[davidhw]

due to Meniere's Disease. Tinnitus has different frequencies depending on how the inner ear mechanism is damaged. My own tinnitus is 24/7 in my left ear at approximately 8000 Hz. As others have noted, tinnitus, regardless of how it was caused (either by disease or damage), may be lessened in its severity by identifying and avoiding what are called "triggers". These triggers can be things like chocolate, caffeine (a HUGE one), sodium, lack of sleep, wheat products, and stress. Moat people I know who have it see their symptoms reduce by simply getting enough sleep and cutting down on the caffeine.

If you have already developed it, take steps to slow its progress.

 

[aaroncort]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Onix Just be happy that they didn't include sex on that list. And TV.

Also avoid sex and TV. You can also take a melon baller to your inner ear which yelds great results.

 

[Purgatos]

You can only have tinnitus if you believe you can have tinnitus.

 

[JahJahBinks]

lots of chocholate lovers here!

 

[timmins]

Quote:

Originally Posted by fewtch Maybe they're "SCREAMING" in text because they think the readers with tinnitus need it?

lol, utterly hilarious

 

[slidemasterx]

When you say that tinnitus is aggravated by lack of sleep, caffeine, alcohol etc, does it mean that it will get worse in the long run, or is it just temporary? My tinnitus only becomes worse when I don't have enough sleep so could it possibly get worse even if I don't listen to loud music?

Also is this product just b**l or is it real?

http://ringstop.onlineworldstore.com/

 

[neilvg]

MY experience has been that tinnitus is aggravated by anything that increases the amount of mucous in the body. We all need a certain amount of mucous for proper functioning, but after that it becomes a clog in the body. The Ear Nose and Throat and Eyes are the four major areas where excessvie mucous is noticed most.

* Excessive mucous in the Eyes, especially when dried and hardened (resembling crystalization/staglamites) is one major cause of alergies. It is my contention that many notice their eye alergies more in the summer or in the SUN in general because the sun warms up these mucous and calcium deposits, which correspondingly expands and seeks to discharge, thus irritating the the sensitive membrane in the sinus cavity (generally causing the eyes to water, etc...)

* Excessive mucous in the Nose can cause illnesses, lower the immune system, and create irregular breathing patterns. Shallow breathing, mouth breathing, and general lack of vitality.

* Excessive mucous in the throat is generally related to diet. Different foods cause different reactions in different people, but Gluten (found in most Wheat Based Breads) is a major allergen for MOST people, but to varying degrees.

* Lastly we come to the Ears. The ears are very sensitive animals, especially to those who have their attention focused on them. The ear is a complex system including various tubes that drain out excessive fluids in the surround areas, keep swelling down, relax the Temporomandibular joint (TMJ), etc... When there is excessive mucous and fluid built up in the ear and surround areas, the drainage system of the ear becomes stagnant and various issues come about.

Issues:

-Low Hums
-Tin/hollow type sound resonance
-Susceptibility to oversensitivity/lower pain threshold
-Lack of 'air' around the sound, a more fatiguing less relaxed sensation of sound pressure.
Etc... etc... etc...

These various symptoms serve as 'colorations' to your otherwise normal hearing. All of these are in conjunction or can be associated with tinnitus which in general to me is caused by various hairs in the ear being irritated and in a permanent state of being 'ON'. Ear hairs fire when a stimulus is received which causes them to vibrate at a corresponding frequency which we then translate into hearing. So the faster the hair fires, the higher the pitch (this is a flawed and grossly oversimplified description).

