People who have tinnitus will try almost anything to make it go away.
On tinnitus social media groups, when someone writes about a thing that reduced their head noise or even – omg, a miracle – made it disappear, it’s not unusual for hundreds of readers to respond.
Where can I buy it? Tell us exactly what you did. I’ll try it!
(I speak from tinnitus experience; I have an orchestra that plays in my head 24/7. These aren’t trained musicians who play from the same score. Sometimes it’s just the wind instruments, or the percussion section joined by an off-tune tuba. And what my orchestra lacks in tunefulness, it makes up for it with loudness.)
The reported cures or relief options are many. Ginger water, perhaps? How about supplements containing combinations of herbs, minerals and vitamins or activating pressure points around your ear? Tap the back of your head for an other – and many other quick fixes that range from it couldn’t hurt to try it…to…that’s just crazy stupid.
Who am I to say that these don’t work – for someone, at some point?
But not for all of us, for many of us or even fir just a few of us.
What I would recommend is talking to a hearing care professional. If they tell you nothing can help, switch to a provider who includes tinnitus counseling in their services. Sound therapy devices, including hearing aids, cognitive behavioral therapy, mindfulness courses and stress reduction techniques have been shown to be successful for many people.
Let’s just keep going. Learn what helps, even a bit, and what doesn’t. Shifting our focus away from our head noise is helpful. A bottle of tablets that can’t spell the ingredients properly is not.
In a recent This Week in Hearing podcast, I talked with Glynnis Tidball, my personal tinnitus audiologist. I was curious about her viewpoints about ‘treating’ tinnitus and what she offers her patients. Watch the 20 minute video here and learn about a ‘buffet table’ of options.
Social media tinnitus groups, they are good news/bad news sources of information. Just reading what other people are going through is a positive validation of the mental stress we endure with our head noise. It’s not just me; I’m not alone. The sites are a safe place to vent our frustration and ask for advice. Sometimes we get good advice and feel bolstered by rays of hope and even knowledge that this can get better.
On the other hand, spending too much time on these groups can be dangerous. It reinforces the unrelenting focus we place on the cacophony in our head. Bad information and false news are common, and it’s not uncommon to read some nasty comments. It may help to take everything with a grain of salt and limit the amount of time spent on the sites.
Check out what professionals in the professional tinnitus arena have to say. Read books such as Rock Steady and Rewiring Tinnitus. YouTube has many videos, such as the one HHTM recently hosted, a wonderful online symposium called InFocus: Rethinking Tinnitus. A few of the sessions are available here:
- Rethinking Tinnitus Management: Insights from Dr. James Henry (2 sessions)
- What do tinnitus patients want? by Dr. James Jackson
- Advancing Tinnitus Care: Expert Panel Discussion Explores Innovations in and Accessibility
- Creating a Tinnitus Learning Health Network
We live with tinnitus. Maybe we always will. But let’s make it our goal to not let us eat us up. Let’s just keep going – to find a way through this.
If it’s any consolation, I’m on this path with you.
