Tinnitus

[Half Dog]

Yep, I’m noticing a high pitch and my wife has a soft voice, most of the time. I’ve lost interest in music due to lack of clarity and I’m having trouble deciphering the words. I guess age will do that.

[Sasquatch-1]

I trace mine back to an incident that happened when I was about 20. I'll be 70 in March. Went shooting with some friends at a gravel pit. One of the guys discharged a .44 Mag about 3 feet from my ear. Hearing has never been right since. The least little bit of ambient noise and I am asking people to repeat themselves. Absolutely terrible in a restaurant.

[uscra112]

Doctors receptionists are the worst ,I find.......they twitter like tiny birds ,and I cant even guess what they are saying....

Ditto. Even worse on the phone. And they have an ironclad policy about not using email.

[salpal48]

Tinnitus Cause is part of of the Aging process. It is not about loud noise . The hairs in the Inner Ear deteriorate with age. There is Nothing That can be done. Some get It Earlier than other.s. Yes it is annoying. I guess some Have a ear Damage that happens can cause it.
There is No product Out There will Help. Commercials with Drum Player and such are Just BS. Tinnitus is different than "Loud Noise Shock" to the ear.

[MrWolf]

I have to sleep with fan on; if it is too quiet hard to sleep. When I travel I bring a fan with me or buy a fan if I do not check baggage when I fly.

They have phone apps that make those same sounds. I use that when I am away from home. Just remember to plug in your phone charger before falling asleep.

[georgerkahn]

Ringing sound in the head /ear.
I've had it for as long as I can remember.
Sometimes it get louder, sometimes don't even notice it.
When I was younger I did try some things to treat it, but nothing worked.
Old now so I notice it more when it gets loud.
Anyone else have this.
Anyone ever find a way to get rid of it.
Doctors no help at all.

So sad -- I am also a tinnitus victim -- one of the major purported causes is exposure to *LOUD* sounds. For me it was a double-whammer, as I played in a band with my piano centred between the electric guitar to my left, and the drum-set to my right. Then, in addition, was my "need" to send the bullets I cast and loaded down range -- in my early days with minimal, el cheapo (if any) hearing protection.
My quest for a solution came with a teeny bit of help, relief, that being some parts in the ear (which I can neither recall their names nor pronounce/write if I could) crystalize with age, and their state as such is the root of the "sounds" we hear. An aged medic suggested that this is a normal aging process, exacerbated and increased by, as mentioned, earlier exposure to high volume sounds. He suggested "hydration" helps, and noted, too, as we age we tend to drink significantly less. "Just for kicks & giggles, try drinking TWO full glasses of water each day above what you normally drink -- and see if (in addition to more toilet runs) the tinnitus decreases?"
Bion, he was right on (for me) on both counts. My tinnitus level has dropped -- and my water bill has increased.
geo

[MT Gianni]

I have it. The good news is that the little voices in my head need to shout to be heard and often it isn't worth their effort.

[Loudenboomer]

I've had tinnitus most of my adult life. (According to the V.A. Being a Mortar Gunner in my 1st stint and a F-16 crew chief in my second had nothing to do with it.) Many hours on dozers and tractors, drag racing and shooting sports. A loud life. Got hearing aids when I turned 60 a few years back. They have been a real help discerning certain speech sounds and have reduced ringing by at least 50%.

[uscra112]

Time to post some authoritative information....

https://my.clevelandclinic.org/healt...14164-tinnitus

[sparky45]

Excellent post uscra112.

[FredBuddy]

Lightning strikes on the antenna I was using.
Back in the old days we didn't have noise
dampening headsets, just the old WWII earphones
like you see in the old movies.

I learned to ignore it most of the time
and use a small fan at night.

[white eagle]

I know exactly when mine started 1980
it used to be very slight and I could open my ears and it would go away,
you know like when your ears pop, then it got worse constant ringing never stops
only gets louder and sometimes changes sounds, like chains dragging or sometime like someone is hitting a hammer in the other room
from what I remember my Dad had it and my son tells me he has a touch of it
a person does get used to it but it aint no fun especially during hunting when you want quiet
womens voices are especially hard to understand but I've been told that is a blessing but would be content not to be blessed

[45workhorse]

Yep, good post!
Mine gets Aggravated, from ridding my HD, just figured that out. Going to try a plug in one ear (left) to see if that helps. No I don't have super loud exhaust either.

[JoeJames]

Started shooting a 22 revolver when I was 11; I am 71 now. Hearing protection was unheard of then. Army physical in 1971 - "massive high frequency hearing loss". Always sounded like a grove full of Cicadas to me and still does.

[MarkP]

They have phone apps that make those same sounds. I use that when I am away from home. Just remember to plug in your phone charger before falling asleep.

Some of the phone apps I have tried had a repeating pattern that kept me up. My wife bought a noise device and it had a weird pulsation that made me feel nauseous. She said I was imagining it. Almost like when you lower the windows in a newer car while driving fast just not as intense.

[Rapier]

I guess you know why VanGot cut his ear off. I know exactly where mine came from, swimming in lake and canal water, got ear infections. Then was a Chief Surveyor in the Army, surveyors are automatic forward observers upon them finishing the survey duties. We were shooting a Direct fire Qual with a battalion of new 105s. They will make your ears ring pretty good. In process a battery of 106 Recoilless Rifles, come up to qualify, added a dab of icing to that cake. The 105 has a mean muzzle blast on a charge 7, but a 106 mounted on a jeep pulling up next to our OP then fired with no warning was just stupid. Could not hear at all for some time after that blast.

[abunaitoo]

My hearing is fine.
Don't have many headaches.
Shooting and racing when younger.
Not much loud music.
Probably just born with it.
It doesn't bother me when it soft, but sometimes it get so loud it bothers me.
Don't think it's getting worse now that I'm and old fut.

[375RUGER]

It never stops for me. I've had it as long as I can remember, since young teen for sure but probably longer than that. It's a buzzing ring now. I liked it better when it was crickets. At night when it's quiet, I can still hear the crickets under the buzzing ring.
The covid made it worse, louder, for a while. I know a guy that shot himself just last year, because it was so bad he couldn't handle it.

[atr]

years ago I was camped out by myself in the middle of no-where and when I woke up I though "who is running machinery way out here"....turned out it was the ringing in my ears.
I've had Tinnitus for many years and just try to push the noise in the background. I noticed in the last VFW magazine that tinnitus is recognized as a disability.
in Freedom
atr

[uscra112]

My primary care provider was in the Army (and was in Desert Storm) before he took his medical degree. He's got two cochlear implants, which the VA paid for.