A few days ago I randomly got tinnitus out of nowhere and I didn’t understand what’s up. An hour or so ago I finally understood/learned what’s happening to me and read up on tinnitus and I’m devastated. I’m only over 20 and having this for the rest of my life as it becomes worse is heartbreaking to me. I was already overly sensitive to certain noises and am in love with music but with tinnitus I lost something precious and permanently gained somethimg that I just will need to live with. I’m heartbroken and scared. I know I will learn to accept it within a week as my brain processes this new experience but right now I just feel gutwrenchingly horrible. Especially so when I was already having some other physical and mental health issues that I’m unable to cope with and this adds to the burden. I need some advice on how to live with it and some comfort in knowing of other people going through the same. Thank you. :(
(I don’t live is US if that matters in any way.)
Short answer: Get an evaluation by an audiologist, if possible, to determine if something can be done.
Long answer: Depending on the personal cause of tinnitus, solutions range from nothing to getting hearing aids with specific software that provides tinnitus relief. I have genetic, moderate to severe hearing loss in higher frequencies and have very noticeable tinnitus. The complications from hearing loss with tinnitus can vary, but personally were resulting in increased sensitivity to noise throughout the day, irritability, and diminished ability to communicate (I couldn’t hear what my spouse or kids were saying when there was any kind of background noise present). It led me to never want to go anywhere or do anything outside our home because I couldn’t hear or enjoy anything.
I went to an audiologist, had a bunch of tests, and was prescribed a set of hearing aids. Said hearing aids play soft ocean noises in addition to boosting the frequencies I have diminished hearing in. The ocean noises allow the brain to train itself to treat the tinnitus as a routine background noise instead of a panic inducing “danger” sound. Over time, it has helped in significantly reducing my attention to the tinnitus. It will never go away, and I have to sleep with ocean sounds playing so I don’t go insane.
I get mine fitted Monday. I’ve already got the speaker, but my tinnitus is an entire… octave? above the sound from the recording, incredibly high-pitched static. Tho I use a babbling brook because the other ones are just… very annoying. I don’t really find the speaker helpful, but my audiologist said it was unlikely to do much on its own, so.
I’m really hoping the hearing aids work better. But at least I got obnoxiously colored ones!
Nice! Glad you’re getting yours fitted soon! Honestly, mine have been literally life changing. I truly didn’t realize how bad my hearing had gotten because the change was so gradual. The sound generated through the hearing aids is much better than an external speaker, and after the adjustment period, I sometimes don’t even notice it’s playing. The brain learns to filter it out, along with the tinnitus. It’s different than trying to block or mask it with a speaker. Not a cure, but much better. I hope yours work well for you!