[Crowbob]

For those experiencing or expect to experience moderate to profound hearing loss prepare yourselves for a dramatic change in everything about your lives. Throw in tinnitus and you are facing a serious obstacle.

Socially, most people are unable to comprehend what kinds of changes you will have to go through. Hearing loss separates people from people. Vison loss separates people from things which is a much more tolerable proposition to most. If hearing instruments are not a miracle for you (and very frequently they aren't) you can become a frustrated old curmudgeon. You cannot let that happen.

When I first began experiencing tinnitus I was faced with a choice, and so will you. It was a conscious and very deliberate decision almost immediately to not let it ruin me. Tinnitus can be a debilitating thing, especially the fluctuating variety.

At first, in the 'silence' of the night there was literally a roar in my head. Anxiety and depression is very common. I decided, then and there, that it's up to me to deal with it. For me, technology and society can not offer a solution.

The first step is to RELAX. You will not likely be able to vanquish the noise. Second you will need to FOCUS. Focus on anything other than the sound in your head. Distraction from the sound will not reduce it but it will have a profound effect on how you deal with it. And third, recognize the problem as yours. It is not your family's problem, or your coworker's problem or your neighbors problem. It is your problem. Most people can not comprehend what you are experiencing. It is truly an invisible impairment and one in which people will become angry at you for. Telephones, TV, crowds and loud music, oddly enough, become your enemy.

The most effective way I've dealt with tinnitus and the associated hearing loss is to be completely up front about it with anyone you come into contact with and with whom you need to communicate. The first thing I do is inform whomever that I have a severe hearing impairment, that they need to be patient, speak slowly and reduce the small-talk. And REPEAT it to them because 28 milliseconds after they apologize, they will forget. Some think you are just stupid. Some laugh, and some just don't believe it. These responses are totally normal and it is not their fault because the problem is yours and yours alone.

My experience has taught me that almost everybody wants to be accommodating to your condition. LET THEM.