Tinnitus, Deafness and Ear Problems Support Group
This group is for those coping with Tinnitus (ringing ears or ear noise), hearing loss, and all ear issues. Join to find support and get advice from others.
Local psych told me a story of a guy with trauma-induced T. He prescribed lamotrigene (sp?) for the stress and then recommended the Bose QC20c headset. The theory is that the white noise, peaceful music whatever would somehow "cancel' out the T. The wife encouraged the guy to try and LO AND BEHOLD! the guy was cured (well, it kept coming back, but ALL HE HAD TO DO WAS Plop on his headset and it did the trick."
Now my psych says that was a great miracle but he could not make the same claim (in the story, however, he said he told the client that "I believe this will work")
Stupid psych aside, has anyone used the Bose high-quality product for relief if not an outright cure? Other than Bose is high-quality stuff. I think my widex zentone hearing aids are supposed to do the same: give you something else to listen to.
I'll spare my recent woes, but I'm on four years of steadily rising sound (my audiologist said, "Don't say it's 'worse'!" OK, so the pitch is getting LOWER in a direction away from which I want it to and there, the T is heading in a direction opposite where I want it to go!)
Now my psych says that was a great miracle but he could not make the same claim (in the story, however, he said he told the client that "I believe this will work")
Stupid psych aside, has anyone used the Bose high-quality product for relief if not an outright cure? Other than Bose is high-quality stuff. I think my widex zentone hearing aids are supposed to do the same: give you something else to listen to.
I'll spare my recent woes, but I'm on four years of steadily rising sound (my audiologist said, "Don't say it's 'worse'!" OK, so the pitch is getting LOWER in a direction away from which I want it to and there, the T is heading in a direction opposite where I want it to go!)
Not going too deeply into it but the cilia (tiny hairs) are stimulated ALWAYS . . . from day one by the brain. They respond and voul the recognition of sound. Although they are sensitive they are hardy but can go into shock. When in shock they do not respond . . . the sounds you are hearing are the frequencies/signals your brain is sending that are related to the cilia which are not responding.
The creators of white noise generators are accidently also generating sub frequencies. When they are in tune with the cilia that are in shock they are responding within the cochlea FOR the cilia and the cilia are, for a short while, able to . . .rest/come out of shock/heal/regenerate . . . so tinnitus disappears for a while.
Hearing aids are not the answer. White noise generators are a temporary solution.
Without knowing your medical history it is difficult to know what the problem is. For some people it's tumours or non malignant growths in the temporal region or damage to the temporal bone, jaw misalignment and those things that disturb the nerve functions in this region. All have tinnitus as a by product.
Once identified and the aliment is resolved, tinnitus will disappear.
For some the cilia have degenerated or damaged, possible cochlea nerve damage. All depends on your lifestyle (industrial noise or constant exposure to loud music, constant use of headphones (they add extra pressure . . not only sound but vibration and air
pressure to the inner ear).
Research shows, post mortem, that only 20% of those who have suffered with tinnitus actually had cilia damage, so there is hope.
I am involved in research into a device for those who have chronic tinnitus - the SONIC EAR. It is being designed to eliminate tinnitus . . . no noise or interference with the incoming sound.
Having tinnitus you will realise that you are NOT deaf . . . the tinnitus interferes with the incoming frequencies making it hard to distinguish certain words because the sounds are all jumbled.
Enough for now. Find out if there are any neurological anomalies first. Tinnitus is telling you something may be wrong.
Regards
George (HARVESTKING)
Wow, just reading the first paragraph of your post above, i said this guy is not ordinary. He seems to be in control of knowledge. Then you laid the Sonic thing...and wow.......who are you? What is this your working on? Will it eliminate Tinnitus? Reduce it? Will it be just another SoundCure or Neoronomics which doesn't work?
Can you tell us more? You know have our attention.
There is so much research out there about tinnitus, the more I read the louder the static got . . . .not literally. Researchers keep looking at one tree or another but don't seem to see the forest : |.
Surfing the forums for answers, no-one had the answer, but the plethora of individual experiences gave me the answer.
Medical science dogma regarding the way in which the auditory system works is suffocating research into tinnitus.
Who am I? A simple person who wants the solve the problem.
I've worked in music and sound production for the first half of my life . . . so I understand sound. I had an interest in construction, engineering and design so now work in that industry. Also interested in 2D & 3D product design . . . AutoCAD, Inventor, Solidworks etc. . . . . so I have an understanding of how things work . . . . problem solver . . . lateral thinker you might say. Researcher.
What can I say, I don't watch a lot of television, so I get bored.
Now I have tinnitus.
My tinnitus is a by product of an ailment that I am now aware of so I have found my solution but in doing so, the journey has yielded another by product. I know what tinnitus is.
I now have another purpose in life.
Now back to the question.
Neoronomics - my humble opinion is that the music directed into the ear (external stimuli) would add to the problem eventually. It's a distraction and nothing more. Great marketing though.
I hope to update my site in the coming few weeks.
Thanks for the positive feedback.
HARVESTKING
God Speed to Harvest King.
SO WHAT IS IT EXACTLY?
First I will say, it's not sound therapy nor a masking device.
The device will generate and send sub sonic frequencies specifically related to those cilia (tiny hairs) that are not responding to the cochlea nerve. These will not be audible.
If you look at the cochlea you will notice it's snail-shell like structure, within it are the cilia. The tighter the area the higher the frequency.
An audiogram measures frequencies and decibels. The tinnitus limits your ability to hear certain frequencies at a particular volume (dB). The audiogram gives you a tinnitus map. The data is imbedded into the device and it will generate the personalized sub sonic vibrations.
