[RoadTripper]

IMO, there is no treatment that works for everybody and most all treatments work for nobody. Assess your condition by asking if you can hear the ringing while taking a shower or while driving. Does it wake you up during sleep? Things like that. And veteran long-term tinnitus sufferers all wonder when the next level of ringing volume is coming. It usually gets worse over time, not better.

[brooklyn]

I have tinnitus in the left ear which started about a year ago at the age of 60. It seems to be slightly different every day and on a rare occasion, it’s almost gone. Considering I’ve been subject to loud noise most of my life play drums, concerts and working at an airport, it started late with me…

I’ve been taking the Lipo-flavonoids Plus for the last few month but not at the high dose it recommends which is 2 caplets, 3 times a day with meals.. Many times during the day I forget to take them.. I guess I need to be more diligent to see if they are really doing any good.. They are definitely not cheap. I get mine at Wally World for about $23 bucks per 100 caplets..

[jonbee]

IMO, there is no treatment that works for everybody and most all treatments work for nobody. Assess your condition by asking if you can hear the ringing while taking a shower or while driving. Does it wake you up during sleep? Things like that. And veteran long-term tinnitus sufferers all wonder when the next level of ringing volume is coming. It usually gets worse over time, not better.

Amen. Mine was quite loud, 24/7, with no abatement for 2-3 years. I'm grateful that it has now abated some for me. As my main hobby for 48 years has been music and audio, this has been a distressing development. Any help was welcome, even if (gulp) temporary.

[Devil Doc]

I have tinnitus. I manage. I worked in one of the first hospitals to use lithium. There's nothing in this world that could make me take any Lithium compound.

Doc

[*Scotty*]

I get some relief from taking 1000mg citrus bioflavonoids 3 times a day. They can be had from amazon
$16.00 for 250. The only trick is to actually get in the capsule what it claims to have in it on the bottle.
I am not sure even now if I am actually taking bioflavonoids or its a placebo effect.
Scotty

[jriggy]

I am somewhat surprised no one has mentioned diet yet... Sodium. Alcohol. Stay away from those!

[doorman]

Anecdotally, having lived with it for 40 yrs. it has not become worse, it does not go away, it does not respond to anything I've tried, but one learns to (mostly) live with it.
Good Luck with yours.

[thunderbrick]

Tinnitus came out of nowhere BAD 5 years ago (at 60) when I got off a commercial flight, and has not gotten worse.  For the most part I don't even know it's there, and it's probably largely diminished on its own. Most of the time I pay no attention and even have to listen for it to even know it's still there.  I can live with that, but for some reason I can't hear my wife worth a damn.  And I'm OK with that, too.

Anecdotal treatments do not impress me as while they may suggest a link, it is far from proven.  Could be valid, could be coincidence, both of which are in the eye of the beholder.

[charmerci]

Has anyone tried silence? (Though I think that's rather impossible on AC!  )


I've had slight tinnitus most of my life. (Only when it's real quiet can I hear it and then I have to pay attention to notice it - usually.)
I traveled mostly in the countryside and quiet places for about 4 months by bike and it went away. Soon after I bought a portable CD player (this was a while back!) and started listening, did it come back.

[EDS_]

IMO, there is no treatment that works for everybody and most all treatments work for nobody. Assess your condition by asking if you can hear the ringing while taking a shower or while driving. Does it wake you up during sleep? Things like that. And veteran long-term tinnitus sufferers all wonder when the next level of ringing volume is coming. It usually gets worse over time, not better.

My oldest son is an ENT surgeon (he hates the term otolaryngolosit) and Ph.D who has toiled away on a number of ear related research projects as you might guess.

Not medical advice mind you just parroting things he's told me. Saving one treatment that does not work well itself none of the others vitamins, lithium, virus killing inner ear shots (no joke), silence etc. work better than placebo. And many who note some relief early on later report a full return of symptoms - same with placebo.

The one thing that may help a few people is the old moderately loud high frequency tone and music listening regimen - no one seems to have any good idea why this works but it does seem to help some sufferers.

Another thing he taught me is to occasionally lightly massage the gland area between just forward of either jaw joint and the throat on both sides. For most this will do nothing for me sometimes I can feel a fairly significant eustachian tube "discharge". It's gross and may be 100% psychological but I hear better, I have what seems like occasional low level tinnitus - kid says it's not tinnitus, after any drainage is dumped. 

