Well, it has now been two months since I had my head examined, and things continue to get better – a lot better, in fact.
The only thing that’s still affecting me to any real degree is the tinnitus in my left ear. If it just stayed the same pitch it wouldn’t be a big deal – I could learn to ignore it – but it has the really annoying habit of changing pitch. Even more annoying is the fact that it often changes pitch around 2am, waking me out of a dead sleep that’s often hard to get back into (which, btw, explains some of those posts I’ve made in the FeedDemon beta forum while most sane people are still asleep).
One thing that has helped get me “back on my feet” is yoga, which I started doing a couple of weeks ago. Convincing myself to do yoga wasn’t easy – for starters, I’m not what you would call the “yoga type,” so I had to make some personality adjustments to consider the idea. Overall it’s been really helpful, but attempting some of the balance poses after having a balance nerve removed has been a humbling experience (but I imagine yoga would be humbling even with your balance nerves intact).
I’ve also started going to the gym again, and that has likewise been humbling. Exercises that wouldn’t have phased me a few months ago now leave me so sore that I walk funny the next day. But I figure the fact that I’m able to get back to regular exercise after such a nasty operation is a good thing, silly walks notwithstanding.
Tinnitus can be a real challenge. Mine just ‘turned on’ about three years ago. Right ear for me. Aside from being an IT Guy during the day, I am a musician on the weekends. I initially felt pain with anything over 80 Db. Lots of supplements and weird alternative things to try. Or just get used to it. Here’s two alternative things that don’t cost much that seemed to help me somewhat. RingStop, a supplement. You’ll know after two bottles. And this guy has an interesting approach: http://www.drjimboyd.com/TriPhar.html, and I’ve always wanted to try this guy: http://www.tinnitus-pjj.com/.
Just wanted to wish you good luck getting better. I’ve been doing yoga for several years now and I just wanted to add that your balance will improve. When I started I hardly used be able to balance on one leg at all for more than a second or two. Gradually this has improved and I can now stand on one leg in fairly inverted/twisted positions for up to a minute or so.
I know you are coming from a disadvantage, having one less functioning sense of balance, but I am confident that you will improve.
I also hope you will get over the stereotype of the ‘yoga’ type. I wasn’t really one either, until I started suffering from RSI and was told to do yoga to get better. It certainly helped my RSI a lot and the rest of my physical condition.
I look forward to hearing how you progress.
I second Jeremy’s comments about yoga, Nick. I didn’t think of myself as the “yoga type” either, but I’ve found it to be a great addition to my exercise routine over the years. I wish I were more disciplined about it, but I find that even when I go for a few months without doing any yoga at all, it only takes a few days of practice to start feeling the benefits again. I can’t speak to its effects on tinnitus, but it’s great for stress, allergies, and all sorts of ailments (and I’m generally skeptical of “alternative medicine.”) Hope you continue to improve.
Ed
Best wishes man, thanks for the ongoing work on feed demon too.
A friend has tinnitus, what he does is he has a fan in his bedroom on all night. He finds the noise helps the ringing in his ears from distracting him and helps him sleep.
Holy Cow! I did not know of your condition (I have been a user of top style and homesite since the beginning) till I came across your blog from Russ Beattie’s site.
May be silly, but Andrew Weil mentioned crawling on the ground or floor to rebalance the body’s electrical field.
Anyhow, good to see you getting better.
Well Nick, sorry for taking sooooo long to realise you’ve been through the mill, but I’m now up to speed (good 4 me).
Yoga has also been a great help to me and mine and I’m glad to hear you’re on the mend.
I used tinitus as a late-night programming excuse for years, but it turns out I’m just nuts after all. Seriously, I’ve lived with it most of my life (50). Someone above mentioned background noise as a distraction and I concur.
While my musical exploits are probably what caused most of it (synths), I find (at least when I’m working) having some music going that I like distracts the brain, but doen’t seem to impede the coding experience. In the same way, having a fan or something in the background can sucessfully mask the sound, unless as you said, you have a violent change in the perceived sound.
My very best to you Nick. Sorry I haven’t been in the beta forums for a while, but it looks to me like your new business arrangement has given your incredible creative energies a great boost.
Good luck! Neal
Holy Cow! I did not know of your condition (I have been a user of top style and homesite since the beginning) till I came across your blog from Russ Beattie’s site.
May be silly, but Andrew Weil mentioned crawling on the ground or floor to rebalance the body’s electrical field.
Anyhow, good to see you getting better.
+1……..
http://www.alternativemedicinee.com
Yoga really helps people to find peace with their own bodies.I’ve heard of many cases of people being healed from some kind of a disease when practising yoga