@annie941 I guess we can each come to a personal conclusion for what we think is responsible for our tinnitus. There is a video on YouTube that demonstrates how to help relieve it.

You interlock your fingers behind your head below the occipital bone and tap. It actually helps somewhat.

I'm now battling another demon as of Feb 28th 2025, Stage 4 endometrial cancer. I've just had my 13th chemo treatment on Jan 29th.

Honestly, up until about 6 or 7 months ago , I did not notice the tinnitus. I guess my brain was dealing with being directed at me important things going on. It comes and goes. I run a fan at night so I have noise to listen to.

It has been proven that tinnitus is NOT an ear problem and you just reiterated that statement. It is a nerve problem that affects the neurons BETWEEN the brain and the hearing mechanism of the ear.

We each can draw our own conclusions though because there isn't a doctor around that can definitively explain where it comes from.

There are exercises though that do tend to help and give reprieve if only for a little while. Maybe it wasn't as noticeable to me for 6 months because my brain was so dedicated and in shock at the diagnosis of cancer I needed to put things in order, so to speak.

I have since had a hysterectomy, battle neuropathy, although that has gone from a 10 to a 2 with treatments for it. It does flare up with chemo. I get treatments every 3 weeks and get 6 treatments that are between 6-8 long.

Like I said though I have so many other things to redirect my brain to that I rarely hear the tinnitus at times. My balance is terrible for days after chemo so my brain has to pay attention to that area.

I also have an on body shot mechanism, Unenyca, that administers a shot 27 hours after chemo that stimulates bone marrow to produce white blood cells to help immune system fight the cancer. Because the chemo kills good cells too, the shot has to race to produce more good ones in the marrow to continue the fight. That in turn causes immense bone pain that is longer than the initial 3 or 4 days now but morphine and hydrocodone helps with that.

So for those days where I'm in pain at an 8-10, even with pain medication, having balance issues so bad that I will and have fallen several times which prompted me to get a cane, so weak I spend most time moving at a snails pace, I have barely noticed the hissing in the ears because my brain is concentrating on too many other things.

I'm just taking one day at a time now but honestly I'd much rather have the tinnitus than the uncertainty of cancer. I've also downloaded a water sounds app and will listen to rain on a tin roof with faint thunder in the background and it sounds so good. I often set it for 2 hours and will fall asleep with it on my shoulder while in my recliner.

Thank you for the reply and added info. I believe it's going to take different kinds of information from different people going through the many different types of medical problems to narrow down what's responsible for tinnitus.

I hope we don't ever give up bringing attention to this at times life altering condition that affects so many people. It is puzzling to say the least because there seems to be a variety of things that could be responsible.

Have a very blessed day and luck with your issues. Thanks again. ❤️