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If you landed directly to this page from a search engine, please read Tinnitus - An Overview (Start Here) first.
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Verifying Your Diagnosis
So the tests I made you do landed you on this page. That doesn't mean that it is this kind of tinnitus you have. It is always advisable to seek medical help for any serious condition. However, if you only see a generalist doctor, there is a chance that your tinnitus could be misdiagnosed. I believe that only a qualified tinnitus expert could properly diagnose your tinnitus.
The Assumption
For the remainer of this text, I will assume that your tinnitus is caused by 'contracted arteries', based on the previous sections.
What To Do Now?
Your ears are ringing. You are likely in pain. You are probably scared, at the very least, worried. Perhaps you are imagining horrible senarios about your life to come. Maybe you pray constantly, just for one single moment of peace. It could be that the sound is driving you crazy. All you can focus on is the sound and nothing else.
So what do you do now?
Final Diagnosis - Jaw Or Muscles?
First off, please relax. Based on the assumption above, your tinnitus is almost certainly curable. Which means that the sound in your ear(s), very likely can be removed, permanently. Or, at the very least, the sound can be reduced in volume and only appear periodicly, and you can work at having it removed when it returns.
The questions is how?
First we must to understand what kind of tinnitus you have and what exactly causes it.
'Contracted Arteries' basically means that the vein close to your ear has become smaller in one or many places. When this happens, blood must be forced through these spots, causing sound. Just like turning on the tap in your sink, shower or bathtub.
Why does it cause sound? Because the blood must be forced through this smaller space more quickly. If you walk by a river where the water moves very slowly, you will hear nothing. But if the water moves quickly and must move over objects such as rocks, then you will hear a sound. If you gently pour water out of a water bottle, there will be no sound except the splashing sound on the floor. But if you seal a plastic water bottle and punch a tiny hole in it, and then squeeze that water bottle so the water is forced out, you will hear a sound. The same happens when your artery is contracted close to your ear(s). The blood is forced through and you hear a sound.
So why do arteries get contracted?
The main cause, assumed in this text, is that something is squeezing the artery. The artery is surrounded by muscles, ligaments, tissue and bones. This leaves two main possibilities:
- Your jaw bones put preassure on the arteries
- Your muscles, ligaments or tissue put preassure on the arteries
Possiblity 1: Your Jaw
Your jaw bones may be placed in such a way that this condition occurs. Or you may use your jaw in such a way that this condition occurs. For this, you need to see a TMJ doctor. Sadly, since this is a relatively new field, those can be hard to find.
Fortunately, there are several TMJ associations online. A quick online search for TMJ will yield you several results, most of which can explain TMJ much better than I can, and so for this condition, I recommend you read their websites.
I also recommend seeing a TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) doctor, as explained before.
Again, if you are new to TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine), I recommend you "try before you judge". Western medicine and TCM use different approaches to heal the body. Which is why I recommend you keep an open mind in the beginning. You may be surprised at the level of help you can receive.
Possiblity 2: Your Muscles, Ligaments & Tissue
You have used your neck and shoulders in such a way that they have become cronically tense. As your muscles and/or ligaments stay tense, they put pressure on arteries close to your ear(s), producing tinnitus.
This has been brought on from one or several causes, such as stress and bad posture.
Jaw Or Muscles/Ligaments/Tissue? How Do I Know?
Only a specialist could properly diagnose this and improper self-diagnosis could do more damage than good. So please take what I say with a grain of salt. Again, I recommend you see your doctor before beginning any treatment.
To pinpoint what is likely to be causing your tinnitus, we look at your history.
Consider if one or several of these descriptions fit you:
- You have been under a great deal of stress for a very long time.
- You sit infront of a computer for many hours of the day
- You don't work out much
- You have poor posture when sitting
- You very often have pain in your neck or shoulders or back after sleeping
- You drive many hours of the day. Perhaps it is your job or you have a long communte where you drive a vehicule
- You have done some kind of activity, for a longer period of time, where you tense your shoulders and neck
- You feel that your shoulders and neck are very hard and tense. Moving them do not allow you great range of movement and this area does not feel soft and relaxed to you
- When you move your shoulders back and forth you hear cracking of your muscles
- Also, if you are wondering if you are relaxed or not, chances are that you are not
If one or several of these descriptions fit you, and there is a strong reason to believe that this may cause your tinnitus, based on your judgement and the circumstances surrounding how you got tinnitus, then there is a good chance it is your muscles/ligaments/tissue causing the tinnitus. However, it could also be both your muscles/ligaments/tissue and your jaw.
