Anyone else have tinnitus?

[Ducimus]

It's bugging me at the moment, as it usually does after i get done stressing out about something. I was wondering if anyone else here had it? Do you just learn to tune it out, or did you find something that worked? I've had two doctors tell me it's permanent and there's nothing to be done about it.

Don't know what Tinnitus is, or what it's like? Imagine having this sound (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0HIfqyHbKgY) in one or both of your ears.. constantly.

You may be able to tune it out by occupying your mind with something else. The ringing sound may be at a lower , more tolerable volume, at other times, but it never goes away. It's always there. Your just more conscious of it sometimes, and at other times it's off in the background somewhere.

[kraznyi_oktjabr]

I have it. Originally in both ears but now only in right. For some reason when they did cochlear implant surgery into my left ear, tinnitus completely disappeared from that ear. I still have tinnitus in right ear but if its not unusually loud (like right now) then I don't notice it unless I turn my cochlear implant off.

[stoppro]

I have had it for years I just got used to it I guess although sometimes in the morning its gets to be a pain. I live alongside it not much to be done they tell me

[mapuc]

I have it in both ear. Mostly in the left ear. I'm also suffering from Hyperacusis. My hyperacusis is my worst thing thou.

When I got it first time in -95 it broke me totally. But after going trough a TRT-training, I manege to live my life as before, somehow. It's no more cinema, disco a.s.o. Even my computer is a problem for me.

Markus

[Gato76]

I have it too, i been dealing with it for the last five years,once u get it chances are you will have it for the rest of your life.My advice to you is to ignored and stay away from loud noises and caffeine.

[Jimbuna]

A close friend of mine has it and he chooses to deal with it by consuming alcohol (the eedjit)...not much use to you I know but I hope you develop a better coping strategy than he did.

[CCIP]

Huh, I think you might be right about the caffeine. Never thought of that before! :hmmm:

I've had it in one ear for almost 5 years now, got it through an acoustic shock, which was preceded by a few years of listening to loud music in headphones.

It doesn't really bother me much and actually much less so since I quit drinking coffee last year (though I never connected the two till now), stopped using headphones (I try to use speakers for almost everything), started bringing earplugs when I go to see live music, and generally avoid aggravating noisemakers (things like fans, air conditioners, buzzers), especially when I'm asleep. When I go to sleep with a fan/AC running, I usually plug my ears, really helps in the morning.

Been pretty manageable for me, though my tinnitus isn't really that severe to begin with. It hasn't actually reduced though, and has probably got worse over the last 2 years, but easier to deal with.

[Madox58]

I have it probably from my years working with Bands.
It is constant every moment I am awake if I actually listen for it.
I guess I learned to live with it as it only pops into my attention when it's bed time.
I sleep with ear plugs and the ringing is very pronounced then.
When I have the ear plugs in?
I hear variations of the ringing depending on many factors.
Are my jaws clenched, am I under stress and tense, etc.
It's not a fun thing to live with as I have for over 20 years, but dwelling on it makes it impossible to live with.

I didn't even notice it today until I read this thread!!
Kind of like smelling skunk.
If you smell them everyday you only notice when thier gone.
:D

[Sledgehammer427]

I'm deaf in my right ear, mostly, anyway. I have 40db loss, because I have no eardrum. The tinnitus in that ear takes up a tone closer to a dial tone than the hissing I relate to the other ear. Playing so much heavy metal and surrounding myself with loud machinery doesn't help though. I just put up with it. But then I haven't looked for a "cure" either.

[nikimcbee]

I remember hearing commercials for this on the radio.
http://www.quietrelief.com/

No, I don't work for them.
i don't know if it's any good. Just tryin to help.:D

[CCIP]

Well as far as I know, most persistent tinnitus is caused by receptors permanently and physically going out of whack inside the cochlea, rather than anything in the outer ear. If ear cleaning hasn't helped, nothing probably will - unless you have a cochlear implant like kraznyi_oktjabr, but by that point the cure is almost worse than the medicine, since by then you'll have lost most of your natural hearing.

