Comment by tombert

A message of hope.

I got mine in my 30's too. The first week I thought I was going crazy, and this was the end of my life. I was shocked, I couldn't go to work for a whole week.

I then saw a doctor who said to me: "Man, I've got tinnitus since 20 years and I barely hear it anymore. The more you accept it, the more it'll fade."

A decade later, my own experience is exactly this. I accepted it as one of the body malfunctions that comes with age for everybody. I barely hear it anymore except in extremely low noise situations and it doesn't bother me at all.

I wish you well.

Once the major (though exceedingly rare) problems have been ruled out, the best course of action is to start learning to live with it.

It’s not what anyone wants to hear, but it’s the pragmatic approach that works best from everything I’ve seen.

The people who become involved in tinnitus forums, support groups, and chasing experimental treatments think they’re helping themselves but they’re really only bringing it to top of mind over and over again.

It feels frustrating to give up and disconnect from all things tinnitus related on th internet, but disconnecting is exactly what helps with the process of letting it fall into the background of your life. Constantly bringing it to the foreground and reading about it only makes it worse.

I got tinnitus in one ear after using music in headphones to block out other noise. I was probably using the headphones too loud and too often. This happened 15 years ago. It was pretty bad at first. Since then, very slowly, it has mostly "healed" or something. It's still there. But it's much less severe than it was.

I also experienced significant hearing loss around the same time. My hearing had always been absurdly good, but that changed over about a year. Now I can hear well enough to get by, but I really miss what I had. Protect your hearing!

If it helps: I've gone through years of coping strategies and coming to peace with it; it'll probably annoy you a lot less a year from now than it does today. (I had a really rough run in my teenage years, but these days a cure for tinnitus is kind of only academically interesting to me; I mean, I'd do it, but it probably wouldn't change my life much.)

I have had tinnitus in my left ear since 2011. You do get used to it. I really only notice when someone says the word or an article on it pops up. I considered setting up some kind of web filter just so I never saw the word again. I notice it now, for instance.

To everyone who doesn't have it, wear ear plugs at concerts, be careful when you remove the ear plugs, and use the max volume limiters on your phones. Enjoy your hearing while you have it.

Remarkably, our experiences are _incredibly_ similar. Left ear, about a year, got all those tests done, specialists don't know other than "that's tinnitus for you - if I had a cure I'd be rich", 98% of the time I tune it out, I live in NYC, early thirties.

If you ever find something that works for you, please reply here @tombert, I'll do the same :)

maybe see "Won-Taek Choe" - he's a legit smart hearing specialist ENT on UES

that said, prob nothing to do other than wait and hope for the best really

when i had tinnitus following an ear infection years ago, it lasted several months and gradually went away but I always had at least white noise around me and some people say "notch" therapy can be helpful...

I’m basically in the same exact situation as you, only ringing in my left ear. MRI/hearing/etc tests have all shown nothing and I haven’t received any answer for it. I’ve had it for close to a decade now. NYC definitely helps drown it out but life would be better without it.

I got tinnitus in my late 20s. Forty years later, it's still there. Research into the causes, and treatments, has been disappointingly slow.

I would really like to experience total silence at some point, but that seems very unlikely.

I had tinnitus before I knew it was tinnitus - I thought it was normal. I literally thought that everyone had a constant sound in their ears.

It was not until someone explained that they had tinnitus and told me their symptons that I suddenly realised that I too had tinnitus.

Since then it's become harder to ignore it but on the other hard, its nice to know that it's not normal and that others can truly hear nothing - something I do wish I could do: hear nothing. I did recently discovered that head under water helps to reduced the sound.

Acceptance has been my treatment for years, I hear it when there is mental downtime. So it does keep me busy (mentally) so that I don't hear it - ironically tinnitus motivates me to do stuff!

I started having tinnitus in both ears 10 months ago.

I don't know the exact cause, but I started noticing it during a job-related burnout and a series of work-related events that significantly increased my stress levels.

It was so bad to the point I had to abruptly quit my job (FYI, freelancing without a safety net sucks).

