Do You Have Tinnitus?

[10ClarionSt]

There was a feature about this on the radio this morning. I have tinnitus. Had it since I was teenager and worked in a weaving shed. If you have never been in a weaving shed, I can tell you it is one of the most noisy environments you could be in. In those days there was no H&S and no PPE. You bought your own work wear and protection. For years I didn't even know I had it. I knew I had high pitched whistling in my ears but didn't know there was name for it. The sounds have a slightly different pitch in each ear and I've noticed they get louder as I get tired. I've just learned to live with it. It doesn't stop me sleeping, nor does it hinder me in any way. It's just there and will never go away, as there is no cure. It's similar to those bleeps you hear when they scan products at the checkouts, but higher pitched. And constant. If I was asked to help anyone who also suffers, I have to say I wouldn't know what I could do. So, if you have it too, you have my sympathy.

[albaqwerty]

my FIL has it, papermill and then a weaver in carpet factory.

He's 83 but copes with it.
Nasty thing tho

[melv16]

I have a high pitched whining in my ear as well.... It's called the Mrs :-)

[RATTER15]

No.

[Trishy]

I have it. I wonder if second row seats at a Led Zeppelin gig in 1969 has anything to do with it!

[anagram]

Yes I have tinnitus. In my case one of the symptoms of Menieres Disease. After 25 years, yes I cope but it does have me climbing the walls at times. Oh for silence...a long forgotten luxury.

[Pete65]

I have had it in both ears, for around ten years or more.
I think noise caused it.
It can be a bit depressing, but I can also go for hours and not notice it.
It is still there, but somehow the brain possibly tunes it out?

[albaqwerty]

think you're right Pete, the brain can ignore some noises in the old lugs.

10C, oh, the jacquard loom! my MIL worked on them!
Or worked them, whichever is the correct thing to say.

[wolf63]

I'm 53 and have had Tinnitus for about 30 years. It is always there but I am not always aware of it. I have no idea how it started - my dad also had it and it was linked to him being a Fireman on Steam Trains, he also had some hearing loss.

Now that I have read this post I will hear it all night and it will annoy me. ☺☺☺

[cassa333]

I've had it for more years than I can remember so assume I've always had it.

Unusually I also have constantly firming light receptors so when I close my eyes there is a constant cacophony of light.

Noisy tinnitus and firing light receptors and it is little wonder I have so much difficulty getting to sleep.

I wouldn't wish either on my worst enemy.. oh hang on

[albaqwerty]

I need to ask a question of tinnitus sufferers if I may?

Is it the same sound you hear all the time or does the noise change?

[cassa333]

For me there are three competing noises but they are always the same.

One is a metallic sounding Speeding tap. I once heard the exact sound when there was a stone stuck in the wheel of the car.

Two is a high pitched whine. Same pitch all the time.

Third is a constant thrumming as if you are on the bowels of a ship near th engine room.

[jno]

mine's the same all the time, alba, high pitched hissing, which has got slightly worse over the years. It used to be more chirping, which reminded me of the insects on the hillsides in summer when I was little, and so I rather liked it. I can mentally block it out so I don't "hear" it all the time, but it sure makes it hard to hear what other people are saying. I haven't been to a pub for more than 20 years, because I can't converse.

[albaqwerty]

thank you cassa.

That;s what my FIL has, one is the shuttle going through the loom, I can't remember right now the others, but the shuttle is the worst one apparently.

Dreadful thing is tinnitus.

[albaqwerty]

oh , bumtits jno, how awful to have an effect on social life :-(

[jno]

fortunately the internet was invented to give me people to talk to...

[albaqwerty]

I have better conversations on here than I do with Mr Alba, he's not much of a bletherer.