Tinnitus, Migraine and Humour
There is nothing funny about living with pain, having said that, I continue to find it important to my sanity! I have recently been drawn to the co-incidence of migraine and tinnitus (noise in the inner ear) and have found that when the migraine pain is intense, the noise is louder and varies. I began to think about how to best describe the tinnitus experience, like I can describe the qualities of the pain - sharp, dull, aching, stabbing, and so on. Thought I would share this:
The Songs of Tinnitus
"The Whistling Wind" - like the wind that blows across the cracks in doors and windows
"A Cricket Convention" - the maddening sound of a thousand crickets chatting loudly
"Metal to Metal" - this is like the piercing sound of a train screeching to a stop on iron rails
"The Dentist Drill" - this is that high-pitched 'whirring' that is terrifying
"The Radio Head" - this is the sound of mumbling and static...like hearing voices on the radio
"Full Steam Ahead" - this sounds like a steam pipe burst, hissing loudly
I experience all of these over the course of a week...the noise increasing at night, as does the pain. My only solution is to put earphones in and listen to anything louder than the 'noise', music, self-hypnosis recordings, audio books and so on.
The song titles that came to mind to describe the pain included: "The Sharp Knife" - plunging into the temples; "Lightening Always Strikes" - like a lightening storm behind the eyes; "The Twist of the Blade", like the knife in the temple is being twisted, with good effect; "Just Shocking" - feels like split second electric shock between brain hemispheres; "Heavy Headed" - this feels like the head weighs more than the body; and "Vice Grip" - this feels like the brain is locked in a vice and someone is cranking it tighter and tighter. Those are the main titles that capture the pain experience. Not only was the experience of coming up with these titles a humorous task, but now I can more clearly describe my experiences in a way that resonates with others.
