I had a girlfriend once that had it so bad that three or four nights a week her ears would ring so loudly that sleep was impossible.

I really needed my sleep, so I dumped her.

I used to play in a metal band with a 100W full stack Marshall. You get used to it. I have to have a fan or some sort of ambient noise going at night, otherwise I can't sleep. I get the heartbeat noises sometimes.

Yes, I need something to drown it out to sleep, thought it was just me...

I can't go to sleep at night w/o a radio playing to cover it up. Mine is a legacy from Nam..

That's the worst part for me... I would be happy just to have the ringing only :(

i have it.

i dont notice anymore unless i am somewhere very quiet. i seem to hear it the worst if i am in a tree stand trying to enjoy the silence. mine isnt very loud.

too late, but i take care of my ears now. ear protection for sure.

Twenty years in the USMC, working around jet engines. Double hearing protection was the trick! I would venture to say that my hearing is the second thing that "hasn't lost a stroke!" :D

Randy

Tinnitus is a precursor to hearing loss, usually. Caffeine exacerbates it for most people, as does alcohol for some, acetylcylic acid (aspirin) also. Endolymphatic hydrops (excess fluid-endolymph-of the inner ear) causes the cilia in the cochlea to be crushed and break off eliminating neural pulses to the brain. Acoustic insult (such as a Jethro Tull concert) also breaks the cilia resulting in hearing loss. It is cumulative. The actual causes of tinnitus are unknown. My theory is that it is the same or similar mechanism behind phantom pain. Tinnitus seems to replace the lost neural impulses and gives the brain something to do. Acoustic neuroma (a growth of nerve cells on the acoustic nerve) can also produce tinnitus, similar to the interference effect of flourescent lighting on radio signals. Acoustic neuroma may also result in diminshed language recognition because it scrambles the signal before it gets to the parietal lobes of the brain. One can hear the speech but cannot understand it, similar to the inability to understand a foreign language. Hearing amplification (conventional hearing aids) do(es) not improve speech and language processing as it is analogous to cranking up a blown speaker. It just gets louder with no improvement in sound quality. All of the foregoing is dependent on the type and degree of sensori-neural hearing loss. In some people, certain frequencies of sound cannot be detected no matter how loud. Also, some people have tinnitus that is a reflection of their unique loss of perception of sound. That is, the tinnitus replaces and is a substitute for the individual frequencies lost. Destructive interference, such as is produced by electronic ear muffs, helps many. One of the most effective ways of dealing with tinnitus is plain and simple acceptance. Do not focus or concentrate on it. That is why sleep (or near sleep) and quiet environments increase the symptoms. The brain needs to be distracted else it begins to make stuff up. Of all the senses, hearing is the most mechanical. As we learn more about microelectronic signal processing and improve our abilities in microminiaturation, such as cochlear implantation, reliefs from tinnitus and hearing loss will become more available. There is an endemic explosion of hearing loss, an epidemic if you will, beginning to emerge in the 'boomer' population, ironically. Sorry for the length of this post but there you have it.

There were no concerns for hearing protection when I first started in the trade. I know I lost a lot of what hearing I had due to the various jobs I performed.
I wear plugs all the time when exposed to loud noises in the shop or at home. I don't have much left to protect, but I want to preserve what I have.
I have had nerve damage in the inner ear since I was very young. I can't remember a time when I have not had the ringing. Sometimes it doesn't bother me too much and other times it drives me crazy.... Mind you it is a pretty short drive in a fast car!

Hearing protections are the new seatbelts. ALWAYS use them.

It is interesting how wearing plugs and a headset over them doesn't seem to change how loud the machine room noise is, but changes the frequency levels of what your ear hears.
I have considered in the past using double protection in other situations too!!!

My wife has chronic tinnitus and is deaf in one ear. She wears a high-tech hearing aid and she says that helps, but the tinnitus is always there, to some degree...

I spent alot of time in factories starting at age 16. No hearing protection at all. In fact I worked in manufacturing through all of my college years and most of my early career until I got into management. OSHA was not a focus until the damage was done. Rock and roll sure didn't help though. I wonder how much the nagging wife hurt?

Would noise cancellation head phones help?

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I've got a letter from my doctor to see another specialist.
Any suggestions on what I should ask him? :)

I've got it too. Started last New Years when I was taking Sudafed for a cold. We went to a restaurant which was a bit loud, but not that bad. Next morning the ringing began...

Next question - how do you pronounce the word? Until I went to a doc about it I thought it was pronounced "tin-eye-tus." The doc pronounced it "tin-it-is."

I am surprised that no one has posted about the psychological issues related to tinnitus. It does not appear to be solely caused by exposure to load noise, or any physical stimulus per se.

Peter,
Thanks for the suggestion. We asked the ear specialist that and she said it might help, but we tried it and it didn't really help at all.

The psychological effects of tinitus are more a consequence rather than a cause of the malady. However, it is quite well known that certain psychological profiles lend themselves to exacerbations of anxiety, depression and obsessive mental disorders because of it. The first line of defense is a strong offense. Though easy to say, constructing a personal commitment against allowing it to control your life is essential. Compared to actual hearing loss, tinnitus is a minor inconvenience. Hearing loss and tinitis acquired simultaneously late in life can be devastating.

I have had mine for a very long time. I can't remeber when I didn't have it. Quiet is very noisey to me. I also have some hearing loss. However, my dad and his mom had hearing loss. I also have chronic ear infections; a simple cold goes right to my ears.

About 15 years ago, I started to get bi annual hearing tests. The first time I did the test,to establish a benchmark, the doctor explained the results. He indicated I had some hearing loss, nothing critical. He also said to me, you probably have ringing in your ears. I responded by saying: "doesn't everybody?". He calmly said "no". I remember getting teary eyed.

I am very aware of noisey situations and am very proactive when I get colds. I have had sinus surgery and experienced 2 bouts of vertigo. I know these parts of my body are my weakest links.