Tinnitus from Firecracker — Posts on Tinnitus Talk Confirm There's Not Much to Be Done

I began my tinnitus journey 59 years ago, thanks to a firecracker about 3 inches from my face. (Thus I learned not to hold a firecracker and blow on the glowing end.)

From reading others' posts, I'm lucky - following a few days of pain and crying, I habituated tinnitus quickly at the age of 8. It was so much a part of everyday life, that I did not even realize that the ringing was not normal until someone told me when I was 24 that their ears did not ring. (That's also the first time I remembered the firecracker.)

For nearly all of my life it has been just a normal part of life - not particularly annoying. I have three frequencies in each ear: 6010 Hz, 7810 Hz and 8600 Hz. Sometimes it seems like they battle each other for dominance. As I've aged, with increasing slight hearing loss, the prominence of the ringing has increased (without the ringing itself getting louder). Habituation has left it still only noticeable when I'm not doing something, but it is now proportionally louder relative to the level of my hearing.

I've visited an audiologist a few times, seeking a solution, always leaving disappointed. But the posts I've read on Tinnitus Talk are comforting - they confirm that's there's not much that can be done. There has not been an available treatment that I didn't know about, all the while persevering with tinnitus.

 

If you have hearing loss like I have then the tinnitus becomes more noticeable I find hearing aids are a great help.