jethro56 

What was that?

Bluetail

Latest research published in the Sept. 2011 Journal of Neurology--summarized in Science News--posits that tinnitus is a brain disorder: https://www.sciencenews.org/view/gene..._deeper_source

"In the mind"? Not hardly. Have a read.

stonefree

From the article,

"In participants with tinnitus, this seemingly normal signal from the brainstem comes from the brain compensating for its hearing loss by boosting nerve cells’ signal-sending activity in a way that doesn’t depend on the external sounds, Schaette and McAlpine propose. It’s this heightened — and spontaneous — nerve cell activity in the brainstem that leads to the phantom tinnitus sound, they reason."

Sounds like "in the mind" to me.

CraigB

"In the brain" might be more accurate. They're still talking about a physiological phenomenon, not a psychological one.

Bikey Mikey

It's the brain's interpretation of signals from the nerves. I've had Tinnitus(and it can be pronounce both ways) since about 2004. Most of the time if I'm busy, or watching TV/movies, or distracted, I don't even notice it. Other times I'm very aware of it. My Tinnitus is only in the right ear.

on the path

Excellent article. Not much news there though. Most of it could have been written any time in the last 20 years. And yes, both pronunciations are acceptable.

bigbadwullf

All my life. And it is tinnitus(as spelled) not TINNITIS nor said like tinnitis

sknhgy 

I have learned to enjoy the singing of cicadas in the dead of winter.

avmech

Constant high pitch squeal in my ears 24/7 since I can't remember when (really long time). Around planes since 1973 flying and fixing, add to that shooting sports since I was a kid......................................gets aggravating at times. Can't stand loud resonating places as some restaurants can be nor loud music. Some noises make my ears feel like they are being poked with an ice pick. Also have hearing loss in both ears, left being worse. ENT looked and said nothing could be done, so I deal with it.

BluesDawg

I went outside one day this spring when first reports of the 13 year cicadas started. At first I thought I heard them, but then realized it was just the normal ringing in my ears...or was it cicadas? I wasn't sure for a while until later when I did hear the cicadas and could tell them apart.

DGlenday

Funny thing: I had it as a kid, and around age 8, it went away. Then it came back at age 45.

I know of people who have been driven to madness or worse by tinnitus.

If you can't ignore it, google "biofeedback for tinnitus".

GFish

Yup, that's what the Ears, Nose and Throat Doctor told me too. I've suffered from tinnitus in the right ear for 15 years now, it's always the same; constant ringing 24x7. I've learned, or at least try to block it out. The Doc said the brain creates the ringing noise to replace the frequency or decibel input the ear could no longer pick up. He said hearing aids might help eliminate or reduce the ringing, but I haven't tried this. He wasn't that confident the aids would help.

Pamestique 

Thanks everyone - I have "enjoy" (that doesn't seem the right word) reading everyone's adventure with tinnitus. I remember distinctly when mine started - it was either cased by medicine or surgery (it started right after my cancer surgey when they placed me on blood pressure medication). My is right ear as well and sometimes is a high pitch hum or buzzzz or like right now, is modulating.. I have basically ignored it for years but just lately, its getting louder and once or twice has been me ill. Thankfully when I ride, I don't notice it which is awesome! Oh well, no one said getting old was easy!

az_cyclist

I am not sure when I first noticed I had tinnitus; I think it was in my early 40's. I have it in both ears, and at times it is quite loud, but at least I am fortunate it has not made me sick. Sometime early in 2011 my wife was watching Dr Oz, and as a segment on tinnitus began they played a sound bite of the ringing. My wife asked me if that is what it sounded like...... and I could not hear it, or it was masked by the ringing in my ears.

stonefree

Ok, agreed, but happily it also means that a person would be more likely to be able to get a handle on it, mentally, and control it by just blocking it out, which is what I have to do, and what others are already doing. I overlooked the connotation that psychological could also mean psychosomatic. I'd just like to distinguish it from say....having to have an inner ear operation, so that I wouldn't have to contemplate that option in the future. Oddly enough, I only seem to notice it when I'm writing or talking about it.

However, I don't know if I agree with the replacement theory, because I can still hear most everything perfectly well.

unterhausen

mine goes away in airplanes. Makes being stuffed in those too-close-together seats a little more bearable.

I don't really mind being nearly deaf in my right ear, it makes ignoring people a lot easier. My co-worker is effectively deaf in his left ear, if he walks to someone's right and I walk to their left we call that the "ignore formation"

bikegeek57

will join the fray.

I am entirely deaf left side (mom had rubella while pregnant with me) lucky this was all I got from that problem and now with advancing age right side is declining slowly. I have always had the ringing even while very young.

no cure.

gave up worrying about it years ago. just my personal white noise.

as for the "ignore formation". my wife figured that out years ago. ;-) I have to say folks think they don't need hearing aids (noted in one of the comments above) it will make your life so much better to have them though and others around you too.

trust me I know.

have over the years bumped into people trying to ignore the problem and urged them to try hearing aids and bang what a difference. they always thank me later. my own brother finally relented (he was fine until about 55 and then his hearing went down fast) and now our family gatherings are not shouting matches (well almost anyway. the loudest always wins ).

enjoy what hearing you have. take care of it. turn down the volume it will protect what you have left. I plan to get a cochlear implant when my natural hearing fades completely. I have several friends that have them and they are so much happier for it.

wow is this OT for Bike Forums... :-) glad the topic came up though.

sinclac

What was that you said? all i heard is this ringing in my ears (For years now) i just ignore it for the most part.