If, on the other hand, you have pain in your jaw area, or if you don't believe any of the descriptions above are the cause of your tinnitus, then it may be your jaw bones that are causing your tinnitus.
This must be a judgement on your part. Please remember what I mentioned earlier about the dangers of improper self-diagnosis and to see a doctor for proper diagnosis and treatment.
For Jaw (TMJ) caused tinnitus
Again, there are associations out there, which can offer much better information than I can on this subject. I recommend you simply search online for TMJ and you will find a host of sites, many which are very good and can provide you with further assistance. TMJ is too complex and beyond what I am comfortable providing information on in this blog. Again, see your doctor for proper treatment.
I also recommend seeing both a western medicine doctor and a reputable TCM doctor.
For those with jaw (TMJ) caused tinnitus, please read my Final Words found here. For those with muscle/ligaments/tissue caused tinnitus, please see below.
For Muscle/Ligaments/Tissue Caused Tinnitus
This is the kind of tinnitus which I will discuss further in this blog. Please read on.
Tinnitus Caused By Tense Muscles, Ligaments and/or Tissue
Now that TMJ is ruled out, the remaining cause of your tinnitus are your stiff and tense muscles, ligaments and/or tissue (of course, this is only true if the right diagnosis has been made). Tissue is likely not the cause of being tense, which leaves muscles and ligaments which we can work with.
What we need to do now is make your muscles and ligaments soft and supple again. This will allow the arteries to expand again and the sound in your ear(s) will dissapear.
Step 1 - Determining The Cause Of Your Tense Muscles And Ligaments
You tense your muscles and ligaments for a reason. Either you are:
- stressed
- having poor posture when sitting/walking/sleeping/other
- not moving your body enough
Perhaps you do all these things? But these are the overall causes of your tinnitus and you must understand them in order to resolve your tinnitus.
Stress
Tell me. What happens when you face danger? Do you relax? Or do you tense up?
We all tense up. If you see a car that is about to hit you, your body automatically tenses up in order to escape the imminent danger. If you are on the roof of a tall building, walking towards the edge, your body will prepare for the possible danger. You will feel either fear or at least become more aware. If somebody runs towards you wanting to attack you with a knife, you will experience fear or adrenalin or tensing yourself up in order to fight, etc. What you will NOT experience in any of these situations is being calm and relaxed. Even a samurai or Tai Chi master becomes aware, even if he or she controls their body and mind at a higher level than most people. The same with stress.
Stress happens when we are dealing with "dangerous" situations. Such situations are defined by you having something important to either gain or loose. You must close this deal to make money. You must look good in order to get a job. You must pass this exam. You have to find money for rent. You must protect your family. You worry that your child is not studying or in danger, etc.
Basically, your mind tells you that you are in a dangerous situation and you must "deal with it". What happens? You tense yourself.
In other words, tinnitus caused by stress can be defined in this way: your mind tenses up your muscles and ligaments.
Poor Posture
If you are older you already know this, but for those who have yet to pass the 30 mark, you have to take my word for it: you must accept that wear and tear on your body will naturally happen. Poor posture, over time, will have an effect on your body.
For example: If you tend to sit in a way that tenses your left shoulder and you work in this position every day for 5 years, 10 years, you know that this is going to hurt you. There will be a consequence.
We are all creatures of habit. You habitually tend to sit/sleep/walk/drive a specific way, which is hard to change and most of the time you don't think about it. However, when tinnitus arrives due to your incorrect posture, motivation to change enters your life.
Not Moving Your Body Enough
A gymnast, dancer or martial artist is usually very flexible. They have all practiced flexibility and softness in movement and range. At the opposite extreme are those who sit in a chair all day long and never move. In time, these people become stiff and loose softness, flexibility and range in their bodies.
Most people today are somewhere in the middle of these extremes.
But you can see where I am going with this. If you don't work out or stretch or maintain your softness, flexibility and range, but instead you mostly sit still in chairs, sofas and cars, and then you lie down in your bed, what to you think happens? You will get stiff and you will loose mobility.
