Introductory Post: Mild Ringing Since Young Child

Hello! I just joined this after researching tinnitus on the web a little bit. I'm currently 14, and I've had a quiet ringing in my ears for about as long as I can remember. I mostly hear it at night time or whenever else the room is really silent, but the ringing gets a bit louder occasionally so that I can hear it other times, too. I've never worried too much about it - mostly because it's usually only a bother when I'm trying to sleep - but also partially because I wasn't sure if it was normal, I guess. I haven't actually talked to a doctor about it, but after learning about tinnitus I think I will so I can find out if what I have really is tinnitus. I've gotten along fine with it for several years at least, though, so I'm still not too concerned, I guess. As for what may of caused it, I can think of a few instances when I was really young and was exposed to excessively loud noise. I just joined this forum, and I plan on browsing a lot more, but feel free to share your story about tinnitus with me! I'd especially love to hear if anyone got tinnitus at a really young age.

 

Hey I've had tinnitus since I was 8 and am now 15, like you it doesn't bother me too badly (mostly just on and off days) I had this ear infection and for a while I was convinced my t and hearing loss where the result of a very bad infection however my Doctor has confirmed that is highly unlikely so the cause it unknown and they've started investigating my case further because my MRI is completely normal which they think is odd, it could be congenital and didn't develop until a few years in the future though they still aren't sure, so I have a lot of appointments for scans, audiology etc. I'm glad that whatever is wrong isn't wrong with my head because then I'd be seriously worried.

Having it younger helps you adapt but I find it hard to not feel isolated sometimes because even though I still socialise and have fun I feel like most people I know could never understand that I just feel a bit a alone from time to time and that they just aren't considerate of what this can do to me and they never think about how being unnecessarily loud hurts me, they'll make deaf jokes sometimes and it just insults the fact that I worry about going deaf, recently I decided to be more open with my feelings about T (my friends don't really know anything personal about me) because they always say well you tell us if you don't feel okay so I tried and I know they just don't really care. I'm usually honest about my opinions (sometimes even insensitive) but not really honest about how I feel, people you don't have tinnitus don't understand tinnitus unfortunately it feels that simple. I'm not a very 'emotional feely' person when it comes to people so it doesn't bother me that I can't talk to them about it, but still It would be really nice to meet people who are my age and know how I feel.

I hope this doesn't happen to you, you should get a hearing test to see if your t is a result of bad hearing first my doctors really screwed me around with this only in the last few years were they more interested and serious about it, best of luck keep us posted. Enjoy your teen years no mater what happens! Have fun!

 

Best of wishes with dealing with tinnitus from me to you! I hope you enjoy your teen years, too! Thank you.