Ringing in ears!?!

[Razorjack]

Just an update:

One month on and it's still here, although now it's a gentle hissing compared to the horrible ringing it was before. Looks like it might be here to stay, 21 years old (a week before it started) with tinnitus, kinda depressing really.

Saw another doctor today about getting a refferal to an ENT specialist but was basically told to get lost. So I'm off to see another doctor as soon as I can, and if that doesn't work I'll go private. I just need to know if it's treatable before I can go about learning to fully live with it.

If it is noise induced (although I still can't think of any serious SPL exposure around the time it started) me feel like shit about my 'custom ear protection thread' that I posted just a month prior to this starting. I'm still getting some custom plugs though, it's much more important to me now to avoid anything that may aggravate the tinnitus.

It's not stopping me from seeing Soilwork on Wednesday though (with ear plugs in), that should certainly help cheer me up!!

 

[Familia><Publica]

I have had tinnitus for about 4 years now, 22 years old now, wasnt pleasant getting it so early on. I've had lots of problems with my ears over the years, ear infections, hearing problems, T tubes, gromits. Left me with alot of damage in my ears. I was seen by an ear, nose and throat specialist afew years ago, he basically said i'd have to live with my condition as its not treatable. Anyway, hear i am, still enjoying music, writing and recording music and living with my condition. Over time, i stopped focusing on the ringing that often made me feel physically ill, its hard at first, but it does get easier through the years. Perhaps now, there are certain treaments for tinnitus, but i sure don't know about them and i certainly don't hold up much hope.

The important thing to remember though, is that worrying about it and listening out for it can make it appear alot worse than it actually is. Sure, it can be tough going to sleep, even the thought of going to bed and knowing you'll be hearing it can be daunting. I found listening to music whilst trying to sleep made things worse. I knew i was listening to music to mask the tinnitus and so i found myself listening out for the ringing instead of listening to the music! lol... Eventually i learned that my mind plays a major role in helping me to sleep with the ringing. Now that i'm used to it, i think of other things whilst going to sleep and thats the best mask of all.

If you become tinnitus free, great, but know that life can be just as fulfulling with the condition. Be positive, be active, live life no differently than you did before and that way the tinnitus eventually won't even be an issue. Still, perhaps the ENT specialist you see will give you more hope than the one i saw, good luck to you.

Enjoy Soilwork, a predators portrait is an all time favourite album of mine.

 

[silverwulf]

I wouldn't worry too much about the hearing problem. There's a lot of different factors that make it come and go. Sinus and allergy trouble can definitely give you hell with your hearing and cause the ringing to be even more exaggerated. It's the same way for me. After concerts or playing gigs, I'll sometimes have a terrible ringing in my ears, or a faint "buzz" even when everything is quiet. There's times it may go away after a day or two, others times it may take a week or more depending on whether I have other factors enhancing it.

The biggest external factors for me are both sinuses/allergies, and I also retain water sometimes slightly in my ears (had to have tubes to drain excess water once when I was a child) that keep mine from going away. There was once about 2.5 years ago I had the ringing come on for no reason at all and last almost 3 weeks because of sinuses...it about drove me crazy before it went away! But, my hearing always checks out normal...