2. Patient Stories
3. Barbara Vesty

Barbara Vesty

Barbara Vesty who lives in Shropshire explains when she developed tinnitus and how she struggled to manage the condition, unfortunately without success, until she was prescribed Tinnitus Desensitisation Therapy by The Tinnitus Clinic.

“I contracted tuberculosis in 2009 and, relatively soon after that, one evening I noticed that there was a noise in my head. I had been unconscious of the noise for quite a while, but I had suddenly become very aware of it as it progressively got worse, but it was spasmodic at that point.

Stress and family illness made my tinnitus worse; it was 4 years of absolute hell. Looking back on it now, I noticed the noise the most when I was stressed or tired. Then about 18 months to 2 years ago, it became very worrying and I became very depressed about it."

“To me the most frustrating issue with tinnitus is that nobody else can hear it or understand what it’s like. At first my husband would say ‘relax, don’t worry about it, relax, relax’, but you can’t, you’re on edge the whole time. The sound is a continuous ring and whistling but sometimes I would even hear clicks and clacking sounds, which was very odd.

I searched for a solution everywhere. My GP referred me to an audiology clinic in Shrewsbury; they were very good. I saw them about 3 times. They thoroughly tested my hearing and told me about using distraction methods and relaxation techniques. They suggested that I use an iPad to listen to storybooks. They also gave me some white noise to listen to.”

“I managed to cope with it for a while and was able to get some sleep at night by using the iPad, listening to the storybooks. But the noise got worse and started to get in the way of my everyday life. I’m in a theatre group and I just couldn’t deal with this anymore.

We started looking for alternative solutions but everywhere you go they tell you that there is no cure. There are things you can do, like the distraction methods and relaxation techniques which I was told about.”

“It was my husband that found The Tinnitus Clinic and he asked me if I wanted to give it a go. I said that I’d give anything a go! That was last October/November. At that time my sleep was very poor, I was definitely more short-tempered and my concentration was bad as well; you tend to tune in to the noise I think, you’re constantly aware of it, it doesn’t go away; you can’t turn it off. For me, that was the thing, I couldn’t turn it off, I wasn’t in control, it was really frustrating.

I was so impressed with the audiologist from The Tinnitus Clinic; he was very calm and confident. He undertook an extensive range of tests and I mean lots and lots of tests! He was totally honest with me the whole time, saying that it doesn’t work for everybody, but there have been very good results. So I was really keen to start treatment.”

“When I went in for the first consultation, I was given a device, a bit like a hearing aid to wear. He tested all the frequencies. The sound always started in the right ear but it went over to the left as well.

It took me maybe three days to get used to them. I started off wearing them I think for around 2 hours per day and 4 hours, then 6. It was 2 or 3 days to actually get used to having them in, without bothering about them. It took several days to build up to the 8 hours per day that I needed to wear them during the first trial period.”

“Last winter, we were going away for the royal tour and we left for Singapore on Boxing Day. I was wearing the device and the audiologist said that if there were any problems while I was away, I could phone him. But there weren’t any problems and by that stage I was just completely forgetting about wearing them. I thought that I may have had a bit of trouble in the hot countries, with sweat on your ears, but I didn’t, they were fine.

While we were away I suddenly realised that I didn’t hear the tinnitus anymore, I didn’t even hear the devices. My husband and I were over the moon, he kept saying that it was worth every penny!”

“I’ve recommended two people to The Tinnitus Clinic, without a doubt I would recommend it to anybody. Give it a go! It changes your life, it’s changed my life.”

  Back to Patient Stories