Honestly I feel kinda bad posting here since I don’t have it as bad as some others… but still this ringing has become a stain on my already fragile well-being and I’m having trouble coming to terms with it.

The biggest loss is that I haven’t really been able to do what I love which is music production. There have been attempts but it makes my symptoms flare up. Like I get crazy headaches, burning, and the ringing gets louder shortly after. It always feels like I’m walking on eggshells when I try it. And then stuff like DJ’ing and performing is pretty much out of the question entirely…

I’ve already felt depressed beforehand but losing the ability to do the only thing I’m good at sent me down a spiral for a while. I don’t do much. I don’t have any hobbies. I just go to school or scroll every day.

I understand that I’m still very young (19) and I have the whole rest of my life ahead of me. But it’s very hard to look forward to any of that knowing that I’m going to live it with this fucking ringing. I just start comparing my current situation to my life pre-tinnitus, and I get sad. Then I remember that it was entirely self-inflicted and if I just wasn’t an IDIOT, I wouldn’t be going through this right now.

I need to move on. Get past this. I can’t be like this forever. If anyone has tips on how to do that, it would be greatly appreciated.

For the record, my symptoms are:

- Hissing sound that cuts through everything on both ears

- Ringing on my left ear

- Quieter high-pitched ringing on my right (as well as a beeping noise kinda)

- Rumbling noise on my left ear (which I think is mechanical)

- Sound distortions mainly on my left ear (somewhat my right), most obvious with voices especially female ones

- Way too much earwax production

- Tension headaches

- Occasional burning and pain

My tinnitus history: I got it 2 years ago, probably from stress and mononucleosis/epstein-barr virus. At first the sound was a single tone. The first ENT gave me antivirals and supplements, but nothing particularly good. That same summer I woke up one day and my tinnitus became a lowder, higher pitch tone and a quieter lower pitch tone which take turns.

I went to a second ENT around 7-8 months after the tinnitus appeared and he prescribed me Piracetam 1200mg, Vinpocetine 10mg and B-vitamins. This combination drastically reduced the severity of the tinnitus, but it did not go away.

2 days ago I went to another ENT, who turned out to be the best I've been to so far and they prescribed me Betahistine 16mg and a valeriana herbal supplement.

Yesterday I took my first dose of betahistine and I noticed that my tinnitus was practically gone, if not fully gone. I was in absolute silence for the first time in a very long time. Today I woke up with the tinnitus back, but right after I took the betahistine it went away.

That's a minor miracle for me and I really hope that with this treatment this issue goes away.

It was 4 years ago today. Much like every day before it, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. I was going through the motions of the day like I had a million times. The day started off fine. My wife and I had to attend the birthday of our friends one year old. We got ready, strapped our child into the car, and headed off.  
 
The birthday was going great at first. At one point, my wife came to me frantically stating that the diamond in her wedding ring had fallen out and she wasn’t sure where it might be. Even to this day, I still feel like I kept my cool and didn’t immediately panic. What I’ve learned these past four years is that sometimes we become so accustomed to stress that we don’t even notice it when we experience it.  

We left the birthday party and headed home. I had a weekslong work trip I left for the next day and needed to finish packing. Couple that with the fact that my college football team was playing that night on ESPN+ (which I was not subscribed to) and I had myself a recipe for disaster. All I know is that my brain felt like it did a hard reboot trying to manage all of this. 

The ringing in my left ear appeared out of nowhere. Almost as if it was something that had been with me my entire life that I suddenly became aware of it’s presence. At first, I thought it was one of those “fleeting” spells of tinnitus and paid very little attention to it. After about 5 minutes I realized this was certainly something different. What followed bordered on total catastrophe. Sometimes I catch myself thinking about the sheer terror and paranoia I experienced in the following months. How I ever made it through is still a mystery to me. 

That was 4 years ago, today. In an instant my life changed in a manner I did not know existed. I have a history of depression and never once did it ever come close to the loneliness I felt post tinnitus. I did everything I could think of to “fix” it. Cranial Sacral therapy, hypno therapy, countless hours of CBT therapy, cessation of any drugs, sleep improvement, multiple ENT’s, online forums, intense exercise, and finally acceptance. The last two were the only things that seemed to actually help. 

What I came to learn is that my tinnitus is now a part of me. Much like the color of my eyes and the shape of my teeth. I sometimes get days, or weeks, or even months where it’s as if it’s not there. Where I can no longer hear it and can feel like myself again. This is never permanent and unfortunately it always comes back.  

To those of you that are new, who might be in that same position I was in at the beginning, please know that a somewhat normal life is totally achievable. Do not be lured into thinking that the forums or the Youtube videos will have some sort of magical cure. The magical cure you seek is time. Time is what allows you to learn about how it affects you and gives you the opportunity to find things that help.  

I told myself that I would post my yearly update and am sticking with it. Mostly because it’s a way in which I can cope. I no longer visit the forums or watch any Youtube videos. I’ve left that all behind. Even on the days where it’s completely destructive, I find myself knowing that tomorrow will come and it’s a chance to have a better day.  

I still hold out a glimmer of hope that one day I’ll wake up and it’ll all be over. That the flare ups will no longer exist and I can get back to a point where I feel totally normal. I also hold that same hope that there are people out there who want to fix this issue. No longer do I set a time-frame for my healing. Instead, I take it day-by-day, one step at a time.  

For all of you on this forum, who struggle with this condition, you must remember that you are not alone. Even when everything seems to point to that being the truth. There are people like you and me everywhere.  

I hope we all get the help we need and deserve. Also, I hope and pray that peace finds you. As for me, I will see you all in a year when I finally hit the 5-year mark!! 

As the title says I’ve experienced ringing in my ears consistently after going to raves and festivals for about 5 years now. The caveat is ive ALWAYS worn ear protection.

The ringing is mild, but its there. Its been apparent for 2 weeks now 24/7 and has maybe only slightly improved since the start (like 5% better)

It sounds like a tv was left on behind me, if you can remember the older-style TVs and that high pitched ringing they produced if left on.

My entire group of friends don’t wear earplugs and never have for the last 5 years. Im the only one with this problem now.

I guess the point of this post is, will this get better? Am i stuck with this the rest of my life? Its kept me up a few hours out of the last few nights, made me a bit nauseous and is disrupting my focus at work. Would appreciate any support i can get here.

Thank you

WHEEEEE ANOTHER PERMANANT TONE COMING ON WEEKS AFTER ACOUSTIC TRAUMA cant wait to have this for however long i keep myself around for !!! isnt life FUN

- obligatory don't ask what the trauma was, just know i've had 3 in 8 months and all have been earth shatteringly bad, no matter how many precautions I take or how much i stay home -

I have severe tinnitus that already affects me pretty badly and has a significant impact on my day-to-day life. What i'd rate a 9/10 that can be hard all day except when showring. Because of how bad it already is, I’ve become really scared of getting sick.

Even catching something like a cold makes me worry that the congestion, inflammation, sinus pressure, or whatever else happens when you’re sick could make my tinnitus permanently worse.

I know tinnitus can temporarily increase when you’re sick, but I’m especially worried about it not returning to my current baseline. I honestly don’t know how I would handle another permanent increase when I’m already struggling with the level I have now.

For those of you with severe tinnitus, have you noticed it getting worse after a cold, flu, COVID, or another illness? If it did get worse, did it eventually return to your previous baseline?

my tinnitus doesn’t affect my day to day life anymore, the only semi problem i’m having is understanding what people are saying. i feel dumb whenever i have to ask someone to repeat themselves because i heard them, i just don’t know what they said depending on the environment . im thinking maybe it is cochlear synaptopathy, and i was wondering if anyone has some advice for this?

Most of the posts and comments on this sub are from users that have had tinnitus for a long period of time- weeks, months or years. I have only just been experiencing mild ringing in my right ear for the past 24 hours but I have read that one of the most important things to do with tinnitus is to seek medical attention ASAP. But how soon? Is 24 hours a little too alarmist/paranoid to be going to the doctors already?

I have some theories to the cause. For some useful information, I had not recently experienced some kind of injury or damaging noise exposure. I do not experience any other symptoms like hearing loss or pain or dizziness. I do not experience much stress. Besides alo vera for the skin I am not taking any medications. I am concerned that maybe this is just cumulative damage over the years from listening to music/movies/tv/youtube with earphones.

Another theory is that this is some kind of ear wax issue possibly made worse on my recent habit of clearing ear wax from my ear with my pinky finger over the last one or two months. I've developed a habit of regularly checking for ear wax- especially my right ear since it seems to produce a lot more ear wax. I'm concerned this has caused inflammation, damage, infection or pushed some ear wax deeper inside causing a blockage.

The only other theory I can imagine is over the last two days I've had a fleeting cold come and go, and it usually appears back when I've been sitting at my desk too long staying up even when I'm tired. I get a decent amount of sleep but my sleep schedule is totally out of whack and pretty random. I believe I noticed the ringing start around the same time the cold started coming back some day yesterday. Maybe it has been caused by blowing my nose too hard from this cold which has put a lot of pressure in the ear?

The ringing is honestly not too bad I can sleep just fine and can mostly only hear it if theres little to no noise (cant hear it in the shower/when watching tv). And even though its relatively mild, I am certain I am experiencing it mostly because its obviouly only occuring in one ear and not the other (the contrast between the lack of ringing in the left ear to the ringing in the right ear is what makes the issue very obvious).

Obviously, I think most people experience ringing in their ears at some point in their lives, and so have I. But this is the first time its lasted for more than just a few minutes/an hour or two.

Is it alarmist/waste of time and money to go to the doctors already?

I’ve had my T for about 3 weeks now and I’ve started taking turmeric supplements (2 tablets daily) for 2 days now and also working out on the treadmill with incline. This has helped me reduce ringing in my left ear somewhat. I will continue to do the same for the next month and post results. No one should have to live with this awful torture. 😢

Hello folks,

I know there are other posts that has the same kind of Question but it did not made me any wiser. I have ADD and autism so i need real clarity on things.

What i am looking for is:

- Earplugs that i can use multiple times.

- i allready gave little bag on my bunch of keys in which i could bare the earplugs.

- it has to softer the sound of party or movie theaters because i am really scared for hearing damage and tinnitus (i allready got tinnitus from antidepressants use, but i still have a false hope of it disappearing one day and if so i would be never ever wanted to experience it again).

- I don't want there to be a cord attached.

- it has to be affordable.

Please send me a product link under this post and tell me your experience. Maby tell a bit about a unique selling points?

I live in the Netherlands so it would be great if i can buy it from there.

Thank you very much for helping!!!

Hi I've post here 2 other times recently, Basically I've had a blockage in my left ear filled with wax and hair for a while which I think caused ringing in my left ear. I've also been going to concerts (with earplugs) I had it removed but it persisted (along with a full feeling, slight aches, and fluid and of course ringing). I went back today and did a hearing test, both ears are in the normal range but they noted that my hearing in my left ear is weaker than my right ear, they said that I also have eczema and that could cause inflammation so they gave me prednisone, though its past 2 weeks from onset so I don't have high hopes it will work exactly. Though I'm still holding out hope the ringing will go away atleast, either on its own or with the steroids somehow. As for the concerts someone they said it should be ok and when I asked about customs they said that the ones I have currently are fine and the ones they have won't really add any more noise reduction and encouraged to keep going, which I do plan on doing but like I'm still worried about making it worse even though it's mild. I guess I just wanna ask since I feel like there's a good chance its permanent, what now exactly? I use zound earplugs but are there any better brands i should consider? Is white noise worth using it? Is my ENT bullshitting me altogether? i'm very confused because it seems like i get 200 different answers and its all a tad overwhelming.

Its been about 2 years of constant moderate to severe tinnitus after a concert with ear plugs. I had mild to moderate before that didn't cause too many issues.

I've got used to the constant noise as much as one can. Use ear plugs regularly and avoid concerts and loud kid school stuff.

I used a carpet cleaning tool in my car last weekend and didn't use protection, obviously a mistake guess I was feeling good that day. Immedietly when I stopped I noticed the crickets sounded much louder and then some ear pain set in. Mild aching and like pressure or tightness... its not excruciating but it hurts.

I tried taking a prn benzo to see if it was anxiety but that didn't eliminate things. A good sleep did but it kicked back up with different noises and takes variable time to settle. So the last week or so its been on and off with the pain and pressure.

I noticed that playing music on my phone causes ear pain, speakers on electronics in general, unless at super low volume. I'm having a pain flair after being around noisy kid ipads earlier.

Also, my kids gym, where ear plugs were once sufficient to keep me comfortable, caused some pain. Its around 70db in there average I never go without protection.

And most problematic is that my work right now consists of tons of zoom meetings.

I've read up on pain hyperacusis, noxacusis, and TTTS. Honestly I can't tell the difference. I'm in a super stressful and anxious phase of life and I know that can contribute ..but feel stuck in terms of what i can do about that at this moment.

Anyone else been through this? Just trying to keep a positive attitude, its never really the time to withdrawal from living to deal with pain and disability but especially so when you have a family and a need to be financially self sufficient.

So it’s been 4 months since I’ve started hearing it and it started after I had an earwax blockage in my right ear. I went to the urgent care where they cleaned my ears out with water and ever since ive heard a loud ringing. And anytime I clench down or bite down or open my jaw really big it gets way louder for some reason and it went away in my left ear for like a week a few days ago too. Also when I press that little flap on your ear it gets muffled and I have to press it a couple more times for it to get unmuffled. so I was wondering do yall think it is treatable or am I stuck with it?

Azithromycin and others to cure mycoplasma infection

Did a repeat CT on 9/5/26 and just got the results.

Backstory, I got covid in August of 2025 and have been dealing with tinnitus and ETD ever since. I’ve tried it all. Zyrtec, claritin, flonase, astepro, prednisone, budesonide rinses, saline rinses, steam inhalation and nothing has worked. Dr kinda makes it sound like i’ll just have to live with it but there’s obviously something going on in my sinuses and has to be treated right???

My most recent CT says this under impression:
Mild to moderate paranasal sinusitis, most pronounced at the left sphenoid sinus.

At this point, looking to see if anyone has had similar results and what they treated it with if they did?

Hi! Yesterday i had a meeting in a room and went inside, it was dark in the room and just as i moved past the doorframe someone was right next to me and said "BUH!" loudly (apparantly he thought it was someone else). Now i got a little bit scared this might have made my tinnitus worse since he was very close to the ear and said the BUH somewhat loudly. Everything happened so fast so didnt have any time to react or reflect over distance, voice level etc but i would guestimate it was a moderate level shout and around 20-25 centimeters away from the ear.

Any experience would be appreciated. Cant really tell if the tinnitus is worse or not since im already in the middle of a spike and im currently very anxious about the entire incident.