Hello.
I should start by introducing myself. I am 14 years old and I've had tinnitus for 2 years. I have absolutely no idea what started my tinnitus. I didn't have noticeable loud noise exposure until after my tinnitus had started (and it's only gotten worse since then). I never had ear infections as a baby and never had tubes in my ears. I am thinking that it may be genetic for me, because both my parents have it. My mom got it through a single loud noise exposure in her 20s (about 25 years ago) and my dad doesn't have a known cause either.
At first, I thought the ringing in my ears was normal - not sure where I got that thought from! I eventually told my mom, because I knew she had the problem and protecting her ears is very important to her. I myself wasn't very worried. I didn't know tinnitus was a named condition, and I thought it would go away.
Sadly, I was wrong. It's only gotten worse since then.
For July 4th, I went to my neighbors' house to watch the fireworks. They were setting off fireworks of numerous types on the driveway, and I absolutely refused to wear earplugs. "No one else wears earplugs on July 4th," I said. Well, maybe high school kids my age don't, but what I've found out after the fact is that earplugs are a necessity for fireworks. If only I'd known that beforehand... The "missiles" that shot multiple whistling fireworks up at one time were the ones that bothered me. I covered my ears when they set off the second batch, even though I was afraid I'd look weird. After the fireworks, while in the backyard with my neighbor friends and their cousin, I was extremely worried that my tinnitus would be worse, but I couldn't be sure until I got home and was in a quiet environment. To my surprise, when I got home, the tinnitus was manageable and much less severe than I'd expected. It was about midnight when I went to bed. I was lying in bed, relieved that the tinnitus wasn't worse, when after about 15 minutes of trying to sleep (I can never fall asleep in less than about 30 minutes anyway), a high-pitched squeal turned on in my right ear. AFTER I'd been home for an hour with no significant change! The 4th of July was 5 days ago. Since then, the tinnitus has been worse than ever. It's fluctuated, but still stayed at an extremely loud, high-pitched frequency. My hope is that the multiple tones in my ears will merge and soften eventually (this HAS happened before).
When I found this forum just this morning, I was feeling kind of desperate, so I joined despite the fact that I rarely join any sort of site right away. :3 I'm not sure if this forum is what I was looking for, because I've already noticed a couple instances of unnecessary profanity, but I figured it'd be better to write to actual people than to read those articles on the Internet that really don't have much to do with me. So, I'm here, even if I may be the youngest person on this site.
I should start by introducing myself. I am 14 years old and I've had tinnitus for 2 years. I have absolutely no idea what started my tinnitus. I didn't have noticeable loud noise exposure until after my tinnitus had started (and it's only gotten worse since then). I never had ear infections as a baby and never had tubes in my ears. I am thinking that it may be genetic for me, because both my parents have it. My mom got it through a single loud noise exposure in her 20s (about 25 years ago) and my dad doesn't have a known cause either.
At first, I thought the ringing in my ears was normal - not sure where I got that thought from! I eventually told my mom, because I knew she had the problem and protecting her ears is very important to her. I myself wasn't very worried. I didn't know tinnitus was a named condition, and I thought it would go away.
Sadly, I was wrong. It's only gotten worse since then.For July 4th, I went to my neighbors' house to watch the fireworks. They were setting off fireworks of numerous types on the driveway, and I absolutely refused to wear earplugs. "No one else wears earplugs on July 4th," I said. Well, maybe high school kids my age don't, but what I've found out after the fact is that earplugs are a necessity for fireworks. If only I'd known that beforehand... The "missiles" that shot multiple whistling fireworks up at one time were the ones that bothered me. I covered my ears when they set off the second batch, even though I was afraid I'd look weird. After the fireworks, while in the backyard with my neighbor friends and their cousin, I was extremely worried that my tinnitus would be worse, but I couldn't be sure until I got home and was in a quiet environment. To my surprise, when I got home, the tinnitus was manageable and much less severe than I'd expected. It was about midnight when I went to bed. I was lying in bed, relieved that the tinnitus wasn't worse, when after about 15 minutes of trying to sleep (I can never fall asleep in less than about 30 minutes anyway), a high-pitched squeal turned on in my right ear. AFTER I'd been home for an hour with no significant change! The 4th of July was 5 days ago. Since then, the tinnitus has been worse than ever. It's fluctuated, but still stayed at an extremely loud, high-pitched frequency. My hope is that the multiple tones in my ears will merge and soften eventually (this HAS happened before).
When I found this forum just this morning, I was feeling kind of desperate, so I joined despite the fact that I rarely join any sort of site right away. :3 I'm not sure if this forum is what I was looking for, because I've already noticed a couple instances of unnecessary profanity, but I figured it'd be better to write to actual people than to read those articles on the Internet that really don't have much to do with me. So, I'm here, even if I may be the youngest person on this site.
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