[Migrated, see pinned post] Casual Conversation

I have had tinnitus all my life, and honestly did not know the ringing wasnt a normal thing until I watched an episode of Archer. Becoming truly aware of it was a terrible day for me.

Generally, it isn't something that is treatable, but in my opinion it is better to have it at an earlier age, when your brain is more adaptable, as it makes it easier to adapt to the constant ringing, and learn ways to tune it out.

If you need to, get some sort of white noise/nature sound generator and keep it playing during the quiet times, and focus on those noises. I find that tinnitus is worst when you are focusing on it, and the more you think about it, the more you notice it.

One thing I have found to NEVER work is mentally playing with the volume/pitch - those sliders only go up, and stay up until I have focused on something else for awhile.

My tinnitus sounds like the insects I could hear at night when I was younger in the tropics.

I don't live there anymore and the tinnitus feels comforting because of it. It doesn't distress me at all.

Ive had it since I was pretty young. I can't hear it unless I try- for example, your post made me become conscious of it, and there it is. It comes and goes, I notice. It doesn't bother me at all, essentially

Few times I've had this and the doctor just cleaned my ear and it was gone. In ear headphones can cause that by pushing earwax back. I stopped using in ear headphones and haven't had that happen in years. Just giving you a reason to stay positive, tinnitus can cause by some easily fixed things.

There are two causes for tinnitus. Your brain is hearing sounds that aren't there and poor blood circulation at your ear. I was 29 when I developed tinnitus after scuba diving in deep water. Ginkgo biloba helped me in a few hours after taking it. It's cheap and available at drug stores if you're interested in trying it

About 8 years ago I got out of the shower and was cleaning the water out of my right ear (as I usually did) and I must have done it wrong that time, as when I went to lay down that night I heard this very annoying high pitch sound from that ear. I might have looked around to see if that sound was coming from something (maybe from my computer, other electronics, or something outside). But no, it was from my ear.

Took about 2-3 years for me to be able to completely tune it out when there's silence. Sometimes I miss being able to hear nothing when it's quiet, but now I have ringing in both ears so it's really easy to ignore it.

It might suck for a while until your brain is able to tune it out, but it'll be easier someday.

If there's no physical damage (i.e. Loud music), and there's no nerve inflammation ( Ive been fighting this since I got covid a few years ago) or some sort of infection.. just go get your ears cleaned and you'll most likely be fine.

I've had tinnitus since I was a child. Like others in this thread I learned to live with it, and I don't need white noise to tune it out. You might end up being able to do the same. Like the others it seems to get louder if my blood pressure goes up.