by Neil Bauman, Ph.D.
April 4, 2016
If your tinnitus is driving you “up the wall” or “around the bend”, the thought likely uppermost in your mind is, “Hurry up and develop a “magic” pill so I can get rid of this infernal racket in my head before I go crazy.”
Unfortunately, the bad news is that there probably never will be such a magic pill because of the nebulous nature of tinnitus. But don’t be discouraged, I have some good news for you.
The good news is that instead of waiting for your doctor to do something to you to get rid of your tinnitus, you can start to take control of your tinnitus yourself–right now. You see, there are many things you can do to help bring your tinnitus under your control.
My new, much-expanded and revised book, “Take Control of Your Tinnitus–Here’s How” is packed with the same great kinds of information that made its predecessor, the venerable “When Your Ears Ring—Cope with Your Tinnitus—Here’s How” (6th edition), so valuable.
The new dynamic title reflects the fact that dealing with tinnitus is not a passive procedure. Rather, you need to be actively involved in taking control of your tinnitus. This is what brings the most success.
I’ve divided this book into 4 logical sections. In Part I you will learn what tinnitus is, and how to evaluate its impact on your life. In Part II you will learn about the many things that are associated with tinnitus, trigger tinnitus or make existing tinnitus worse. Some of these you probably know such as exposing your ears to loud noise. Others you’ve probably never though of such as your posture causing tinnitus.
Part III is by far the largest section. There you will find the details of the many things you can do to help take control of your tinnitus. Finally, Part IV gives you sources of help for your tinnitus. The Appendix lists the latest update (2016) to my list of drugs, herbals and chemicals that are associated with tinnitus. There are 597 different items in this list now.
Throughout this new edition, I’ve included the latest research results on tinnitus–right up to the beginning of this year (2016). I’ve also included a large section on somatosensory tinnitus. This kind of tinnitus has been grossly under-diagnosed in the past so few people take advantage of the specialized help that is available for this kind of tinnitus.
To get this comprehensive, 356 page, yet easy to understand book on tinnitus, click on “Take Control of Your Tinnitus“.
I’m interested in this book.
Hi M. Hsiung:
If you want to get a copy of your own, just click on the link at the end of this article and it will take to to the page where you can purchase your own copy.
Cordially,
Neil
Hi Dr Neil,
I have read your book and it is very good. One question I have is whether or not it is possible to have tinnitus as a result of acoustic trauma months prior.
I cannot determine the cause of my severe tinnitus and aural fullness. I don’t go to loud concerts but my wife won free tickets to one so we went. I had some ringing in my ears after but it went away pretty quickly. Then 8 months later I got tinnitus that has lasted now for 7 months. I cannot think of any other cause (other than atlas subluxation which I am pursuing). Have you heard of others having such a delay? By the way, my audiogram came back as normal.
I should have also mentioned that my tinnitus is a high-pitched, solid tone. I can hear up to 16 kHz but not higher and am 41.
Thanks,
Dave
Hi Dave:
You raise a good point. Why should tinnitus arise several months after acoustic trauma?
One reason could be hidden hearing loss. Loud sounds can break some of the underlying synapses in the support cells (spiral ganglion). Your body repairs these as best it can, but if it cannot restore the synapses, the underlying cells ultimately die and this can take several months. The result is hearing loss and (resultant) tinnitus.
This may be what you have experienced.
Note that hidden hearing loss does not show up on your audiogram–that’s why it is called hidden hearing loss in the first place–so you don’t test for it the usual way.
You can read more about this in my article on the subject at http://hearinglosshelp.com/blog/hidden-hearing-loss/
Does this make sense to you in your case?
Cordially,
Neil
Your article on hidden hearing loss is interesting. I may have noise induced hidden hearing loss. That being said, I don’t believe there has been a change in my ability to hear speech when there is background sound present. What kind of test should I request to see if this is my issue?
