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I
listened
to
the dry leaves falling in autumn
to
ice dropping from eaves in winter
to
hatchlings in spring
to
the surf lapping the shore at low tide
in
summer
All
overlaid by the ringing in my ears
that
is there for all seasons
leaving
no moments
of
pure silence
to
be filled or not filled
at
my whim.
Gary
Fisher
I
wrote this poem shortly after I became painfully aware that I
had a constant ringing in my ears that never went away. The
ringing was unsettling. It was impacting my life. I couldn't
get the sound out of my mind. I had to do something.
So,
I sought help. Medical consultation verified that there was no
organic cause for the ringing in my ears. The physician told
me to just live with it which is what many tinnitus sufferers
are told to do. It seemed uncaring and counter-productive to
me. However, with no cure in sight, I found that this advice
is exactly what tinnitus sufferers must learn to do. Live with
it but don't allow tinnitus to negatively impact your life.
Thus
began my search for ways to reduce the impact of tinnitus on
my life. I did a deep dive into the literature and it's
extensive. And contradictory. What I deduced from my research
was that there is no magic bullet to cure tinnitus but many
approaches to management - some helpful, some wishful
thinking, and some just plain wrong. For a brain induced
phenomena such as tinnitus which ties into the brains limbic
system I should have expected this.
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