Combine this with poor posture and/or stress, and over time, your muscles will get hard and rigid. I think you can image that such a lifestyle could create stiff muscles that squeeze your arteries which again produces tinnitus.
You Are Tense
So as you can see, you are tense, which creates your tinnitus. Your goal must then be to have your muscles become soft again.
Step 2 - Reversal Of Habits
So how do I achieve soft muscles?
The answer is two folded:
2.1 Physically soften your muscles
2.2 Alter your mental habits to no longer tense your muscles
You must achieve success in both areas to succeed long-term. If you get a massage therapist to soften up your muscles for a whole week, you might get some instant relief, but your mental habits will soon return your body to a tinnitus-producing state.
Step 2.1a - Physically Soften Your Muscles
Your muscles are stiff and cold. Your muscles are now habitually conditioned to have a certain tense appearance. Why? Because you've moved in a limited and tense way for a long time.
A fitness expert or Yoga instructor may be better able to give you advice on how to return your muscles to a soft and flexible state. However, I will share my opinion and what worked for me, as somebody who has this kind of tinnitus. But (to be safe) always consult your doctor before beginning any treatment.
You need to do the following:
- Regularly make your muscles warm
- Regularly work at returning the flexibility and range to your muscles
- Improve your mental/physical connection to achieve softness, balance and peace in both mind and body (this will be explained further in the next sections)
There are many ways to do this. Here are the things I've tried, with varying success.
TCM Massage
WOW! This is just awesome. I much recommend TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) massage as supposed to regular massage from a western wellness center (or course you must find a reputable and proper TCM practitioner as explained earlier). You may need three or four sessions to really feel the effects, but OMG. This removed my tinnitus entirely for several days, without me doing anything else (until my mental habits made it return). But for softening you up physically, all I can say is OMG!!!
Working Out
OMG again! This so works for me. When I work out, my tinnitus is reduced after the workout. I don't do anything fancy. Just a work out video where my body gets good and warm (and sweaty). Afterwards I gently stretch, putting extra attention to any muscles and ligaments connected with my neck, shoulders and back.
I am sure there are specialized movements you can do, but that takes a fitness expert to recommend.
Yoga
I haven't tried this yet, but I am mentioning it here because my friend swears by it and I believe it is an option to consider. A big part of Yoga is basically the stretching of ligaments, (somewhat similar to my stretching but I am sure much more advanced). The ligaments are often what makes you stiff and not your muscles, so it makes sense to do Yoga to treat tinnitus.
Massage Machine
I LOVE this machine. I don't have money for a massage very day, so this is the perfect subsitute. I got it to soften my neck, shoulders and back and use it almost every day. It just works great, for me anyway. It helps to be warm when doing the massage. I used to be completly tense but this machine helped me get more relaxed.
Doing it yourself is ok but it works the best if you have somebody else that can operate it so you can relax. I notice a difference in my muscles after having used this machine for a while.
Heat Pad
I am very happy with my heat pad. Since heat soften muscles and ligaments, applying heat to the tinnitus-producing muscles and ligaments in your neck makes sense. There has been several times where I put the heat pad and, after a while, felt my tinnitus become significantly reduced. With the heat pad I can watch tv and STILL work at softening my muscles. This is a good option for those evening hours. It also helps you take your mind off the sound by knowing that you are doing something about it, even when you are watching tv.
Tiger Balm (or similar)
Again, heat softens muscles. When I can't have a heat pad, this is a great alternative. The advantage is that you can apply the heat right up next to your ear, where a heat pad has difficulties reaching. I don't know if it is as good as a heat pad for heating muscles but it sure is warm and I find it helps for me.
Warm Shower
After a workout, I find that not only does the shower make you warm, but it also relaxes you. One of my breakthroughs was when I had had prominent tinnitus all day due to my bad sleeping position, but after working out I had less tinnitus, and after my warm shower, I had no tinnitus for the rest of that day. So yes, I recommend a warm shower.
Warm Bath
My TCM doctor recommended I take warm baths just before going to bed. This is because a warm bath relaxes you and also warms your muscles. So when you go directly to bed afterwards, you are likely to have a relaxed and peaceful night, helping you relax your muscles during the night, which helps to remove tinnitus.
What really soothes me is a warm bath with bath salts and essential oils that wifey made me try.
