ears ringing

[Ugrok]

Well yeah, during my readings i found this site about "tinnitus retraining therapy", and it involves spending daily time listening to the tinnitus without reacting.

Very interesting read overall :

http://tinnitus.org/

[Jundo]

For those who don't know how overwhelming tinnitus can be for some people, a short film which recreates the experience and explains the sensation ...

https://www.nbcnews.com/leftfield/video/what-tinnitus-sounds-like-1060145731897

Part of the cure, I am sure, involves acclimating the brain to ignore and "pay no nevermind" to the experience, must as we train in Shikantaza.

Gassho, J

SatTodayLAH

[Geika]

Uggy, I also have anxiety like this, and I just want to let you know that I know how you feel. For me, it is not so bad this year, but it has come and gone before with years of panic attacks and a general feeling of unease all the time, usually set off by something small, like your ear blockage. For me, it was a bad tooth infection. Another time, though, a big thing, my mother's cancer. Before that, just a little change in medication for one week set me off for years. It is just how I am wired, I guess. Best thing I have ever learned to do is not play the game, but it doesn't always work. I know how hard it is to explain that while you know how silly and unproductive it is, you are still feeling it deeply. I'm sure a lot of people here can empathize.

Gassho, sat today, lah

[Shinshi]

I did a rotation in a chronic pain clinic working with folks with tinnitus. I often went home thankful I didn't have it. Then, last year when I turned 60 - someone flicked the switch and I had it.

I notice it the most when going to sleep and sitting. I spent many hours trying to figure out a way to deal with it. Then decided, like many have already said, just to treat it like any other intrusion. No different than the wind howling - but a little different than a puppy crying to go out.

I find I still hear it, but the bothering has faded. Like so many things my discomfort came from the distance between the way I wanted to world to be (no tinnitus) and the way that it actually was. Once I accepted that my world now contains tinnitus - and that is small element in a much vaster world, - then it stopped bothering me as it did.

[Ugrok]

Well, i'm aware of it, of course, and have been for a long time... So i don't act on it anymore, for example, and i refuse to let stupid stuff ruin my life. But still, the game is playing, and still, it makes me suffer, because i never really know if i should worry or not, for example. How can you know for sure that this little itch is not something really bad ?

Good example with that ear thing : i assumed that it was my hypochondriac side creating the whistling, when in fact this time there apparently was "real" waxy stuff going on... So i can never trust what i feel, and that leads to doubt and fear of course ! It's not the first time that i did not go immediately to the doc because i was almost sure that all of this was bullshitty mind games...

So the game plays but i cannot help but get involved in it, cause sometimes the game tells the truth, sometimes not...

Well, enough whining, back to work !

Gassho

Uggy
Sat today

[Jundo]

the smallest thing sends me flying high in the hypochondriac stratosphere (and the oh so great world of what ifs)...

Ugrok, the first step in Buddhist Practice is to recognize our mind games. Now, at least, you are aware of what you do. You can just witness the game without playing.

Me? I am fine. I just need to get a Third Eye transplant. (Just kidding. Merely some dull but pesky sinus thing).

Gassho, J

SatTodayLAH

[Ugrok]

His forehead exploded ? Damn ! I hope not !

For me, especially when tired, the smallest thing sends me flying high in the hypochondriac stratosphere (and the oh so great world of what ifs)...

Hope it will end up okay for both of us, Jundo !

Gassho, my thoughts are with you !

Uggy

Sat today

[Jundo]

If it seems like I am not sympathetic ... just this morning, I was at the the Ear Nose and Throat doctor (Otolaryngologist) with something very similar.

Now, I have to consider some surgery where they drill a hole in the sinuses, a few days in the hospital. All good.

By the way, what happened to the Buddha after his ear cleaning ...



Gassho, J

SatTodayLAH

Uggy, it's not a bad thing to have a wake up call, however small. I started sitting Zazen daily 2 years ago in the middle of a health scare when I was really overwhelmed and scared; before that it had been a bit on and off. After 6 weeks of tests it luckily turned out to be nothing serious but it motivated me.

Enjoy your ear syringing! You'll be able to hear everything after - it can be a bit much until your ear starts to compensate.

Gassho
Lucy
ST/LAH

[Ugrok]

It only SOUNDS dumb but in fact it is really really intelligent.

Hum.

Not.

Gassho,

Uggy,

Sat Today

[Jundo]

it turns out i have a massive earwax plug (ewww) in my right ear

Ah, this is what the Buddha meant by "removing obstructions"! The Heart Sutra says "no eye, ear, nose", but sometimes one needs to consult an Ear Nose and Throat specialist.

Yeah, still have to wait til wednesday to get it properly removed, but well, i'll try to make that my practice.

Still, i'm so scared by myself... I mean, if something so benign like this puts me in an anxious state, what will it be when i'll be seriously ill (which will probably happen one day) ?

So, you are worried now about someday worrying later?

Gassho, J

SatTodayLAH

[Ugrok]

Yeah, still have to wait til wednesday to get it properly removed, but well, i'll try to make that my practice.

Still, i'm so scared by myself... I mean, if something so benign like this puts me in an anxious state, what will it be when i'll be seriously ill (which will probably happen one day) ?
I have to find a way to end those fears, damn !

Gassho,

Uggy
Sat today
LAH

Great that you've got a solution!

Gassho
Lucy
ST/LAH

[Ugrok]

Okay, hmmm, well, i'm a bit ashamed there... I went to my gp today, and it turns out i have a massive earwax plug (ewww) in my right ear (the one ringing). This explains that, apparently...

Gassho,

Uggy
Sat today with his wax f(r)iend

[Shinshou]

Thank you, Jundo, for mentioning the spots in the vision! My eyesight is bad, and on some days the spots try to get to the center of my attention. I know they must have something to do with sensory deprivation, and the white wall. (The spots also bother me on bright, snowy winter days. For some reason I thought I was the only one that sees those cursed spots!) ("Cursed" comes from Shakespeare, it wasn't me!)

I have an immense amount of floaters in my field of vision. I usually sit in a dim room which leads me to notice them much less, even when staring at a white wall.

As far as ears ringing (I'm putting on my nurse cap now), I think it's important to realize that everyone's ears make noise. It's just the way our ears work, specifically the cochlea. Unfortunately, when faced with quietness, not only does our attention focus on the sound (because the mind wants something to do), but the cochlea actually produces a louder noise (because it wants something to do, too). Chances are if ringing in the ears goes unnoticed until we're faced with silence, it's probably normal functioning.

Dan
Sat today