[Russell Dawkins]

Another thing he taught me is to occasionally lightly massage the gland area between just forward of either jaw joint and the throat on both sides.

I'm not quite sure exactly where you mean, and would like to try this. Could you explain the location in another way, please?

[FullRangeMan]

There is a Doin massage that worked well with me, the place is behind the ears and must be massaged for 1 minute max per day with the base of the hands, when the area get hot you can stop.

[ctviggen]

One thing that works for some people is a low carbohydrate diet.  Some tinnitus is related to insulin resistance, and low carb diets reduce insulin resistance. 

For me, since starting a low carb diet, then adding more fat to the diet and starting intermittent fasting, my tinnitus has gotten better overall.  However, I still have it.  It come and goes, but it's less prevalent now.  Of course, merely seeing the title of this thread causes my tinnitus to get worse.   

[jonbee]

I'm glad I started this thread. Some good thoughts and ideas here. Some I've tried, others I'll look into. The massage method seems interesting. Some people do seem to get some relief that way.
Obviously there is a lot of individual variance in this phenomenon; much like headaches, which my wife suffers from. It seems there is a dearth of research into it. In the end I'll probably end up living with it, but the ideas are appreciated.

[FullRangeMan]

This DoIn point perform a nice reset in the ear.

[cfisher835]

I was hoping someone had experience with Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation. I'm seeing a doctor this week about the possibility of treatment for tinnitus. It will be out of pocket and I am guessing it will be too expensive to fool with. The local university hospital quoted me $12,000 for 36 sessions. I also tried acupuncture. I enjoyed it but it didn't stop the ringing.

[abernardi]

I had the weirdest experience with my tinnitis.  I live in Los Angeles.  It varies in intensity and so does my awareness of it.  But I went down to Oaxaca, Mexico last week for a family visit and I think it was completely gone!  It might have been that I just was not aware of it, as my mind was focused on other things.  But when I got back to Los Angeles, I became aware of it almost immediately upon arriving home.  Not sure what to make of that.  I know I was in a very rural area in Oaxaca and the altitude is almost a mile high. 

[mresseguie]

This is interesting.

I was on Pikes Peak (14k foot altitude) and in Rocky Mountain National Park (12k foot) in the last couple weeks. Both times I noticed an irritating, but temporary increase in my tinnitus.

As I walk beside a river, brook, or creek with light rapids, my tinnitus completely disappears. Ocean surf crashing on sand is irritating enough that I move away from the surf.

I carry earplugs with me everywhere I go now. If traffic, music, construction, etc. is loud, I pop 'em into my ears to protect against further damage to my hearing.

I have been told more than once there is no cure. I accept that it will haunt me till I die, and I shall do my best to make the most of it.

[JLM]

Turning 60 soon, so I both sympathize with you guys and live in fear of joining the club.  I grew up on a farm around a lot of noise and my dad had significant hearing loss (yet being mechanically gifted he could hear a bearing going or an engine not running quite right).  BTW I  wear OSHA approved hearing protection around loud equipment and am getting a fixed backup generator (quieter than the portable with enclosure and will start/stop on it's own.)

A close friend suddenly developed tinnitus at about age 60 and it drove him nuts.  (Can it come on that fast, perhaps from a severe trauma?)  For the next couple of years you couldn't tell him it was probably tinnitus.  He went to specialists everywhere he went (he inspects hospitals and travels the world) with no help found.  He seems to have acclimated to it now (has learned to sleep through it) but of course still has it.

[Guy 13]

When I first arrived 20 years ago on NOISY planet Vietnam,
I had no problem with tinnitis
and I did not wear ear plugs.
A few years back I noticed a continuous hissing sound
when I was in my (Quiet) house,
at the same time, I was starting to set up a good sound system,
so I decided to protect my ear for further damage.
Soooo, sinc ethat time, everytime I step out of my house, I wear earplugs,
even in our showroom where windows - door are open.
That should help in not making things worst.
I also noticed that when I wear the ear plugs,
if cut the noise buy 50% (? ? ? )
but I can also hear more clearly the hissing sound
because it comes from inside my ears and - or head.
Well, I have to live with that, even if I don't like it, what can I do ?
Not much I am affraid, other than avoid loud sound - noise, wear my ear plugs.
Knowing what I know today, 30 years ago, I would have do things differently.

Guy 13
By the way, I am 68 years young or old,
depend on you look at it.