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.
For people without tinnitus, I recommend you check out 'Section 1 - To Those Without Tinnitus' in the menu to the left.
For people with tinnitus, please read on.
FIRST OFF!!! If your ears are ringing and you are in a panic. RELAX!!!
Unless you have an serious and acute injury, and not "just" ringing in your ears, chances are that you'll be ok. Try to calm down. You'll get through this. Don't make the problem bigger than it is. I know how you feel, because I have been there not long ago. You are going to be ok, so relax. It's all just new, scary and OMG OMG OMG. But no need to panic yet. Only a very small percentage of people have extreme tinnitus. For many people it goes away. For many people, tinnitus is curable, and for all people, tinnitus is treatable. So relax and know that you're gonna be ok. I currently have tinnitus and, after the initial adjustment process, my life is still pretty much like it was before. There is a good chance that this scenario will happen for you as well. So calm yourself.
To quote Jack Nicholson's character (The Joker) in the 1989 Batman movie: Habba Habba Habba! Money Money Money! WHO DO YOU TRUST!?!
In every field, if there is a way to make money, somebody is going to try. Some people don't mind taking advantage or bending the truth in order to get paid.
Other people honestly mean well and want to help, but even if they mean well, that is no guarantee that they will give you correct information. I've met many people who have tinnitus. Many have given me their honest advice, which they believe is true, but which I at times know is 'not completly true', or wrong, or only true for a certain type of tinnitus.
In addition, people are also habitual creatures. Many people rely on habits to do their jobs and don't stay current with new developments in their fields. These people have been taught something sometime ago, and this is all they know. There is no will to understand issues further, to learn and innovate, and these people often respond negatively to anything else than what they have been originally taught, since it doesn't "fit" what they already know. Unfortunately, there are many people who behave this way. People that are stuck in their daily habits and are not constantly learning to try to find a better way. The medical field is sadly no different. You must always remain open to new ideas and have a "try before you buy" mentality. Meaning, don't just blindly accept (buy) the information given to you, until you have had a chance to verify that it works for yourself (try).
These (above) are three good reasons why misinformation and misdiagnosis is part of the "tinnitus field".
I fully admit that I am no expert. I addition, I also hope that the advertisement you see on this page, will at least pay for my operating expenses. But I am also a regular person, who has bought products that didn't work, been misdiagnosed and left with the only option to self-diagnose my own condition. Which I did by reading as much as I could find on the subject and remaining open to all possibilities. This means that even if I am not an expert, I can honestly say that I do know a thing or two about tinnitus and about experiencing tinnitus from a 'patient' point of view.
I know this blog may contain incorrect information, even if I don't mean to and I've tried all that I can 'not to'. Which is why I encourage you to question all that I say, get a second and third opinion. This is after all, only a blog, where I express my personal view and thoughts on tinnitus. However, I also see so much misinformation out there, a lot of which I know I can help clearify, and I find very few sources that try to explain everything to a non-medical regular person, like myself. So if my choice is between doing nothing or doing something, then I choose to try and help, in the hope that, by doing so, somebody else may not have to go through what I did, or at least suffer less. Now apart from secretly hoping I'll become an overnight millionaire from this blog, I am mainly writing this blog because I wish somebody had already written one when I first got tinnitus. I am also designing this blog in the way I believe would instantly help a panicked tinnitus sufferer who is desperately searching for answers online and who needs help NOW. Hello. Is that you?
So in regards to who you should listen to and who you should trust. My best advice would be to read as much as you can, from many different sources. Try to understand the different kinds of tinnitus and the different causes of tinnitus. Then ask like Jack did: Habba Habba Habba! Money Money Money! Who Do You Trust?
That was my "pitch" and I'm sticking to it :-). You see, people with tinnitus can still crack a joke. After your first initial emotional period, for most people, life is pretty much like it was before.
So What Is Tinnitus?
