How to Prevent Tinnitus

I just read this latest article about, Daniel Derricutt, 24 from the UK who claimed his Bose Earphones caused Tinnitus and this caused his suicide. How to Prevent Tinnitus and how really bad is this?

How can Tinnitus Cause Suicide?

In the US it is tough to get real data and stories as so much is covered up and never published, but I would like to thank his family for maybe helping others who will wake up or have an event (Called Tinnitus), that is a life changer for good. Check the full story here.

More Tinnitus Stories:

I was going along, and life was great, and then it happened.

I took medication and the next day I awoke with someone blowing a high pitched whistle in my head.  Make it go away!!!!! (Sam H)

I went to the orchestra, and it was a fantastic evening but seemed extra loud tonight, I heard a pop then the screaming ringing started, “Oh my god what has just happened,” I can’t sleep, can’t go to work my life is totally different. (Betty G)

The playoff football game was amazing, “We won state!”

The trumpet player behind me blasted his horn in my ear, and something cracked badly, and now I have a sound of some kind of super loud crickets or locust in my head, It’s not in my ear, it in my head. It’s not fun being a Cheerleader now. The noise won’t stop what am I going to do? I’m a senior and got a scholarship to Cheer in college, and now I can’t stand the noise from the band any longer. (Ginger A)

My Tinnitus Story:

I have heard stories like this over the last 15 years, and I understand as one day in November 1987 as a 275lb bodybuilder. I had a little bit of a rash from the gym, and a pharmaceutical rep friend of mine said he had the perfect cure. It was a new antibiotic called Floxin, and it surely would take care of this rash and anything else I might have. So I got a prescription for it, and wow did I feel better in about three days. Rash was clearing up, and even helped a bronchitis issue that I was having. About the 4th day in that’s when it happened.

I was in my office listing to the radio, and I heard an audible crack and all the sudden a super high pitch sound started. Are you kidding me, What the hell is this?

I can’t think, my stomach felt ill as I could not shake it and me in superhuman shape, now a disabled person that no one can see. I can’t stand loud noises; conservations are harder to hear as I have to listen over the sound of this screaming in my head. It was not in my ear; it was in the front temple area of my head.

I tried everything I could read about and get my hand’s on. I can tell you that so many nights I would lay in bed and the sound was unbearable.

Researching Tinnitus:

We did not have Google back then, and it was tough to find information about tinnitus, (still not in a better spot today.)

Here is some of the research if you are starting this personal nightmare that you will have to cope with or endure.

Described by some as screeching, by others the call of cicadas, or the millions of variations that Tinnitus can take form while the condition itself is unpleasant and unfortunate for those who must live productive and happy lives while coping with it. Some patients turn to antidepressants and doctor prescribed medications See here for the complete list (Mayo Clinic) Others seek to find a holistic approach to curing their tinnitus (Tinnitus Advisor).

Many others choose to live with the pain and find ways to cope and live long and fulfilled lives supplemented by relaxation therapy, meditation, sound therapy.

Oh, the many tinnitus support groups that meet on a regular basis who work to alleviate the social anxiety of the disorder and help sufferers feel that they are not alone. But as a 31-year sufferer of the condition, I can say that living with this unbearable noise in my head is something not to be taken lightly.

I would be doing a disservice to those who are at risk of suffering from this terrible disease if I did not list precautionary measures to take during your everyday lives. I have put together a list of habits and actions that anyone who believes they are at risk for tinnitus can follow to ensure that they do not live a life of pain and just learn how to prevent Tinnitus.

Habit 1: How to Prevent Tinnitus

The most obvious way to prevent tinnitus from occurring is by simply wearing tinnitus earplugs while at concerts, at work(even if you do work in an office building) or anywhere in your life where decibel levels cause you discomfort. Wearing hearing protection does come with a stigma it does, and as the owner of a concert earplugs and hearing conservation company for 15 years I can say that there is a perception that those who choose to wear earplugs are weaker than others.

