Anyone successful in dealing with Tinnitus?

My doctor was straight forward in telling me that there is no cure for that yet. I have it. Most of the time you don't notice it. You learn to live with it.

FWIW, here's my experience so far.

Been an audiophile since 1968, never a headbanger, but listen often in the 80-90 db range. 

15 years ago, at age 60, I developed quite annoying tinnitus, loud enough that it competed with conversational level speech. I was concerned about deafness, a real loss for any of us. I had to "listen around" the noise to appreciate music. Ugly.

I found it was better if I listened nearfield, so I built up my office system, sitting 6 feet away in a quieter room.

After a  few years it had not gotten worse, and after a few more it was getting noticeably better. By age 70 it was no longer an active issue, and now at age 75 it has gotten much better. I don't really notice it unless I choose to focus on it. Probably 75% better. Enjoying audiophile pleasures again.

I've read some theories that the brain can adjust, choosing to filter out the noise. In my case, perhaps so.

My purpose in relating this is to offer some hope that tinnitus is not necessarily a one way street. It can get better.

I have completely eliminated tinnitus in one ear and reduced it to mostly levels that are unnoticeable in the other for the most part.  It comes and goes as the day wears on, but is generally gone for much of the day for me.  This has been possible by use of a product marketed first as Cortexi, and now as ZenCortex.  YRMV and not every user has had success with it.  But it has worked for me.  I use it daily and have done so for perhaps 3 or 4 years.  I have no affiliation with the company.  I believe it is offered with a money back guarantee.  Again, it works for me, but others have not all had success, so if you try it, I suggest as a start a small bottle to see if it works for you. 

I have it in the left ear.  It was caused by a single shot of a 22 caliber pistol without ear protection.  If you shoot right handed, it gets the left ear.

I went to the audiologist and did the niacinamide treatments with no real improvement.  This was ~47 years ago and I've lived with it every day since.  I hear it any time I think about it and even when I don't.

I'm convinced the only plausible treatment would be stem cells to regrow the cilia.

 

A couple of years ago at 69, I was suffering from Tinnitus and could no longer enjoy music, I went for a hearing test at a local pharmacy. The man I saw to told me he couldn’t carry out the test because my ears were blocked with wax. He instructed me to apply Earol Olive Oil Spray for a couple of weeks to remove it.

 

The Earol treatment was only partially successful. I went to another audiologist who was able remove some more by suction, However there was some deeply seated wax that she could not safely remove. Therefore, she referred me to another specialist audiologist.

 

He checked my ears with a microscope through which he could see that there was not only wax but dead skin directly attached to my ear drums. He had suction equipment that was able to remove the debris from deep in my ears without damaging the delicate drums.

 

The result was that hearing instantly improved and the Tinnitus was considerably reduced.  I hadn’t realised that I had been partially deaf. When I got home, I was able to enjoy music again. 

 

Later, I realised that the deafness had badly affected my confidence in social situations. At first, I did feel strange and it took me a few weeks to completely adjust to the change in sensation I felt in my ears. 

 

I still have some mild Tinnitus that doesn’t impact on listening to music. I feel so fortunate to be able to listen again. Plus, I am now much more confident in groups of people because I can now hear their words clearly even when more than one person is talking. It’s amazing. I have since got back into vinyl and have never enjoyed music listening more. 

I have to apply Earol to keep my ears clear of wax. At the two year point, a couple of big chunks of wax came out of each ear.