My Secret Life - Page 2.
Most people remember the year 2000 because it was the year that the dot.com bubble burst, and they lost all their money. But I remember the year 2000 because it was the year that I first discovered "white noise" sounds on the internet. After searching for help with my Tinnitus on my computer, I discovered sites where I could download sounds of rivers, trickling streams, waterfalls, rain of the roof, and on and on. After a quick download, and then placing a copy onto a small mp3 player, and a quick hookup of the earbuds that came with the mp3 player, and I was set to go.
I can still remember the first night that I hooked up my mp3 player with the sound of rain playing, and then plugging in my earbuds. As I lay in bed waiting to go to sleep, I swear, the sound of the rain was the most beautiful sound on earth. It was so soothing. And it seemed to completely drown out the screech..... It was a miracle. It was incredible. And over time, it seemed like the screech began to fade away....
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Fast forward to February of 2015!
I awoke one night, and I couldn't believe what was happening. The screeching was BACK, and horrifically loud! I panicked, and began to sweat -- good god, it was happening again........
I put in my white noise earbuds, but the screeching was too loud. Oh my god...... 37 years later, and I still have this sh#t!
I decided that it was time to go to an ENT Doctor and get some real answers. So, off to the ENT I went. He took my blood pressure and looked in my ears. He talked to me a bit, and then gave me a prognosis: "Well, you seem perfectly healthy and there's nothing in your ears that looks out of line. This condition is normal with hearing loss, so I'm sending you to an audiologist to get a hearing test. Let's talk after that".
"But Doc, what should I do in the meantime?"
"Well, you'll just have to put up with it until then".
"F##king great, thanks!"
It was going to take a long time to get my audiology test completed and to get back in to see my ENT, so it was time for me to go to work figuring out what to do about this screeching. I began scouring the internet, reading anything and everything I could about Tinnitus.......
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I went to the audiologist as prescribed. Her name was Dr. Stephanie. She asked me a few questions and I explained to her about my Tinnitus and how long I'd had it. She seemed unconcerned about the condition, and proceeded to open the testing booth door and asked me to sit inside. I will admit, the thought of sitting in a soundproof booth with TOTAL SILENCE scared the sh#t out of me. I was in a cold sweat as I stepped in to the booth. Good God, help me get through this! Then she began the test, which surprisingly, I got through just fine. The hearing test showed that I had a hearing loss at the 8,000hz frequency level in both ears, worse in the left ear.
So, back to the ENT I went. He sat me down and told me that, other than some upper frequency hearing loss, my ears looked great. Then, he started to ask me questions about how I was dealing with the Tinnitus.
"Say what!! This sh#t sucks, okay!!"
I was a bit taken back that he would ask me this. I was here to hopefully have him help me. So, since he asked, I decided to give him more of an answer than I think he was expecting to hear, since I had spent the last 2 months studying Tinnitus .......
I explained to him that studies in Europe had shown that permanent Subjective Tinnitus is almost always a condition caused by hearing loss. Auditory sensory neurons in the brain are divided into sections by frequency levels. When the ear hears a sound, it is sent to these neurons, which translate each sound by its frequency. If a specific frequency level is not being sent, the section of neurons responsible to detect that frequency begins to mis-fire. This mis-firing is what causes the Tinnitus sounds inside your head. And, in most cases, it screeches at a frequency level of your hearing loss. Tinnitus isn't just an ear problem. It's a brain problem.
Then I explained "Audio Notching", where you determine the frequency that your Tinnitus is screeching at (7740hz for me), then create white noise files with that frequency, plus or minus 200hz, notched out. Since I was a musical engineer, I had software on my computer that allowed me to do this "notching" to white noise files on my own. I explained that another version of this technique, called "CR Neuromodulation" was also being used in Europe, but these files were much more difficult to create.
Then, I explained to him that while observing the Rain mp3 files that I had used all these years, I noticed that the sounds above 8,000hz were not there. In other words, I had been audio notching all these years and didn't know it. Recently, I had stopped listening to my mp3 at night because I was doing so well......
That was a big mistake, because, although Audio Notching quiets my Tinnitus, it doesn't cure it. I believe that when I stopped listening to the mp3 rain file at night, the Tinnitus came roaring back, just as before...
He sat there with a strange look on his face. "I've seen over a thousand people that have this condition. Every one of them wants to put a gun in their mouth and blow their heads off. None of them have any physical malady that I can help them with. Out of all of those people, you're the first one that was actually fighting back and had some answers. I've never heard of this before. I wish I could send people with Tinnitus to see you. It would give them some hope."
I guess that I was flattered at first, but it was disappointing that he wouldn't be able to help me. But the truth is, he is an ear doctor - he treats disease of the ear, NOT Tinnitus. So off I went, knowing that I had to treat the Tinnitus as I had before.....
Over the next several months, with the steady sound of audio notched white noise in my ears (yes, even while golfing), my Tinnitus once again came under control. But it was clear to me that the lessons that I had learned through the years must remain with me forever. Maybe I could take a break, but Tinnitus never will.....
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True Subjective Tinnitus treatment falls into the realm of the Audiologist. Most Audiologists today simply want to fit you with an expensive hearing aide that includes a white noise generator. That is their solution to Tinnitus. And I suppose, for mild cases, that works just fine. But for folks like me, who's Tinnitus can make their knees buckle, we need more help than that. Fortunately, in the last several years, many new Audiology Clinics are popping up around the country that do research and specialize in treating Acute cases of Tinnitus. I won't post clinics here because it is an ever changing landscape, and I will never be able to keep up..... But if you scour the internet and find a clinic that looks great -- Beware!! Many Audiologist's just want to sell you the latest hearing aide.....
So, when calling for an appointment, ask the simple question "do you offer sound therapy's for Tinnitus, such as Audio Notching or Neuromodulation". If they talk around the question, this is not the clinic for you.... An Audiologist that is truly treating Tinnitus will certainly be versed in these treatment techniques!
Also, I have created a list of treatment techniques that I have used over the years. If you wish for a copy, drop me a request at my email located on my "about me" page, and I'll send it to you. Please understand that these are things that I have tried. If you wish to try them, you do so at your own risk....
With love, DK.