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Being from the generation who has done some not to smart things for long term hearing health, I have had tinnitus for years. Low level, tolerable but always there. I'm about 6 months into a upgraded, not so fun level. I'm looking for potential ways to silence the crickets. I have just started taking Ginkgo. I'm wondering if anyone has had any success with it? They say the national average is 1 in 10. Probably a higher percentage on this board. I did search other threads but saw no discussion of natural remedies.

Topbuilder wrote:Being from the generation who has done some not to smart things for long term hearing health, I have had tinnitus for years. Low level, tolerable but always there. I'm about 6 months into a upgraded, not so fun level. I'm looking for potential ways to silence the crickets. I have just started taking Ginkgo. I'm wondering if anyone has had any success with it? They say the national average is 1 in 10. Probably a higher percentage on this board. I did search other threads but saw no discussion of natural remedies.

I had no success with it. YMMV.

I have been taking Ginkgo for years as a blood thinner. My tinnitus is as bad as it ever has been. Tinnitus 24 hours a day I think and both ears.
I have read that the three little bones in your inner ear can now be surgically replaced with a prosthesis for hearing loss. I don't remember what effect if any it has on tinnitus.
A man posted before that he had vascular surgery for tinnitus and it worked for him. What I seem to remember was the the surgery was not in the ear itself but to a blood vessel supplying the ear. I googled it later and never could find the post again.

My Sister suffers from chronic tinnitus. She is also a Speech Pathologist and has done quite a bit of research on the subject. She also has a friend who is a "Naturopath" and has offered up many "natural" cures ( to no avail). The most promising solution yet is a hearing aid that is adjusted to cancel out the frequency of the tinnitus. I'll report back if it works for her.

there was an OTC thing that I took one bottle of, that was working for me, then when I went back to get another one, it had been recalled!!!! the constant TV drives my husband crazy, but it keeps the ringing down.

Pilgrim wrote:I have been taking Ginkgo for years as a blood thinner. My tinnitus is as bad as it ever has been. Tinnitus 24 hours a day I think and both ears.
I have read that the three little bones in your inner ear can now be surgically replaced with a prosthesis for hearing loss. I don't remember what effect if any it has on tinnitus.
A man posted before that he had vascular surgery for tinnitus and it worked for him. What I seem to remember was the the surgery was not in the ear itself but to a blood vessel supplying the ear. I googled it later and never could find the post again.

There is a company who markets directly for tinnitus sufferers. (arches) Their program is 480mg per day. Might be more than you are taking. May not make a difference either. I'm on 240 mg now of a different product. I will probably try it as well.

I understand there are different levels tinnitus and I've had it for many years. As a matter of fact I'm hearing it right now, only because I'm making a conscious effort to hear it. I normally don't hear it. It's constant when I'm listening to it and stays at the same level. It sounds like G note on a piano. My theory as to why it doesn't bother me is because it came on gradually over time and I've adapted to it. It's almost like I can turn it on and off. When I'm not thinking about it I don't hear it. At night when all is quiet I always put myself to sleep by making up stories about building things. I've done this since I was a little kid. I wasn't hearing it through the typing of most of this post. There's no cure for it so I guess we just have to find a way to adapt to it. Just think of the poor people that lose their hearing or eyesight completely.

SewTexas wrote:there was an OTC thing that I took one bottle of, that was working for me, then when I went back to get another one, it had been recalled!!!! the constant TV drives my husband crazy, but it keeps the ringing down.

I also have the TV or radio going all the time. What is a distraction to most helps me concentrate.

The Wall wrote:I understand there are different levels tinnitus and I've had it for many years. As a matter of fact I'm hearing it right now, only because I'm making a conscious effort to hear it. I normally don't hear it. It's constant when I'm listening to it and stays at the same level. It sounds like G note on a piano. My theory as to why it doesn't bother me is because it came on gradually over time and I've adapted to it. It's almost like I can turn it on and off. When I'm not thinking about it I don't hear it. At night when all is quiet I always put myself to sleep by making up stories about building things. I've done this since I was a little kid. I wasn't hearing it through the typing of most of this post. There's no cure for it so I guess we just have to find a way to adapt to it. Just think of the poor people that lose their hearing or eyesight completely.

This.

I have found no OTC products that make a difference for me. Most of the time I dont hear it. If it get really quiet it sounds like the room is full of ciccadas. 90% of the day thankfully I dont hear it and it doesnt seem to drown out normal conversations. Well my wife says I dont listen to her but I think thats a different problem. Good luck.

I've tried several things including Ginko. Nothing has had any effect. The very high pitch tones are especially bad when everything in the area is quiet. I have found that very low cover noise is the best help. My CPAP machine takes care of it (low noise) when I'm sleeping. Loud noise or the din of crowd noise has gotten very irritating (tinny sounding).

I responded to the ads you hear on the radio for "tinnitus sufferers". Some of the rudest, high pressure sales people I've ever encountered. After I heard their prices I told the lady to forget it and after several attempts to disengage I politely terminated the call. A guy called me right back and wanted to know why I hung up and started pushing again. When I told him rather firmly to not call me back again he became very rude and I hung up. I then went on line and looked up comments on them and found i was not alone in my opinion.

Tinnitus? I thought that was my finely balanced mental turbines at full military power!

All the tinnitus cures I've seen advertised are holistic, which is always no more than placebo medicine.

Topbuilder wrote:

SewTexas wrote:there was an OTC thing that I took one bottle of, that was working for me, then when I went back to get another one, it had been recalled!!!! the constant TV drives my husband crazy, but it keeps the ringing down.

I also have the TV or radio going all the time. What is a distraction to most helps me concentrate.

exactly. I've got some friends who couldn't understand why I had the TV on all the time, thought I was weird. I finally said, I have to have noise to cancel out the noise in my ears, then I can listen to my brain.

My Sis uses a white noise machine.

The only thing that has reduced my tinnitus is hearing aids. One form at least, is the brain trying to compensate for loss of high frequencies. Hearing aids provide the high freq support.

Water helps me. The better hydrated I am the less it bothers me.