Thread: Any Tinnitus sufferers out there?

I've had Tinnitus since birth or shortly thereafter. Rather than a "ringing" in the ears, mine has been a continuous high pitched tone that is ever present and impossible not to be noticed. Yep, 24/7 all of my life. It's something I have learned to live with and try not to focus on.

Does anyone else have Tinnitus, and if so, when did it start, what does it sound like to you? How is your hearing otherwise? Mine is fine, it's not related to hearing loss.

Chris L

This is bizarre. No lie.... I was driving down the street last night and thought about posting this very question. I was at a light next to one of those cars with the booming bass that goes through everyone else's car. Urge to kill but that is another story. I was thinking how the rude idiot with the noisy radio will have tinnitus soon enough if he doesn't have it already.

Lots of 44 magnum handgun shooting out in the boonies with a couple of spent shells in my ears for protection, 20 years of ironwork driving pins through connection points in beams and girders with no ear protection probably contributed to mine. I was in my mid thirties when I first noticed it.

I hear birds chirping off in the distance 24/7. Like you I've learned to live with it. Much of the time I don't even know it is there. When I lie down to go to sleep and turn out the light it kicks in more than when I am up and around but it doesn't bother me really.

I don't have ringing, but I get the sensation of running water in my left ear.

Six years ago I had one day at the range with my 30-06, a brick wall to my left, and no hearing protection. No big deal I thought... I went through 60 rounds IIRC, and it was too painful to continue. I've had this problem ever since.


To the OP: Perhaps a dumb question... If you've had it 24/7 for your whole life how do you know it's there? I would think that if it was always there you wouldn't know the difference...

I am really sorry for your tinnitus. I know something about, and at least for me it is a very nasty thing that really makes ones life troubled.
I've worked for the military for + 20 years, and during this time i guess my ears had their full share of shootings, explosions, engine noise etc. At home i work with electric tools every now and then and i've had several motorcycles during years that weren't so silent either.

Every now and then i have tinnitus so hard that it wakes me up in the middle of the night. No moments of silence but rather like very high tone screaming in my ears. Luckily it is not continuous, i can still have my moments of silence too. I've learned to respect them. This has been going on for the last 10 years or so.
Otherwise there is nothing wrong with my hearing. On the annual health and fitness tests i'm still A1.
What makes me sad is that i haven't been able to hear the grasshoppers 'playing their violins' for years.
Tinnitus is a terrible thing. I think that some who hasn't experienced it cannot really understand what is it all about.

Well when i was born my right ear was about 85% to begin with then when i was 12 i started playing drums , and loud guitar, and had been been in bands ever since(im 25 now) And now im a recording/mixing engineer so hearing is very important and i can notice that when i put the volume all the way down and turn it up slowly it will start in my left ear then my right, and occasionally will have ringing in my ears from a 8 hour day of mixing, but im always afraid of getting really bad Tinnitus,a guy i work with has it soo bad he had to have the tv on when he slept so that he wouldn't hear it. Its kind of like the worst thing in my industry next to going completely deaf. Im sorry Chris that you have to live with that, but im glad that you stay positive and not let it get to you.

Originally Posted by Sailor

Every now and then i have tinnitus so hard that it wakes me up in the middle of the night. No moments of silence but rather like very high tone screaming in my ears.

You are pulling your wife's hair in your sleep...

I'm lucky no tinnitus just some hearing loss. Same deal worked in the steel industry for too long. Spent months on a rivet crew. Then OSHA decides to give hearing tests and have companies provide protection. Typical. I get a little ringing some nits now when the shop is super loud but most times the hearing protection works

Originally Posted by HNSB

To the OP: Perhaps a dumb question... If you've had it 24/7 for your whole life how do you know it's there? I would think that if it was always there you wouldn't know the difference...

I understand your question, but I know it's there because it's a sensation, a constant and unwavering high pitched tone and it's very obvious. It's not something that I have to stop and "listen" for. And, many other people I've asked through the years have said that they don't experience the same thing.


Loud noises make it worse so in that regard I'm conscious about avoiding loud noises. I wear ear plugs at movies. I still remember the time over ten years ago when I was walking with some friends on the 4th of July in downtown Minneapolis when some loser riding by on a bike threw a lit M80 next to us for giggles. That made the ringing in my ears much worse for a good week or more.

Chris L

Yup. I've got the steady, high pitch, low volume ring going. Started mid 20's (I'm about a week shy of 35). I just have to sleep with a fan going 365 days a year, that's the cheapest & so far best thing I've found for my situation.

Yes in my left ear since the side airbag deployed in a car I was driving when I went over a bump four years ago.