Altair 4

That's interesting; mine seems to get worse on flights. I attribute it to the high noise level of the engines and the flight attendant announcements that seem to boom down at me.

San Francisco

I am somewhat an authority on this since I have recently seen a specialist for the condition. I will briefly tell you what I know:

-- There are two main causes, aging and injury (injuries stemming from combat; loud music - the injury warnings on headphones and iPods are there for a reason).

-- There are no known cures. There's treatments of sorts, but no cures.

-- There are some surgeries, but those are still in the experimental phase. Most ear/hearing specialists don't perform surgery unless it is something physical with the ear structure, for example, but that is NOT tinnitus. Insurance companies won't pay for surgery since it is still experimental.

-- Any pills or other fixes purporting to be cures are scams. For actual tinnitus there's NO prescriptions. If there was a pill cure or treatment we would know about it and your doctor would would be prescribing it. So any websites purporting to have a fix, those are scams, no matter who provides the testimonials. (Usually some war veteran who tells a sad tale and how "I lost all hope, but these pills (the ones for sale on the website) - are a miracle.")

-- If pills, therapy or a "treatment" fixes the problem you did not have tinnitus. (E.g., ringing due to injury to the ear canal, pr other causes of ringing (such as a bug crawling deep in the ear), and surgery that stops the ringing, that is not tinnitus, albeit someone might say "I had surgery to stop the ringing in my ears, and it is gone.")

There are ways to deal with, not cure, the ringing. Lots of sites discuss this. Here is what I do.

-- #1 way is to mask the ringing with noise. Before the machines I describe below, military combat veterans and others would, for example play a radio when in bed, so they hear the radio not the ringing.

-- Discipline - Starting now try to not think about the ringing. It is like anything that is causing pain. If you think about the injury the pain will be more severe. If you think about the ringing, it will dominate your thoughts and will, as you say, drive you crazy.

So simply don't think about it. I ALWAYS HAVE NOISE BEING EMITTED, whether the TV, radio or music. I am NEVER without noise in the background.

For sure, if I am watching TV I can deliberately listen for the ringing. I can put it in the foreground if I want and say "Yep, it is still there." But because that accomplishes nothing (the ringing is always going to be there) I discipline myself not to think about it.

-- For the bedroom, so you can get to sleep, either turn on the radio or buy a machine I strongly recommend, a noise device called "Ecotones Duet." It is a sophisticated device, about $100 on eBay, more at the website. That's a lot of money for a "noise making machine" but it is worth every penny.

As you know, in the bedroom the ringing is the worst because in bed there's silence so the ringing will in fact keep you awake. So the best way to deal with it, make sure there's noise in the bedroom AT ALL TIMES!

-- Once you are asleep the ringing should not be an issue, so if the ringing is preventing you from sleeping, turn up the radio or Ecotones Duet to a level that you can fall asleep.

Conclusion: Discipline over your thought processes and "making noise" should keep the ringing under control.

Sidenote: There are some people who have this so bad that they have to wear what look like iPods to make white noise most of the time they are awake.

Hope this helps.

San Francisco

By the way, my injury/condition came from the military, gunfire, grenades, etc. So the VAMC sent me to the Ear, Nose, Throat specialists, just a few weeks ago. The specialist said there was no cure, etc. (basically everything I said in my post).

Odd thing, I did not really think about the ringing until I had to fill out a questionnaire and one of the questions was "do you have ringing in the ears." I said no initially, then realized "hey, I do." Luckily, for the past 15 years I stupidly thought everyone had ringing in the ears. So I guess in a way, that question on the form was more damaging than the actual cause of the ringing.

San Francisco

There's a few websites (one was a scam site selling pills to cure the ringing) that have audio samples of the various ringing sounds. I found it remarkable that of the four samples on a website, the ringing was exactly like mine. I was excited to tell the specialist about the site and play the file for him, from my phone. Alas, none of my doctors cared to hear it. Guess they were not interested because they have all "heard it before." (I have to tell at least one lousy joke or pun a day, doctors' orders.)

Here is the sound machine I use (supposed to be great for people subject to hearing one's snoring):

https://soundofsleep.com/

Bonus Comment: There are many FREE programs in Android Market that produce white noise and other sounds, that are great for dealing with this. Search in Market "white noise" and the various programs will show up.

Pamestique 

Thanks SF for the advice. I can generally "ignore" the ringing but only when it's mention (like now darn it) do I notice it or when I am trying to sit quietly and read. It's made reading tough for me. Normally if I have TV or radio on its OK. Sometimes however its get really loud and i don't know why. I usually have to nap to make it go away.

It's funny over the last few years I've started turning on radios or the TV at home even when I am doing something else. I realize now it was for the white noise. I might get a white noise machine as suggested.

Bikey Mikey

I use a fan for white noise in the bedroom. Although, we've had in a fan running while we sleep for many years longer than I've had the ringing.

sarals 

I've been flying helicopters since 1976. Of course I have tinnitus!