Is It Possible I Was Born with Tinnitus?

[Jamison Lincoln]

Hello I have just figured out that ringing in your ears 24/7 especially when quiet is not normal because I asked people. I have had it for as long as i remember and to be honest tinnitus doesn't bother me that bad unless I take aspirin than it gets loud. But I was wondering is it possible to be born with tinnitus?

 

[Sven]

is it possible to be born with tinnitus?

Hello and welcome.

I'm not an expert at all, but I believe I've heard of it. At least heard of people having it since they're, like you, were very young.

 

[Samir]

I don't subscribe to that notion at all. But I can tell you this much...

I have had mine for about 2 years without even knowing it by the name of tinnitus, up until it became more protruding, chronic and tonal. Up until then I had what you would call somatic tinnitus where I would hear a buzzing kind of sound when yawning, and also occasional ringing in my ears (or brain) that I think many people experience every now and then. Following an acoustic trauma I first got a humming, static noise that I didn't even think of as tinnitus because it didn't bother me at all, and then eventually that blissful humming turned into a tonal ringing or buzzing kind of sound. Only then did I realize that I got chronic tinnitus. I experienced other symptoms as well that lead up to that, which I interpret as some kind of apoptosis/degeneration and/or neural changes taking place.

Having tinnitus at a very young age is possible. But having it at birth seems like a very far-fetched idea to me. There would have to be something substantially wrong with your ears or auditory brain.

 

[Luis Orozco]

Same situation with me. I may suggest that probably in both of our instances our Tinnitus was caused by a childhood noise exposure. Probably when we either were toddlers or kids? I do remember having Tinnitus already by around the time I was 5 years old, yet compared to then it has been gradually increasing these past months.