I have had various degrees of tinnitus for 7? maybe years? The ? indicates that it is currently not very intense, and/or I have adjusted to it, or my general hearing is getting so bad that I don’t “hear” it anymore? That’s unlikely. Anyway, yes, I know it originates in the brain, and yes, I know it’s often caused by prolonged noise exposure. Mine (never had earbuds, never had a boom box - yes, that old) most noise causes would be vacuum cleaner or hairdryer, neither of which I use for hours. Especially the vacuum cleaner. Humor aside, I wanted to share my somewhat unusual road to tinnitus. Following timeline accordingly 7+ years.
Came back from 9+ hour overseas flight, had routine Dr.’s appointment about 10 days later. I always get somewhat stuffy ears on long flights due to pressure changes, so doc saw excess ear wax. Nurse proceeded to (quite roughly, I thought) flush both ears. 2 nights later I had the ocean cresting in my bedroom/ears. Really loud. As if you’re on an angry beach. Tried to ignore, tried to read to exhaustion, tried to run fan - no help. Eventually I did get some nights of sleep simply because one has to sleep. And then very gradually the whooshing got softer, until by May (started late January) it had faded away. Yeah!
But no. Next year, same time, overseas flight TO Europe - all good. Nice Hotel. Snowy night. Window open. And crickets. ???? Snowy nights are known for absolute silence. Not crickets. So - tinnitius 2.0 . Still same sort of thing today. In total silence just a really irritating high-pitched hum. Normal every-day life bearable. But I will never, ever, again, experience the dead silence of a snowy winter’s night.
End of essay.