Posted on 06/01/2018 8:50:30 AM PDT by Red Badger
Tinnitus is a problem that plagues up to 15% of the American population. It's a constant ringing in the ears without a cure.
The American Tinnitus Association says hearing loss induced by loud noises or age is a frequent factor but trauma, ear canal blockages, and even taking some prescription medications can cause the ringing, a ringing for which there is no cure.
"I tried masking, including have to have a fan on when I went to sleep or having a machine that makes sounds like the sound of rain," said Nick Stein who suffers from tinnitus.
Nick Stein says he's tried just about everything to relieve the ringing in his ears. His doctors suggested he try the Levo System.
Dr. Yu-Tung Wong of Cedars-Sinai Medical Center says recently the FDA cleared therapy trains the brain to ignore the ringing.
"It's very difficult to say you are going to be able to make the sound disappear completely, what you're trying to do with most tinnitus therapies is to make the sound more tolerable," said Dr. Yu-Tung Wong.
The technology mimics the sound of a patient's tinnitus. The patient then listens to the sound on an iPod while sleeping for 90 nights nonstop. The brain becomes more accustomed to the sound over that time.
"At night time when you're sleeping, your brain is more plastic, it's more receptive to these kinds of changes," said Dr. Yu-Tung Wong.
Nick believes the sound of his ringing has been reduced by 50%. "My mood has improved, my focus has improved," Stein said.
He says he's grateful he can now go for days and hardly notice his tinnitus.
I know someone for whom good quality fish oil cured his tinnitus. Good quality - well sourced known good brand like Carlson’s or Nordic Naturals.
“Everything mixed together. If it weren’t physically uncomfortable/painful, it would be kind of funny, but the discomfort takes the ludicrousness/humor part away, all you want to do is get out of the room and walk outside the joint!”
Exactly.
I joke that the only voices I hear clearly are the ones inside my head. People who know me are used to my sense of humor.
On the few occasions I’ve been at large public gatherings I have left when the noise started getting to me.
It definitely affects the quality of life but is better than the pounding headache that I would get by staying.
Yes the brain is a wonderful thing.
The one organ that allows us to make sense of the world around us and actually change the environment to our liking, in a limited fashion.
Thank you for the ping Red Badger.
Ha ha ha… That’s funny!
I tell people that, as I get older, I do have a dialogue going on in my head that I never had when I was younger that would result in a self inflicted injury, damage to something I was working on, or just something that would make things harder... you probably understand what I mean-it’s something like when you’re working over the mouth of a carburetor removing a screw, and a little voice inside your head says “You know, you should really put something there to keep the screw from going down the throat of the carburetor…“
So I tell people that as I get older, I have voices in my head that I listen to, and not the ones that say “Kill them all and bury the bodies where nobody will ever find them!”
Yes. I was sent to RVN in Feb '68 as a clerk typist but never made it to my unit. I was sent where bodies were most needed and was re-trained as a cannoneer (OJT in combat during the Tet offensive). From that point on I was an artilleryman. Hearing so bad I couldn't qualify for any other career field.
Yikes, and thanks for serving. Not the best environment for OJT.
My Dad was an Army pilot in Vietnam, and a good friend who’s a little older is a Marine who was at Khe Sanh.
I am right “behind” ya Bud! :)
“...and a little voice inside your head says “You know, you should really put something there to keep the screw from going down the throat of the carburetor…“
Yes, I tend to listen to that voice now unlike my younger days.
I distinctly remember that voice telling me to run like the wind as I was waiting for my first wedding to commence.
I didn’t listen and it cost me dearly.
My problem is I have started answering the voices.
My daughter and grandson were visiting one day when I verbally answered one of my voices.
I heard my daughter tell my grandson not to worry, “pappy thinks he has to talk to himself to have an intelligent conversation.”
Hahaha...I like that...:)
Done!..................
Hmm.............will look into that!...............sounds fishy though.................
“The TV is my “white noise” machine”
That was true with analog TV, back in the last century. Turn off the squelch on the FM audio and enjoy.
“Sometimes tuned into total static low volume.”
You don’t live in the lightning capital of the U.S. — north of Tampa
“my son talks so low neither of us can understand a word he says.”
Blame that on smartphones and such social media crap.
Oh yeah, there’s that. Did you know that you can actually hear a tornado within 10 or so miles on AM Radio?
please add me to tinnitus ping list
Just what does the tornado sound like on the radio ?
I assume its got electromagnetic characteristics to be audible there.
Have you ever found a recording of the sound you cite ?
Do you know of a Tinnitus Ping List? I would like to be added. DM
Done!.................
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.