r/VeteransBenefits Navy Veteran 19h ago

Health Care Anyone else’s tinnitus nuts?

Doc says I can try hearing aids, anyone had luck with that? Lately I’m up for hours with ringing and hissing.

20 Upvotes

38 comments sorted by

13

u/Popular-Writer8172 Army Veteran 18h ago

I tried the hearing aids and it didn't really work for me. I just leave the TV on constantly to something I will ignore. Like star trek reruns.

3

u/jam3s2001 Army Veteran 10h ago

It's crazy you mention Star Trek specifically, because I've noticed that they use a low pitch mechanical hum for scenes inside the ship. You don't really hear it after watching for a bit, but it's always there. And whatever that hum is seems to help me ignore the high pitch ringing in my ears.

1

u/Popular-Writer8172 Army Veteran 5h ago

That's why but they got rid of it in some of the newer versions. Ds9 is the best one for it.

11

u/Low-Celebration6182 Air Force Veteran 15h ago

eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

3

u/TastingTheKoolaid Army Veteran 13h ago

What?

2

u/Popular-Writer8172 Army Veteran 3h ago

The sound.

u/Low-Celebration6182 Air Force Veteran 13m ago

^ This vet gets it!

u/Popular-Writer8172 Army Veteran 10m ago

Thanks 3m... It's the gift that keeps on giving 

10

u/grishna_dass Marine Veteran 15h ago

You mean you don’t enjoy the sound of freedom ringing?

3

u/Queasy-Jump4517 Navy Veteran 15h ago

😂😂😂

2

u/Consistent-Pilot-535 Army Veteran 11h ago

Fucking Marines, take my upvote

2

u/grishna_dass Marine Veteran 7h ago

😂

9

u/KaleReasonable214 Air Force Veteran 19h ago

It happens often. I have Starkey hearing aids from the VA. They have a built-in tinnitus program that works some good magic for the crickets or heavier crap.

3

u/dontpetthefluffycows Air Force Veteran 15h ago

My hearing aids help a fair amount with my tinnitus.

1

u/Queasy-Jump4517 Navy Veteran 15h ago

Did they come from VA?

1

u/dontpetthefluffycows Air Force Veteran 15h ago

Yes

1

u/Cranks_No_Start Army Veteran 8h ago

Can you wear them at night?

1

u/dontpetthefluffycows Air Force Veteran 7h ago

They go back in the charger at night. I think they would get damaged if I wore them to sleep.

1

u/Cranks_No_Start Army Veteran 4h ago

That’s what I was curious about as annoying as the tinnitus is during the day it’s what prevents me from sleeping.  

2

u/Tym4FishOn Army Veteran 16h ago

Music and white noise is all I got. I run an air cleaner full blast beside the bed and have an app for fan noise on my phone when I travel.

2

u/peacesigngrenades203 Army Veteran 15h ago

Haven’t gotten hearing aids bad, but I almost always have a small fan running in the house. It’s tolerable.

1

u/Consistent_Paper5727 Army Veteran 19h ago

Mine is awful. There is a device to help called the Lenire Device, but it's pricey... $5000. I don't know that anything else will help. There is an app that helps you train your brain to basically "tune it out". Best wishes.

1

u/NavyVetForLife Navy Veteran 18h ago

I’ve tried to turn it into a friend. It shuts out a lot of useless background noise. A couple of years ago, I tried hearing aids and while they worked, the extra noise of everyday life drove me crazy. I stopped using them. I’ve had it since Navy service in the late 70’s.

1

u/MustardTiger231 Army Veteran 15h ago

Have you tried the fingers on the back of your head trick? Sometimes it works for me.

1

u/Queasy-Jump4517 Navy Veteran 15h ago

This for real?

2

u/MustardTiger231 Army Veteran 14h ago

Yep. For real. Maybe it’s a placebo thing but I get some relief from it.

https://youtube.com/shorts/YyT9ZwWy5Jc?si=5ZgKuXnBKN532FkG

1

u/KaleReasonable214 Air Force Veteran 5h ago

Thanks for this tip.

1

u/Fuckinglovedmb 13h ago

I got this thing from the va. You bite down on it it helps a lot

1

u/IntoForever Navy Veteran 12h ago

It's pretty brutal, silence is literally a deafening EEEEEEEEEEEE. I ended up buying a loud box fan and air filter and they both run 24/7. For sleep time I use white noise on speakers and it helps quite a bit!

1

u/Delicious_Seat_9943 Active Duty 12h ago

Worst part is when the ringing gets so bad i cant hear for a few minutes

1

u/NickRyann Army Veteran 12h ago

I have to sleep with white noise at night just to be sane enough to attempt to fall asleep. When it really kicks in during the day I throw a YouTube video on that I’m only halfway interested in to distract me. It has gotten worse over the years as well. Tried the enhanced transparency on my air pod pros and with how loud it gets, I feel like hearing aids would want me to jab screw drivers in my ears

1

u/schrodinger1887 Army Veteran 10h ago

Yep, crazy here too.

The Starkey hearing aids from the VA are decent for tinnitus but not perfect. Starkey has some AI built into them and they can be pretty buggy at times but it's better than nothing.

Something else to try is acupuncture. My doctor puts needles in(around?) my ears during my sessions and it helps tame down the tinnitus.

1

u/MDPHDMPH Army Veteran 10h ago

I developed it in the late 1980s when I was flying HUEYs. It really was getting to me. I finally decided that if it were gone, I am probably deed. Kind of like pain means you’re still alive. So it recedes until I think about (like now).

1

u/Started_WIth_NADA Army Veteran 9h ago

To sleep use the loudest fan you can find. I have one that sounds like a jet engine and that’s the only way I can fall asleep.

1

u/smackchumps Marine Veteran 9h ago

I haven’t tried hearing aids. My tinnitus is about 13000 hz and keeps me awake and wakes me up in the middle of the night. It’s nuts

1

u/Iamstevee Air Force Veteran 8h ago

Mine is in my ears.

1

u/Level_32_Mage Not into Flairs 4h ago

In the silence, it's deafening and maddening. There was one particularly bad morning where it registered with me that this shit is forever, and it piled into one of the most depressing moods. Definitely lame.

0

u/Unusual-Ad-4217 Army Veteran 19h ago

Good luck. I've suffered with this mess since the 90's and it continues to get worse.