What Didn't Work
I tried many things that didn't work, like wearing ear plugs for days. However, the most important thing that does not work, is to only approach this form of tinnitus from a purely physical point of view or only from a mental point of view. You need to do both to achieve the best results. I learned this the hard way.
Find What Works For You
All I can really do is share what worked for me. Perhaps you have ideas that are much better than mine.
Step 2.1b - Products
Here are some of the products that worked for me. Again, it is up to you to find what you believe will work for you. These are also available in the menu to the left.
Work Out DVDs
To quiet the sound in your ear(s), you need to relax the muscles and ligaments around your muscles. To relax the muscles and ligaments, you must soften them. To soften them you must first warm them up. A good way to do this is simply to do a cardio workout where you move all your muscles, arms, legs etc, in different ways.
I recommend work out DVDs because they give you a good work out plus, since you do them inside, you stay warm (warming your muscles and tennants), plus you can stretch afterwards while you are still warm.
OMG again! This so works for me. When I work out, my tinnitus is reduced after the workout. I don't do anything fancy. Just a work out video where my body gets good and warm (and sweaty). Afterwards I gently stretch, putting extra attention to any muscles and ligaments connected with my neck, shoulders and back.
Working Out With Wii Fit Plus
If you want a more monitored and interactive solution to working out, you can't go wrong with Wii Fit Plus. With Wii Fit Plus you can easily get warm muscles that are sure to help you with your tinnitus.
Yoga
I haven't tried this yet, but I am mentioning it here because my friend swears by it and I believe it is an option to consider. A big part of Yoga is basically the stretching of ligaments, (somewhat similar to my stretching but I am sure much more advanced). The ligaments are often what makes you stiff and not your muscles, so it makes sense to do Yoga to treat tinnitus.
Heating Pads
I am very happy with my heat pad. Since heat soften muscles and ligaments, applying heat to the tinnitus-producing muscles and ligaments in your neck makes sense. There has been several times where I put the heat pad and, after a while, felt my tinnitus become significantly reduced. With the heat pad I can watch tv and STILL work at softening my muscles. This is a good option for those evening hours. It also helps you take your mind off the sound by knowing that you are doing something about it, even when you are watching tv.
Tiger Balm
Again, heat softens muscles. When I can't have a heat pad, this is a great alternative. The advantage is that you can apply the heat right up next to your ear, where a heat pad has difficulties reaching. I don't know if it is as good as a heat pad for heating muscles but it sure is warm and I find it helps for me.
Massage Machines
I LOVE this machine. I don't have money for a massage very day, so this is the perfect subsitute. I got it to soften my neck, shoulders and back and use it almost every day. It just works great, for me anyway. It helps to be warm when doing the massage. I used to be completly tense but this machine helped me get more relaxed.
Doing it yourself is ok but it works the best if you have somebody else that can operate it so you can relax. I notice a difference in my muscles after having used this machine for a while.
Bath Salts & Bath Bombs
Taking a bath helps warm your muscles and ligaments and bring you peace. The goal is to relax you physically and mentally to help relieve you of your tinnitus. Bath salts and oils are beneficial in soothing your sences and relax you further.
Step 2.2a - Alter Your Mental Habits
The second part to removing tinnitus is to alter your mental habits to no longer tense your muscles. You MUST work towards curing your tinnitus from both a mental and physical angle.
In most areas of your daily life you have developed procedures for how you like to perform the tasks at hand. No you say? Try brushing your teeth, signing your name or dialing a telephone number with the other hand than the one you are used to and see how confused and uncomfortable it is. This is because you have developed a way of doing things, a habit, and you no longer have to think about doing it because your subconcious already knows how to do it, allowing your mind to go into "auto pilot" or to think of other things.
It is hard to do something the hard way (actively thinking about it) when you can just do it the easy way (habitually). But that is what you have to do in order to change your habits.
Why would I want to change some of my habits, you say? Because they produce tinnitus. If you sit in a tense position, sleep without the proper neck support, drive in a way that clenches your neck, go about your day in a stressful mood, then these habits can over time create tense muscles and ligaments which produce tinnitus.
Determining Tinnitus-Producing Habits
What you need to do is to find which of your habits produce your tinnitus. Probably it will be more than one.
