Everyone with tinnitus seems to have a unique experience. I recall bits of faint and temporary ringing in the past, but this new sound is continuous and distracting. In early November 2017, the ringing began full time. I went to the doctor, who asked which ear? It's not in my ears at all, it's in my head! If you have it, what is yours like? The high pitched tone that I "hear" can be sampled on YouTube. I've got a tone between 5500 and 6000 Hz. I recommend low volume if you dare give it a listen.
Most of the internet sites about tinnitus recommend coping mechanisms that train the brain to ignore the sound and to practice calming yourself. When there's nothing going on but tinnitus, I focus on my breathing. The anxiety response will only make things worse. Quiet and boredom also make things worse. By worse I mean the sound seems louder. Sometimes I can feel it in my ears, a slight vibration of sorts.
The internet is also filled with suggested treatments, especially tempting since the medical options are scarce to nil. My doctor had me try flonase nasal spray to treat an inflamed eustachian tube. It didn't make a difference, although the tube is not blocked anymore. If you hold your nose and lightly exhale with mouth closed, you can feel a pressure build up in your inner ear. Careful! My right ear has a delayed response but it still works.
I found a fellow tinnitus sufferer online willing to share his efforts to self-treat. Like lots of folks with weird untreatable ailment, research gives just enough hints for the adventurer to come up with a plan. This fellow wondered if the auditory cortex can be reprogrammed. Maybe it can!?
plasticity.szynalski.com/...
He came up with a game to train the brain. It probably makes no difference, but it's interesting. Can you tell the difference between the 2 similar tones?
Proceed with caution. Tinnitus is weird!
He gives his own personal experience of the game and his journey on the first link. I think only the very curious or tinnitus folks will find it interesting.
Another fun-filled resource is YouTube treatments. There's ear exercises to try and lots of auditory inputs. I tried this one. It sounds like R2D2. Well, I think it does, but if you disagree, that's understandable. You might know him better than I do.
I don't expect this track to make a difference, but, maybe it will!
I work in a loud factory and wear ear plugs or earbuds. I'm not sure if the workplace contributed to my problem. We are required to wear ear protection. We are allowed to wear headphones or earbuds, but official policy is one earbud only, for safety, in case you are about to get run over or something. I can hear better thru the earbud than thru the ear plug, but we can have plugs in both ears. The boss would like to call us from a few feet away and not have to shout or tap our shoulder to get our attention. Some people have good noise canceling earbuds so they can't hear anything if in both ears. The rule is for them. My new work area is so loud that I got new headphones to wear over my ears. Now I have ear plugs in all the time, plus the head set. I do not always have something playing, but I like the double protection. Even if I'm playing music, I can hear people who want to tell me something, usually. Some people talk quietly even in a loud environment.
If the tinnitus is bothering me, listening to something drowns out the ringing or it gives my brain something more interesting to focus on. Either way it helps.
I recently watched Baby Driver without knowing the reference to tinnitus. If you don't want to see Kevin Spacey, don't click.