Tinnitus – Please Don’t Go Insane

Rebecca K. Horton, RDA

Tinnitus.  Tin-nie- tis. Tin nit us.

Say it any way you like but what a demon in your ear! 

Would you believe that people have actually committed suicide over tinnitus the new plague?  It’s true!  Most people don’t suffer that badly with it, but if you do please seek immediate help with an ear, nose and throat physician and tell them the truth about how it’s making you think really bad thoughts about hurting yourself.

There is no known cure for Tinnitus but some help may be available.  I personally find relief from it when I’m at my favorite spot on the Redneck Rivera down in the Gulf of Mexico.  The ocean has the right sound to cancel out the high pitch, electrical whine/squeal that I have in my left ear all the time.  Whenever I’m ill,  of course, it’s much worse and all I can tell you is that at this point in my life I would do ANYTHING to keep it from progressing.

 I am having custom ear plugs made so that the damaging noises that I’ve tolerated for years can be quieted and offer me some relief. Big Ear offers a product known as THE ONE that offers noise cancellation properties while allowing me to hear the necessary sounds of my job in a dental office. I’m hopeful that it will help with the Tinnitus as well.

I remember the medicine-related times that have helped create my Tinnitus:   One, a high dose of aspirin at age 18 and two, a high dose of Iodine later in life.  The Iodine also caused some dry, burning mouth issues that I thought would NEVER go away. (I’m much better thank you!)

Like most everyone else, I LOVE music and rock and roll is best served up in a bone-jarring dB.  I can remember having temporary hearing issues after nights out dancing.  That was kind of scary!

And the sickest I have ever been in my life was a series of illnesses inner ear infections.  I lost my balance, experienced crushing pain, and endured barbaric treatment that consisted of a copper wire being stuck in my ear and having to take the world’s nastiest antibiotics – SULPHA.  After I had my wisdom teeth out, I never had an inner ear infection again.  I really thought I was losing my mind and my hearing during that!  WHEW. Back to the subject.

Some of the known causes of Tinnitus are:

• Exposure to loud noise
• Earwax buildup
• Changes to the bones in the ear
• Blood vessel disorders
• High blood pressure
• Inner ear cell damage
• Tumors
• Head and neck injuries
• Medications:  antibiotics, diuretics, cancer treatment, quinine, and aspirin
• Exposure to noise over a long period of time
• And, just plain old age

Contributing to Tinnitus and also becoming a problem of Tinnitus worsening include:

• Smoking
• Fatigue, stress, depression, anxiety, irritability, memory, sleeping
• Concentration can become an issue
• More exposure to high dB – wind noise, occupational noise, lawn mowing, barking dogs, etc.

The only good news is, mostly Tinnitus, in and of itself, is not a sign of a more severe health issue.  Maybe we should consider it a strong warning.

Prevention is the key to tinnitus the new plague, one such way is Custom ear plugs by Big Ear and other products by Big Ear could help by teaching you about these hazards and providing the proper protection to help you avoid further deterioration.

There’s a great free app called Tinnitus Describer so that you can identify your Tinnitus.  Wherever you are on the scale, don’t allow it to get worse!

(The One®) Select Series is the second tier selection in our M.E.T series. Furthering the idea of the standard set we wanted to give you as more choices to protect yourself.