Tinnitus Ear Plugs

Tinnitus Ear Plugs - The high-pitched noise of a circular saw can cause permanent ear damage and most likely tinnitus. ALWAYS wear high-quality ear protection.

Tinnitus Ear Plugs - A Complete Waste of Money

I've had tinnitus for years. I don't know when it started, but it was decades ago. It's possible it was occupational due to all the loud noises I encountered daily on the construction job site.

On a scale of 1 - 10, with ten being completely debilitating, some days I'd have an 8 and as I type this it's hardly a 1. I've never been able to connect why it goes up and down.

How to Cure Tinnitus

Fortunately, about five years ago I discovered how to control and cure tinnitus. I'm a ham radio operator and one night around a campfire at the base of Mt. Washington in New Hampshire Laura O. Robertson Au.D. shared how I could kick tinnitus to the curb. She's a doctor of audiology with an office in Laconia, NH, and I was astonished at her advice.

HA HA HA! Photo courtesy of Indian Hills Community Center in CO.

Step One of Tinnitus Cure

The first thing to realize is the jury is still out as to the exact cause of tinnitus. But what is known is how your brain reacts to the noise no matter if you have tinnitus in one ear or both.

The key to cure tinnitus is to re-train your brain and tell it that the sound you hear is not a threat. I know that sounds crazy, but here's what's going on.

Deep in your brain and DNA lies a survival mechanism. It's why you turn your head when something moves or comes into your peripheral vision. It's why alarm bells go off in your brain when you're out in the woods and hear a twig snap nearby. Your brain is firing up the flight-or-fight response. It SENSES DANGER and FOCUSES on the sound or what you see until such time as you make a decision if what you see or hear is a danger.

When you say to your brain, "Oh, that's just a dog chasing after a frisbee. No big deal", your brain ignores the moving object and goes back into the scan mode.

Or, if you say to your brain, "Heck, that was just a stupid small dead branch falling from a tree," your brain relaxes and believes you thinking it's not a threat.

Step Two of Tinnitus Cure

Your job when all of a sudden you begin to NOTICE the tinnitus is to IMMEDIATELY tell your brain, "Hey, no big deal that sound is NOT A THREAT."

Here's the issue. For years when I'd hear the tinnitus, I'd FOCUS on it especially if it was above level 5. Focusing your attention on the sound and thinking about it SCREAMS to your brain, "WATCH OUT, this sound is DANGER!" This is the worst thing to do and it just makes things worse.

Step Three of Tinnitus Cure

You re-train your brain easily as Laura taught me. The moment you hear the tinnitus sound, you must immediately do something that requires concentration. It can be something as simple as mopping a floor, solving a crossword puzzle, starting to bake brownies where you focus on measuring ingredients, etc.

The instant you do this and the SOONER you do it, you're telling your brain, "That sound is harmless. We've got work to do! Let's go."

Step Four of Tinnitus Cure

This is the advice Laura gave me and it worked. Within one month, ninety-eight percent of my tinnitus was gone. Well, it may have still been happening but I no longer noticed it. At first, it takes a bit of effort to start to concentrate on something else because you've been in a rut for years thinking about the sound. 

Believe me, you'll be amazed at how well this works. It's now been years and my tinnitus has been completely under control since I did all of the above.

Please let me know how this works for you!

This column was mentioned in the March 20, 2022 AsktheBuilder Newsletter.