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Posted by gregsadetsky 10 hours ago

I made tinnitus my friend, then it disappeared [video](mynoise.net)
101 points | 77 comments
numlock86 44 minutes ago|
I got rid of mine for a year thanks to a comment on HN. The only reason it came back is because of my lack of discipline. It's bearable as I only notice it when I actively listen for it now. Anyway, I am sure this would just work again.

So there was a comment that claimed it was related to bad neck posture. Being a keyboard warrior in my late 30s at that time I suffered the same issue: Tinnitus and generally bad posture. I figured that even if that wasn't true, working on my posture might be a good invest either way. So a couple of YouTube videos later I started working on it. Turns out the process to straighten your neck - even after like three decades - with just some casual invest everyday only takes about a month or two. To my surprise the tinnitus was actually also gone.

As I haven't build a real habit around the exercises eventually a bad posture came back, and so did the tinnitus. Both are generally not as bad as they were before, though.

10/10, would do again.

tomtom1337 32 minutes ago|
Could you explain more about what "straightening the neck" entails in terms of exercise? I'm interested.
numlock86 19 minutes ago||
> I'm interested.

And so was I when I first read about it! I just looked for random YouTube videos that walked you through exercises of how to get rid of your neck hump and bad posture. Most were a mix of exercises that had you basically do the opposite, like lay on your back with a rolled up towel under your shoulders and push your head on the ground, or some general posture exercises like pushing your shoulders back and tense up your neck in a straight position.

I'd recommend to look those up for yourself, as I am terrible at explaining and not a professional, haha. I can't give any specific recommendations as I simply can't find them anymore. But trying to look for them made me realize again just how many there are ...

cogogo 6 hours ago||
Over the years I have seen a few threads on tinnitus. I have it very mildly and doesn’t bother me much. On the other hand I have had “floaters” in my eyes since I was a teenager (probably just when I noticed them). Until I saw a doc I thought I was going blind but apparently they run in my family. They are like visual tinnitus and my god do they drive me crazy. I find wearing sunglasses helps me ignore them but they can be brutal. I am a big skier and in flat light they drive me bonkers. Not sure I have seen these discussed here but maybe I missed it.
ColdStream 5 hours ago||
As someone with both as well, yeah they are there but really they don't bother me.

I cannot change them so I don't worry about them, they are just little my little floating jelly blobs friends that visit when I am at my computer.

mgfist 4 hours ago||
This is the only way. Gotta gaslight yourself into liking them lol
jagged-chisel 4 hours ago||
One need not like them to be familiar
foxylad 1 hour ago|||
Same, tinnitus and floaters. And the number of others with both makes me wonder if they are correlated.

I've lived with my floaters for twenty years or more, but sometime on a recent holiday the biggest one moved slightly to obscure the central vision on one eye much more often. Now when a floater in the other eye drifts onto the central area, I just can't focus. I have to flick my eyes to the side hundreds of times a day, and it's annoying enough that I'm considering a vitrectomy.

blltprfmnk 1 hour ago|||
Have both. Also had floaters since at least teen years. Neither bother me substantially although I think I have lost most of 8 kHz volume in my left ear and have tinnitus that I think matches that frequency.

You know what does bother me?

The scintillating scotoma as well as retinal migraine symptoms, the former starting in middle school and latter in my 20s. Fortunately neither is frequent now but damn I used to break into a cold sweat with either and to this day am a bit reluctant to drive because of both.

zxexz 2 hours ago|||
I had floaters for years, they slowly disappeared. Occasionally start coming back again and disappear. When they disappear, I initially kinda miss them, because I start using them as stopwatch. Just spent 5 mins checking; I don't have any right now. I really think I would enjoy having one or two of different sizes and speeds, permanently. I guess that's just wishing for a superpower.
andai 2 hours ago|||
Anecdotal but I heard some people with autoimmune issues have their floaters go away when they change their diet in a way that improves the autoimmune symptoms.
Barbing 6 hours ago|||
That stinks, sorry to hear.