Since other than the tinnitus, my hearing is actually pretty darn good, I'd rather keep it the way it is.

[Skybird]

It is very very unlikely that a tinnitus appears all alone, thus it should not be seen as a disease itself, but only one symptom embedded in a greater context/syndrome. Almost all people, healthy, who are exposed to absolute quiteness, after some time report to hear accustic perceptions that match the description of a tinnitus. However, the tinnitus that is usually meant when using the term, can be caused by a wide variety of organic causes, from ear tumours over disease of the immune system and neural problems in the ear to infections, intoxications anywhere in the body or the brain, and cardiovascular issues, and psychosomatic and psychologic factors (stress) as well.

Therefore, if you suffer from tinnitus, do not think you are "safe" when learning to live with it and therefore not going to a doctor - when you assume it is "just something with your ear", then you can be very wrong, maybe. It could be a symptom that something very and totally different is wrong with your health.

[Madox58]

Well, I'm not going to have some implant that may do more harm the good.
The ringing is something I can live with and have for many years.
There's a good size group of people that do live with it because it is not reverseable.
Once you damage the systems involved?
You can't fix them unless your a rich MoFo and then you wouldn't be here talking about it!
:haha:

I'd say from others I have talked to? 60% of ex-military suffer.
The other 40% probably ran typewriters or some other low risk devices.

[Takeda Shingen]

I also have tinnitus affecting my right ear. It stems from playing in bands during my college years. Too much loud music. They promote earplugs now, and I am always telling my student to take care of their hearing.

[kraznyi_oktjabr]

In my case that "cure" to my left ear was totally unexpected consequence. Reason for installing cochlear implant was that I was almost deaf at the time and used either speech with heavy reliance to lipreading or sign language.

[mapuc]

I also have tinnitus affecting my right ear. It stems from playing in bands during my college years. Too much loud music. They promote earplugs now, and I am always telling my student to take care of their hearing.

They laugh at me, when I tell my sisters or others, when they are going to a concert. That they should protect their ears.

Markus

[Takeda Shingen]

They laugh at me, when I tell my sisters or others, when they are going to a concert. That they should protect their ears.

Markus

Absolutely. Rock concerts are some of the worst offenders, as everyone walks out with their ears ringing. Once you hear ringing, the damage has already been done.

[Herr-Berbunch]

I have it, but fortunately sporadic bouts and quite distant apart. Maybe twice a month and only for 10 mins or so.

I've had it since late teens when it was even further apart. I've put it down to noisy aeroplanes, I think 5 years working next to the VC10 (surely one of the loudest engines on an aeroplane) engine detuner at Brize didn't help much - defenders worn by the engine guys, but not for us. I've never been one for the ear defenders. It could be just as likely to be pubs/clubs :hmmm:

I know that when it occurs there is nothing prior that has caused it on that occasion. I also now know how lucky I am having read this thread.

@mapuc - I do not envy your hyperacusis

[Platapus]

I suffer from it too. Sometimes it gets really bad, but most of the time I can ignore it.

I think that I spent too much time on the phone sex lines and had too many eargasams. :D

[kraznyi_oktjabr]

I think that I spent too much time on the phone sex lines and had too many eargasams. :DWhat the... is eargasam? :o

[CCIP]

It is very very unlikely that a tinnitus appears all alone, thus it should not be seen as a disease itself, but only one symptom embedded in a greater context/syndrome.

That's true, but when the cause seems obvious and the symptoms are benign and stable, usually doctors will conclude the same thing (acoustic shock) without running you through a battery of tests. If it is seriously unstable or discomforting though, every good doctor should look into it further.

Otherwise, in Ducimius' case, since he does have a history of being in the military and working with heavy equipment, in all probability that's what actually caused it.

[Ducimus]

It's just my left ear. If equipment i operated in the military is the culprit, i woudln't doubt it. Though I strongly suspect, too many years of my arm hanging out the window, regardless of what i was driving. From regular pick up trucks to dump trucks.

Though I Also did some stupid things, that over time may have contributed to the delinquency of my left ear.. One (of many) example being, once I operated a 10 ton vibratory roller once without hearing protection. It wasn't planned, they just needed a monkey behind the wheel, and i got a "5 minute expedient field course" on how to operate it. I don't know if any of you know what that particular piece of equipment does or sounds like, but let me put it this way, after a few hours, i was in such pain, I literally picked cigerette butts off the ground and used them for ear plugs. After that day, i always had a set of real ear plugs attached to my hard hat so id better prepared for unexpected job taskings.

[Skybird]

That's true, but when the cause seems obvious and the symptoms are benign and stable, usually doctors will conclude the same thing (acoustic shock) without running you through a battery of tests. If it is seriously unstable or discomforting though, every good doctor should look into it further.

Otherwise, in Ducimius' case, since he does have a history of being in the military and working with heavy equipment, in all probability that's what actually caused it.
And still, we had a lecture in psychosomatics on tinnitus when I studied psychology, and they warned us against taking "obvious" situations as a diagnosis. It could be related to cardiavascular malfunctions, blood pressure. It could be related to infections by bacteria. It could be stress. It could a tumor in the brain. It could be an inflammation in the ear. And yes, of course it could be neural damage based on too much noise.

Just want to warn against saiyxng "I was exposed to noise, there I got it, a doctor cannot help it, I need to live with it, so why seeing him anyway". Let a doctor chekc it out for sure. It could come from noise - or from so many different things as well.

And you can be exposed to noise - and still get a tinnitus caused not by that noise but for example bacteria, or blood pressure issues, or whatever.

The differential diagnosis can be difficult, since one can easily fall for the apparanet easy explanation. And often it maybe will be that easy solution indeed. But even when not pointing out the high rate of wrong diagnosios being done - just see what Wikipedia also is listing as possible causes, accoustically caused damage to the "sensory" is just one category of several:



Causes of subjective tinnitus include:[25] (http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/#cite_note-24)

Otologic (http://www.subsim.com/wiki/Otologic) problems and hearing loss (http://www.subsim.com/wiki/Hearing_loss):

conductive hearing loss

external ear infection (http://www.subsim.com/wiki/Ear_infection)
acoustic shock (http://www.subsim.com/wiki/Acoustic_shock)
loud noise or music[26] (http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/#cite_note-25)
cerumen (earwax (http://www.subsim.com/wiki/Earwax)) impaction
middle ear effusion (http://www.subsim.com/w/index.php?title=Middle_ear_effusion&action=edit&redlink=1)
superior canal dehiscence (http://www.subsim.com/wiki/Superior_canal_dehiscence)

sensorineural hearing loss (http://www.subsim.com/wiki/Sensorineural_hearing_loss)

excessive or loud noise
presbycusis (http://www.subsim.com/wiki/Presbycusis) (age-associated hearing loss)
Ménière's disease (http://www.subsim.com/wiki/M%C3%A9ni%C3%A8re%27s_disease)
acoustic neuroma (http://www.subsim.com/wiki/Acoustic_neuroma)
mercury (http://www.subsim.com/wiki/Mercury_poisoning) or lead poisoning (http://www.subsim.com/wiki/Lead_poisoning)
ototoxic (http://www.subsim.com/wiki/Ototoxic) medications

analgesics (http://www.subsim.com/wiki/Analgesics):

aspirin (http://www.subsim.com/wiki/Aspirin)
nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (http://www.subsim.com/wiki/Nonsteroidal_anti-inflammatory_drugs)

antibiotics (http://www.subsim.com/wiki/Antibiotics):

