Hey!
23 years old, male and doing quite well. I live my life normally, almost as if nothing has happened (my relationship to music, or sound in general, has changed a little though). I've been here for a while but never posted anything, I usually stay away from forums like these
Unless on bad days, then I've been reading mostly success stories here and it's been helpful. Anyways, as I haven't written any introduction before, here comes an overview of my tinnitus:
I think it was in November last year I first noticed a (permanent) ringing/tone in my right ear, when in complete silence (which was mostly when I went to bed). It's been there ever since, and I now have various sounds. Things got worse in January and I had quite a hard time back then.
cause: Years of listening to relatively loud music has probably contributed. I also went to a concert around the 20th of October without earplugs, and as I left the concert I had a funny feeling in my ears. As I went to bed that night I noticed a high pitched ringing sound in my right ear. It lastet for a few days but faded. Still I believe that some sort of damage happened. The onset of permanent tinnitus came later though, probably due to a combination of several factors such as stress, anxiety, long days with studies, tense muscles, more or less zero exercise in that period, and winter approaching. And the damage from said loud noise, of course.
Fast forward till today, I can categorize my T sounds into the following:
Sound 1: Low volume, relatively high frequenzy tonal sound in my right ear. Very easily masked and doesn't bother me at all. I rarely hear it unless I actively listen for it. Onset in November.
Sound 2: Got this one in January, no particular reason aside from the mentioned ones above. Hissing/cricket/blowing noise that is located "in my head". Extremely high frequenzy and not maskable by normal sounds so I hear it all the time, and it used to drive me crazy. It also kept me awake at night for a couple of days but I quickly learned to deal with it and I now sleep well. Today it doesn't really bother me at all unless I'm having a spike, which rarely happens.
Sound 3: A lower frequenzy tone in my right ear. I've heard some fridges making somewhat similar sounds. It's more annoying and higher in volume than sound 1. I first noticed it occasionaly in February I believe, although it didn't become bothersome until around May/June. I'm not fully used to it yet, and I guess it will be harder than with sound 2 as it varies quite a lot in volume, and it's sometimes masked by for instance the fridge, wind or TV. It's nice with some relief but it sucks when I suddenly notice the sound again.
I might have some other occasional sounds as well. Besides tinnitus, I'm not bothered with many other symptoms. Though I have recently developed some sort of "click-reflex" in my left ear when I hear certain sounds. Also, while I don't really struggle with hyperacusis I'm afraid of loud noises.
The worst part about having tinnitus is, for me, the fact that I have it. I guess I haven't accepted it 100 % yet, nor have I forgiven myself for attending to that concert back in October without earplugs. I even considered not going to that concert but decided to go last minute which makes it even harder.
Aside from that I'm ok, it's only periodically that I think about what happened last fall. I'm rarely annoyed by the sounds and don't really try to mask them. There has also been a great help in the realization that the sound itself is nothing, it doesn't need to affect me at all. My emotional response to the sound(s) is the real problem, so that's what I'm working on. While working on it, I've so far written a Master thesis, gotten myself a job and enjoyed holidays
I think this is it for now, but I might add more later. I'd be happy to hear from people who can relate to what I describe above. And ask me anything!
BTS
23 years old, male and doing quite well. I live my life normally, almost as if nothing has happened (my relationship to music, or sound in general, has changed a little though). I've been here for a while but never posted anything, I usually stay away from forums like these
Unless on bad days, then I've been reading mostly success stories here and it's been helpful. Anyways, as I haven't written any introduction before, here comes an overview of my tinnitus:I think it was in November last year I first noticed a (permanent) ringing/tone in my right ear, when in complete silence (which was mostly when I went to bed). It's been there ever since, and I now have various sounds. Things got worse in January and I had quite a hard time back then.
cause: Years of listening to relatively loud music has probably contributed. I also went to a concert around the 20th of October without earplugs, and as I left the concert I had a funny feeling in my ears. As I went to bed that night I noticed a high pitched ringing sound in my right ear. It lastet for a few days but faded. Still I believe that some sort of damage happened. The onset of permanent tinnitus came later though, probably due to a combination of several factors such as stress, anxiety, long days with studies, tense muscles, more or less zero exercise in that period, and winter approaching. And the damage from said loud noise, of course.
Fast forward till today, I can categorize my T sounds into the following:
Sound 1: Low volume, relatively high frequenzy tonal sound in my right ear. Very easily masked and doesn't bother me at all. I rarely hear it unless I actively listen for it. Onset in November.
Sound 2: Got this one in January, no particular reason aside from the mentioned ones above. Hissing/cricket/blowing noise that is located "in my head". Extremely high frequenzy and not maskable by normal sounds so I hear it all the time, and it used to drive me crazy. It also kept me awake at night for a couple of days but I quickly learned to deal with it and I now sleep well. Today it doesn't really bother me at all unless I'm having a spike, which rarely happens.
Sound 3: A lower frequenzy tone in my right ear. I've heard some fridges making somewhat similar sounds. It's more annoying and higher in volume than sound 1. I first noticed it occasionaly in February I believe, although it didn't become bothersome until around May/June. I'm not fully used to it yet, and I guess it will be harder than with sound 2 as it varies quite a lot in volume, and it's sometimes masked by for instance the fridge, wind or TV. It's nice with some relief but it sucks when I suddenly notice the sound again.
I might have some other occasional sounds as well. Besides tinnitus, I'm not bothered with many other symptoms. Though I have recently developed some sort of "click-reflex" in my left ear when I hear certain sounds. Also, while I don't really struggle with hyperacusis I'm afraid of loud noises.
The worst part about having tinnitus is, for me, the fact that I have it. I guess I haven't accepted it 100 % yet, nor have I forgiven myself for attending to that concert back in October without earplugs. I even considered not going to that concert but decided to go last minute which makes it even harder.
Aside from that I'm ok, it's only periodically that I think about what happened last fall. I'm rarely annoyed by the sounds and don't really try to mask them. There has also been a great help in the realization that the sound itself is nothing, it doesn't need to affect me at all. My emotional response to the sound(s) is the real problem, so that's what I'm working on. While working on it, I've so far written a Master thesis, gotten myself a job and enjoyed holidays
I think this is it for now, but I might add more later. I'd be happy to hear from people who can relate to what I describe above. And ask me anything!
BTS
Member
