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Tinnitus Anonymous
Hey /fit/, I have a problem and am looking for any suggestions.

For a long time I've had a problem with tinnitus (soft ringing in my ears) where it would "turn on" every once in a while then go away after a few minutes. Years ago, my pediatrician (I'm 18) said it was common and not something to worry about. So, taking him on blind faith, I didn't worry about it.

2 weeks ago my ears started ringing constantly and have continued to this day. I went to my doctor who thought it might be an allergic reaction/congestion, so I took claritin for a week with no results. I also tried taking ginkgo biloba, but that didn't help. It seemed to randomly quiet down for one night, but it started up full speed the next morning. I'm not exposed to loud noises, don't have any kind of ear infection, and am otherwise healthy. I'm gonna go see an ENT, but is there anything you guys recommend in the meantime? Thanks in advance

Tl;dr: How do I quiet tinnitus
>> Anonymous
It's normal. Stop concentrating on it so much.
>> Anonymous
I am rather older than OP and I also have tinnitus. Sometimes I can tune it out. Other times it's so severe it distracts my attention from what I'm trying to do. I've spent too much money already going to audiologists and otolaryngologists (AKA E.N.T.s) to have them all tell me there's nothing I can do but habituate to the ringing. The best recommendation so far: get an iPod. A little music or white noise can drown out the ringing.

If you ever get intermittent piercing sounds that physically hurt your inner ear, those could be related to jaw issues for which you can seek help from a chiropractor. FYI.
>> Anonymous
If the only thing I can do is tune it out, then it's a good thing I've got a big music collection. I just don't know why it seems to stand out more now than before. Anyway, thanks for the advice
>> Anonymous
I had a problem with tinnitus for a while. Then one day everything was muffled.

I went to the doctor, who checked my ears out and then brought out a huge metal syringe and started to squirt water into my ear in a very forceful manner. The pan that was under my head collected water and huge gobs of ear wax. There were gigantic pieces probably the size of earplugs.

After that ordeal i could hear the AIR circulating around the closed room. My hearing was very sensitive afterward, but it was toned down after a while (probably more earwax forming in there).