A Neosensory Tinnitus user spotlight
At Neosensory, we don’t just believe in our product, we’re also the first testers. Read on to learn more about engineer Jose Balderas’ experience with tinnitus and how the Neosensory Tinnitus Program helped him.
Interested in sharing your tinnitus story? Reach out to us at hello@neosensory.com.
Living with tinnitus
By Jose Balderas, Neosensory Prototyping Engineer
It’s hard to tell when it first started. Recently, I’ve been trying to think back to a time I could not hear the ringing. Hearing it for my entire adult life, I have mostly learned to live with tinnitus.
It started off as a faint ring in my ears that I would notice when my environment was silent. It didn’t bother me much because there was always some kind of noise that would mask it. Over time, however, the ringing got louder. When I tried to focus it would not let me. Pulling me away from what I wanted to do. I started to play music to help but then the ringing got loud enough that sometimes I heard it with the music. When I tried to sleep it would keep my mind up and running. Usually, it would take me hours to fall asleep.
Eventually, I just started to adapt.
A constant distraction
I have to sleep with white noise every night. I noticed I slept better when I had a fan on, so I got a machine that made similar noise. Without white noise, I have to get completely exhausted. This makes it difficult when I’m traveling since hotels can be quiet at night.
To concentrate, I have to play music loud enough to mask the ringing. It is especially challenging when I want to read because now I’m getting distracted on two fronts, the ringing and music. A workaround that has helped is to read words to the rhythm of the music.
When I looked into Tinnitus, I realized it’s something that has a low chance of going away. No one had a great solution. It’s something that I thought I would have to deal with for the rest of my life.
Finding tinnitus relief
Enter Neosensory Buzz, a wristband that stimulates the skin with vibrations. By pairing touch with a series of notes for ten minutes a day, the brain is prompted to make changes. This helps many users manage tinnitus symptoms.
After a few days of doing Buzz therapy, I noticed a significant change.
On most days, the ringing sounds low or just doesn’t bother me like it used to. My productivity definitely shot up after doing the therapy. There have even been moments where I don’t hear the ringing at all. I don’t realize until later in the day that I’ve been working without distraction.
It’s amazing to think playing some tones and wearing Buzz for 10 minutes a day can improve someone’s livelihood so much. Especially since there’s no need for medication or a procedure of some kind.