Any Divers with Tinnitus??(ringing in the ears)

[agilis]

Quero was a lifelong tinnitus sufferer. She once told me that she had not known a moment of silence in several decades. Like most of us with long term severe tinnitus, she developed coping strategies. Her tropical home was filled with splashing fountains and tiny cheeping frogs. The sound of running water is among the best sounds for masking tinnitus. When I heard the tragic news of Quero's death I immediately thought of many things she had shared with me regarding our common affliction.

I've had tinnitus ever since a howitzer exploded a few dozen yards from me 45 years ago. I can't complain, though, all things considered: there were other people a lot closer. The tinnitus came and went, waxed and waned, and was reasonably tolerable for years, but got worse as age reduced my upper level hearing. What happens is the brain sometimes decides to fill in the missing frequencies with an unpleasant ringing/buzzing sound. Some tinnitus is caused by drugs; antidepressants and antibiotics are frequently implicated.

When things get very bad I use drugs like Lorazepam that sometimes help, and also specially designed hearing aid size noise maskers that can cover the tinnitus with a kind of adjustable and pleasant white noise. Over the long term this kind of tinnitus retraining process reduces the level of tinnitus for some people. Even if it does not, it can make bad episodes more bearable. I use (boring) books on tape and recorded relaxing music played through earphones for those nights when the demon is so loud it prevents sleep.

Avoid aspirin, and avoid as many drugs as your health requirements permit. Avoid chocolate, alcohol, and caffeine, and stay away from any place that is very quiet. Background noise is a blessing. Meditation and yoga have been useful. Scuba diving over a live reef is great. It's distracting, and the crackling sounds from the millions of shrimp do a beautiful job of masking tinnitus.

I've been told by friends at the VHA that the most common injury affecting troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan is tinnitus. IEDs are very loud. Perhaps some improvements in treatment will be developed. Right now, there isn't much. There are a lot of scam artists growing rich on other people's misery, so do some serious reading. There are a lot of us out there, so don't give up hope.

 

[Aruba Bobs]

I am glad I found this thread. My ears have been ringing for several years. I never knew what it was. I have over 500 dives in and tomorrow I am leaving for a 2.5 month dive trip. Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao. I will try to remember if the noise goes away when diving. I have always run a box fan at night so it never keeps me up. That's a very great trick. Run a box fan on high beside your bed. If anyone snores, The other person will be glad for the fan. You just have to get use to it for maybe 3 nights. Then u r hooked. We have to carry fans every place we go or we can't sleep.

 

[lunula]

I have suffered with tinnitus for years now, I've seen multiple specialists and tried every single therapy, drugs and eliminations (salt, caffeine, etc.) they could think of to no avail. I also have TMJ and most of the specialists think the two are related. I have just learned to cope - white noise machine by my bed (it's a God-send) and I have a white noise app on my phone when I travel. It doesn't go away when I dive, but it doesn't really bother me as I have learned to live with it. My biggest concern was that diving would make it worse, but so far that hasn't happened. I have to clear my ears a lot, and descend very slowly, so I am just gentle/careful. My tinnitus never goes away, it spikes sometimes and gets very loud, but it never stops. My hearing is excellent except for specific pitches...doc thinks those are the pitches of the ringing in my ears, so I cannot hear them.


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[H2Ocean]

I thought diving was the reason I have it. Not just slightly but it's an intense binnnnnnnnggggg!! Along with extensive off road racing, industrial earth work heavy equipment and total exposure to gunfire and explosive detonations repeatedly. I kind of have just adapted to it as a tuning fork of the Pacific, and I like it quite a bit. On the other hand...if I didn't like it, that'd be a big drag as the tones while diving are intensified and concentrated. So to me I have 2 basic choices in how I perceive my unique bell tone: 1 with scorn or a desire to eliminate it, which could distract even a micro second of time in what I love to do-diving, and give me a reason to find complaint. 2 let it keep time with the melody of nature, loving it, while it's singing to me-now I've changed it's entire effects to benefit my dives (it's how I interpret all things that my senses pick up, pain, severe physical and or mental, same thing, it's my body saying "hi!".) hope this helps not only you with the tinitus but anyone that might struggle with the need to "fix" or "medicate" some bodily reaction, when after all, it's all perfectly natural.

 

[DiverDoug]

Interesting. You see it intensified when you dive, whereas I see it essentially eliminated when diving.

 

[jilsi]

hi bro, as you are a scuba divers and you feel tinnitus for about 3 years , so you can take help from homemade remedies that will help you and help others who are a diver . so you just see Tinnitus or Ringing Ears and Its Treatments and then tell yourself that it is perfect or not . it will sure help you to get rid of tinnitus . so why are you waiting for?:blinking:

 

[DamaRampante]

HI I have tinnitus since many years and never bothered about it but just recently after many dives in egypt after recovering from a cold I notices the sound had consistently increased, check with ENT and did full hearing tests my left ear (which suffers a 1/2 level barotrauma) is just slightly less receptive as my right one but no major problem, still feel is not compensating straightforward but was able to dive with no problem. just wanted to know if you think continuing diving will make my tinnitus become worst...

 

[ibj40]

I have had tinnitus in my right ear for at least 15 if not 20 years, and can't really say that it has ever been influenced by diving. Like a lot of others who also suffer this condition, I have just learned to cope with it.

 

[Kharon]

I've had tinnitus since I was a toddler. My mother decided that the highest pressure possible from a bulb syringe was the best way to remove ear wax. That went on for years and years. I was probably in college before I realized that everyone didn't hear this way.

For my entire life my ringing has changed volume and pitch with no rhyme or reason. But it was always there. When I think about it, I notice it. When I'm busy, not so much.

It might be that it really isn't any louder after a dive, it's just more noticeable because it's been in the background and unnoticed for a while.

 

[mcpowell]

If y'all would quit mentioning it, I wouldn't think about it, and I wouldn't hear the ringing in my ears.

What everyone else is saying...

Except that I like the quiet. I don't like background noise for the sake of noise, as I like to stay tuned to my environment. I am going to try to pay attention the next time I dive to see if mine goes away.