Tinnitus

[Skeeter]

What do you guys to combat tinnitus? The last couple of days mine has been driving me nuts!!

 

[Maddog]

following

 

[shorthairsrus]

lay off the anti flams --- have a couple busch lights instead. They both make the blood flow better.

 

[tikkalover]

I also have the constant ringing in my ears, have had it for a very long time. Its not so bad in the mornings but at the end of the day its very loud. I haven't went to the doctor for it but also haven't did any of the suggested remedy's to try cure it.

Prevention

In many cases, tinnitus is the result of something that can't be prevented. However, some precautions can help prevent certain kinds of tinnitus.

• Use hearing protection. Over time, exposure to loud sounds can damage the nerves in the ears, causing hearing loss and tinnitus. Try to limit your exposure to loud sounds. And if you cannot avoid loud sounds, use ear protection to help protect your hearing. If you use chain saws, are a musician, work in an industry that uses loud machinery or use firearms (especially pistols or shotguns), always wear over-the-ear hearing protection.
• Turn down the volume. Long-term exposure to amplified music with no ear protection or listening to music at very high volume through headphones can cause hearing loss and tinnitus.
• Take care of your cardiovascular health. Regular exercise, eating right and taking other steps to keep your blood vessels healthy can help prevent tinnitus linked to obesity and blood vessel disorders.
• Limit alcohol, caffeine and nicotine. These substances, especially when used in excess, can affect blood flow and contribute to tinnitus

Yah, the red highlighted part ain't goina happen. ;:;rofl

 

[Wallike]

Mine is elevated by sodium intake so lowering that helps. I've been to several specialists and out side of a couple hearing aid white noise thing-a-majiggies they say you have to live with it. Fortunately mine is a high pitched whistle and not some of the other symptoms I've read about.
All the years in construction and around firearms is probably the cause for me.

 

[BDub]

My hearing aids help quite a bit.

 

[Dirty]

I’ve had it since I was twelve. I remember the exact gunshot that started it and another at age 17 that set it in permanently so I guess I’ve had it constantly without any intermittent relief for 25 years now. After going insane for a few months I then got used to it. My loss of hearing secondary to the tinnitus became the biggest issue. All I do is religiously wear ear protection now while emphasizing and ensuring that my kids do also. I need background noise to sleep, like a fan running or something or all I hear is the high frequency squealing in my ears.

I also bought some cheap Howard Leight Impact Sport ear muff things for hunting. It was a long shot but since they were cheap I went for it. Holy balls, it was a lifesaver and a game changer. They give me super human hearing so I can’t imagine what they would do for someone without hearing loss. The first time I put them on I heard sounds in the woods I had forgotten even existed. I could hear water flowing in a creek, grass crunching beneath my feet, bugs buzzing by, birds singing…Now I can hear geese approaching the decoys from a mile away, I can hear a hen turkey Yelp from two miles away, I hear grouse coveys taking flight before my other friends do, and best of all I can communicate with my kids when we are hunting even when they are whispering. I have a part of my life back that I had assumed was gone forever thanks to some clunky headphone looking things. I’m not sure if they make smaller versions of them yet. They were $40 a pair last time I checked, but I just looked now and they are about $60. I bought 4 of them a while back. I may buy 4 more because they are my lifeline when hunting.

Outside of hunting though, when my earmuffs are off, my hearing sucks and even after visiting an audiologist I just have to deal with it and unfortunately so do my family and friends. $10,000 for hearing aids just isn’t gonna happen until I’m totally debt free with money to burn (so probably never gonna happen).

 

[risingsun]

Damn dyslexia. Got my T's and N's mixed up again.

 

[LBrandt]

Pretty sure mine started with the A John Deere and then a lot of gun fire. Then construction. I have just gotten used to it and unless I pay attention to it I dont notice it. Strange no how I can hear some things and not others. Wife calls it selective hearing.::: LB.

 

[Skeeter]

Mine started about my late teens. Shooting 44 mag and 44 special pistols without earplugs was the culprit. Didn’t even know what ear plugs were back then. I’ve ignored and lived with for 20 years but this last 3 days has been hell for me. I’ve even heard of guys committing suicide over it, and I can see that after these last few days. I’m not there but it’s getting harder to deal with. I hope it will go back to normal real soon.