I will now present you with the most common tinnitus-producing habits that I have found. As you read through this list, you may wonder why these aren't listed in the 'physical' category. Your subconcious does after all perform large portions of all your movements. However, when you learn something new (install a new skill or habit) your mind must tell your body how to behave. Your mind can also decide to change these habits (with some effort). This is why this list belongs in the 'mental' category (yes I know how that sounds).
Read through this list and see if any of these ring true for you.
Stress, Part 1 - Understanding Habits
Stress comes in many forms, and it is a big factor when it comes to tinnitus.
Right about now, many of you might say: Just hang on a minute!?! Stress is NOT a habit!!! I get stressed when something external and "dangerous" enters my world. It is something that happens to you when you are in tense situations....isn't it?
Ok. Let me explain. Stress IS a habit, most of the time. Let me ask you this. Are you 3 months old? 4 months old? Unless you are a baby still learning to react to the world surrounding you, then for you, stress is often a habit. For most of the tasks and situations which you deal with in your daily life, you have developed ways (procedures) for dealing with those situations. These procedures can be broken down into lots of small little physical and mental steps, like one long chain of events. Once you start performing these procedures again and again, your sub-concious learns them and soon you can do "it" with little effort. AKA, you KNOW how to do it, AKA, you have developed a "habit" (a chain of actions). You could call it a skill, but a skill is also a habit, because it is also THE WAY which you do something which is the habit.
We have both concious and subconcious habits. For example, if you see a chocolate bar, many of you will go: yummy, that looks good. When you think about being on a diet, many of you will instantly go: Ouf, that is not fun. These are habitual responses because you already know what these experiences feel like, AKA, you don't wonder what chocolate and diet is. In addition, you have been conditioned, by yourself and the outside world, to feel certain things about certain products and situations. Imagine the billion dollar profit for a company that can make a large group of people say: OMG, I want that! when they see the product this company sells? This is why companies spend billions each year on advertizing, to do that very thing. Because they know that we are creatures of habit and will do the same thing over and over again unless a large amount of (usually) pain, forces people to change.
However, these habits do not only contain positive things. I know you have a few things you would like to change about yourself. Perhaps you are afraid of public speaking, scared of heights, wish you had more motivation, etc. Why, in this example, you would react with fear or lack of motivation, is because of your conditioned response (or habitual response) to the situation (public speak etc). Do you think that stress could be part of such a habit? Yup, it can and it is.
Now. If you have included stress in that habit, then you will encounter stress every time you perform that habit (every time you enter a situation and start running your already programmed "script" [habit] for that situation). You already know this is true. But I will prove it to you one more time. In your life, there has been times, when you got scared and stressed, and when you encountered that same situation again, you immideately felt stress and fear. Your subconcious remembered the procedure, or pattern, or way, in which you reacted last time, and brought that back to you.
You also already know that you can change habits. You can improve habits, just as you improve skills. For instance, at your first drivers lesson, you were probably unsure and a little scared, something that is no longer the case, after years of driving. Your first day at school was much more scary than your 52nd day of school, wasn't it? The list goes on.
So to sum up, stress IS a habit, or part of a habit, and it is a habit you can change.
Stress, Part 2 - Is Stress Part Of Your Habits?
As I said earlier, you must become aware of yourself. Think of a habit, as a chain of events. Your mind is like a control center giving out orders. When you meet a friend, you start the "friend habit". When you meet a stranger, you start the "stranger habit". And so on. Of course I have simplified many things in my examples, and it is true that you probably have specific habits for specific friends, etc., and that things are much more complex than what I a describing here. But I believe you can understand what I am trying to say.
For example: you meet a friend and your mind starts the following chain of events (habit):
- You are happy
- you smile
- you relax your body
- you greet your friend
- you show you care
- etc
Your habit is ongoing, and as you can see, has many actions to it and many more than my example showed. It is of course also dependent upon what happens around you at all times.
Now I want you to consider the following: Is it possible that you may have habits in which you have included stress? Is it possible that you perform these every day? Do you maybe have habits which you carry out all day long, or many times a day, which include stress?
Could one of these habits perhaps look like the following? For example, you need to do a good job so you can: make money, advance in your career, not loose your job and save for your childrens future and your retirement. To achieve this, you have created the following habit, or something similar to this:
- you work hard
- you worry constantly
- you hurry to finish everything you do
- you don't pay attention to your body
- you tense your muscles
- you either drink, or eat, or smoke to relax
- you still feel tense when you try to relax
Is is possible that there is stress involved in performing this daily habit? Is it possible that this habit will cause negative effects after a while? The answer is of course 'Yes'.