It's mentioned when tinnitus comes up, or when dark mode isn't available. Couple months ago, someone recommended a supplement that it seems could easily(?) be DIY'd in case it's snake oil (even if it's more expensive, then they don't "win"!) :)

https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=false&qu...

cuasijoe 4 hours ago|||
Start eating pineapple, you will be surprised of the effect on the floaters.
JimTheMan 4 hours ago|||
There's something to be said about HN, the supposed rationality and intelligence of the forum, and the massive blind spot posters have about anything medical or otherwise biological.

There is no scientific consensus on it!

Although I doubt there's any harm in eating more fruit.

XenophileJKO 4 hours ago|||
There is some actual science here, just the studies aren't great. I have floaters and stumbled on research out of Taiwan related to this. Mostly out of Tiawan. There is some possible confirmation from Italy, but the study was a cocktail treatment, so you can't isolate the bromelain effects.

What I haven't seen is any properly controlled study proving it false. Just a cluster of researchers in Tiawan with flawed study construction.

SubiculumCode 3 hours ago|||
One can always get the surgery, where they vacuum them out..doesn't seem worth the risk to me, even if they annoy me.
Auracle 4 minutes ago||
I believe there’s a laser surgery to break up the big ones that’s would have far less adverse side effects (though, I suppose maybe the chance of something even worse).
shermantanktop 4 hours ago|||
Interesting. This is from personal experience? Has anyone else eaten pineapple and had a similar experience?
wlesieutre 4 hours ago|||
Apparently the subject of some small studies, could do with some replication

https://www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/health-and-nutrition/pinea...

shermantanktop 2 hours ago||
Interesting. Summarizing: pineapples contain a compound which breaks up collagen. No proof it does that to the human body, or floaters specifically.

But if it did, I’ve got terrible collagen and so I won’t be eating pineapple everyday, regardless of what the Taiwanese pineapple council would like me to do.

andai 2 hours ago|||
Pineapple contains enzymes that digest flesh. I don't know if that's relevant here, but it seemed worth mentioning.
cataphract 5 hours ago|||
I have both as well. Floaters are mildly annoying, but at least when you lie in bed at night you don't see them in the dark.
jwrallie 4 hours ago|||
There is also visual snow syndrome to keep you company at night.
ungreased0675 3 hours ago||
Wait, that’s not a thing everyone sees when they close their eyes?
SubiculumCode 3 hours ago||
Apparently not, but it also seems like everyone does, lol
stronglikedan 1 hour ago||
Maybe it's like a dimly lit room. Some people can fall right asleep while others will say they can't sleep unless it's completely dark, but it's the same amount of "distraction" either way.
mgfist 4 hours ago|||
Lol I actually do see them in the dark. Not as much but still there. I've gotten used to them at this point thankfully
volkk 2 hours ago|||
also have floaters. there have been moments in life where i overfixated on them for a month or two at a time and would think theyre getting worse. and then i would get busy with something (like having a child) and i would forget about this problem entirely and then randomly remember they exist. the brain is very good at ignoring things.
deepsun 2 hours ago||
Your brain keeps ignoring like 25% of what you see -- your nose. Unlike blind spot, eyes really see the nose, and differently so depending on where you look.
ysavir 6 hours ago|||
I've had them all my life. I remember watching a some video a few years back that said they're more noticeable against a bright/white background, which checked out with my past experiences. And judging by your skiing comment, probably for yours as well!
baggy_trough 5 hours ago||
I have the same problem. Some good mitigations are dark mode on the computer and using very dark, yellow/brown alpine sunglasses in bright sun.
Sindisil 6 hours ago||
It's almost certainly my own damn fault I have it, but after at least 35-40 years dealing with it,tinitus sure as hell isn't my friend.

Mine is high pitched, and varries in intensity but has gotten worse lately. Sometimes it makes jus existing down right hard, but usually it's only moderately annoying and I can mostly ignore it.

I've tried an assortment of sound based methods to mask it or train my brain to tune it out, but nothing has worked more than fleetingly.

