The Accident That Started Everything

When landscape gardener Chris Booth went out to meet friends for a drink one night 20 years ago, he had no idea it would change the rest of his life. A drunk driver hit him head-on. Chris was thrown into the windshield, his head hitting the steering wheel. He recovered quickly from the physical injuries — but the accident, he now believes, was the beginning of a lifetime with tinnitus.

Although I didn't realize it at the time, I think the big bang on my head caused my tinnitus. It took me a couple of years to register this very annoying background ringing noise in my ears. It wasn't like a noise in my ear — it was in my head. I just thought it was something I'd have to live with.

The tinnitus amplified with stress, loud music, alcohol, and lack of sleep. In his 20s, Chris didn't yet understand the connection. He was young, wanted to go to concerts, stay up late. The lifestyle that made his tinnitus worse was the lifestyle of a young man with no idea what he was dealing with.

It Became So Bad I Was Contemplating Suicide

At his worst, Chris would wake at 4am every morning to an intense screaming in his ears. Lying in bed in the quiet was unbearable. For years, his first act every morning was to leap out of bed to escape the silence that amplified the ringing.

It became so bad that I was in that category they talk about of people contemplating suicide.

He tried everything available: an ENT specialist who offered to sever his hearing nerve, prescribe anti-epileptic pills, or give him a background noise speaker for under his pillow. Naturopaths and alternative therapists offered ginkgo biloba and lifestyle advice. The lifestyle changes helped — meditation, reducing alcohol, yoga, better sleep — but were impossible to maintain under stress.

Finding Neuromonics — and Proactive Management

Chris came to Neuromonics during a particularly bad period. He'd been exposed to loud noise at work and was under significant stress. I'd be saying half a dozen times a day, this is driving me crazy.

Two years later, his relationship with tinnitus has fundamentally changed. He no longer waits for the tinnitus to get out of control — he uses Neuromonics proactively. Before a concert, before a noisy day with a chainsaw or leaf blower, he listens. The anticipatory management has transformed his experience.

The Neuromonics Tinnitus Treatment has given me an easier and more practical long-term solution to tinnitus. My life is 100 percent better.

Before, I would actively avoid social situations like loud concerts or where there were lots of kids screaming. Now I don't worry about that because I know no matter how loud it is, I can just put the device on and get some relief. He uses it when he wakes at 4am, and most mornings he falls back asleep.

What Chris's Story Tells Us

Chris's tinnitus — triggered by head injury rather than noise exposure or aging — shows that the neurological mechanisms driving distressing tinnitus are the same regardless of cause. His proactive use of Neuromonics also illustrates a key clinical insight: the most effective long-term management often shifts from reactive to proactive — using treatment to prevent flare-ups before they happen.