My doctor gave me pills to help calm my brain and the noise, especially during the night. I also have hypersensitivity, so having a constant noise ringing was not ideal :/

Luckily my ENT doctor recommended that I do multiple things at the same time:

    - tinnitus retraining therapy (TRT), listening to white noise ~4 hours a day
    - going to a therapist
    - daily meditation
    - daily exercise
    - reducing salt, chocolate, coffee, etc.

I started to see life a bit differently since then. Things that disrupt your life can happen so suddenly...

I'm still trying to find a job, but I lost a lot of confidence and developed a bit of a trauma since I don't want to experience burnout again :/

I have a strong Tinnitus on one ear after an ear surgery for 8 years now. And I usually don‘t notice it for months at a time, even though it is there all the time (thanks for reminding me :p) So it’s not as bad as it might feel in the beginning. I‘m mostly bothered by my hearing being generally impaired by it. It sits at ~9kHz but it somehow still makes it significantly harder to comprehend voices.

Exactly the same story for me: right tinnitus just started one day in my 30s; examination, hearing test, MRI all normal. ENT specialist exhausted his diagnostic options then suggested ginger tablets.

It rarely bothers me (although it’s always there) but obviously there’s a cause and I’d like to find it. I have a suspicion it may be somehow related to neck anatomy and/or postural factors (it sometimes seems to worsen slightly with particular positions) in bed but beyond that I’m at a loss.

Another message of hope for anyone struggling with the possibility of having tinnitus:

I may not be able to fully recount all the factors but I believe my ears may have had some residual fluid after recovering from covid (my covid symptoms were entirely unpleasant and impacted me differently in many ways). Before my ears cleared up, I took a domestic flight where I actually got vertigo for a few 10s of seconds on ascent. My ENT believes my eardrum expanded to touch the inner ear.

The following day I went to a gun range and did skeet shooting for a couple of hours then shot really big guns and sniper rifles. The earplugs I brought myself were likely not adequate and taking them out and putting them in repeatedly in relatively cool weather likely didn't provide the best seal either.

That night or the next day I noticed lots of ringing in my ears and I started to become worried when it was still there even after a week. The worst was being in silent meeting rooms at work where it was most noticeable. It was extremely depressing and I nearly lost all hope.

I visited 2 separate ENTs and each just sent me re-take my yearly hearing test. They didn't really provide any comforting words other than to take the test and wear hearing protection, etc..

Before the hearing test (~2 weeks after the gun range and flights) I explained everything to the audiologist and he said "Lots of people have various degrees of tinnitus/ringing, just don't think about it. I have it and that's what I do. Don't let it bother you and live your life."

Interestingly enough, my audio test came back better than the previous 10 year results and since then I just don't think about it. If I do I can certainly hear it. My only personal takeaway is that the brain and body are very complex and have an arsenal of mechanisms to deal with trauma and that for this particular instance I've been very lucky.

I have had tinnitus from an infection, which (very thankfully, and I admit very luckily) slowly resolved over a period of years.

That said, I have experienced occasional reoccurrence. One thing that helps is I ask my masseuse to concentrate on the sides of my neck- there is a specific muscle that when tense can cause ringing.

Does your tinnitus get momentarily worse when you tense your neck muscles?

Same situation, basically went away a year later on its own. Every once in a blue moon or when I’m at the boundary of wake|sleep or sleep|wake I’ll kinda hear it again but I find if I just acknowledge the sensation, move on and continue what I was doing - it’ll be days or weeks until I remember it even happened. Focus on it less.

I feel you. Here’s things you can try (in this order):

- Cut stimulant use (coffee, energy drinks) and alcohol

- Drink plenty of water

- Check blood pressure

- Talk to a dentist and check if you grind teeth or suffer from jaw stiffness

- Supplement Magnesium (chelated/glycinate, 300mg/day)

I’m ignoring issues of the ear canal (wax, secretions) since you mentioned it.

Studies point to tinnitus being either caused by changes in blood supply on the inner ear, of neurological origin or trauma. These are all measures I took and greatly improved my case (and when I neglect one of those, it comes back).