Also, I have had a couple of cases (including this morning) of sudden deafness in my left ear (SSHL?). It only lasts a few seconds but it causes me a lot of stress. Any suggestions as to what I should try or test associated with this?
I have ordered a bottle of Astaxanthin and will give it a shot.
Thanks for your help!
Hi Dave:
Audiologists have various tests for hearing in noise. Just ask for one of them–whatever one this use is fine. This will give you a good idea if your hearing is compromised in noise or not.
When your hearing cuts out for a few seconds or a few minutes, that can be scary. In my experience, this is caused by certain drugs. Are you on any drugs or medications?
Cordially,
Neil
I will check with an audiologist as you suggest.
I am not on any drugs but am trying a lot of supplements (zinc, gingko balboa, vitamin D, magnesium, multivitamin, B12, Omega 3, bioflavonoids, etc).
Also, I met with a neurologist this morning who diagnosed my problem as a structural anomaly of my vascular function in the area of the Circle of Willis / AICA. It is a congenital anomaly in these arteries. Not sure whether to trust this diagnosis or not. He was quite an eccentric fellow with a major hatred towards chiropractic.
Hi Dave:
None of those supplements are harmful to ears so that’s good, and many can definitely help.
It’s not surprising that this doctor doesn’t like chiropractors. I think they get biased against them in medical school, and also they view them as the competition so there is no love lost between them.
I’m curious. If this is a congenital condition, why did it take so long to show up? You should have had this kind of tinnitus all your life. It never hurts to get a second opinion to verify whether this is indeed the real problem.
Cordially,
Neil
If my condition is congenital, I agree it should have shown up earlier. Also, I don’t think it would have come on as sudden as it did. Regardless, I just got my MRI results which indicated no abnormalities in my Circle of Willis or “areas of vascular narrowing”. Everything came back fine except for a note indicating some “mucus retention cysts at the maxillary antra”. This was also noted on a previous CT angiogram.
I do think that there may be some issue with blood pressure. My blood pressure has always been pretty good but recently one doctor noted a significant difference in blood pressure from one arm to the other. Also, I can feel light-headed at times. This has been more frequent since I started on all the supplements (listed in comments above).
One other thing to note, about a week ago, my left ear started getting this strange vibrating feeling off and on. The vibration comes with a low frequency sound. It is most noticeable at night. It may coincide with a cold I had. However, the cold is gone (or very close) and I still get this.
The vibration will stop in the presence of certain sounds (such as the furnace running). It is not that it is being masked by the sound but it will actually stop vibrating. Best I can diagnose based on searches and your articles is TTTS or stapedious muscle spasms. What do you think? I don’t know if I can handle both my high pitched tinnitus and this at the same time.
Hi Dr Bauman,
I developed tinnitus when I was 15 years old, I still don’t have a conclusive answer as to why, but I did have a bit of a cold and was given nasal spray which didn’t work. Over time I habituated completely to it and lived the next 6 years happy and I almost forgot I had tinnitus. Recently however, a new sound has developed in my other ear and I’ve become incredibly distressed, the main questions I have are why has this happened, will it get worse in the future and by the time I’m 60 I can’t hear a thing over my numerous tinnitus sounds in my head? And will I be able to habituate again? I truly believe I do not have hearing loss but I am going to an audiologist to get it checked out but what I do know is that I have been incredibly stressed over the past few months due to various reasons. I was wondering if you could give any insight for me? If it’s stress related am I more likely to have the tinnitus disappear? Is the noise that has appeared in my ear always there and I just didn’t realise and the stress had brought it out? I’m just very concerned about it getting worse, for the past 6 years my tinnitus was NEVER an issue and now I’m crying everyday. I am seeking counselling to help my mental health as I do think it has contributed.
Thank you so much, all of your comments I have read have been really uplifting for me and makes me feel that there is hope!