So, like I said earlier. You must become aware of yourself, the habits you perform, and remove or reduce the stress from them.
Stress, Part 3 - Getting A Frame Of Reference
So why do I need to remove this stress again? Because when you are stressed, you tense your body, your muscles and ligaments. These muscles and ligaments in turn, squeeze your arteries close to your ear(s), which produces tinnitus. Not to mention how removing stress also has lots of other, very desirable, effects.
So how do you remove stress? I believe the best way is to do the following. First you must understand why you should change. This step we've just done above. Next you need to fully understand how stressed you are. This is achieved by you experiencing a state of peace.
Now, those of you who meditate regularly and have spent a few years actively practicing deep meditation, you should already have this reference of knowing what peace feels like (or should feel like).
But for the rest of you, let me explain. Imagine 'Stress' and 'Peace' on a scale. 10 is 100% stressed out verging on a heart attack. 0 is so peaceful that your heart beats only once per minute with your mind being completly blank.
Unfortunately, the level you currently 'think' you are at and the level which you are 'actually' at, are often two very different things. You might think that you are at level 2 or 3 when you feel relaxed. But for many people, they have never been at level 2 in their lives. Since they've never felt a level 2, they have no reference for it. Many people assume that they are at level 2 when they are actually at level 5 or 6. If these people think level 5 is being relaxed, imagine what stressed feels like to them and how unhealthy it is to never relax.
What I am getting at is this: you must get a frame of reference of what it feels like to be relaxed, AKA, WITHOUT STRESS. Think about the time in your life when you felt the most relaxed ever. How often do you experience that feeling? Once in 10 years? Just when you wake up? Relaxing in the bathtub? Sitting in front of the tv or reading a book? Whatever it is, consider that perhaps this state is actually a stressful state compared to true peace.
In order for you to achieve true peace, you must first realize that it exists. This is usually true because few people go looking for something unless they know or have some idea of, what it is they are looking for. Even if they found this thing, they wouldn't even know they had it, since they don't know it exists. Even fewer people go looking for something they already think they have. If you think you have peace, you won't go looking for it. Even if you don't have peace, it is enough that you 'believe' you have peace and you'll never search for it. So you must get a referance, a glimpse, of what true peace can feel like. Only then can you start walking towards it.
Stress, Part 4 - Achieving A State Of Peace
I have a test you can do, so you can get a tiny tiny glimpse of what peace is.
Keep your upper arms next to your body and extend your lower arms out in front of you, as if you were about to clap for something. Put the palms of your hands together. Your elbows should be at the side of your body and hands should be straight out in front of you, somwhere around your belly area. Whatever is comfortable to you. Make sure your palms face eachother and keep about 30cm, or a foot, of distance between your hands.
The exercise is to slowly push your hands together until your palms gently meet, then slowly pull them apart again until you have the 30cm distance again.
Lets start. Push and pull your hands as slowly as you can, as if you were the most relaxed you could be in the whole wide world. Please try it once. Yes, do it now.
How it it feel like? Were you as relaxed as you've ever been? Almost certainly not. So do it again, yes again, BUT this time, cut the speed you moved your hands IN HALF. Yes, in half. Now do it once more please (yes, I'll wait for you).
How did this feel like? Did you feel any impatience? Did you feel that it took a long time? Or did you feel any other resistance or reluctance to do this? If you didn't, then do the exercise once more, but TWICE as slow as you did it last time. Now, this impatience and resitance that you are feeling, is your level of "stress" or activity right now. You want things to move at a certain speed. If you force yourself to do things slower, you become impatient and perhaps a little cranky? Just as (perhaps) you might get when you are stuck behind a slow driver on the road or a slow walker on the street.
The point is, that peace is found by lowering the speed in which your mind and body wants things to be done. The test I made you do is actually part of an exercise in reducing stress. As you do this exercise, you force your mind and body to reduce it's speed, and so, achieve a deeper level of peace.
Stress, Part 5 - The Peace Achieving Exercise
You can do this exercise now or later on, it doesn't matter.
