cehlbeck
New member
I followed this thread with interest as I have tinnitus. Mine has worsened the past few years in that it now interferes with my hearing. Mine is also accompanied with a slight to moderate hearing loss. Hearing loss often goes hand in hand with tinnitus.
But there is help. First off preserve your hearing.
The fan trick at night really does help as do "sound machines". There are also "white noise" apps for many smartphones. Those were all things that my audiologist recommended as well as the Tinnitus Retraining Therapy (TRT) I was placed on. The idea is to train your brain to ignore the tinnitus the same way it ignores the hum of the refrigerator. I was told to not drown out the tinnitus with the sound therapy but to let them mingle. The office said all motorcyclists should really wear some sort of earplugs and they recommend the etymotic brand (etymotic.com), which I was already wearing. They said plugs with a valve are always better than those without and especially better than foam.
Silence is your enemy with tinnitus. You will hear it more when it is quiet.
This morning I went to the next step. Hearing aids with sound generators. Before they were even programmed and were just "aiding" hearing I was impressed. I now constantly have the low white noise in my ears (like the sound apps) but for me it is much less intrusive than the ringing. In time I will learn to ignore it I'm told. We intentionally stopped at a restaurant on the way home I always had problems in with my hearing. It was like night and day. I was lucky that my hearing loss is slight to moderate as the sound generators have far less channels than your typical in the ear hearing aids. Mine and I believe most if all sound generators are behind the ear aids. Mine are worn with glasses too. You can barely see them also.
But THEY ARE NOT TO BE WORN when riding. When riding it's time to remove them and rely on earplugs which for now means hearing the ringing.
Just know that there is help out there as technology moves forward.
But there is help. First off preserve your hearing.
The fan trick at night really does help as do "sound machines". There are also "white noise" apps for many smartphones. Those were all things that my audiologist recommended as well as the Tinnitus Retraining Therapy (TRT) I was placed on. The idea is to train your brain to ignore the tinnitus the same way it ignores the hum of the refrigerator. I was told to not drown out the tinnitus with the sound therapy but to let them mingle. The office said all motorcyclists should really wear some sort of earplugs and they recommend the etymotic brand (etymotic.com), which I was already wearing. They said plugs with a valve are always better than those without and especially better than foam.
Silence is your enemy with tinnitus. You will hear it more when it is quiet.
This morning I went to the next step. Hearing aids with sound generators. Before they were even programmed and were just "aiding" hearing I was impressed. I now constantly have the low white noise in my ears (like the sound apps) but for me it is much less intrusive than the ringing. In time I will learn to ignore it I'm told. We intentionally stopped at a restaurant on the way home I always had problems in with my hearing. It was like night and day. I was lucky that my hearing loss is slight to moderate as the sound generators have far less channels than your typical in the ear hearing aids. Mine and I believe most if all sound generators are behind the ear aids. Mine are worn with glasses too. You can barely see them also.
But THEY ARE NOT TO BE WORN when riding. When riding it's time to remove them and rely on earplugs which for now means hearing the ringing.
Just know that there is help out there as technology moves forward.