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HN Are any forms of tinnitus treatable?

I have pretty bad tinnitus, a very high pitched ringing seemingly coming from one ear. It seems to have gradually gotten worse and worse over the past few years.

It's kind of driving me crazy. I am normally the kind of person who likes to sit quietly thinking and listening to the wind.

I've been really busy with work, but one thing that's been keeping me going is a plan to go see some specialists about this when I have time. If there is a way to cure it I would give up everything I own, all my money to do so. Even if I had to go deaf in one ear or something.

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Your last paragraph doesn't compute for me, friend. This issue is so bad that you would give up everything to cure it, but you haven't seen someone yet because you're busy with work? What's the real priority then? Don't let healthcare be some sort of reward -- are you working to live or living to work.

Yeah I agree, but I know how to work and have been doing it every day for most of my life. I dunno how healthcare works and how to even begin this tinnitus investigation process. It's a domain knowledge thing, Its very easy to just keep doing what your doing no matter how much it sucks.

Also one thing I have picked up is that healthcare is extremely expensive. I said I'd give up all my possessions for a cure, but lets say there is a cure, I realistically may not have enough wealth to afford it. And food and shelter is actually a higher priority than the tinnitus.

Stress can cause or aggravate tinnitus. If you feel like you can't step away from work long enough to see a doctor, that might be the problem.

I also have bad tinnitus in one ear, as well as hearing loss and occasional balance issues (Meniere's disease).

In my case, managing my blood sugar levels has probably been the most helpful thing. Specifically, I've started using sugar substitutes that don't spike my blood sugar, such as stevia, xylitol, and allulose, whenever feasible. I've also found that keeping a regular meal schedule (i.e. limiting snacks) and not overeating does a lot to keep my tinnitus in check.

Reducing your alcohol usage could help as well, as alcohol is known to be ototoxic. For me, red wine is probably the worst, as it dependably exacerbates my tinnitus.

If you're experiencing hearing loss as well, you might also consider reducing your sodium intake if it's above the suggested daily limit.

None of these solutions completely get rid of my tinnitus, but they do help keep it to manageable levels.

I've had hearing loss and really loud tinnitus in one ear for more than 40 years, after getting mumps as a teenager. But if I'm not thinking about my tinnitus, I simply don't notice it. As soon as I think about it, it's there, really loud, like high-pitch radio static on maximum volume. Over time my brain has become accustomed to separating real sounds from the tinnitus. I can still really appreciate a quiet place, despite the roaring static in my ear. I'm sure that it helped that my hearing damage happened when I was relatively young, and that it only affects one ear, but the brain is amazingly plastic, adapting to cope with your limitations.

It often gets better with time. You don’t notice your clothes on your skin right? Even though objectively you know that the clothes are touching your skin, your mind learns to tune that out. The best thing you can do is to preoccupy yourself with something else and let your mind do the work of learning to ignore it.

If you keep focusing on it then you are reinforcing the stimulus which makes it worse. And you get into a vicious cycle.

Perhaps unhelpful advice to follow but the best thing that helped me was getting a crazy girlfriend, my mind was so preoccupied with other things that I just forgot about the tinnitus.

> Are any forms of tinnitus treatable?

Yes, at least some are. From personal experience I know that stiffness of the neck & back and, e.g., trigger points[0] can cause tinnitus, too. Fixing those has cured me of tinnitus various times. Though I should add that that neck issues and those trigger points will have a habit of coming back if you don't also fix your overall posture and balance spending hours in front of a screen with plenty of (back & neck) exercise.

[0]: https://www.painscience.com/tutorials/trigger-points.php

I find momentary relief by opening audacity, generating a sine tone that is roughly the same frequency. Wear headphones and set the volume to sort of loud, play for roughly 5 seconds. This relieves my symptoms for a few seconds, after which they come back again (but weaker, and not as intrusive as before).

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