My Name Is Jeff and I Have a Tinnitus Problem

I've had ringing in my left ear and sometimes my right ear since 21-22... Since I'm new I figure I would share my story as to how I got to where I am today.

Right about the time I moved out of my parents place I noticed the T, not sure if its because I went from having a fish tank in my bedroom to not having one since I placed the tank in the living room when I got my own place, (fish tank makes noise) so maybe I just noticed it at that point and have had before then i'm not sure.

I did the basic ENT trip, did a hearing test for the first time and found that my left ear has slight hearing damage in the higher range, on the graph it showed a slight dip just outside the normal range. My right ear had a tiny dip but was well within the normal range. I always had a loud car, always worked on music with headphones too loud, and rode motorcycles, ENT explained that since my hearing loss was mostly in one ear, he believed I had an ear infection as a baby or young kid that went unnoticed/untreated. As a kid I always remember never being able to use a phone on my left ear, it just never sounded right, so that made sense.

Since learning about tinnitus, I have stocked up on ear plugs, and have a handful of different custom plugs, I wear foam ear plugs almost daily, anytime I do anything loud I wear plugs, from vacuuming the house, mowing the grass, or driving my car (85-90db basic driving from tire noise) My old car was 90-95db and would hit 115db under full throttle... Yes I also bought a nice DB reader for checking all the sound levels to keep everything in check and always always always wore ear plugs. Riding motorcycles, I always wear ear plugs, as with a wind jamner, (helps block wind getting into the helmet) wind noise is the issue with motorcycles, NOT the exhaust...

For the most part my left ear comes/gos, never fully going away, but will get to a level of not being too bad, have to think about it, to notice it. However at its peak, it will change tones slightly and be very noticeable at night.

Even with being super careful with my ears, life still happens, things like my son screaming into my ear while I pick him up as hes throwing a fit, or a metal folding chair being bumped by a coworker and falling over in a very small enclosed office with a concrete floor or like a few weeks ago when I was working on a friends bicycle and as I had his wheel off the bike inches from my face, the tube blew out at almost the same noise level as my handgun being fired. My ears felt that one! Sucks being so careful yet having stuff still happen. From the tire blowing up in my face, I'm pretty sure I lost a bit of hearing in both ears and my left ear is now flaring up ringing louder than ever before. =( But, I have faith in time it will settle down. I've been dealing with this for 10+ years now, I know how it can come and go.

Figured I would finally join in on some of the tinnitus talk, just wanted to introduce myself and a little background about my ringing.