This is not true! Taking the measures to protect your hearing; even if it does mean hearing it from your buddies or getting sideways looks from strangers. These measures will set an example in your small community and just like measures of influencers interacting to cause sweeping societal change.

The act of you wearing hearing protection as a single person will have an impact on your community and may cause others to do the same. But You’ll never know if you don’t try.

Habit 2: Use a Sound Meter (Dosimeter)

What once was a gigantic probe looking button that could be confused for a phaser weapon from Star Trek has been downsized into an app. We all have access to the knowledge of the noise around us, and it is one download away. Here is a resource for some of the best apps that will turn your iPhone into a proper dosimeter. (Best Dosimeter Apps).

What the sound level meter will do is allow you to get your mind around the levels that you are subjected to on a daily basis. Whether it be your daily commute on the train, bus, cab, or car, the sound level in your workplace, or just the noise level at your local park. Understanding the levels that you’re subjected to every day will free your mind from the unknown. After writing this, it sounds like analyzing sound levels and wearing earplugs means you are only a few more steps from hunkering down in a bunker and eating rationed food on How to Prevent Tinnitus.

However, if you can keep this proportionate and only measure the areas that you feel are at risk for you and your loved ones, you can keep from becoming paranoid and putting tin foil on your head to keep the government from probing your mind.

We uncovered the power of these meters when attending college marching band rehearsals and DCI (Drum core International) workshops to analyze the absurd decibel levels that students aged 16 to 25 are subjected to on a daily basis.

The sound meters on our phones tracked saved and allowed us to review the doses that these students experienced and gave us accurate readings that showcased the need for protection in these loud environments and moved us closer to a deeper understanding of the way in which decibels affect musicians.

Dosimeters are a great tool to have on hand and will only work to improve your knowledge of the world around you and how noise is affecting you on a daily basis. This leads us to the next step in preventing tinnitus.

Habit 3: Educate Yourself About How to Prevent Tinnitus

Just like flipping open your phone to check your daily new source each morning or crinkling the newspaper at the breakfast table.

Read up on the happenings in the world, and there are hundreds of excellent resources to learn from in the realm of hearing conservation that will begin to educate you on the topic of hearing health. Listed here are a few of the best for How to Prevent Tinnitus. (Hearing Health Center) – (Science Daily)

Just like any other area of life, the only way to get better is to educate yourself and apply that knowledge to everyday habits.

What these resources will allow you to do that as they are on the cutting edge of hearing conservation research.  They consistently update their sites with an in-depth and scientifically backed study that is continuously furthering human understanding of how our hearing interacts with the world.

Plus the factors that determine our quality of hearing as we progress through the stages of our lives including brain health, diet, and mental health. These resources will not only provide you with scientific studies and information and, How to Prevent Tinnitus.

It will also equip you with actionable steps to take to prolong your hearing health and improve the quality of your life. As you educate yourself, find the things that work for you and disregard the rest, as we know most things are subjective.

I do not consider the expert’s opinion to be the only way to solve your personal hearing protection issue. Now, this leads to my fourth and final suggestion

Habit 4: Plan ahead plan for health

In your life, habits are formed and then set in place after taking in all the factors.

As we all know about taking care of our health against the significant preventable diseases including diabetes and certain cardiovascular diseases as well as liver and lung health we can as humans take these positive steps forward to prevent our ears from being damaged which leads to tinnitus and other ear-related diseases.

Taking healthy and positive steps forward to prevent these related diseases puts a barrier between yourself and a life of discomfort. Incorporating these habits relayed above into your daily life will provide you with the freedom to choose your destiny.

If you decide to monitor your surroundings, wear hearing protection and continue to further your understanding of how the human ear and how your overall human chemistry interacts with the environments that you spend the majority of your time in you will empower yourself to have a happier and healthier life.

How to Prevent Tinnitus and how to find the right earplug