Hey Guys I'm Liz!

[liz.lj4664]

Hey guys,
So I'm Liz and I'm 16 years old and I have had tinnitus for as long as i remember, I thought everyone had it until I was 4 years old and I said to my mum, "you know how we have that ringing in our ears, why is it there?" My mum was quite shocked and told me that most people don't have a ringing sound in their ears.

So I've had a high pitched ringing in both ears my whole life and I've just grown up barely even noticing it anymore but a couple of days ago I woke up and the high pitched ringing was way louder then usual in my left ear and it hasn't gone away/got quieter.

Does anyone have any ideas as to why it suddenly got worse in one ear? And will it get quieter?
Thanks

 

[dayma]

Welcome to the board!

It's hard to tell why T modulates up and down sometimes. Did you have any acoustic events like a concert or loud noise that may have triggered it? Do you listen to earbuds at more than 50% volume normally? Just trying to think of what a 16yr old would be doing to make it worse

 

[billie48]

Welcome to the forum. You may want to check out your ears by an ENT doctor to see if there is infection inside the ears. That can cause the spike in your tinnitus. Stress and anxiety can also add to that, plus many other possible causes, such as drug side effect, food allergy, lacking some minerals/vitamins etc. Wish that your spike will settle down. Take care. God bless.

 

[Kolisar]

I was 4 years old and I said to my mum, "you know how we have that ringing in our ears, why is it there?" My mum was quite shocked and told me that most people don't have a ringing sound in their ears.

Wow, I wish I saw this post earlier (I have not been able to be on here much recently). I have to congratulate you, it too me until I was about 8 or 10 to ask that question.

So I've had a high pitched ringing in both ears my whole life

Does anyone have any ideas as to why it suddenly got worse in one ear? And will it get quieter?

I wish I could answer that question. I have had a few increases in volume during my life. I have have many "spikes", that have been temporary, but a few increases that were not.

Everybody's tinnitus is different. And, to be honest, little is know about the causes, especially for those of us who have never known silence.

What I do know is that staying positive will help. I can't promise that it will quiet down, I truly wish I could as I (like almost everyone here) understands how frustrating and difficult tinnitus can be. But, keep a positive attitude.

Focus on habituation (a word I had never heard until I came to this forum, which just means that you get accustomed to the tinnitus to where it does not bother you and you do not really notice it).

@billie48 wrote his success story demonstrating how positivity helped him habituate.
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/thread...w-i-recovered-from-tinnitus-hyperacusis.3148/

@Michael Leigh wrote the following, excellent post on the importance of positivity: https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/is-positivity-important.23150/

and the following on negativity and tinnitus
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/tinnitus-and-the-negative-mindset.23705/

There are a number of highly knowledgable people on this forum, Michael and Billie are amongst them. I would highly recommend seeking out posts started by these two as you will find a lot of valuable information that will help you better understand tinnitus and develop strategies to live with it. As a life long sufferer, it probably is not going to go away.

Here is another article from Michael that I have found very helpful:

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/tinnitus-a-personal-view.18668/

And, to support @dayma 's point about headphones, an post that Michael Leigh wrote ton headphone use and tinnitus:
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/headphones-and-tinnitus.12062/


Tinnitus can get very frustrating at times. I, like you, was fine with it as it was all I have ever known. But then I had the first major increase. Recently I have had a few more. Now, everyone's tinnitus experience is different, and I can only speak from by experience. It will get easier. It may not seem like, and there will be times where you will think that you cannot take it anymore. You can, and you will be able to. Adversity shows us that we are much stronger and resilient than we think we are.

I hope that you are able to find the answers and support you need here. This is an amazing community, and you are now part of it. We understand what you are experiencing. You will find that, often, people who do not suffer from tinnitus cannot understand how debilitating it can be. For that reason I am glad you found this forum. Our members do, and we will be here to support you when you need it.

 

[Jenny Guo]

Hi Liz, my name is Jenny. I'm 14 years old and I've had ringing in my ears since I was 7. I don't know what caused it but I didn't really think about it since it wasn't that loud. It was all good until last week. I woke up one night being completely bothered by it. The ringing was so loud in my right ear and I can't stop thinking about the ringing since then which makes me anxious 24/7. I went to the doctors earlier today and apparently I had a buildup of earwax and that's why. The doctor suggested putting a drop of oil in my ear every night and day and eventually the earwax will soften and fall out. I don't think the ringing will stop though, since I've had it for 7 years and I'm pretty sure there's some permanent damage done inside my ear. The ringing is high pitched and I can also sometimes hear my own pulse. It's pretty freaky when I think about it and I'm so scared. I listen to sound of rain or white noise on Spotify when I sleep to try mask the noise out a bit. However I can't fall asleep when there is too much noise (the ringing, ugh!) so there's nothing much I can do about it which results in sleepless nights for me. I feel like I'm going crazy. I just hope that the earwax falls out soon and I won't ever have to hear any more high pitched annoying ringing sounds again. Take care Liz and I'm here for support whenever