Re: ears & more

[Goddess <thefates@concentric.net>]

  I've also had tinnitis ever since I was little and I don't remember ever
not hearing it.  I do however hear other sounds in my head which I'll go
into when I have some more time to write about them.  

smiles,

Corynne

At 03:30 PM 3/14/98 EST, you wrote:
>
>
><< do you hear a sound in your head? >>
>
>Yes, and I've been meaning to look up some stuff on tinnitis, but I 
>haven't
>yet. I've got this VERY high pitched keening in my ears, which I think is
>tinnitis. Here's the thing--I've had it for as long as I can remember, way
>before I started to listen to loud music. I had a lot of ear infections 
>as a
>kid, so I think that's got something to do with it. It's really loud, when
I'm
>paying attention to it (it's always there). 
>
>Now this is wierd: I can control the volume of my tinnitis. Whether I am
>actually making it get louder/softer is probably impossible to say, but it
>seems that I can actually control how loud the ringing is. Strange.
>
>Here's another thing: I think having tinnitis for my whole life has made 
>my
>hearing much more acute. