A friend of mine was complaining of ringing in her ear. I told her it was tinnitus and she'd never heard of it before! I was a little surprised. I told her not to worry unless it didn't go away.
People not involved in audio don't always know what tinnitus is, or that it's a sign of infection or damage. Hopefully your friend's case resolves itself quickly.
LuckyLucy Messages: 46 Registered: December 2013 Location: United States
Baron
I'm one of those lucky people with permanent tinnitus. It started about a year ago. An ENT doctor put me on antihistamines, and my hearing test improved (I was showing a marked hearing loss, too) but the noise has never gone. Sometimes I think I'm going to go mad. The doctor said there was nothing else to be done and to learn to live with it.
audioaudio90 Messages: 623 Registered: October 2010
Illuminati (1st Degree)
I am sorry, LuckyLucy. I can see how that would be extremely irritating. Was your tinnitus caused by prolonged exposure to loud noises or by an infection or something? I'm glad your hearing has improved since your diagnosis.
LuckyLucy Messages: 46 Registered: December 2013 Location: United States
Baron
There's no real way to know exactly what caused it. My doctor seems to think it was probably started when I was younger from loud concerts, and maybe even much younger from frequent ear infections as a child. Maybe the damage started then, got worse over the years, and then now with this ongoing sinus problem I'm having, and the pressure that that applies to my ears, the noise is just finally getting loud enough and constant enough to really bother me.