I've had tinnitus for as long as I can remember, so I've never had any negative feelings associated with it. As a kid I just thought it was natural that everyone's ears would ring all the time and would get louder when it was quiet. My ears are ringing right now as I write this.

I don't know if I have tinnitus. I had strong ringing in my ears every now and then as a kid. I once told a classmate about this, who said I should see a doctor, but I've had it as come up every now and then as long as I can remember.

I now have a continuous beep, but only really hear it when I intentionally tune into it. E.g. I can hear it now because I'm writing about it, but most of the day I simply don't hear it, because I don't tune in to it. Not sure if it was always there or just starting at some age. It is sometimes more present when I'm e.g. sick.

I have no idea if other people have this kind of permanent beep as well, because I never asked anyone.

(I just asked my wife and she doesn't have it.)

▲

technothrasher 7 hours ago | parent | next [-]

> I have no idea if other people have this kind of permanent beep as well, because I never asked anyone.

We do. I've had tinnitus all my life, or at least I can remember it as far back as about four years old or so. It sounds to me like the whine of an old CRT. I thought it was just normal until I learned it wasn't. I used to think as a kid that it was what the Simon and Garfunkel song "The Sound of Silence" was talking about. Luckily for me it's just something that's always been, so it doesn't really bother me. I have no idea what it would be like to not actually hear anything at all. The one time I was in a sound isolation chamber, it just made my tinnitus scream.

My neighbor developed tinnitus later in his life and it drives him crazy. I definitely feel bad for him, and others who are similarly afflicted by it.

▲

borski 9 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

You have tinnitus.

▲

mattmanser 7 hours ago | parent [-]

That's not really tinnitus, I used to have that before I got tinnitus.

Tinnitus is like 30-50 times the volume of that, depending on how rundown I am or whether I have a cold. For me it's predominantly in one ear, though does sometimes change.

What he's describing is fairly normal and is just to do with blood pressure in your ears, from what I've subsequently read.

	▲	arcanemachiner 7 hours ago \| parent \| next [-]
		A clear example of the No True Tinnitus fallacy. > Tinnitus is a condition when a person hears a ringing sound or a different variety of sounds when no corresponding external sound is present and that other people cannot hear. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tinnitus
	▲	borski 7 hours ago \| parent \| prev \| next [-]
		> What he's describing is fairly normal and is just to do with blood pressure in your ears, from what I've subsequently read. That’s called tinnitus. And I agree, it isn’t rare. From TFA, roughly 15% of people have it (that report it). Sounds like you may have severe tinnitus, which is more rare, limited to 1-2% of people.
	▲	j45 6 hours ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		There are different forms of tinnitus, due to there being different causes of tinnitus. Some people even have multiple frequencies of tinnitus at the same time.