6 years and continuing . . .

[HissingSid]

I have had tinnitus for several years but was only diagnosed in April 2012 after I visited my GP and was referred to the Audiology Department in local hospital. I only have a mild hearing loss but I wear one hearing aid provided by Audiology to pick up surrounding noises that help in distracting the tinnitus sound. Basically, the loud hissing sound is continuously audible on a daily basis. I do have good days and bad days depending on where I am and what I am doing. At home I keep the radio on in the kitchen so that I hear that all the time. At nights I have tried a sound ball issuing different selected sounds but this was a failure as the sound ball is battery operated and uses up replaceable batteries quickly. Like my days I can have good nights and bad nights, though I often wake up just as tired as when I went to bed. As a vegetarian I do eat healthily but I have never tried any herbal treatments or medications (as I have been told there are none suitable that reduces tinnitus). I do walking as an exercise and this helps though only with surrounding noises of traffic etc that distracts me. I aim to contact Audiology again to see if a second hearing aid worn will help in future. Apart from that I am willing to take note of others experiences here.

[NicBTA Partner]

Hello and welcome to the British Tinnitus Association forum. Do feel free to ask any questions, I hope that you find this a helpful and supportive place to help you manage your tinnitus.

We have some resources that you might like to check out in addition to our home here:

tinnitus.org.uk

takeontinnitus.co.uk

Helpline 0800 018 0527 (Monday-Friday 9am-5pm) (outside the UK you can call [phone])

Warmest wishes

Nic (BTA Communications Manager and Forum Administrator)

[HissingSid in reply to NicBTA]

I have found the forum very useful so far. The proof of the pudding will come in the eating once I get my Audiology appointment and hopefully receive hearing aids with masking that they currently have on order. Thanks for your reply and links.

[matthew222]

Hello good to hear from you!

How is your tinnitus outside your home?

I can rarely hear my outsid ethe house or a car.

Regards

[HissingSid in reply to matthew222]

When I am outdoors or travelling in a bus or train I do not hear the tinnitus as bad because of all the other distracting sounds in my immediate surrounding areas. Having the radio or tv on at home helps too as I can concentrate on what I am listening to or watching. It is at night with the hearing aid out when I’m in bed that the tinnitus can be at it worst as I’m surrounded by silence then.

[matthew222]

Hi there, may I ask can you still hear things without hearing aid at night? I guess it's not as good as it would be with a hearing aid but would higher volume help? When I'm going to sleep I put more then one sound on as only white noise doesn't really much help me but together with other sound it seem to do the trick. Do you have smartphone or tablet? As there's an app with different sounds that you can play at the same time to give a distraction at night time.

[HissingSid in reply to matthew222]

My tinnitus is loud at night when in my bed and I have ordinary hearing aid only and I was told not to wear it in bed in case the soft plastic piece becomes embedded in my ear. I hope to get 2 hearing aids with masking when I see audiologist on 13 June.

[Ingrid-p in reply to matthew222]

I don’t think hearing aids should be worn in bed, best ask the audiology department