The only thing that reliably gives me a break is if I can really focus on something. Music (passive or active), cooking, and programming are the most reliable, but sometimes reading, gaming, or good conversation works. Usually, though, everything is done with a constant backing track of flyback transformer whine.

Wear hearing protection, kids, or you may well live to regret it!

fowlie 5 hours ago||
Amateur musician with mild/moderate high frequency tinnitus here. I was treated with exposure therapy, and while I hear the sound (less now than before) it doesn't bother me any more. I would recommend a book called "Living Well With Tinnitus". Good luck!
cheschire 6 hours ago|||
I remember about twenty years ago reading a method on a forum somewhere for dealing with tinnitus to create temporary relief. Many folks claimed to experience relief from trying it. Maybe it will help you?

It was text back then but nowadays there are videos. Here's an example: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/YyT9ZwWy5Jc

Barrin92 6 hours ago|||
>tinitus sure as hell isn't my friend.

what the author is advocating for "befriending tinnitus" is a well established form of therapy (Acceptance and Commitment/ACT), it's generally very effective because avoidance or compensatory behavior ("trying to make the tinnitus go away / distract myself") is teaching the brain that tinnitus is a problem and is only going to increase the kind of alertness that leads people to focus on their tinnitus. It's the same way with insomnia, people who try to produce sleep efforts tend to worsen their insomnia, you need to befriend being awake.

There's a big psychological component to tinnitus that sustains itself because people view tinnitus as a problem, that's often larger than the physical impairment.

27183 5 hours ago||
I developed tinnitus in my right ear about 5 years ago. I remember exactly when it started. I was welding up a tailpipe repair on my car, and in the next bay over my brother was running the lawnmower to adjust the carbs. The exhaust was basically blasting directly into my right ear from a distance of about 10ft. I don't recall it feeling excessively loud at the time, but afterwards for about a two years I had really bad occasional ringing and occasionally I could hear "rushing" sounds very loudly.

About 3 years ago I used a borescope and some tweezers as a sketchy endoscope and pulled out a hair that had somehow wedged itself in my ear canal. I don't recall how I figured out this plan, but it worked. The tinnitus has never returned since then.

I have no idea whether there's any causal connections between any of these events. It's a big mystery. But TBH I don't really care that much, I'm just super glad it's gone.

27183 40 minutes ago||
lately I've been listening to this on repeat at full volume and the tinnitus is coming back a bit: https://youtu.be/4lzqUe1Qfec

but I don't care fuck it

kstrauser 2 hours ago||
I really, really notice mine when meditating. You’re in a quiet room. You pause to listen to the sounds around you. You most loudly hear “eeeeeeeeeeee”.

For myself, I noticed that observing it cheerfully, like “oh, hey, little whining sound!” makes it disappear into the background and I stop noticing it.

Geee 6 hours ago||
I have had occasional tinnitus, and once it lasted for a few months and then went away. Sometimes it appears suddenly, and I've taken vitamin B12 and magnesium and it goes away in a few hours. Vitamin D might also help according to some studies, but in my case I think it might make it worse. Not sure if placebo or not.
y1n0 6 hours ago||
of course even reading a thread on tinnitus makes mine worse. The mere fact of paying attention to it makes it worse, so I have a hard time seeing how a drug is going to help much. I do wish there was something.

Ostensibly mine is from high frequency hearing loss, which I absolutely have, but I now wear hearing aids and it has no measurable impact from my point of view.

I take comfort in that I can go long periods of time without noticing it, and I know that even though I'm focused on it now and it's loud, it will slowly drift to the background and below conscious notice before too long.

I certainly don't befriend it, but I when I notice it, I acknowledge that I notice it and move on with whatever I'm doing. Eventually I'll notice again, days or weeks later and realize I hadn't noticed it at all in the intervening time. So I just relax and move on.

Nursie 3 hours ago|
Very similar to my experience. I just woke up with it one day in my early 30s.

It drove me a bit mad at first, I wanted someone to 'cure' it and make it go away. Then I tried all sorts of things, I narrowed down the frequency (IIRC it's 13.5kHz) and tried masking by playing that in my right ear. I tried white noise. I tried 'notching' all my mp3s to remove that frequency band. I don't think any of it really helped.

