Tintinnabulation

Edgar Allen Poe "The Bells", my favorite poem as a child, the irony has not escaped me. As chronic bilateral tinnitus has become my nearest companion, filling the rare silent moments of my life with crystal glasses caressed by moistened fingertips. Many people suffer temporary tinnitus after listening to loud music, machinery or after head injuries. No one knows exactly what causes the incessant ringing of chronic tinnitus. Something in your diet? Chemical imbalance? Inner ear damage? Emotional shock? Physical trauma? Prescription Medications? Heredity? All of the above?
Whether physiological or psychological, here's what I've found:
Elevated blood pressure, caffeine intake, OTC pain medication all make the ringing more noticeable. Distraction has been the key to my sanity, whether it be the "white noise" of a fan, a television, playing video games or reading until my eyes feel like balls of jello, I can actually tune out the ringing and forget it for a while.
Oddly enough, when it rings loud enough to give me a headache. loud music has become my favorite cure. At first I assumed the tinnitus had over-ridden my ability to hear, that I was simply listening around it, but after multiple CAT scans, MRI's,
Blood tests and a full audiological screening "WE" still don't know why my perfectly functioning ears are not sending comprehensible messages to my brain.
After suffering through the grief of my hearing loss and subsequently losing my job and career plan, I threw myself into the deep end of the Musical pool, taking a Musical Literature class at school to study the History of Rock and Roll, revisiting my favorite artists through video documentary: Bob Dylan, Jerry Lee Lewis, Brian Wilson and Bootsy Collins. Since then I've attended as many Live music concerts as possible, starting out at The Trails End Saloon with many of the areas best Blues Musicians.
Then John Mayer came to town, and in many ways, his was the most inspiring concert I've ever witnessed, especially when, late into the evening, John sang a ballad that simply lulled my young son to sleep in my lap. The "Battle Studies" record seemed to speak to me on a personal level. Then with the television series "Leverage" back in town, I found a new addiction in the music of "Kane". I can't really pin them down to a genre or a particular sound. Which is probably why I like them so much. From Steve Carlson's hypnotic rhythms to the ethereal sound of Ryan Baker's drumming and Christians wide, yet expressive vocal range, rounded out by the solid and sometimes playful bass of Will Amend and topped with an extra helping of face melting guitar solos by lead-guitarist Jason Southard. What more could I ask for? They play to feel it.
On a recent literary binge, I learned about Tibetan Singing Bowls [Dr. Mitchell L. Gaynor's "Sounds of Healing"], hand-hammered metal bowls used in meditation and more recently as a form of therapy. Circling a wood or cloth covered dowel around the top edge of the bowl creates a harmonious yet discordant sound, combined with the vibration of the bowl in your hand it is unexpectedly pleasant and soothing, and amazingly not unlike the ringing in my ears. Further exploration will prove whether the singing bowl can keep my brain in tune with the World around me or simply distract me from myself.
Tinnitus: Nature's healing sound?