Update December 2019

Well, it's been a couple of years now since my tinnitus spike. Just the dead of winter reminds me of that horrible season. 

Since then, I've waded through lots of articles, seen professionals, interacted on forums, tried things, and come to a few conclusions. 

I indeed do think I may have had the spike due to a mild concussion I'd suffered. Anxiety, tinnitus, neck and head pain are symptoms. But I didn't make the connection to the hit in the head early enough to at least see a possible cause and don't we all feel better if we can connect a cause?

My hearing test had been normal. Nothing I did was lowering the intensity. But over time, I started to get one, maybe 2, sometimes 3 days in a row with no tinnitus! If it was an ear problem, I doubt it would be like that. 

My conclusions are only that--nothing specific, nothing scientifically proven. I'm sure it is a brain disorder. 

Now, some on a forum got angry when I suggested diet was involved. I noticed spikes after certain beverages. They closed my post at such a ridiculous assumption. But if it is in the brain, it could very well have a connection to the nerves that travel to the brain. The vagus nerve is the main one that runs from the stomach to the brain.

Fascia is fascinating. It is fibrous spiderweb-like tissue that surrounds organs, glands, neurovascular bundles, and are a passageway for lymph, nerve and blood vessels. Adhesions and problems with fascia cannot be diagnosed as it is not seen on an MRI, x-ray, or CT scan. There is no obvious way to see adhesions but scientists are not investigating fascia issues as being a contributor to chronic pain. Could it also be a contributor to tinnitus? If tinnitus is described as the brain picking up sound vibrations from somewhere other than the auditory nerve, could it be from fascia?

I also learned that fascial adhesions may not be in the exact spot one feels pain. While we tend to work on the painful area, something further down in our body even across the other side could be the real bound up location. 

I heard from other tinnitus sufferers that they also had trapezius pain. I thought I did but was diagnosed with scapular spine arthritis. The pain isn't in my trapezius after all. 

I don't know if the tinnitus is related to that issue or not. I did several physio sessions to address my posture and dowager's hump as well as this scapular pain. I also more regularly used an Ashley Black fascia blaster adding the face blaster to work areas, especially in the upper body. I feel all seemed to contribute to less intense tinnitus. 

Most of all that is important to any person who is new to this is to not make the tinnitus your focus. I know, that sounds absurd. The more you focus on it and trying to cure it, the more power it has in your life. The more inward-focused you become the more anxiety you may have.  

Anti-anxiety pills (non-habit forming type) helped me deal with this new dilemma and I saw a psychotherapist to talk it over with.  

At the same time, I had to quiet voices that would say there is nothing you can do about it. I still refuse to believe it. As a Christ-follower, I know God can still do miracles. 

So my advice for new sufferers is to try an anti-anxiety pill, counseling, to try not to focus on it, to try fascia blasting with a face blaster, or get a massage and physiotherapy. 

Others have said you will habituate. I guess that means learn to live with it. That is true. It eventually will lessen and you will cope better in time. 

What I had tried to do that evil winter was attempt to calm my PTSD and amygdala-hijack myself. My son even bought me a weighted blanket which I love to help me be less anxious. But I spent lots of time lying on my back (gaining weight) as I thought calming myself might rid me of the tinnitus. It didn't.  

Tip April 2019

I've been faithfully using a neck support gel pillow when sleeping. It keeps the head fairly neutral. I believe this is helping minimize the tinnitus. 

I recently had Bowen Therapy  and I'm not sure there has been any correlation of it and my tinnitus. It does oddly seem to have helped a sore knee though. 

Do shoulder shrugs, use neck support, and do arm circles. See if it helps. 

Tinnitus Reduction Tip for February 12

I'm fortunate my tinnitus lets up every few days. Not as consistent as I'd like, but I'm always glad when it does.

Sometimes it lets up after I've had good sleep. But not always. 

The last two days have been good--very quiet. The only key I can see is I took 3000 mg MSM with 100  (Buffered Vitamin C) Calcium Ascorbate before bed. While I took it before bed, it sometimes keeps me awake so earlier in the evening is preferred. 

MSM is sulphur the body needs. It is known to loosen cells and restore flexibility and elasticity. It is not toxic and a person can take as much as they want. Read more here. 

I also take Magnesum Citrate with L-Taurine in the same capsule before bed. 

I'll keep an eye on this protocol and hope it settles the tinnitus down completely. 

Tinnitus Reduction Tip for Today

So I've been all around the circle where Tinnitus is concerned and today landed on this video.

I can concur with many of his points. Many of them relate to anxiety too. Anxiety and tinnitus are about being in your head too much.

He points out that wanting to be safe, we sometimes go on high alert, listening for danger. I used to say I had supersonic hearing because I could hear sounds others couldn't like creaks or dogs barking and so on. But I think I have a tendency to be hyper vigil. 

I know at times, in prayer, I will stop to listen for God's voice. I may listen too intensely as that practice also makes me hyper vigil. 

I have a dog I let outside in our fenced yard. Though I live in the country, a neighbour once called to say our dog was barking too long while he was trying to sleep. Now I'm hyper vigil, listening for the dog. It's interesting to note that even when she's not out there I sometimes imagine I'm hearing her. I've trained myself to be hyper vigil. 

The same goes for listening for the dryer to finish. Listening to creaks in the house, and so on. 

So one point is to train ourselves to be less hyper vigil. 

The example Julian in the video gives is they put a number of people in a quiet room and when they came out 93% had tinnitus. Because people look for sound as a way, I suppose, of self-protection. 

This hyper vigil habit needs to be curbed to conquer tinnitus. 

This is also what we mean when we say not to tune into the tinnitus or go looking for it. When I awake, I often go looking to measure it. I DO have some days of quiet, so I measure if it will be a quiet day. 

A problem I have is I often awake with a stiff neck too. So in doing my neck and shoulder exercises, I get stuck in my head and the tinnitus starts. That's partly because I felt there was a connection. I think, perhaps, tuning into my neck pain makes me too much in my head. 

Well, I want to go on with Julian's points, but for today, let us pursue calm and safety and not tune into sound so much. 

That's point one of likely a long list of tips I'm collecting for myself.