To understand this one must understand what it happening in the auditory system. To put it as simply as I can . . . the brain sends signals through the cochlea nerve to the cilia which then in turn respond, kind of like an ongoing conversation. When the cilia do not or cannot respond that is your tinnitus. The SONIC EAR completes the circle, carries on the so called conversation thus creating a balance.
I'm kind of recreating the wheel here. Medical science believes the cilia respond from external stimuli. That's 19th century thinking as far as I'm concerned. If it works the way they believe . . . what is creating the tinnitus sound and why is it so subjective i.e. a different experience for each individual?
I require research funding to continue my research and development.
I am still in the process of legally establishing the non profit entity (HK Global Tinnitus Research Foundation). I cannot and will not accept any donations or funding until that is done.
Feel free to ask more questions.
I'll keep you posted.
Regards
HARVESTKING
Will it work in such a case, or will it only work when there is a NOTCH type hearing loss ?
Ski slope curve indicates profound high frequency hearing loss.
If tinnitus is present I wouldn't say 'hearing loss' but 'hearing impairment'.
I studied such an audiogram recently . . . 'sky slope' . . . subject is an 85 year old woman, high frequency hearing 'loss' . . . she has no tinnitus. She was told by the audiologist that the cilia related to higher frequencies were no longer functioning.
I have had discussions with other audiologists and a neurologist regarding the causes of tinnitus and was told . . . . cilia damage.
Confusing don't you think or is it they are just confused?
I would hazard a guess that cochlea nerve damage/degeneration would be the cause of the high frequency hearing loss in her case.
To answer your question.
Be it sky slope or banana speech, if tinnitus is involved, I believe it could work.
Regards
HARVESTKING
HarvestKing: You asked for it:
As long as I can remember (age 10, 12), I had a low level ringing. I thought that's what total silence "sounded" like.
Fast forward to about 4 years ago (maybe 5, time flies even when you're not having fun.) I had just come home while a son was having a b-day party and a girl's balloon popped just under me. That started ringing on my right side, stayed audible (call it a 2 for sake of discussion)
Unfortunately, I led that (then little) noise effect my life (fret/worry). YET, for those who say "Stress causes it/makes it worse" I went a full year with only ringing in the right ear.
Then, supposedly this shouldn't have caused T, but in anger I struck the left side of my face and heard an even louder T (call it a 5)
Another year goes by and audiolog. recommended hearing aids, which I got Jan., maybe three years ago. That worked well for two weeks, but they the ringing got 'louder'.
A month went by and another spike (but my 'spikes' never go back to the previous level)
I know it's a spike based on what DOESN;'T drown it out like it used to.
To speed things up: I went on a streak of every week, getting a new spike. I was told that's because I was expecting it. My side of the story: Spike on a Saturday. Feeling down Monday, Tuesday. Used to it Wed through Friday and not thinking about it all or another increase. WHAM comes Saturday or Sunday and the process continued.
This past year, my audio discovered my T wasn't getting "louder" I was hearing it at a 'lower' pitch which made it more noticeable.
In Feb., March of this year I finally got a reprieve from increases, only to find myself with three noise-induced spikes in four weeks. Fumed at the psych for his 'story' about the bose.
Saturday, I got another 'just cuz' spike and tried to ride it out, only to get depressed Sunday (happy Easter, btw).
There could be more, but I defy you to find rhyme or reason for the constant upward (downward in pitch), and don't you dare say STRESS because I can prove otherwise.
(Oh, and I have WIDEX zen tone hearing aids I paid $4,500 for and at least offer some relief, other than t
Meanwhile, I'll check out QCt and hope it's not $300 like the qc20
Chris
I'm sure 40+ years of tinnitus would drive anybody crazy.
Your tinnitus doesn't seem to come from a neurological disorder i.e. tumours and other growths in or on the brain . . . . your still here with us.
You haven't mentioned any loud bangs at age 10 or 12 in your history so, did you have an accident perhaps, fall of a bike or that sort of thing?
It may be possible that your tinnitus began at the temporo-mandibular joint. That's the joint between the temporal bone and the mandible (lower jawbone). Just a thought.
There are people who are born with tinnitus . . .my heart goes out to them.
$300 doesn't seem a lot to find out if the Bose QC20i works for you. It's not designed specifically for tinnitus but if it brings relief it's cheaper the $4,500.
HARVESTKING
I did fall off a picnic table a 6 and if that caused it, it's possible I didn't notice till later. But that's not the issue. I could deal with that.
I only went to two rock concerts (Jethro tull in college, 1979) and Newsboys in 1985), but received the sound full bore in my ears and THAT didn't have a negative effect. It was too far removed from the balloon pop to blame that
I shot pix at our rodeo under 12 speakers full blast for a lot of the 30 years I've been here and yet no ill effects under after the T starting going 'up' weekly.
I have been taking 'stress medicine' since 2005, again well before the weekly spikes, so that's why I don't buy the 'stress can cause it' or even 'can make it worse." I stressed that first year after the balloon and never once did it get worse.
I'm a sports writer and basketball games were a blessing as the noisy gym drowned out the ringing (yet didn't cause it to get worse; now my white noise in the Widex sometimes 'encourages' the T to go up a notch.)
My psych told the story of the Bose qc20 "healing' his patient, I didn't bring it up.
I only wish Oprah will call for me for 'strange medical tales' interview followed by a multi-million dollar book contract :)
In the next few weeks my organization will be a legal non-profit entity.
I am already creating a frequency 'construct ' enabling me to bring together all the frequencies I have ringing in my ears at the decibels as indicated on my own audiogram.
I am the lab rat or guinea pig . . . . . hopefully not creating Frankenstein.
To answer your question . . . . range should not be a problem.
I'll keep you in the loop.
Regards
HARVESTKING