Tinnitus

Tinnitus, or ringing of the ears, is a problem many think is found only in older adults. About 20% of the population has tinnitus, and while many indeed, are older, it's not just the seniors who have this issue.

I've had it for as long as I can remember.

When I was young, it was a high pitched "E" sound. I thought it was what a quiet room sounded like until the 4th grade. That was when, during a spelling session that included the words "quiet" and "silence" that my teacher asked what "quiet" sounded like. As I was an "A" student, she asked me first, and I told her it sounded like "EEEEEEE." 

The other kids laughed and I was told to stay after class. My fourth-grade teacher had a way of embarrassing me many times, this being one of them. She was angry at first, accusing me of being sassy, but after I explained that this was what I heard in a quiet room, she let me go without another word.

Not long after, she met with my parents in a PTA session. My mother asked me later if I had trouble hearing. I said I did not. She didn't ask about the noise. By then, of course, I'd figured out the noise was in me, even if I didn't know what it was called.

I thought it meant I might be crazy, so I didn't mention it again.

Thus, my "quiet room" noise continued unchecked. I noticed as a teenager that certain things would make it worse - Tylenol in particular.

I listened to music to drown it out, even as I went to sleep. In my teens, I wore out my Bread album falling asleep to it every night. As I grew older, I used a fan turned against the wall for a while, and eventually my husband and I switched to an air purifier that we run on "high fan" at night. The noise helps me sleep. 

Over the years, the sounds in my ears have changed. Sometimes the sound is scratchy, sometimes it is like 10,000 crickets all trying to be heard over one another. Sometimes it's that piercing "E" sound. (I used to use it to tune my guitar.)

This morning, though, for a brief period, my tinnitus was . . . gone.

I've had an ear infection and the doctor gave me drops for it, which my husband has dutifully put in my ears twice a day in spite of my howls of pain as each drop went in. The pain in my ears cleared up, and apparently, at least for a few hours, so did the tinnitus.

Moments without my constant ear sounds are rare. This is not the first time it's happened, but it is the first time in a long while.

Now the "EEEEEEE" sound is back, and I'm once again in my quiet room.

It beats the scratchy crickets that were visiting in my head last night!