 

[fireone]

Mine started in my mid fiftys. The whistle wasn't too bad but I losse my balance and if I lay on the caddy in the shop it feels like floating in outer space. Can actually get dry heaves. Three years ago I got fitted hearing aids from the VA and it is a game changer. Pretty much stopped the whistle effect, hearing is greatly improved and balance is some better.

 

[NDwalleyes]

I'm not sure what all of you do for jobs and hobbies, but one thing to consider as a cause for tinnitus is ototoxic chemicals. Ototoxic chemicals such as many solvents, varnishes, pesticides, carpet cleaning solutions and lubricants cause ringing of the ears as well as hearing loss following repeated exposures. There are many, many chemicals that fall into this category. Do a google search for "ototoxic chemicals" you'll be surprised by what is on there.

 

[badland mule]

[FONT=&quot]Place the palms of your hands over your ears with fingers resting gently on the back of your head. Your middle fingers should point toward one another just above the base of your skull. Place your index fingers on top of you middle fingers and snap them (the index fingers) onto the skull making a loud, drumming noise. Repeat 40-50 times. Some people experience immediate relief with this method. Repeat several times a day for as long as necessary to reduce tinnitus
[/FONT]<span style="color: rgb(122, 122, 122); font-family: "Open Sans", sans-serif; font-size: 18px;">

 

[BrokenBackJack]

Mine have been ringing since high school also. Super loud and it did help when I got a set of hearing aids, that is until I somehow lost them. Too damn expensive to replace.
Maybe once or twice a year mine all of a sudden quit ringing and I notice it immediately and think wow that is something and then a little while later or the next day it starts ringing again.
Can't hear hardly anything in my left ear and my right one isn't much better.

 

[Bob]

At the young age of 64 I've had ringing for several years now. I've tried "Miracle Ear" hearing aids that transmit a high frequency noise which is to help with Tinnitus. Unfortunately they didn't work for me! A certain percentage of people they work for and they are spendy but it would have been worth it to me. My ringing is due to working industrial conditions all of my working life. Never even heard of ear plugs when I started and when they did start to push them on us if you wore them you were a pussy! How dumb we were forty years ago!! Had I known the countless nights of no sleep, can't understand what the better half says most of the time, (Not a bad thing at times) but what sucks is the loss of hearing and the little people voices that I can't understand! When I try to understand my grandkids I have to look at their parents or someone else to find out what they are saying. No medical cure for Tinnitus yet but if there ever is I would go for it! You young people out there protect your hearing!! It sucks not being able to hear that turkey, or geese flying over, a child talking to you! Good Luck to you who haven't tried hearing aids. I'll still probably get them at some point in life but I was really banking of the ones that are to help with the ringing. Oh and by the way, I wear plugs now when I'm hunting and muffs target shooting! Cheap price on those compared to losing your hearing or ruining you ears.

 

[BDub]

If I don't have my hearing aids in I can't hear shit. When I go to bed I have a hepa air cleaner going to drown out the brass band.

 

[snowcat]

" It sucks not being able to hear that turkey, or geese flying over " Couple years ago, was with my 30yr old kid elk hunting, And we were listening to bull bugle, we argued about them being just over the hill, But with nothing in my left ear, it sounded like they were to the right of us! instead of straight ahead just over ridge. It sucks.

 

[JMF]

At 37 years old I don't remember life before Tinnitus. I have come to terms with the constant ringing, but not being able to here soft spoken people or my kids sucks. If I can't read their lips, I can't understand them.

 

[guywhofishes]

Wow - I guess did something right in my youth.

I wore ear plugs for any loud noise activity - when they were a dorky accessory and others just shrugged them off.

I couldn't figure out why when I saw people not caring about wearing them. Seemed pretty important for some reason.

I feel awful for you guys. Coulda easily been me.

- - - Updated - - -

One extra tidbit. My mom's boyfriend is over 80, constantly punished his hearing then and now with grinders, chainsaws, impact wrenches, you name it... perfect hearing. I'm constantly amazed by that.

He was never a bigtime shooter. Maybe it's the guns (the really big decibel stuff)?

 

[johnr]

well over 100 rock concerts in my day, the hearing is really diminished