Ciprofloxacin (http://www.subsim.com/wiki/Ciprofloxacin)
aminoglycosides (http://www.subsim.com/wiki/Aminoglycosides), e.g., gentamicin
chloramphenicol (http://www.subsim.com/wiki/Chloramphenicol)
erythromycin (http://www.subsim.com/wiki/Erythromycin)
tetracycline (http://www.subsim.com/wiki/Tetracycline)
tobramycin (http://www.subsim.com/wiki/Tobramycin)
vancomycin (http://www.subsim.com/wiki/Vancomycin)
doxycycline (http://www.subsim.com/wiki/Doxycycline) (Vibramycin)[27] (http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/#cite_note-26)

chemotherapy (http://www.subsim.com/wiki/Chemotherapy) and antiviral drugs (http://www.subsim.com/wiki/Antiviral_drug):

bleomycin (http://www.subsim.com/wiki/Bleomycin)
interferon (http://www.subsim.com/wiki/Interferon)
pegylated interferon-alpha-2b (http://www.subsim.com/wiki/Pegylated_interferon-alpha-2b)
cisplatin (http://www.subsim.com/wiki/Cisplatin)
mechlorethamine (http://www.subsim.com/wiki/Mechlorethamine)
methotrexate (http://www.subsim.com/wiki/Methotrexate)
vincristine (http://www.subsim.com/wiki/Vincristine)

loop diuretics (http://www.subsim.com/wiki/Diuretics):

bumetanide (http://www.subsim.com/wiki/Bumetanide)
ethacrynic acid (http://www.subsim.com/wiki/Ethacrynic_acid)
furosemide (http://www.subsim.com/wiki/Furosemide)

others:

chloroquine (http://www.subsim.com/wiki/Chloroquine)
quinine (http://www.subsim.com/wiki/Quinine)
antidepressants (http://www.subsim.com/wiki/Antidepressants)
varenicline (http://www.subsim.com/wiki/Varenicline) (Champix)
naproxen (http://www.subsim.com/wiki/Naproxen)




neurologic (http://www.subsim.com/wiki/Neurologic) disorders:

chiari malformation (http://www.subsim.com/wiki/Chiari_malformation)
multiple sclerosis (http://www.subsim.com/wiki/Multiple_sclerosis)
head injury (http://www.subsim.com/wiki/Head_injury)

skull fracture (http://www.subsim.com/wiki/Skull_fracture)
closed head injury
whiplash (http://www.subsim.com/wiki/Whiplash_(medicine)) injury
temporomandibular joint disorder (http://www.subsim.com/wiki/Temporomandibular_joint_disorder)
giant cell arteritis (http://www.subsim.com/wiki/Giant_cell_arteritis)




metabolic (http://www.subsim.com/wiki/Metabolic) disorders:

thyroid disease (http://www.subsim.com/wiki/Thyroid_disease)
hyperlipidemia (http://www.subsim.com/wiki/Hyperlipidemia)
vitamin B 12 (http://www.subsim.com/wiki/Vitamin_B12) deficiency
iron deficiency anemia (http://www.subsim.com/wiki/Iron_deficiency_anemia)



psychiatric (http://www.subsim.com/wiki/Psychiatric) disorders:

depression (http://www.subsim.com/wiki/Clinical_depression)
anxiety (http://www.subsim.com/wiki/Anxiety)



other causes:

tension myositis syndrome (http://www.subsim.com/wiki/Tension_myositis_syndrome)
fibromyalgia (http://www.subsim.com/wiki/Fibromyalgia)
vasculitis (http://www.subsim.com/wiki/Vasculitis)
hypertonia (http://www.subsim.com/wiki/Hypertonia) (muscle tension)
thoracic outlet syndrome (http://www.subsim.com/wiki/Thoracic_outlet_syndrome)
Lyme disease (http://www.subsim.com/wiki/Lyme_disease)
hypnagogia (http://www.subsim.com/wiki/Hypnagogia)
sleep paralysis (http://www.subsim.com/wiki/Sleep_paralysis)
glomus tympanicum tumor (http://www.subsim.com/wiki/Glomus_tumor)
anthrax vaccines (http://www.subsim.com/wiki/Anthrax_vaccines) which contain the anthrax protective antigen
Some psychedelic drugs (http://www.subsim.com/wiki/Psychedelic_drugs) can produce temporary tinnitus-like symptoms as a side effect

