Hello There

I've had a ringing in my ears since early childhood - one of my earliest memories is complaining to my mom about the ringing (and she didn't believe me).

I literally cannot remember a time when I haven't heard it.

To me, it's a high pitched discordance (several tones, around 6-7 kHz), and roughly equivalent to 70 dB in volume, and in both ears.

Yes, it's that loud — louder than many conversations.

Yes, it's a constant sour musical note.

... and, yes, I'm an engineer who has played with tone generators and sound level meters to describe what I hear.

I use some white noise to help me sleep — mostly to reduce the ear's tendency to become even more sensitive in the absence of noise.

I do wonder about my hearing from time to time; but I have no issues hearing quiet sounds (like my baby boy breathing a few feet away, or the taps of my fingers against my phone's screen).

I've always taken hearing protection seriously. I wear earmuffs or earplugs when I mow the lawn, use power tools, etc. Ditto for loud music - I just don't enjoy it loud.

I have long wondered what could have caused my tinnitus- a series of childhood ear infections, or if I have hearing damage from before I could remember.

My tinnitus doesn't cause me any anxiety or stress. To me, it's like a heartbeat or breathing - there's no escape, but also completely normal.

I do wonder what I can do to to reduce it.

I love music; Silence is as big a part of music as any instrument; I'd like to be able to "enjoy the silence" a bit more.

 

I like your attitude. It is so positive. Even though it is not easy and may take quite some time, nothing beats the state of mind for a person with T to think that it is part of your being, your normal functions as you describe it so well "so completely normal". That is a state of non-resistance and flowing with life's challenges, and with that T can't generate negative reactions and emotions to fuel its spikes. Since your T is from such a young age, it is hard to say what can reduce it. If the doctor or ENT can't find anything wrong with the ears, then perhaps just use the good diet approach to see if it helps, such as reducing intake of too much salt, sugar, caffeine, alcohol, MSG, junk foods, etc., and perhaps try supplements such as NAC, Magnesium, Zinc, B12 or B complex, D3 etc. Some people find other methods helpful but they only work for some individual, such as acupuncture, mindfulness meditation etc. The most read success story 'Back to Silence' by IWLM is using a simple method to tame his T which he has suffered for 40 years. So you may want to read the story. Here is the link. Take good care. God bless.

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/back-to-silence.7172/

 

But those are the six basic food groups!!! How will I live!?!?

Actually, I have noticed that days where I have more caffeine, it's worse.

I appreciate the link; I'll give it a read.

 

The idea is moderation and not total elimination. We still have to enjoy life after all. LOL. Each person is different. But it is easy to try this out for short term to see if any of these can affect T.

 

You have lived with this thing for a LONG time, give yourself a pat on the back. Keep up the good work