Anyone successful in dealing with Tinnitus?

I thought I might be getting it intermittently, until I realized it disappeared when I turned off a ceiling fan.

This is my first post on this subject on the 'Gon. I'm not sure as to what the severity of my tinnitus is, as I have not seen an ENT about it. I've had tinnitus for about two years now. Root causes are: operating lawn equipment with no hearing protection when I was a teen; loud concerts; listening to the stereo too loud; and possibly (?) road noise. I've since taken measures to minimize these harmful things. The ringing is always there, but its level fluctuates. Things that seem to make the ringing louder are: road noise from inside the car; any high-speed fan such as a bathroom ventilator; playing the stereo too loud; and to a lesser extent stress, not getting a good night's sleep, caffeine and alcohol. Always seems to be worse in the evening/better in the morning. I'd like to throw out a few questions to those of you with tinnitus:

(1) Anyone find that road noise inside the car bothers your tinnitus? What do you do about it? I currently wear soft earplugs everytime I get in the car, as I have a long commute, but I'm worried that this is pushing earwax further into the ear canal. (side note: bring a decibel reader inside your car and see what the level is when going 70 mph. you might be surprised. mine showed 85-90 db)

(2)Does your stereo seem to aggravate your tinnitus? If so, did you make changes to your stereo? What changes? Did the changes help?

(3) How long/how often can you listen to your stereo before your ears say "enough!"

Thanks for your consideration.

I recently cut out my morning coffee routine, and this does seem to have helped.

My stereo listening level never goes above 75-80 dB on peaks. My bum gets sore long before my ears do.

Nicotico:

Your thoughts on car noise are interesting. Ear plugs impacting wax should not be an issue, if your ears are clean. The over the counter Murine kit is easy to use, though it may require repeated application, and it is not unlikely that reducing wax buildup helps with Tinnitus.

Listening fatigue (and possibly, Tinnitus) can likely be ameliorated by gear choices. For me, getting rid of metal drivers and moving to silk dome tweeter and paper mid-bass helped. "Hard-sounding" SS electronics might also be an issue.

Good luck, everybody!

John

I don't think this has been mentioned, and am not at all sure what value-worth this info has.

Years ago, I had this problem as well, a ringing in my ears. After working 30 years in a railroad yard, I think many can understand why.

I seen a ear doctor, he cleaned me ears, and suggested mega doses of Niacinamide, as there seemed to be some promise from some that were afflicted. I remember him saying one possible downside to taking Niacinamide, was flushing of the face.

I took the supplement for about 3 months, and don't honestly recall results from taking it, but after awhile, the severity of tinnitus seemed to recede to where only on a rare occasion do I hear some slight ringing for a few minutes at a time. Mark