5-MeO-DET (http://www.subsim.com/wiki/5-MeO-DET)[28] (http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/#cite_note-27)
diisopropyltryptamine (DiPT) (http://www.subsim.com/wiki/DiPT)[29] (http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/#cite_note-28)

benzodiazepine withdrawal (http://www.subsim.com/wiki/Benzodiazepine_withdrawal)[23] (http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/#cite_note-clinical_manual_of_emergency_psychiatry-22)[24] (http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/#cite_note-seizures-23)
nasal congestion (http://www.subsim.com/wiki/Nasal_congestion)
intracranial hyper or hypotension (http://www.subsim.com/w/index.php?title=Intracranial_hyper_or_hypotension&action=edit&redlink=1) caused by for example, Encephalitis or a cerebrospinal fluid leak

See that they also differ between objective and subjective tinnitus.

[Platapus]

What the... is eargasam? :o

You get eargasams when you have aural sex. :yeah:

[mookiemookie]

I have it in both ears, and my hearing is absolutely awful. I know it can be slightly different for different people (ringing, whooshing, etc) but mine sounds exactly like the Youtube link you provided, Duc.

I've learned to live with it by having white noise in the background to kind of tune it out. I sleep with an air purifier right next to my bed because I can't sleep in a completely silent room. The ringing is too deafening without some other white noise to offset the sound.

[u crank]

I have it in one ear but it's a lower pitch sound. It never stops. Hearing loss was sudden and disorienting. Doctor says it's age. Seeing specialist in March.

Like mookiemookie, I need white noise to sleep.The silence is deafening. I have a fan on summer and winter.

I try not to think about it. Eargasms help. :haha:

[Reece]

I get that sound every now and then, just starts but after a minute or so fades out! but having it all the time though would suck.:cry: If your not a bleeder have you tried taking a couple of Asprin, since it thins the blood it might help!:hmmm:

[mapuc]

As Skybird said, it is a hundred different reasons why one gets tinnitus. Some of these symptoms can fortunately heal your Tinnitus.

I my self, had to go through TRT and a psychologist to learn to "deal" with it.

During a period it was talking about making me deaf in left ear. This is due to my hyperacusis was so severe. All forms of noises were very painful for me, even low noises were terrible

Markus

[ZenPit]

It's bugging me at the moment, as it usually does after i get done stressing out about something. I was wondering if anyone else here had it? Do you just learn to tune it out, or did you find something that worked? I've had two doctors tell me it's permanent and there's nothing to be done about it.

Don't know what Tinnitus is, or what it's like? Imagine having this sound (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0HIfqyHbKgY) in one or both of your ears.. constantly.

You may be able to tune it out by occupying your mind with something else. The ringing sound may be at a lower , more tolerable volume, at other times, but it never goes away. It's always there. Your just more conscious of it sometimes, and at other times it's off in the background somewhere.

I've been suffering from this for the last three years. I believe it started either after going to a shooting range with my family, or an ear infection from my early childhood (I honestly think the shooting of the guns unlocked it).

I can't stand this low pitch ringing. I don't think I hear it all the time, mostly when it's really quiet (like when I'm trying to go to sleep) but I could just not be noticing it during the day. If anyone knows how to help either get rid of it, or make it less noticeable I would greatly appreciate it! :)

[jjammem]

I have had some serious issues with tinnitus as well. It's been an ongoing problem for me. Ever since I had this horrible ear infection(I think it was from swimming in the ocean), I've been experiencing loss of sound and hearing impairments in my right ear. Also I have some horrible pains that are frequent throughout the month. One way of solving this problem was to start taking piracetam. A close friend of mine had recommended this to me. The doctor visits and the prescribed anti-bios were not doing the trick for me. I think it had to deal with a permanent side effect from the ear infection I had 3 years ago. So far I have been taking piracetam almost daily for 4 months and I have noticed that my hearing has been gradually improving along with the reduction of the "fuzzy ringing noises". It's hard to come across in stores and it is not a prescribed medication. It is usually found online. This site here( www.smartdrugsforthought.com ) carries 100% piracetam and they are vege caped as well.

