.

Boy, this is just great! My doctor had me on aspirin therapy and Lipitor since September 1997. My new doctor weaned me off that stuff a few months ago. It didn't make any difference in my tinnitis, but I'm better off without that stuff.

 

[herd]

OleoZZ, Good luck on your treatment! Just a word of caution, Presidone is a steriod, so pls make sure you understand the side effects.

 

[ray66v]

Boy, this is just great! My doctor had me on aspirin therapy and Lipitor since September 1997. My new doctor weaned me off that stuff a few months ago. It didn't make any difference in my tinnitis, but I'm better off without that stuff.

I suspect your old doctor got a lot of free "vacations" form the drug companies.

God only knows how much money is wasted by people taking expensive medications they really don't need.

I am glad you found one of the "good" doctors.

 

[mjncad]

Yes - thanks for the link - Quietus for Tinnitus Relief | Welcome! Find Tinnitus relief products, as well as other ear health products and information.

When I played the sound that matched mine (the purple one - couldn't hear it) to my wife & daughters, they told me to not play that again, it would drive them nuts.

What a shame it's snake oil.

I couldn't hear the purple one either.

 

[MarkV]

At least I don't feel alone. I can't hear the purple sound on the link and recently I am getting a low frequency sound if I lie a certain way in bed.

It is about time for hearing aids here. I am getting tired of answering every question with "what or sorry". Are any of you besides Bird wearing hearing aids?

MarkV

 

[Oldchuck]

I've had it for several years now and it remains difficult to deal with. Sometimes more persistent than others. My ear doctor told me there is no cure and that Ginko is the only known effective treatment. That surprised me coming from such a traditional doctor. It also surprised me to hear that the exact cause is also unknown.

Tinnitus is a neurological condition not a mechanical problem as in "normal" hearing loss due to loud machines, music, guns, etc. which damage the ear drum, bones. and cilia before getting to the nervous system. It is not a "sound" in the sense of vibrating air. It is electromagnetic static inside your head.

I've got regular hearing loss too and my wife keeps nagging me to get hearing aids but I resist. I don't think it's bad enough yet but she does. Not sure what they would do to the tinnitus. I'd like to find out.

 

[oldballs]

Just another testomonial....kinda like glasses....a PITA. Mine has been with me over twenty years. The doctor sent me to an audiologist and found only slight hearing loss in the left ear. And I can hear all the necessary stuff even twenty years later (now 77)...you know....the furnace kicking on, the clock ticking, the air compressor leak etc. One guy said that coffee makes it worse...well, I still do 5-10 cups per day. Some days its more noticeable and now have it in both ears. But I sleep like a baby as a rule...It's just another little irritant of being older. Working in a steel mill and doing a lot of hunting and target shooting may or may not have had something to do with it. However,.....now I do wear ear plugs when I run the hefty brush cutter, or Shredder/Chipper or the Leaf Blower. But, you know, as you get older there is just a lot of crappp that you don't want to hear anyway.

 

[brin]

Oldballs, " But, you know, as you get older there is just a lot of crappp that you don't want to hear anyway." > I could not have said it better...LOL - just so true.

I have had a slight ringing in my ears for about 20 yrs. now and I am used to it..it may be from the Army but I go with what you say..LOL - Keep on keeping on !

 

[firemanpat2910]

add me to the cant hear the purple one. Im only 43 but have been in print shops since I was 18. that unprotected shooting and tractors and chainsaws. some times the quiet is deafening.

 

[jimmer2880]

add me to the cant hear the purple one. Im only 43 but have been in print shops since I was 18. that unprotected shooting and tractors and chainsaws. some times the quiet is deafening.

I'm only 37 and have had it for at least 10 years

The only thing going to the Dr did for me, was being able to show my wife the graph of what frequencies I don't hear and what frequency the typical female voice is. That's one of the best Dr. visits I've been to. Now she actually believes me when I tell her that I didn't hear her ask me to take out the trash

 

[Bird]

add me to the cant hear the purple one. Im only 43 but have been in print shops since I was 18. that unprotected shooting and tractors and chainsaws. some times the quiet is deafening.

Can't hear the purple??? With my hearing aids, the first two are actually too loud, and I cannot hear any sound at all from the other three.