If you can, find a dark place or put something in front of your eyes so your eyes can relax. Find a quiet place or put really soft music, nature sounds or a masking noise for your tinnitus, to help your mind relax. Remove other distractions. If you are cold, get warm. If your back hurts, lie down, etc. Just get comfortable. Make sure you have some time and won't be disturbed.
First, shake your hands lightly, as if getting rid of water after washing your hands. Then make a fist with both hands and flick your fingers out quickly 3 times, as if expelling water. Imagine you are expelling tension and that your hands are getting soft and relaxed. Shake your hands again lightly. Now flicker your fingers 3 times, but at a slower speed than before. Then do 3 more flickers at an even lower speed. Then a final 3 flickers at the slowest speed you can do.
Secondly, put your arms out in front of you like you are about to clap. Put your palms against eachother, roughly in front of your belly area. Whatever is comfortable. Pull your hands apart, palms facing eachother, until you have about 30cm or one foot of distance between them. The push your hands slowly together again.
Do this movement as if you are the most relaxed you have ever been in your life.
Then do this movement 7-10 more times, but for each time, you MUST cut the speed of your hands IN HALF from the last movement. Relax and tell yourself that the impatience and resistance you may feel just means that it is working. Just relax as much as you can.
After these 7-10 times, or how ever many more you want to do, you will start to glimpse what peace is or can be. Image that you can go much much deeper than what you are at right now, but just reaching this point should feel pretty good.
Stress, Part 6 - Removing Stress From Your Habits
I made you do the exercise above so you would gain a reference between the level of "stress" you currently are at and what peace is or 'can be'.
A master of Tai Chi, Qigong or similar disipline, has a much lower stress level than normal people. You can call it being grounded. I used to be pretty grounded, but life threw me a few curveballs, and somehow I stopped working at it, which was a very VERY stupid decision.
Anyway, once you understand what peace can be, you can recognize your own stress in comparison to peace. Now you know why you need to remove stress and you know the level of peace you need to aim for. Imagine going on a great adventure of peace, walking through uncharted territory, each day attaining a greater insight of peace and yourself and improving every day.
The last step is then to remove the stress. To achieve this, you must become aware of yourself. During the day, take moments here and there and bring your attention to your state of mind AND your "state of body". Take notice at how relaxed your mind and body is. Then try to relax yourself further. Notice is you are tensing your shoulders or if your mind is running at high speed. Ask yourself: is this stress required? Very often, you will find that it isn't required.
An important key to eliminating stress is to realize that stress and speed of action are two seperate things.
In other words, you don't need to stress in order to perform something quickly. You already know this. Because things you are good at, you can do very quickly yet your mind stays in a peaceful state. However, often times, your mind will increase your stress level to do something quickly, even if there is no cause for it. In time, this increased stress becomes habitual, and you stress more than what you have to without thinking about it. So what you must do is ask yourself if this stress is required and to try to do the task without stress. You'll be surprised.
I also recommend doing the exercise above every day, or engange in a meditative disipline such as Tai Chi or other. This will, over time, gradually lower your stress level. Your mind will slowly understand that it does not have to spend its life between level 5 and 8. Your mind will gradually lower itself to live just as effectively and successfully between level 2 and 5.
The final key is to 'think' about relaxing your neck, shoulders and back muscles. Throughout your day, you should notice if you are tensing yourself and mentally tell your body to relax these muscles. Doing this, in conjuction with the physical softening of your muscles, will help remove your tinnitus.
Stress, Part 7 - Will This Work?
One beauty of our human condition is its predictability. Once your mind and subconcious begin to understand what peace is and how much better it feels than stress, your mind and subconcious with both be naturally drawn to peace. This will help you tremendously, since previously your mind and subconcious were probably resistant to changing as it involved work with no clear benefits. But by getting your mind and subconcious both "on your side", "they" will both work with you and both attempt to achieve the peace you want to gain, with less effort on your part.
As long as you keep doing the exercises and keep working at it, you will almost certainly naturally alter your habits to reduce and even remove stress from them, and your mind and subconcious will try to make it a habit, which is what you want in order to remove your tinnitus.
Sitting
Now that you know about stress, it should be evident that many of the same things apply to your sitting habits.
