I'll bet I'm not the only one here with that issue!
I have not yet had the time to do much reading on this forum, but it looks interesting and I might learn something. Hopefully, I'll be able to offer some support and empathy to others, if nothing else.
My tinnitus started when I was 16 (that's 50 years ago, eek!). I was sitting on a lawn with my then-boyfriend, side by side, when his younger brother sneaked up on us and dropped a lit firecracker between the two of us and then ran off. The explosion caused instant pain in my left ear and then ringing in both ears.
I'm fairly sure I 'habituated' easily, as young people are sometimes able to do. However, two years later, diving off the diving board and into the local swimming pool, I had excruciating pain deep in my left ear. I was so dizzy I wasn't sure I'd make it out of the water. My eardrum perforated and I developed an infection that took weeks and weeks to clear up.
Even then, tinnitus didn't cause me any issues, other than occasionally. I learned it's not a good idea to use Coke to wash down aspirin, for instance, as it started my ears jangling.
I also knew I had some hearing loss due to one or both incidents. By the time I was in my 30s, it was becoming more noticeable.
In my late 40s, first marriage dissolved, two young adult children, I re-located to my mother's home country (the UK) and became a mature university student. I always sat as close to the front as possible, didn't want to miss what was being said. I also re-married.
In 2008, I saw an audiologist for the first time, since the tinnitus was really bothering me. Aside from prescribing hearing aids, she talked to me about stress, both the good and the bad kinds. She felt I was suffering from chronic stress to go with the chronic tinnitus, but couldn't really offer anything other than the hearing aids, which helped.
Since that time, though, I've always been aware of the tinnitus but have sometimes had 'flare ups' where it's got really bad. For instance, my partner and I have recently returned from a six week visit to the US. I didn't sleep well for the entire six weeks and had a difficult time settling back in since returning home - this resulted in a flare up that is cyclical in nature - I can't sleep, which stresses me out, which makes the tinnitus worse, which makes it difficult to sleep, and so on.
Happily, in the last week or so, my sleep has improved, stress levels are down and the tinnitus seems to have settled. It's always with me though and I've finally decided it was time to do something... this forum is the start.
Apologies for the lengthy introduction!
I have not yet had the time to do much reading on this forum, but it looks interesting and I might learn something. Hopefully, I'll be able to offer some support and empathy to others, if nothing else.
My tinnitus started when I was 16 (that's 50 years ago, eek!). I was sitting on a lawn with my then-boyfriend, side by side, when his younger brother sneaked up on us and dropped a lit firecracker between the two of us and then ran off. The explosion caused instant pain in my left ear and then ringing in both ears.
I'm fairly sure I 'habituated' easily, as young people are sometimes able to do. However, two years later, diving off the diving board and into the local swimming pool, I had excruciating pain deep in my left ear. I was so dizzy I wasn't sure I'd make it out of the water. My eardrum perforated and I developed an infection that took weeks and weeks to clear up.
Even then, tinnitus didn't cause me any issues, other than occasionally. I learned it's not a good idea to use Coke to wash down aspirin, for instance, as it started my ears jangling.
I also knew I had some hearing loss due to one or both incidents. By the time I was in my 30s, it was becoming more noticeable.
In my late 40s, first marriage dissolved, two young adult children, I re-located to my mother's home country (the UK) and became a mature university student. I always sat as close to the front as possible, didn't want to miss what was being said. I also re-married.
In 2008, I saw an audiologist for the first time, since the tinnitus was really bothering me. Aside from prescribing hearing aids, she talked to me about stress, both the good and the bad kinds. She felt I was suffering from chronic stress to go with the chronic tinnitus, but couldn't really offer anything other than the hearing aids, which helped.
Since that time, though, I've always been aware of the tinnitus but have sometimes had 'flare ups' where it's got really bad. For instance, my partner and I have recently returned from a six week visit to the US. I didn't sleep well for the entire six weeks and had a difficult time settling back in since returning home - this resulted in a flare up that is cyclical in nature - I can't sleep, which stresses me out, which makes the tinnitus worse, which makes it difficult to sleep, and so on.
Happily, in the last week or so, my sleep has improved, stress levels are down and the tinnitus seems to have settled. It's always with me though and I've finally decided it was time to do something... this forum is the start.
Apologies for the lengthy introduction!
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