#TinnitusAwarenessWeek | Tinnitus Week 2018 // Cubex Weekly TIP | Jan 25, 2018 - FibroFlutters Patient Advocacy Organisation

#TinnitusAwarenessWeek 5th – 11th February

An opportunity to help raise the understanding of what tinnitus actually is, and the adverse effects it can have on its sufferers.

Cubex Weekly TIP – Tinnitus Week 2018 | Jan 25, 2018

Opening Lines > Cubex Weekly TIP – Tinnitus Week 2018:

This week, Adam speaks to the Chief Executive of the British Tinnitus Association, David Stockdale about the impact of tinnitus, the incredible work of the British Tinnitus Association and the Tinnitus Week 2018 campaign.

Cubex Weekly TIP – Tinnitus Week 2018

Home Page > Cubex – Independent Hearing Healthcare since 1964

About Cubex > cubex.co.uk/about

GET INVOLVED

British Tinnitus Association > www.tinnitus.org.uk/get-involved

Tinnitus Research Initiative > www.tinnitusresearch.org/

Download this :

www.tinnitusresearch.org/index.php/for-clinicians/diagnostic-flowchart

Tinnitus Hub > www.tinnitushub.com/

American Tinnitus Association > www.ata.org/

#TinnitusAwarenessWeek 5th – 11th February

An opportunity to help raise the understanding of what tinnitus actually is, and the adverse effects it can have on its sufferers.

I’ve had a constant high-pitched, whiny, ringing in my left ear for approximately 20 years and have only known for a about 11 years that it was indeed tinnitus. I thought it had been less time… but maybe that was me, secretly, making myself younger on my tweet earlier!

😀

“I didn’t even know what tinnitus was when I was in my early twenties!”

In the earlier days getting to sleep was a perpetual problem and not understanding that I had tinnitus certainly didn’t help when visiting the GP to ask for help. I didn’t even know what tinnitus was when I was in my early twenties, also, back then it wasn’t constant like it is now and has been for approximately the last 12 years. It would come and go quite randomly this noise in my head, and, I had no idea where the high-pitched whiney ringing was coming from, which also remained the same pitch.

Unfortunately for me in the early days it was also around the same time that my hypermobility was causing me severe pain and dislocations/sublaxations, especially my knees. Having unstable mobility, severe pain and chronic fatigue from lack of sleep saw me being treated by a psychotherapist which did not help my case either!

“Depression was causing the pain” 😮 “I was really told that!”

Of course I was at the beginning of my 20 year journey to diagnosis so was put on all kinds of medications to help me sleep and lift my mood, or to help with pain management, but none of them stopped the ringing in my ears. The medications weren’t helping the pain either but apparently that was all in my head along with the tinnitus which I didn’t know was that! Just assumed the tinnitus would go away as it wasn’t persistent back then.

Depression was causing the pain 😮 I was really told that!

So! logical thinking on my part just assumed they must be right, after all I didn’t know any different and back then you didn’t have Facebook, or, Twitter and “Google That” was no-where being a hit phrase. Not to mention mobile phones that were massive things with a boingy wire attached to something like a battery from an electric wheelchair.

Oh! and yes, that also means that there was no Wikipedia either, not that I use it! 😉

The point is that in today’s age of technology, social media & healthcare marketing, the ease of sharing information from one place to another with just a few clicks of a mouse is that we can freely advocate for, and be educated about the condition with ease across the Globe.

“Just assumed the tinnitus would go away as it wasn’t persistent back then”

The attacks of tinnitus never seemed to be for long but were quite random and I didn’t know my triggers. Talking to friends one day and tinnitus came into conversation and then a year or so later I realised it was what had been nagging my head for a number of years. Little did I know that it would end up constantly ringing with no direct ‘off’ button.

After a while I discovered that I could turn the volume of my tinnitus down by drowning it out with a fan that buzzes at a deep monotonous tone, and have actually recently found that the sound healing sessions I attend are helping to reduce it. I can’t explain how but the couple who run the sessions have said a few people have related to their tinnitus reducing, or even going away. Only time will tell and if it does go away I will announce it 🙂

I believe that my Tinnitus

Affects my balance and co-ordination, which then in turn affects my mobility etc.
Disturbs my sleep.
Affects my ability to hear people properly when there are lots of conversations going on “excuse-me, could you repeat that please?”
Can interfere with my cognitive abilities when ‘flaring-blaring’, basically when tinnitus is unending and loud.
Doesn’t play well with my noise sensitivity