You might say: but why do I have to work on my sitting positions? What you need to do is determine which habits you have that are tinnitus-producing. Then you must work at changing those. Sitting habits is just one of the areas that are likely to contribute to tinnitus. This is because you tend to sit habitually in the same ways. If you sit incorrectly, it will eventually cause you discomfort. Therefore, you must become aware of how you are sitting and ask yourself: is my posture correct? Am i putting tension in my shoulder or neck? Should I change my chair, or adjust my chair? Should I put a pillow on my chair? Are my arms supported when I am writing, reading or on the computer? You need to be aware of your body and adjust yourself accordingly. Perhaps you sit perfectly all the time and sitting is not producing tinnitus for you, or maybe it is. Whatever your case, you need to search through all the areas of your life to find all the tinnitus-producing habits you have.
Sleeping / Lying Down
What I said earlier also applies to this and the below categories. I just want to add that when lying down, you need to consider your neck position. Is your neck position tensing your muslces or is your neck and head "jammed together" putting preassure in your neck? This is one of my problems. Perhaps you need to change your pillow or even matress? Be aware of your sleeping and lying down positions.
Driving
What I want to add here is that many people put their arm on the window or door area. Also, many people drive with one hand in the 10 or 2 o'clock position of the staringwheel, and the other arm in the 5,6,7 o'clock position. Long-term, these positions could (not will, but could) contribute to your tinnitus. For me, shortly after I start to drive my car, I'll have increased tinnitus because of my driving position.
Being On The Phone
Do you smash your phone between your head and your ear so you can talk while doing the dishes, working, or doing something else with your hands? Imagine how that position clenches your neck muscles and the effect it can have on you after years of doing this.
Walking / Standing
Another area to be aware of yourself in.
Working Manually
Another area to be aware of yourself in.
Step 2.2c - Products
Again, here are some of the products that either worked for me or I believe may be helpful to you. It is up to you to find what you believe will work for you. These are also available in the menu to the left.
--- Short Term ---
Neck Pillow
The Cervical Linear Traction Neck Pillow can help restore the normal neck C- curve, help you improve your posture, and relieve back and neck pain.
Stress Relief
To learn more about stress, I recommend the "Relaxation & Stress Redution Workbook".
Or if you need a basic introduction to stress and relaxation, then the "Stress & Relaxation Explained" DVD might be for you.
Posture
If you want to learn more about posture, I suggest you buy either Janice Novak's book or DVD. This lady knows her stuff.
Meditative Music
These are great at becoming more relaxed and gaining peace. Have them on as you meditate, do yoga, Qigong etc. Have them on in the background as you work during the day, relax in the evening in front of the fire or when you sleep.
--- Long Term ---
Qigong
This is one of the best Qigong DVD's out there. Having practiced Qigong myself, I can tell you that this the real deal! Excellent for beginners and anybody can do these exercises. You will not only learn to relax to help reduce your tinnitus, you'll also help heal your body and calm your mind to find a more profound sense of being.
Yoga
I haven't tried this yet, but I am mentioning it here because my friend swears by it and I believe it is an option to consider. In addition to stretching ligaments, Yoga is also great for the mind. You will gain inner peace doing Yoga, which will help you relax more in general. So I recommend this option.
Bath Salts & Bath Bombs
Taking a bath helps you relax. Relaxing both physically and mentally helps to relieve you of your tinnitus. Bath salts and oils are beneficial in soothing your sences and relax you further.
This Is All Great, But I Need Relief From The Sound RIGHT NOW!
I understand what you mean. You need the sound to disappear right away. All I can say is that I suggest what I explained above. But in addition to the sections listed above, you can also read the 'treatable tinnitus' section found in the menu to the left, which should help you reduce even further the stress and panic you may feel right now as it explains why your mind creates much of the suffering you get from tinnitus and how to deal with it.
Final Words
Lastly, please read my Final Words found here.
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Disclaimer: This blog is not meant as medical advice. Always see your doctor before beginning any treatment. The views and opinions expressed in this blog are not based on scientific research or medical information and should not be referred to as an authority on Tinnitus. Improper diagnosis can delay proper treatment and/or do further damage. Therefore, the information in this blog, including self-diagnosis information, should be read with critical eyes and not accepted as truth. Only a qualified doctor can properly diagnose your condition. By reading this blog you awknowledge these conditions and assume all responsibility, without exception, for following, using and/or taking any advice, treatement, knowledge and other information from this blog and for the results your actions may produce. Again, always see your doctor before beginning any treatment or for any issue you believe is warranted.