But somewhere towards the end of all that I guess I started to accept it. It's here now because of this thread and sometimes it's present at night, especially if I drink too much, but most of the time I'm just not conscious of it any more. Occasionally I think it's actually gone-gone, but then if I 'look' for it then it usually returns.

The only way (for me) to proceed was to zen it out. Accept this is how it is and likely how it will be forever and suddenly it's just not very important.

Though I acknowledge that some folks likely have a harder time with that due to relative severity of the condition.

aappleby 8 hours ago||
I've had tinnitus for 25+ years after neglecting an ear infection while I was working overtime.

It's never disappeared, but the "rain on a tent" sounds from mynoise.net, fan noise, and having a Twitch stream on in the background masks it enough that it's not bothersome during the day.

"Befriending" it though? Naah, I don't think so.

darksim905 5 hours ago||
This page has so many dang scripts and the iframe doesn't do it any favors. I've allowed everything and it still doesn't load. There are far too few specialists that work on tinnitus and so many dental and ENT specialists choose to not take it seriously enough.

I have high pitched 7k hz bi-lateral ringing, 24x7. I've had it my whole life. I am convinced part of it is due to being born very premature (I was 1 lb 11 1/2 ounces). I believe it may be cervical and/or neurological (vascular, specifically).

It's so frustrating because nothing has happened. Masking only does so much. Sitting around reading a book, or trying to sleep is almost impossible.

I've been wanting to make a documentary style video on this diagnosis/issue, because a more people suffer like this than people realize. One medical professional that was helping me passed away a few years ago and that still eats away at me, because he really cared that he wasn't able to help me and it ate away at him. I still miss him.

tashi 4 hours ago||
Holy cow, that's a small baby! Congratulations on being alive!

It looks like good old fashioned jQuery, so I'm surprised your browser doesn't like it, but it looks like the direct link for the video inside the iframe is https://iframe.mediadelivery.net/embed/570723/69b827da-0ce9-...

im3w1l 4 hours ago||
Crazy thought but given that you have a pure sine frequency, maybe it would be possible to listen to an out of phase version of it to cancel. Same principle as noise cancelling except the noise is purely internal. Though I guess phase might drift over time making it not work. Still would be interesting to hear your results with this, success or not.
RoadieRoller 4 hours ago||
I had a strong feeling that I was developing tinnitus after my my usage of Apple's airpods[1] for meetings, video calls (personal and Official) and such, especially after years of Work From Home. I used to get puss from my ears, and sometimes that tweet/humming sound after a long day's use.

Later I switched to Bone Conduction headphones. I felt like BC Headphones has improved my condition a lot. No ear pain or puss or the humming noise. I hope it stays that way!

[1] - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35023808

arijun 3 hours ago||
Any in-ear headphones can cause ear infections from prolonged use, the airtight seal makes for a nice humid environment bacteria like.

The solution is to not wear them as long, especially right after a shower or the like, when there is extra moisture in your ear.

Alternatively you can put alcohol in your ears to kill the bacteria, sort of like you’d do with mouthwash. Any pharmacy will sell over the counter ear drops with alcohol, meant for drying out swimmers ear. You’d have to keep doing it once every week or two, but it would keep the infection away.

Moonman08 4 hours ago||
I’ve always wondered if it was my AirPods causing the tinnitus (or my acids reflux). Maybe I should give them a break and see what happens.
zelphirkalt 5 hours ago|
I don't even know why I have tinnitus. It's not end of the world bad tinnitus, but sometimes does get a little annoying. It is louder in the evenings/nights than in the mornings. I have it since primary school 4th grade or so, when I realized I have it, because an old teacher described her own tinnitus. But as far as I can remember there was no very loud sound event before that causing the tinnitus. Maybe it comes from bad posture or so, already in primary school. Too heavy school bag with too many books? Who knows. Have had it ever since. Most effective masking method for me is sound of rain whitenoise like that rainymood website.
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