Piracetam alleviates (acute) Tinnitus. "Fortschr Med. 1995 June 30;113(18):288-90."

Piracetam, which improves rheology and has a positive effect on metabolism, would appear of particular interest for the treatment of acute tinnitus.

Hope this helps out and please leave me some positive feedback.

P.S. I would suggest using quality earphones if you are shooting at the shooting range. This can also intensify your symptoms of tinnitus. :) :) :)

[Torvald Von Mansee]

I've got it fairly badly. I don't quite know why, as I started using ear protection when going to concerts in '91 and didn't really go to many prior to '87. Of course I'm of the generation that listened to the walkman rather loudly, but before the ear buds thing happened.

[Skybird]

I've got it fairly badly. I don't quite know why, as I started using ear protection when going to concerts in '91 and didn't really go to many prior to '87. Of course I'm of the generation that listened to the walkman rather loudly, but before the ear buds thing happened.Note that if in your case noise is the cause indeed, it needed just one single event to cause a neural damage that then is beyond repair. When noise is the origin of tinnitus in form of neural damage, it can be exposition to noise over longer period of time as well as just one single situation where decibel slammed into the ear too hefty.

You can get tinnitus from just one shot being fired close to your ear.

[Skybird]

Piracetam, which improves rheology and has a positive effect on metabolism, would appear of particular interest for the treatment of acute tinnitus.


Tinnitus has the worse a prognosis the longer it already has lasted. "Acute" it is diagnosed as only when it last for a few months, say two or three months. Since you said you have it since years, you should consider yours to be a chronic tinnitus.

It might be interesting for those suffering from tinnitus, that physiopsychologic research showed that there seems to be no linear link between objective volume levels people report to hear, and subjective level of suffering they get from that. Some people suffer much from relatively silent ear sounds, others suffer relatively less from much louder tinnitus. This seems to support the assumption that to some considerable degree one can learn to psychologically adapt to the problem and being less effected by it. It is a worthy thing to watch out and check according training possibilities, from psychological programs that may exist, to meditation and relaxation techniques. Mind and awareness - and what on and how they focus - play a role here. This is not to say you an get rid of tinnitus. While that is not ruled out, in most cases it will not do this for you. But it can help you to get along better with it. Think of it as something like cognitive desensitization. No mattere whether caused by hardware-damage or by temporarry effects from otuzside or psychosomatical problem, there is always a strong psychological factor involved relating to the felt ammount of suffering. And that is the screw you can try to turn in both directions to see if this does something for you.

White-noise-floodiung canwork for some people. But there may always be a risk involved, a psychological one: You can get become depedning on it, feeling the tinjitus even stronger when not having white noise around you, comparable to somebody taking drugs against pain, and needing continually increasing doses of them to reach the same calming effect. White noise may not make the tinnitus stronger, but it could happen that psychologically it makes you more sensible to its absence.

[Sammi79]

I've got it fairly badly. I don't quite know why, as I started using ear protection when going to concerts in '91 and didn't really go to many prior to '87. Of course I'm of the generation that listened to the walkman rather loudly, but before the ear buds thing happened.

My ex girlfriend used to suffer with it really badly. I'd catch her punching herself in the side of the head some nights. I had the benefit of being taught exactly how the damage occurs by acoustic shock in my sound engineering degree. She had been standing with her head in 20K rigs output end at underground parties for years. By the time I met her, she was terrified of loud noise/music/voices she believed strongly that it would make her tinnitus worse, and she carried earplugs at ALL times. She also maintained that non-sufferers are unable to understand the torture that it can be and in at least some sense I guess she was right.

