Tinnitus: Causes and Measuring sounds

There are 4 installments in this series links below
Part 2
Tinnitus: Causes

Today I’m going to talk about causes again. I spent a lot of time in a noisy truck. I often stood outside the truck talking and working, not thinking about the effects this could cause later on. It makes me mad that somewhere alone the line I didn’t hear about this problem. No one said that long term working in a noisy environment could do this. True I should have known but where is the campaign to warn people. When you get that yearly check up why isn’t there a brochure they give you that warns: protect your hearing.

My dad also has Tinnitus; he worked in the coalmines. I never thought riding inside a truck could be as noisy as working around mining equipment. I wonder at times if there is some way to link this to our family genes. My mother doesn’t have it. Only my dad and no other person in my family has it either. So I assume it comes from being around constant noise.

Sound Meter:
Did you know that you should be wearing earplugs when you sweep, blow dry your hair, mow the grass, or flush the commode. Sorry couldn’t resist that last one. I checked the volume of sound when you flush the commode it’s loud. Many things are louder than you think. You expect to wear earplugs when you go shooting. Go to a NASCAR event or a music concert.

I wonder did you ever consider popping in a set of earplugs when you mow the grass, or sweep, or ladies when you blow-dry your hair.

Here is a link to a good chart. Just copy and paste it into your browser. It will give you an idea how loud things are, compared to the amount of time to be around these noises. I’ve read that prolonged exposure to sound/noise levels as low as 70 db can result in damage to hearing.

http://www.gcaudio.com/resources/howtos/loudness.html


Daily life with Tinnitus:
Now that I have Tinnitus I use earplugs as often as I can. I warn you at times when you first remove the plugs the sounds of your own Tinnitus may seem more noticeable. I would rather be reminded of my Tinnitus than to have it get worse. My dads roaring in his ears, is really bad, he can hold a razor to the side of his face and hear the roaring sound, over the razor.

So I suggest that though it might seem to bring your Tinnitus to your attention it’s better than having it grow worse over time. So please buy you a pair of earplugs and use them. You too can buy a Sound Pressure level Meter. They are not too expensive and it’s a good way to teach yourself and your children what a safe level of sound . . . really sounds like.


I'll have a quick wrap up tomorrow tune in.
Samanta



Part one is here on this page
Part 2 Tinnitus: Causes and Measuring sounds
Part 3 Tinnitus: Final Installment
Part 4 Years later

Tinnitus Years Later

There are 4 installments in this series links are below 


Part 4
Prayer and Great Faith 
I hope that my blog on Tinnitus has helped in some way. Maybe it helped you to have the faith that you will survive. Maybe it taught you to be careful of your ears and to wear ear plugs to protect your precious hearing. Maybe it helped you to help a loved one or a friend that has had this issue or is still dealing with it as we speak. 

Looking Back 

It's been a long road since 2009.  I still remember with ease the doctor looking at me and saying, 'there's nothing we can do just turn the radio up louder.'  Years later there are only days now and then that I even think about my tinnitus. Most days it fades into the background. But I still keep fans running, and fish tanks bubbling to make sure that I don't have a reason to look for that high pitched whistle that so often came into my field of hearing. My dad also has this issue, and his is worse than mine so I still do my best to protect my hearing. I often put in ear plugs when I blow-dry my hair, or when I mow the grass. One could even wear them when sweeping and should. I'm so thankful to God that he's given me the peace and healing so that I can live with this disease. 

Forgetting Tinnitus

If you are a family member or a friend of a person that has Tinnitus please don't ask them how they are doing. Don't say how is your hearing, or do you still hear that high pitched whistle. That is the worst thing you can do. It could have been a good day for them up to that point. They may not have thought about their ringing in days and now you're few words could cause them to focus on their issue. Some people hear a roar, some hear a whistle. I have even known of a few people that hear actual music.   But what ever you do don't ask them how they are!!!  NOW if they are just beginning their trials you can suggest things to them and I'll list a few of them below in the next section. 

Tricks, prayers, and healing

I'm sure it's different for everyone, but for me I've used what some call white noise to help. You can keep fans running, bubbling fish tanks.  Wearing ear plugs in the beginning can only enhance the tinnitus sounds so I suggest wear them only when you need them. For me early on wearing a headset also didn't help so I would just turn on the stereo. For me also sitting on the porch in the spring was helpful the noise of the bugs helped a lot. You can buy cd's with different kinds of sounds, now I guess it would be mp3s for most of us.  Storms, crickets, rain can be a soothing effect.  

Also just in general staying busy. Read or watch a movie if you're having a bad day, the worst thing you can do is to think about your problem or to focus on it. If you have noises in your house that make it worse, or make you think of it, like an old freezer that hums, then get rid of it and get a new one. My Granny used to have a light pole that would hum at night and it would drive me nuts because I would think is that me or that stupid light pole. 

Praying and singing, can be of great help, and call others and ask them to pray for you, or fast, or be anointed with oil. All of these can help your faith grow and help you to understand that God is bigger than anything and that with his help, you will get through this DAY. 

Yes don't think about this as a long term thing because as time goes by you will heal mentally and though the sounds may not leave you will learn to live with them. There will be days too, that the sounds will go away, it will just not be there, and you might not even notice it because in time life gets better. 

