One random night, I lay on my bed in my silent bedroom, and I felt that the silence is uncomfortable. Why, I asked myself, that the silence felt sharp, like I prefer the noise of my annoyingly loud dehumidifier, or the muffled sound of traffic in my old apartment?
I realized that the silence was ringing, in a high pitched noise that we all associate with being hit near the ears. My inner voice told myself: “man, you have tinnitus.”
Thinking back, that wasn’t the first time I thought that I have tinnitus, but I was probably in denial for years, or it just got louder. The sad part is that I’m only 26, and somehow, I feared getting tinnitus ever since my childhood.
Even worse, I just ordered a pair of headphones with ANC, and when I don’t play anything through it, the ringing gets very clear.
Was depressed for a few days, thinking that it’s not fair that I got it even though I don’t expose myself to loud noises often, I listen to music at a couple levels lower than my preference, and I don’t turn up my music to drown out noises.
But nothing in life is fair, and to compared to the suffering of others, this is only a mild discomfort. So I’ll try to keep positive about it, and be grateful that I still enjoy a comparatively luxurious life.
I’ll visit a doctor soon though!
Any of you have a similar experience? I’ll be happy to read your stories!
I’ve had tinnitus since I was a child. Like others in this thread I learned to live with it, and I don’t need white noise to tune it out. You might end up being able to do the same. Like the others it seems to get louder if my blood pressure goes up.
It’s a bit comforting to know how many others in this thread have also had it as long as they can remember. I’m the same…can’t remember there ever being a time where I didn’t have it. It also isn’t the stereotypical classical single tone “ringing” noise for me, so I didn’t ever connect the dots as it being tinnitus until into young adulthood.
Still makes me a bit concerned that I’ll lose my hearing some day. Both my mom and maternal grandfather experienced significant hearing loss over time.
That’s pretty cool that you can tune it out. I hope I’ll be able to do it as well!
I promise you will in time! It caused me a lot of distress but now I barely notice.