It has been two years since I got my T and found this board. I can now trace the origin of my T to an airplane flight - I must have had a minor cold or some congestion because on the descent my ears hurt A LOT especially the right (I was almost crying in pain, it felt like someone was sticking a pencil in my ear canal.)
Two weeks later I had completely forgotten the incident, but the hissing in my right ear started. I saw an ear specialist who said it was T and it might go away or not. In the next few months the hissing went down, then started to increase (i.e. I could now hear it while driving.)
The first couple of months were very hard. I thought about T a lot, read all I could about it, and worried how it might impact my work and life ("How can I ever live with this noise in my head?") but somehow I managed.
Since I hadn't yet made the connection between the T and flying with congestion I kept travelling and had another painful airplane descent (though my ears did not hurt anything like the first time) and within a couple of weeks I had T in my left ear as well. The left ear T consists of both a hiss and a low-frequency rumble; I found the latter much more disturbing and started worrying and thinking about T a lot again.
That was approximately 18 months ago. Although the T is as loud as ever it went from being a major worry to a very minor nuisance. I still think about it everyday when, for some reason, I become aware of it instead of anxiety or panic my reaction now is: "Oh. I can hear my T right now" and I go on. On a scale from 0 to 100, the impact of T on my life went from a 50 to 0.5; it's not zero yet because I changed my lifestyle a bit because of it and I am concerned that it might get louder and more intrusive. However, when my T started I would have paid $1M (if I had it) to get rid of it, right now I'd have to think hard about paying $1,000. I would say that I am almost fully habituated.
I realize that I am very lucky that the level of my T is not as high or intrusive like that of some of the other people on this board and I was able to habituate without much external help. But if you had told me 2 years ago that I would learn to practically ignore this permanent hiss and rumble I would have never believed it.
I rarely check this board anymore, but I wanted to share my simple story because when I was first hit by T this board helped me a lot - especially the stories of "survival" and now that I have another good story I wanted to share it.
A few observations:
Never go on an airplane again without taking Sudafed and using some nasal decongestant. You might not think you have a cold or some congestion, but it might be there and, at least in my case, it can damage your earing and give your, or aggravate, your T permanently.
Although I believe that my T was NOT noise induced, I always carry ear-plugs and avoid loud situations (NEVER go to movies/concerts without them.)
I know now that many friends and people I know have T, but it never came up until I brough it up - they also fully habituated. If you are on this board because you just developed T chances are 99% that you will fully habituate and your T will not develop into the highly intrusive variety. I may seem impossible to conceive now, but you'll learn to deal with it, live with it, and thrive with it - so relax :-).
Join and contribute to the American Tinnitus Association (if you can.)
I want to thank the "regulars" on the board for helping people like me get past the terrible first few weeks.
Finally I want to let the people with severe/intrusive T, for whom habituation is much tougher and may take longer, know that I DO realize I was one of the many lucky ones and that my thoughts, respect, and best wishes are with each and everyone of them as they fight a much tougher battle than I had to.
WinTinTin
Two weeks later I had completely forgotten the incident, but the hissing in my right ear started. I saw an ear specialist who said it was T and it might go away or not. In the next few months the hissing went down, then started to increase (i.e. I could now hear it while driving.)
The first couple of months were very hard. I thought about T a lot, read all I could about it, and worried how it might impact my work and life ("How can I ever live with this noise in my head?") but somehow I managed.
Since I hadn't yet made the connection between the T and flying with congestion I kept travelling and had another painful airplane descent (though my ears did not hurt anything like the first time) and within a couple of weeks I had T in my left ear as well. The left ear T consists of both a hiss and a low-frequency rumble; I found the latter much more disturbing and started worrying and thinking about T a lot again.
That was approximately 18 months ago. Although the T is as loud as ever it went from being a major worry to a very minor nuisance. I still think about it everyday when, for some reason, I become aware of it instead of anxiety or panic my reaction now is: "Oh. I can hear my T right now" and I go on. On a scale from 0 to 100, the impact of T on my life went from a 50 to 0.5; it's not zero yet because I changed my lifestyle a bit because of it and I am concerned that it might get louder and more intrusive. However, when my T started I would have paid $1M (if I had it) to get rid of it, right now I'd have to think hard about paying $1,000. I would say that I am almost fully habituated.
I realize that I am very lucky that the level of my T is not as high or intrusive like that of some of the other people on this board and I was able to habituate without much external help. But if you had told me 2 years ago that I would learn to practically ignore this permanent hiss and rumble I would have never believed it.
I rarely check this board anymore, but I wanted to share my simple story because when I was first hit by T this board helped me a lot - especially the stories of "survival" and now that I have another good story I wanted to share it.
A few observations:
Never go on an airplane again without taking Sudafed and using some nasal decongestant. You might not think you have a cold or some congestion, but it might be there and, at least in my case, it can damage your earing and give your, or aggravate, your T permanently.
Although I believe that my T was NOT noise induced, I always carry ear-plugs and avoid loud situations (NEVER go to movies/concerts without them.)
I know now that many friends and people I know have T, but it never came up until I brough it up - they also fully habituated. If you are on this board because you just developed T chances are 99% that you will fully habituate and your T will not develop into the highly intrusive variety. I may seem impossible to conceive now, but you'll learn to deal with it, live with it, and thrive with it - so relax :-).
Join and contribute to the American Tinnitus Association (if you can.)
I want to thank the "regulars" on the board for helping people like me get past the terrible first few weeks.
Finally I want to let the people with severe/intrusive T, for whom habituation is much tougher and may take longer, know that I DO realize I was one of the many lucky ones and that my thoughts, respect, and best wishes are with each and everyone of them as they fight a much tougher battle than I had to.
WinTinTin