Kids told me that I am losing my hearing. So I went to hearing lab. When I told doctor that I have tinnitus in left ear for almost 10 years, he recommended lorazepam in tough times… that it works. :)

I'm in your situation.

38, came out of nowhere few months ago, seen any kind of doctor, I hear this 24/7 whistle in my ear.

Being in silent rooms or trying to sleep is hard.

I’ve noticed that if I’m eating more salt, don’t sleep well, under a lot of stress, or taking anything that increases my blood pressure or affects vasodilation (supplements, some foods, stimulants, etc.), it causes me to have tinnitus. Loud concerts / music / sound-reducing headphone / noise can do it also.

I got tinnitus about 4 years ago in one ear. At first I thought it was stress with a new baby, moving house and a busy time at work. I thought maybe it was wax.

I saw a few specialists, had hearing tests, MRI and CT, and everything came back fine. Couldnt work it out so I gave up for a bit.

Later I went back to my GP and got another referral. This time the consultant asked the radiologist to focus on a specific area. He explained it can show up on a normal scan but unless they know what to look for it often gets missed.

That is when they found I have thinning of the bone over the inner ear called superior semicircular canal dehiscence SSCD.

I wear sleep earphones at night which have been life changing.

Im curious did you also experience hearing loss? I started getting tinnitus in my left ear almost 12 months ago, but 12 months before that I started noticably losing hearing in my left ear (with audiology tests to back it up, Im basically deaf in one ear now). Also mid 30s.

Try experimenting with diet like cutting out/down on sugar or salt and see if it makes any difference. There's no strong evidence that EMF can cause tinnitus but would be interesting to test that out somehow too (camping/cabin trip in a radio free zone?)

I too had exactly the same constsnt ringing in my left ear.

I could not get to sleep because the noise was so loud and intense.

It reminded me of those spy films where they torture someone playing loud heavy metalcore all day and night.

I had a X-ray, ultra-sound and two Consultants had a look.

Both said that there was nothing wrong with my ear. No ear wax, no damage, no issues at all.

They both mentioned that tense facial and neck muscles may be a cause.

As well as the constant ringing, there is a sound like a central eating system, thumping and groaning away, in both my ears too. I initially thought the thumping and groaning was the Mrs snoring.

I bought some earloops thinking my ears were too sensitive and I was somehow hearing noises from the houses down the road and the motorway traffic 3 miles away. to no avail, even with the earloops blocking all exterior noise, I still had the high pitched and low piched internal noises.

I found a way to reduce the noise.

I was laying in bed one night and I was relaxing my jaw when I noticed that if I opened my mouth and let my jaw hang loose all the noises stopped.

So over a month or so I tried to train my jaw to be less tense and more relaxed.

For me it worked.

it was my jaw.

I'm 69, so have a few less years years than your good self

this is anecdotal and not medical advice, but i reduced my tinnitus symptoms by ~90% by taking therapeutic doses (1200-1800mg/day) of benfotiamine (fat soluble form of vitamin b1) over the course of a month and a half.

i was taking it for unrelated nerve pain and was very surprised that my sense of smell and hearing also remarkably improved, to the point where i needed to reduce the long standing 'known' audio levels of all my various listening gadgets a few clicks. the ringing was a little worse for the first couple weeks, but then reduced a couple more weeks, then almost completely stopped 1 day.

from what i gather, high doses of the fat soluble form of vitamin b1 can repair nerves and is used as first line therapy in some countries for neuropathy, chronic pain and even alzheimers.

i'm sure it won't help everyone, i can't even find any solid research on tinnitus and benfotiamine, but putting this out in the ether since it is a cheap and relatively safe thing to try, i was completely surprised by this nice off-label side effect (it did help with my nerve pain as well). there is much more research based evidence on benfotiamine therapy for other nerve problems, and it follows that hearing and smell would also be affected, it's all nerves, good luck

edit * adding if you are taking high doses of benfotiamine, you should also be taking magnesium with it, i just took zma (zinc, magnesium and b6) at bedtime *

I tried Lenire and it didnt do anything, probably made it worse. Been doing CBT (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy) and I seem to be making some progress with it.

[dead]