Anyway, it has been my experience that the presence of mucous is a prime triggering factor in setting off this chain. Additionally, various foods are well known mucous dissolvers:

Dissolve Mucous
1) Lemons
2) Oranges
3) Olives (yes, olives)
4) Figs
5) Citrus in general

Clease the Lymphatic System (sluggish lymph can cause less than perfect hearing)
1) Greens (not iceberg lettuce!! Spinish, Radiccio, Field Greens)
2) Beets

Things that cause more mucous
1) Dairy
2) Meat (especially old/dried meat)
3) Eggs

*** In my opinion (if you couldn't tell, this fugue is all my experiential understanding, and I have studied up a bit too) is that most people seem to spend a great deal of time on improving external systems. For music this translates into better amps, better cables, better headphones, better speakers, etc...etc...etc... But really the first system that ought to be calibrated is the internal system. Many of us have different perceptions of hearing due in part to the fact that we are all in different states of health! You can spend years developing the perfect sound system, and I assure you, the human biological system offers at least as much sophistication and configuration so as to yield on a sonic level, results that will far outweigh 'puny' hardware changes. Most often people are favoring equipment that compensates in someway for a biological issue in the first place (they just aren't usually aware of it).

As you can see, I am fairly serious about this topic. I LOVE music. Music is not my life, to me, it IS LIFE. Something like tinnitus to me is akin to heart failure for us all, or broken legs for a runner, or maimed appendages for a piano player. You get the point.

Neil

 

[epithetless]

Quote:

Originally Posted by slidemasterx Also is this product just b**l or is it real?

thank g*d you didn't say "bull"...

 

[digitalmind]

Quote:

Originally Posted by smeggy Woohoo!!! $20 for some white noise, I'm sold... wait, I downloaded some free white noise a while ago. Hmmm, maybe my free white noise isn't as good for me as their expensive white noise. Oh it's all so confusing, perhaps their $20 white noise is audiophile quality

Lossless format, the only way to listen to white noise. I had a couple 128kb/s white noise mp3's, but they sucked compared to the original cd.

 

[Ayreonaut]

Which amp is best for white noise?

 

[Knuckledragger]

Quote:

Originally Posted by neilvg *** In my opinion (if you couldn't tell, this fugue is all my experiential understanding, and I have studied up a bit too) is that most people seem to spend a great deal of time on improving external systems. For music this translates into better amps, better cables, better headphones, better speakers, etc...etc...etc... But really the first system that ought to be calibrated is the internal system. Many of us have different perceptions of hearing due in part to the fact that we are all in different states of health! You can spend years developing the perfect sound system, and I assure you, the human biological system offers at least as much sophistication and configuration so as to yield on a sonic level, results that will far outweigh 'puny' hardware changes.

Very well said. Certainly in my experience as a sound engineer, I'm awfully fuss about my hearing. I often work in overly loud nightclubs, and as much as I hate them, I wear earplugs at every gig I do.

Do you ever use any of the over-the-counter earwax removal systems, like Murine? I have not, but I am curious as to their effectiveness.

Quote:

Originally Posted by neilvg Most often people are favoring equipment that compensates in someway for a biological issue in the first place (they just aren't usually aware of it).

I suspect this is far more true than most of use would believe. I know a very limited amount about the physiological aspects of music appreciations, but I do know a bit about it from a psychological perspective. I'm dyslexic, and my auditory processing of language is not very good (that is, I can't understand spoken words clearly when they are not ennunciated well, or there is excessive background noise, etc). The flipside of this is that I'm very sensitive to the manner in which people speak, diction, voice tone, etc. This has very some very strong implications on how I hear music (mostly positive, I'm happy to say). Maybe this is the reason I can't stand silver cables.

 

[Disiskurt]

I've had a very minor case of tinnitus for several years now, but was only a slight annoyance when everything was perfectly silent (and even then never gave me trouble when trying to sleep.) During this period, I've had a hearing test done with an audiologist and detected every beep sent through. I find it slightly hard deciphering what people say in places with lots of background noises (a HS cafeteria, for example,) but was never that bad. I've never listened to music loudly in my own system, and have only been to a couple loud shows (I left periodically during one because it was getting too loud and the opening act was terrible anyway.) When I used to use my crappy Aiwas, I was shocked to hear how loud they were after my mother or brother were done using them, so I would assume that I don't listen at too high a level.