One thing I will say in regard to your quoted post and very few folks seem to be aware of this, even at seemingly moderate levels headphones of any kind are unreasonably dangerous to your hearing, and if you use them regularly you should definitely wear proper acoustic attenuating plugs while you do so. (they cost a bit but they lower the volume rather than muffle the sound)

I spent a few years mixing drum 'n bass records in the 90s and my left ear (the one I'd use to monitor, normally headphones) frequency response has dropped to less than 10KHz (should be at least 15-16K for my age) from doing that meaning my directional sound processing cannot be totally trusted. quite often I think a sound that came from the left came from the right, as my right ear processed a louder less muffled sound. I am lucky to have only very brief periods of tinnitus, no more than a day or so at a time. I think the most useful therapies are psychological as the damage cannot be repaired, but it can be lived with, and as long as you take care in future there is no reason for it to get worse. Trying to remain positive and stress free is the most important thing as all sufferers report worsening with stress or anxiety, which creates a negative feedback, making you more stressed making the ringing worse etc...

All you who suffer have my deepest sympathies.
Regards,
Sam

[Tchocky]

What?

[danasan]

I have had it for 20 years now in the left ear. I just got used to it. But it was the hell to me in the first couple of years. I guess sometimes in stressing situations it gets to be a pain.

[AVGWarhawk]

I have it. Both ears. Mine is a high pitched noise all the time. Normally my brain blocks it out during the day. When quiet at night it is most noticable. I have abused my hearing for years. Open headers on race cars. Loud mechanical shops. Loud concerts of the 80's. Yes, KISS at 100 decibels for few hours will do that to you! I'm paying the price now. Anything loud I will cover my ears now.

[Buddahaid]

I have had it for decades and it rarely ever bothers me. The only time I notice it is when the topic comes up.

[joea]

I do get it, especially in the left ear - well I think I do. I tend to get wax build-up in my ears and more so in the left. Often after a cold or during allergy season. When I go to the doc to get my ear wax removed it goes away. So is it really tinnitus?

[Rockstar]

I do get it, especially in the left ear - well I think I do. I tend to get wax build-up in my ears and more so in the left. Often after a cold or during allergy season. When I go to the doc to get my ear wax removed it goes away. So is it really tinnitus?

Good question. I get a ringing in my ear once in a very great while. Its subtle and goes away without notice. Not sure if that would be considered a case of tinnitus or what.

[Skybird]

Almost all people get the occasional accustic perception in the hear, for most it seems to be a high whistling-kind of sound. It last for one or two minutes, and then fades out again, often it is just one ear. It should not happen more often than every couple of weeks, I think. Also, as I already said, almost all people start to have some minor accoustic perceptions if being exposed to total silence.

This may be - my assumption - due to some physiological variable temporarily changing, like you can also get a second of swindle when you raise too quickly and for a moment your blood pressure goes up and down. Omne cannot say it often enough: tinnitus can and often is caused by accouzstic excessive stimuli causing neurla damage in the ear's inside, but it can be caused by so many different factors as well. It can stay for just a short while, minutes, or just days, then it will go away usually. If it last for longer than let's say 2, 3 or 4 months, then the prognosis becomes less optimistic and the tinnitus may become chronic.

Just for the record, I do not want to boast here, and I am no medical doctor, but we got a lecture on it in psychosomatics lessons when I studied, because tinnitus can be caused by psychological and psychosomatic factors, or in the attempt to learn how to deal with it people with tinnitus find their way into psychotherapeutical coping groups. Also, I base on stuff that I learned around 20 years ago, so research and medicine improving it'S knowledge may have gone beyond what I believe to know.

Oh, and I get the occasional 1-2 minutes "tinnitus" every couple of weeks myself, too, mostly in the same ear, always. Seen that way I am a typical representative of the numerically dominant "me too!"-group. I link it to stress and my blood pressure issues. Focussed relaxation like done in meditation has a positive effect in shortening the time.

[TorpX]

I have it, but not too bad. When I first noticed it, it bothered me a lot. Now I hardly think about it. When I was a kid, I went shooting with my father and uncles often and was exposed to loud noise. Veterans of their generation didn't use hearing protection. :-?