The Tinnitus Monster — Not Gone, Yet Has Not Been an Issue for Long :)

Hey there Friends,

Intro
My first post here ever, but believe that I need to share my story to give some hope to others out there who have just started with this thing and are freaking out - Today I am a 39-year-old male, who has noise induced tinnitus, but it all started for med back in 2002 after visit to a noisy club - to be honest I had too much too drink and did not notice the volume levels - probably before that my ears have been taking damage from playing instruments without earplugs as a kid, music etc. After this incident at the club my ears were ringing (as normal) - however this time it was different, the sound in my head would not go away (a television like high pitch sound) followed by hyperacusis...

My fist experience with the Tinnitus Monster
Reading through other posts here - I experienced exactly the same SET of feelings like the rest of you; despair, frustration anger and fear - back then I felt very alone with this problem - I basically feared that my life was over, being only 19 years old... how the hell should I live with this sound, manage school, work, life etc. I felt that I was in a very dark place...

However, with time, yes with time... things started to change for the better - I decided to protect my ears going out, regardless of what people said, since I really never cared of others' opinion on my ears and earplugs anyway - gradually the tinnitus simply stepped in the background - I managed in 1-2 years from getting the tinnitus to live on (habituate). The tinnitus was there but not an issue anymore - I also protected my ears better going forward and have lived the good life since, you can too... So don't give up!

Why am I back...
I am back only in this forum after 19 years because I have had some small setback with my tinnitus, meaning that I have unfortunately had some spikes in my tinnitus (started 3 weeks ago) - I had for the last 5-6 moths used musician's in-ear monitors (at low volume) but this is just a bad idea - I cannot rule out that also having two screaming kids and my age also has some factors adding to this. My coping strategy going forward is to - kill the in-ear monitors for good... and re-start my habituation process again - I will need to be patient but believe that there is light and better times ahead...

In short, tinnitus can get much better but it takes time... and you need to protect you ears!

My strategy
Read the positive stories in this forum, but also try to focus on other stuff (give your brain a break), do fun things, protect the ears, accept that "complete silence" is not normal either (play background music/sounds /radio) - I have accepted that the sound of the tinnitus in quiet rooms is the sound of "silence"/your body... it sounds weird but works for me...

Wish you all the best for your recovery and stay safe,
Thomas