Anywho, I was recently diagnosed with Type I (insulin dependent) diabetes, and soon after going on insulin, I've noticed that that my tinnitus has become a lot more pronounced. I was told from my endocrinologist that there is no known correlation between the two conditions, but suggested that I see an audiologist. He also asked me the obligatory "Do you have an iPod?" question (I have a Sony HD3, but I barely use it and keep it at normal levels when I do.) So I'm wondering if my Beyer 770-80 are somehow emphasizing a specific high frequency, even though I've never known them to have boosted treble.

I thought I had it figured out at one point though, to which I believed that my tinnitus and my constantly dwindling focus and concentration were the side effects of aspartame, the artifical sweetener most commonly found in diet sodas (which I drank a ton of, especially now that I'm diabetic.) And so I've been off that for 1 1/2 weeks now (switched entirely to Splenda) and while I'm noticing some improvement in the focus department (I'm also taking a ginkgo biloba supplement,) there's nothing happening with the tinnitus (maybe it needs more time). Now I find it very hard to believe that I've done that much damage to my hearing to have this kind of level of tinnitus at the age of 19, and I'm still looking for other things that could help ease the intensity of it. I find it much harder to sleep at night, I can hear the ringing even when the TV is on at a low volume. I heard that caffeine could worsen it, but I've been a coffee drinker for 5 years now and it hasn't affected me beforehand. Plus I don't think I could possibly make it through college without it, so I shouldn't even bother thinking about cutting it off.

Apologies for the super-long post. Any ideas what could cause this sudden increase in the perceived volume of my tinnitus? Thanks in advance!


- Kurt

 

[maarek99]

Our brains are very powerful. They can be trained to avoid tinnitus if done properly.

 

[JaZZ]

Quote:

Originally Posted by davidhw As others have noted, tinnitus, regardless of how it was caused (either by disease or damage), may be lessened in its severity by identifying and avoiding what are called "triggers". These triggers can be things like chocolate, caffeine (a HUGE one), sodium, lack of sleep, wheat products, and stress. Most people I know who have it see their symptoms reduce by simply getting enough sleep and cutting down on the caffeine.

I have tinnitus -- and it wasn't caused by music, but simple emotional stress. However, I have learned to live with it -- and to ignore it, 80% of the time successfully so. It's still bothering while listening to my speaker system, but much less so when listening through headphones. This may just as well be the other way round with others, though.

But what I've also learned, had to learn, is that it won't go away anymore and there's no cure for it. Simply because it's still not clear what causes it. There have been explanations about hair cells of the inner ear firing uncontrolledly or hairs touching and irritating each other, but so far there's no proof for this scenario.

Also the so-called «triggers» are a myth. Of course you can eat chocolate and salty dishes, drink coffee and alcohol... you can even listen to music at decent to loud levels without provoking any aggravation. In fact I haven't heard of any aggravation. The tinnitus you have is there for a lifetime -- at least as long as there's no cure.

Anyway, there are some tricks to minimize its perception: The best method is enough sleep and no stress. If coffee makes you nervous, it may be better to renounce it. On the other hand, the aggravation caused by it is just a matter of perception, no physical phenomenon. So if you like coffee and can bear the stronger tinnitus for a while, it's alright.

Now what is it that decides over increased perception or a state where you're able to completely ignore your tinnitus? In my experience the state of mind is the key point: introversion increases the tinnitus (which is no real, physical phenomenon anyway, but something that happens in your brain or your nervous system), whereas extraversion can make it completely disappear -- although you can get it back any time you want as well as make it disappear again with a bit of exercise and self-control.

So please don't let your tinnitus dictate your life -- your eating and drinking habits, your enjoyment of music, etc.
.

 

[familyman]

Where's the official Head-fi audiologist? he should be posting in this thread...
Anyways, i went to this metal gig one night(Flybanger) and i was by the monitors at the front the for the whole show. My ears rang for 5 days!! i was scared, but it went away, haven't had any problems since then.