Sarah
Hi Sarah:
The three most common causes of tinnitus are exposing your ears to loud sounds, hearing loss and taking ototoxic drugs. There are more than 550 different drugs that are associated with tinnitus. So if you have taken or are taking any drugs, that could be the cause.
The good news is that you habituated to your tinnitus once so you know you can do it. Thus, you can do it again. But in order to habituate to your tinnitus, you have to accept/understand that tinnitus is NOT a threat to your well-being in any way. It is just a useless, environmental sound that you can SAFELY ignore–much like you do the sounds your fridge makes.
Stress alone can also cause tinnitus and certainly can make your existing tinnitus worse. You need to learn how to deal with your stress so you can relax and in the process, hopefully your tinnitus will fade away.
And definitely, there is hope for you. Hang in there. The big thing is to identify what made/makes your tinnitus louder and appropriately deal with those things.
Cordially,
Neil
Hi there, I started with tinnitus 5 months ago when I was in Turkey, I got a really bad heat rash, had to go to hospital and have an IV. A few stressful things were going on too. I I started getting anxiety attacks for a while but when I got home it stopped for a bit and then came back about a month later. I’ve been suffering with really bad pressure in my head, can get dizzy at times and the tinnitus is constant now. The doctor got my ears syringed which made no difference and I’ve recently been back to the docs and I’m waiting fir blood test results to come back.
I can’t help but worry about all these symptoms I’m getting. I’m scared to drink alcohol, caffeine and have much sugar too. I long to be normal again. Is this my life forever now? Is there any way I can fix it? Also I can’t listen to loud noise as it’s very distorted in my ear. I had this about 9 years ago and had a hearing test and my hearing was as good as teenager apparently.
Any advice or help will be very much welcome.
Mel
Hi Mel:
From the little you have said, I suspect that you may have hyperacusis. Hyperacusis is where you hear normal sounds too loud. That is why you hear louder sounds as distorted. Another clue is that your hearing tests so good. This is also indicative of hyperacusis.
Which drugs are you taking now, and which ones were you taking before when you got the tinnitus in Turkey? there are a number of drugs that can cause hyperacusis. The other common cause of hyperacusis is exposing your ears to loud sounds. If you tell me more I may have a better idea of exactly what’s going on with you. Then the next step, once we know what’s going on, is how to deal with it so that you can be normal again.
Cordially,
Neil
Hi Dr. Neil; about two months ago I developed tinnitus. I found out I had an ear infection called “otitis media”. I also during that time frame went bowling for 40 minutes which was not loud enough to cause tinnitus. Anyways, it appears that the otitis media has caused my tinnitus. I have been told that even though the infection has cleared there is probably inflammation still there and can take awhile before the tinnitus reduces and hopefully goes away. For two days I had no tinnitus (only in my left ear by the way)! I have been using sound therapy for the hyperacusis which has helped, can tolerate louder noises outside but still have trouble with watching T.V. . I watched T.V yesterday for 1 hour, the first time in 2 months, and unfortunately the tinnitus came back. do you have any thoughts on this? Since I had two good days for the first time in 2 months could tinnitus free days be ahead for me? Any reply is appreciated. Thanks Dr. Neil
Hi Ed:
Otitis media just means a middle ear infection, but it doesn’t tell you what organism is causing the infection.
Since otitis media clogs up your middle ear, which causes some degree of temporary hearing loss, often you get tinnitus since tinnitus typically accompanies hearing loss.
It can take up to 3 months for all the “gunk” in your middle ear and Eustachian tube to drain away (depending on how thick it is) and for your hearing to return to normal, so it could take that long for your tinnitus to also fade away.
I’m optimistic that your tinnitus will eventually fade away. Having two good days in a row is a good sign to be sure.
I don’t know why your TV caused your tinnitus to flare up unless you had the volume way up. If you keep the volume down to a low level–which you can still comfortably hear and understand it, it shouldn’t affect your tinnitus. The emphasis is on keeping the volume down.
Cordially,
Neil