Tinnitus can be described as either temporary or constant ringing, buzzing or hissing in one or both ears. The sound(s) range in volume from low to very high and can either be constant, pulsating or both.
Note!
Tinnitus is a sympton, not a cause. Tinnitus is also a broad term, used to cover a whole range of conditions, all which have tinnitus as one of the symptons.
It is therefore paramount to find the cause of your tinnitus before you invest in any treatment or cure.
There are so many treatments and products that offer to help with tinnitus, but listening to 'white noise' will not make your allergies go away. Paying for 'sound ignoring' hypnosis will not physically readjust your clamped arteries. Nor is any amount of diet change likely to reverse damage to your inner ear. So first find the cause, then invest in the treatment.
What causes Tinnitus?
Everything from loud noise, stress, improper physical and mental habits, ear and sinus infections, allergies, ear wax, abnormal body design, high cholesterol and many other things, can cause tinnitus.
As you can see, tinnitus is a wide term with many possible causes. So to find out which cause you suffer from, it becomes necessary to segment tinnitus into categories, based on the cause.
Unfortunately, the are many many variables, meaning it would be impossible to write an easy to read blog and still cover every possibility. So for any real medical advice, see your doctor.
However, in an attempt to provide 'instant online help', from one tinnitus sufferer to another, I have done my best to provide easy to understand information, aimed to apply to most cases in general.
So, having said the above, if one attempts to segment tinnitus into broad categories (sometimes using prejudice), one can in general say the following.
The 4 tinnitus categories are:
- Normal Tinnitus
- 'Curable Tinnitus 1: Physical Illness Or Inbalance'
- 'Curable Tinnitus 2: Contracted Arteries'
- 'Treatable Tinnitus: Loud Noise Exposure'
The general cause for each category is:
- 'Normal Tinnitus' is caused by normal body functions and simply goes away after a few seconds.
- 'Curable Tinnitus 1: Physical Illness Or Inbalance' is in general caused by things such as an ear infection, improper balance in vitamins and nutrients, allergies and other factors.
- 'Curable Tinnitus 2: Contracted Arteries' is in general caused by a turbulent blood flow in arteries close to your ear, which produce sound. This again is caused by such things as stress, improper sleeping/working/sitting positions, issues with your jaw bones and also other factors.
- 'Treatable Tinnitus: Loud Noise Exposure' is (as you can guess) caused by exposure to loud noise.
How can I cure or treat my Tinnitus?
- 'Curable Tinnitus 1: Physical Illness Or Inbalance' can be cured or at least treated by healing the illness or inbalance in your body.
- 'Curable Tinnitus 2: Contracted Arteries' can be cured by either removing the muscle tension around arteries or alter the arteries.
- 'Treatable Tinnitus: Loud Noise Exposure' is permanent damage to your ear(s). If the damage is low, the tinnitus will usually go away on its own. When the culumative damage to your ear(s) reach a certain level, the tinnitus may become permanent (but the sound is often reduced some time after its initial occurance). However, apart from extreme cases, you can still remove parts or all of your suffering from treatable tinnitus. This is achieved by retraining your mind to ignore the sound(s) in your ear in the same way that you ignore the sound of your own breath, your stomach sounds, wind, traffic, humming lamps and electrical sounds like monitors and televisions.
How Can This Blog Help Me?
This blog is my attempt to give you as much useful information as possible on how to cure, treat and prevent tinnitus. From one tinnitus sufferer to another. I hope this blog will help you avoid unneccessary stress and worry by quickly gaining knowledge about tinnitus and by knowing that you are not alone.
In this blog I will (try to) explain tinnitus, how to diagnose your own tinnitus, why many people are mis-diagnosed and what to do about your tinnitus. I will also share with you my personal story, several procedures, tips and products that can help you and attempt to give you some emotional support.
So What Do I Read Next?
Please continue to How To Diagnose Tinnitus (Continue Here) found here (or in the menu to the left).
.
