Searching for tinnitus success stories
Tinnitus and success stories – would you put the two together?
Searching the internet, you will find many articles discussing the issues around tinnitus from minor or daily frustrations to more serious issues such as behaviour disorders like anxiety, depression, or insomnia.
With all this negative information it’s easy to understand why so many people find it difficult to manage if we find ourselves overwhelmed. When we first realise that we may be experiencing tinnitus we often go online to find more information about the condition, unfortunately when we do this we often get freaked out by the horrible stories that can be found online.
If you are someone that hasn’t experienced anxiety, depression, insomnia etc it can be a very difficult topic to start reading about and relating to your own life.
Tinnitus sufferers often say this is one of the worst things they could have done in the early stages of realising they have this condition as it had a negative impact on how they managed tinnitus.
Are tinnitus success stories real?
- 1 in 10 people currently suffer from tinnitus in the UK.
- A further 10% of tinnitus sufferers are affected to the point that tinnitus has affected their quality of life.
The two facts above should be positive indicators for yourself currently suffering with this condition as this means 90% of sufferers are living happy normal lives and in truth, creating their own personal tinnitus success stories. Of course at times tinnitus will be frustrating however it doesn’t have to impact on your quality of life.
I know what you’re thinking, “It’s easy for you to say!”.
Let me take you through my story
22 years young, I stepped off a plane at Gatwick airport, exhausted by an incredible holiday listening to some of the best DJs in the world.
The following morning I kept hearing a muffling noise, a number of days went by and this muffling noise continued. At this point it started to affect my sleep as I was looking for an invisible noise that no one else could hear. After spending hours in the loft late at night, convinced I could hear a noise, I realised that I needed to seek some support.
Approaching my mother the following morning I went through what had been happening since my holiday.
My mother’s reply was simple, “Son, you probably have tinnitus.”
Huh? What’s tinnitus? And that’s when my journey with tinnitus began.
After multiple visits to the doctors they all told me the same – because I hadn’t protected my ears in loud environments over time, I had caused noise trauma in my ear. As a result, tinnitus was now something that I had to manage going forward.
I can’t help but think that something as simple as wearing ear plugs in a loud environment would have protected me from getting this condition.
After several months, the ringing in my ear started to have an effect on me in ways I could not have ever imagined. Anxiety, stress, lack of sleep – all began to have an impact on my life. The simplest things such as socialising become so difficult just because I continued to overthink about the ringing noise I kept hearing.
Sitting back one day I found myself overthinking for hours about how tinnitus had impacted me and closed me off from the closest people in my life.
This was completely out of character for me, and I realised that if I didn’t start managing my tinnitus better, then this condition would change me in many other ways.
I said to myself I need to get back to the person who I once was. From that day I spent every day trying to better myself and understand more about tinnitus and how I could become tinnitus-free.
When we say tinnitus-free, it doesn’t mean tinnitus will disappear but managing tinnitus in a way it doesn’t bother you or take over your life.
Over the next 12 months I totally changed my approach, I stopped looking at the negatives around the condition and changed my whole attitude towards tinnitus. I was shocked to realize that there are millions of people that are currently living happy normal lives with this condition. There are several tinnitus success stories out there, you just have to look a little harder to find them.
Looking back I can say I was in the 10% of people affected on a daily basis, but what you need to understand is that you can easily overcome the condition and habituate to tinnitus over time.
Create your own tinnitus success stories
Some of the things I’ve realised since spending a great amount of time researching this condition and reflecting on my own story is that there are many ways to overcome and habituate tinnitus.
Carry on doing the things you enjoy
It sounds simple however when I reflect on my own tinnitus story I didn’t want to do the things I enjoyed due to lack of interest. One of the main things I enjoy is exercise and going to the gym, I didn’t do this for nearly a year! Slowly getting back into this I found my mind started to wander and forget about tinnitus whilst I was exercising.
This would also apply to people who may be involved in music. I know many people who enjoy drums and singing who feel the need to give up what they enjoy in case their ears become more damaged. This isn’t the case – simply buy a good pair of earplugs to protect yourself from excessive loud noise.
Proactively manage your tinnitus
As a tinnitus sufferer a spike can be one of the most difficult things to manage – a sudden ping then hours or days of heightened tinnitus. It’s important to realise what your tinnitus spikes are and how to manage them better. I recently wrote an article on this discussing how to find your tinnitus spikes.
Check out Plug’em. They aim to encourage people to wear earplugs at concerts, festivals, clubs –anywhere you’re exposed to potentially dangerous noise levels. There you go, tinnitus success stories in the making!
Although there are many weird and wonderful ways to manage tinnitus better, it’s important to realise there are many people living happy normal lives with this condition, with their own tinnitus success stories. Staying away from the negatives of this condition will be an instant benefit. I hope that from reading my story, you have been given the belief you can go on and habituate to tinnitus.
It may take some time however be patient and learn the correct ways to manage this condition better.
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I am currently experiencing tinnitus. I feel as if my hearing is good although i have sensitivity to noise and have everything from anxiety feeling out of it . I am currently feeling sad and so worried.
Me too. Both tinnitus and sensitivity to sound. It’s hard and I, too, feel alone. Stay strong; we will overcome this. In time, I believe, I will.