 

[YesDeere]

My wife is threatening tv ears and I'm 35. Shotguns,Airtools and motorcycles have been my demise. This year I bought a set of the earmuffs that amplify everything else and then block out shot gun blasts for hunting. They work really well. But lately I"m thinking of getting something along those lines but that is like a hearing aid. Shuts down on loud noises but is open at all other times. Walker Game ear is one with the smallest I think. Was wondering if regular hearing aids block out loud noises (over 85 decibals?) And if this is something I could get insurance to cover? Because ear muffs and ear plugs are impractical in my work situation. But its loud at times

 

[Bird]

My health insurance does NOT cover hearing aids. My first pair, from Beltone, in 1992 cost $900 each; i.e., $1,800 for the pair. The second pair, Starkey's from a crooked M.D., were supposed to be programmable, but were not, cost $1,000 each or $2,000 for the pair. and the current pair, Beltones from June, 2006, cost nearly $1,300 each; $2,588 for the pair, but they actually are digital, programmable with two programs. I understand the ones that cost $5,000 to $6,000 a pair are much better. I can hear talking one on one with others, but if two talk at the same time, I probably won't understand anything being said. I just don't even bother to watch anything on TV that isn't closed captioned. And talking on the phone to anyone with an accent is usually quite difficult.

 

[dieselsmoke1]

Nope can't hear the purple one at all. Interesting enough, a blast of "High Frequency" actually mutes my ringing for a few seconds afterward.

 

[stevem5215]

I wear hearing aids also. Have since I was around 30. I have friends who also wear them and one since he was a child. My sister has two kids both of which are now wearing them. As you can see it runs in my family. My dad was mostly deaf by 80. He had two of them. When he passed away I got them from him and had them reprogrammed. A digital aid can be reprogrammed. That's one advantage of them. I've had analog hearing aids for almost 20 years now that still work. They were good Siemens models. I still use them when I'm out working in the yard or doing just dirty work. I also wearing them when snowmobiling but turn them off with the helmet on. A hearing aid is just that. A aid. It won't make your hearing better to the point of "like new". You will never be able to hear in public well and when in a group at a bar forget it. And in my case I have high frequency hearing loss and most women are impossible to understand in difficult situations like bars or public places. It's something you have to deal with. And can be difficult at times. All that said I'll say that hearing aids are the best thing you can do. It helps you lead a normal life of hearing what you need to. Yes, I still like closed captioning on tv. And yes, I say what a lot to the wife. But, overall it helps your quality of life dramatically. I still remember to this day when I first got my hearing aids for the first time. I was at a customer site and was working on something that I always did. But now I could hear the other people in the room talking about this or that. Not that the conversations were important ever before (and I just couldn't hear them) but now I heard all these useless things. It was then that i realized what I had been missing for many years. And it was in a lot of cases nothing important ! lol But not hearing that stuff you never knew. And in some cases there were important things. And that's what you need to hear. And why you get hearing aids to help you. Before my dad got his I lent him my one ear aid. He couldn't believe the difference. Not long afterward he got his. A lot of hearing aid vendors offer a free 30 day trial period. Take them up on it. You'll be amazed at what you were missing before.

Good luck and learn from my experience on this.
Steve with a Ford 1900 and a Steiner 20 with a brush... the most awesome attachment for snow clearing since the push broom.

 

[Gary Fowler]

Did anyone hear the purple. Maybe it is blank. I could barely hear the yellow and blue until the very end. They pretty much matched my ringing.

 

[Gary Fowler]

The last time I had a hearing test which was Dec 2008, I had to take it 3 times and change booths 2 time because they thought the booth was not working because I didnt click on any of the high frequency ringing since I hear them all the time. I kept trying to tell them I couldnt hear high freq sound. Finally they let me go to work anyway. Funny thing is some low freq sounds I can hear better than my wife, but others like most of the digital watch alarms, digital telephone ringing I cant hear at all. We have had to take back several cordless phones because they had a high pitch ring that I could only hear with it pressed against my ear. My hearing loss is due to driving a MM G1000 tractor back in the 60's when I was a teenager. This tractors muffler was more of an intensifier of noise. By the time I went in the army, my high freq was shot.