The best advice I ever got about my tinnitus was from my mom, who has worse tinnitus than I do: "just forget about it". I know that might sound difficult, but honestly, just try. When you notice it, reassure yourself that it's not really a big problem, and then turn your attention to other things. If you are successful with this, eventually you will only notice it when you remember that you have it and listen for it.
A couple of the things I used to tell myself when it troubled me more than it does now:
- There's nothing you can do about this, so just forget about it.
- We all accumulate damage as we age. None of us are going into the grave in prime condition and if we do, that's a mark of a life not well-lived.
- The fact I can hear this noise means I'm alive: "I hear ringing, therefore I am".
These may not be helpful to you, so invent your own!
The other thing I would recommend is getting a hearing test. If it turns out you have hearing loss, then treatment for that (e.g. hearing aids) may reduce your tinnitus (one theory is that tinnitus is caused by your brain "turning up the gain" on your "audio inputs", so that when you have a hearing aid, your brain no longer needs to do that, and your tinnitus diminishes).
If it turns out you don't have hearing loss, then you can reassure yourself that your tinnitus is not a sign of any damage. I had always assumed my tinnitus was the result of damage due to a lot of music events but it turns out I have excellent hearing, which helps me ignore my tinnitus, because I no longer view it as proof that I hurt myself.
You may also notice that certain things make your tinnitus worse. For instance, if I have a few drinks, mine gets noticeably louder. But because I know the alcohol will wear off, I just ignore it because it's temporary.
One tip that was indeed helpful in learning to ignore it, especially when I was new to tinnitus was: don't keep checking your tinnitus level. Once I stopped checking "Do I hear it now? Is it as loud?" I started minding/noticing it less.
It's interesting advice. I don't even consider myself as "having tinnitus". However, if I sit in a quiet room and concentrate I can certainly hear a background whine. I feel like I have always had that. Is that tinnitus?
It’s a good question and the jury is sort of out on that. That is what tinnitus is like, yes, but on the other hand, in an exceptionally quiet environment it is possible to hear things like the blood rushing in your ears - and tinnitus can also manifest as a roaring sound. I think it is fairly normal to hear something in very quiet environments, even if you don’t have tinnitus.
With that said, my advice to you is, don’t do that. ;) Maybe you have it, maybe you don’t, so probably best to just ignore it, because it’s not a problem unless you start paying attention to it.
Interestingly, having this conversation on HN has made mine more noticeable, so, I better move on too!
A couple of the things I used to tell myself when it troubled me more than it does now:
- There's nothing you can do about this, so just forget about it.
- We all accumulate damage as we age. None of us are going into the grave in prime condition and if we do, that's a mark of a life not well-lived.
- The fact I can hear this noise means I'm alive: "I hear ringing, therefore I am".
These may not be helpful to you, so invent your own!
The other thing I would recommend is getting a hearing test. If it turns out you have hearing loss, then treatment for that (e.g. hearing aids) may reduce your tinnitus (one theory is that tinnitus is caused by your brain "turning up the gain" on your "audio inputs", so that when you have a hearing aid, your brain no longer needs to do that, and your tinnitus diminishes).
If it turns out you don't have hearing loss, then you can reassure yourself that your tinnitus is not a sign of any damage. I had always assumed my tinnitus was the result of damage due to a lot of music events but it turns out I have excellent hearing, which helps me ignore my tinnitus, because I no longer view it as proof that I hurt myself.
You may also notice that certain things make your tinnitus worse. For instance, if I have a few drinks, mine gets noticeably louder. But because I know the alcohol will wear off, I just ignore it because it's temporary.