Guess what! I was you two years ago I thought my life was over, however I prayed that God removed this from my life and even though I still have some slight ringing it’s rare that I even notice it’s more like normal quiet room silence that ring you hear around when you cut everything off in the house ANYWAY! For two years I slept with a bedroom fan on at night too white noise out the ring and it worked i honestly one day just stopped and practiced ignoring something I really couldn’t hear anyway with the drowning out of daily life noises however too me it’s gone!! GOD GAVE ME PEACE AND YOU WILL GET IT TOO! Move on from the distractions of it cut that nice lil fan on at night it’s soothing to the mind and drowns out the ringing you’ll live normal again in Jesus name! Guess what I don’t even need my fan no more one day I caught the cough bronchitis I was forced to cut it off the first time and I don’t hear anything! Anymore very light but you can’t tell sounds like regular room noise🙂
Thank you for such an encouraging post. God bless you! If you could, could you email me?
Thank you,
Teresa
Hi .. plz guide me
I have had tinnitus for about 5 years after i went to a concert Through out that time i know who really cared for me, i know i lost my best friends because i couldn’t socialize with them anymore since we liked going to concerts and couldnt do that, or more like i was scared… but the ppl who stay was my family and im lucky to have them. I know its hard because i still want to go to concerts, movie theatres or just simply parties, but i tell myself, its gonna be alright and im still gonna be happy. I know you will be sad once in a while but just think about all the nice things you have in life.
Hi Eve,
Can completely relate to your post! My thought to share is playing an instrument like ukulele might be fun and therapeutic. I play piano to divert my attention away from the ear sound. It usually works and I feel better playing a song🎶
Hang in there! With a couple of songs you can form a small group for your own personal concerts.
Hi Carlos, I am feeling exactly the same as you. My only explanation how I think mine started 4 weeks was because i had a viral throat infection, I managed to clear it without the doctor given me anything then a few days after my sore throat went i started getting these awful sounds in my ears which the only way I can describe is a high pitched ringing tone that also sounds like crickets and a fridge motor running, it is driving me mad, been to the doctor’s numerous times in the last 3 weeks but keep being told there is no infection or wax in my ears, so I was given benocase nasal drops to take as this will help to clear the ears of inflammation but it takes a few weeks to get the proper effect from it, but it hasn’t helped at all at the moment. I am like you I am having a sensitivity to outside sounds, anything from someone coughing next to me or traffic noise, it’s effecting my social life now as I don’t want to be going to public places such as clubs , pubs , restaurants as hearing lots of voices and music is just to much to bear as it justs makes the tinnitus worst , I do wear earplugs
also , I to have been feeling very anxious and panicky over this aswell and have been crying a lot, I wake up everyday hoping this is going to be the day it stops. I have been told by my doctor that having tinnitus due to a viral infections in the inner ear or a mild sound trauma can take up to 6 to 8 weeks to heal, I am praying that this is so , I really hope that yours gets better soon so you can get back to feeling normal again. Mine is worst at night time so I leave my window open so I can hear outside sounds which is really helping now and I am getting to sleep, have you had an appointment to see an ENT which I am waiting on, I sure hope our outcome with this tinnitus is just a warning sign that we just need to be more careful with what we do in our everyday lives with sounds and that it will return back to normal, good luck carlos
Any luck?
Hi Tracey….. hope your T has improved now. My T started when I went out on my motorbike for a short ride a few weeks ago. She is new and noisier than my old bike so I did wear the normal squishy ear plugs. When I came back, both my ears were ringing but the ringing disappeared in my right ear after a few hours. Not so for my left ear. The next week was the worst of my life. My dad has had T for the last 30 years and struggles with it sometimes. I broke down to my partner as the thought of having this ringing noise in my ears for the rest of my life basically was destroyed me. I went on the internet as you do and this just made me worse. Went to the Doc’s and I had an ear infection which I didn’t know I had as there was no pain or blockage so at least that could be a reason I got this (Iv been using an ear spray for the last 2 weeks). I read success stories on the internet and since then my attitude has changed. I am trying to ignore the noise and I don’t hear it at all at work when I am concentrating on something else. I am still hoping the noise will lessen over time but if it doesn’t I am in a better place to deal with it and it is not sending me into panic mode now. I am probably getting used to the noise. For anyone reading this stay away from negative sites and look at only positive ones. Good luck everyone. Susan (Glasgow) xx
Last month t started in my left ear. Its just freaking me out. Just wanaa know will it go away. It happened due to DJ NIGHT.
Hi Vikrant, it looks like you’re best to look after your hearing now and wear hearing protection when you next go to a DJ night. Hopefully it will go away!
Hi i have got T from my work or after watching the movie “The Star is Born” in which the Actor Bradley Cooper gets Tinnitus too. All just happend one week back.
So far i have been to the doctor and he said your hearing is all fine. Told me to go to Audiologist but haven’t decided anything yet. I have to go see an ENT specialist but there is a long wait.
I have now booked my appointment with my GP and will let her know about T and i have also resigned the job 1 month back as it was getting very stressfull with a bully manager and was my very new job.(Role was also phone based).But now just before finally getting rid of this job, it has given me this bloody Tinnitus.
Has anybody cured this?
Cheers,
Jaz
Hi Jaz, google for a tinnitus specialist – most ENTs are not specialists in this field. Diet plays a part but you need to find the cause of your tinnitus then treat accordingly. Good luck.
Hi all, I have suffered for about the last 6 years with tinnitus,only relief I ever got temporarily was listening to a video on you tube of high pitched noises and whooshes, but this only gave relief for an hour or so.
Last night very briefly I had a “loud deep” hum which lasted about 3 seconds…..I suddenly then realised that my high pitched drone had just gone!…..I keep going into silent enviroments to see if it`s still gone,and at the moment it has……hopefully it is permanent, very strange to actually hear silence if that makes sense! Wish I could say what I did to help other sufferers, but this was completely out the blue.