But for those bad days, get out of the house, call someone, laugh, or cry, and let life creep into your mind so that you can focus on something other than your own troubles. Blessings to you and know that God is bigger and that you can do this!!!

Thanks and I pray that my words help you in some way. 
Samantha 



Part one is here on this page
Part 2 Tinnitus: Causes and Measuring sounds
Part 3 Tinnitus: Final Installment
Part 4 Years later

Allergies & Writing

You may say what. Has Samantha lost her mind. What could Allergies and Writing possibly have in common. Well, to be honest, they may not have a lot in common but they both have plagued me this week. So I'm telling you all about.

First of all, they both can hit you at a moments notice. You're not expecting this visit either from your muse or your Allergy Fairy. You may be standing in a line waiting to pay a bill or buy stamps and something happens that triggers a sneeze or a story idea.

What do you do? Grab a tissue if it's the sneeze, but if its a story idea you try to hold it off until you can find a pen and something to jot some notes on. But the story is coming fast and you're getting the first few lines and there's nothing to write on!

You look to your right and then left, but everywhere you look there is no paper. You have a pen in your purse, or maybe you'll steal the postmasters pen. As you're searching the story line is growing, and you're frantic that if you can't hurry and write some of this down it will be gone forever.

Isn't it strange how the muse works. It wants what it wants, where it wants. So always have a pen and paper, or a mp3 recorder, or in my case all of the above and some allergy medicine, hidden away in your coat pocket.

I hated to let you guys go without a new blog, for this Monday, and though this isn't much. It may save you a trip to the doctor or gain you, that next bestseller.

Happy Writing
Samantha

Tinnitus: Final Installment

There are 4 installments in this series

Tinnitus: Earplugs
Part 3
I'd like to talk about Earplugs for a moment. If I could go back in time, I would wear earplugs while inside and outside of that old truck. I would take better care of my hearing. I would try to explain to others more often; that we need to be careful when around anything that makes a noise over 70 db, especially if it is for an extended amount of time.

I suggest that you find some good websites, check the levels of noise you are around on a daily basis and decide if you need to invest in some good earplugs. You can have them made by a professional to fit your ears, or you can pick up the cheap pair at your local store. Which ever you choose please protect your hearing, and pass on this information to anyone you feel is putting their hearing at risk.


My hearing is still good, you don’t always damage you’re hearing ability, when you get Tinnitus. Some people do loose their hearing but I managed to avoid that, somehow. I am very careful now when I’m around loud noises. Sometimes if I forget to wear my plugs while blow-drying my hair, it does seem to irritate the sound in my head.

Adjusting
When you have Tinnitus it can be annoying to say the least. It's hard at times to hear those little noises, like if you leave the water running in the sink, is there a small beeping sound in the other room or is your ears playing tricks on you. I often will ask someone, do you hear that, and I'm relieved when they say 'yes I do.'

When you are alone you must just get used to going to look for some strange small noise. One small way to figure it out is to place your finger in your ear for a moment and if the sound gets louder, then it's just you. My dad has a roaring sounds, most of the time I have a whistle, or like a turbo whinging, for those of you that have been in a truck.

Sleeping

I can sleep now without any white noise, though the fish tanks are always running. You can also get those small water fountains, or maybe run a fan at night. Out of all the things that I’ve done I know prayer, and faith in God has helped me most of all. I focused too much on my problem in the beginning, but as i said i didn't have anyone to talk to about this that wanted to do anything but depress me.

I needed someone to say, hey wake up out of that slump and focus on something besides the whistle in your ear. I thought many times about writing this article and finally decided that I just had to do it. I know that talking about it makes me hear my ears more, but in a few days that will pass and I'll be back to just me.

So if this is all new to you, just calm down and put on something good to listen to. You will get used to it, it will come and go. there will be days that you don't even think about it. There will be days when it's raining or the weather is doing strange things and you will want to find a good cricket to sit beside you. But those days pass and you'll have a good day. I personally enjoy a good shower, the water running is a great way to get a break when the noises get a little loud.

Wrapping things up:Most of all take away from this article that you can become you again. Life can be enjoyed, you can survive with Gods’ help. I know I’m repeating myself but its true, the more you can put this ringing or roaring in your head out of your mind the better off you will be. Stay busy, don’t talk about it, don’t keep searching out some new article. Learn that the best way to move on is prayer, fasting and forgetting.

I can’t comment on some of the over the counter items. I don’t know if any of them work or not. I prefer to just hang on to God and take it one day at a time. Many days I don’t even hear it, and here lately as the winter months drag on it seems to be having good days and bad days. I hear that sweet little jingle in my left head now.

I’ve learned to accept it, learned that it’s my little pet, learned that I’m still me and I will be just fine. I hunted today for a poem that the Lord helped me stumble upon one day and I'm irritated that I can't find it. It spoke to me one day when i needed something special.

The best I can recall it spoke of a melody that God put in this young woman's mind, it was for her alone. No one else could hear it. It was her blessing in some way, well I took those words that day and thought. This is my blessing, it's hard to look at it that way at times, but I wonder would I be the person God wanted me to be if I didn't have that little melody in my head.

Love & prayers
if you have any questions please don't hesitate to ask.
Samantha


Part one is here on this page
Part 2 Tinnitus: Causes and Measuring sounds
Part 3 Tinnitus: Final Installment
Part 4 Years later


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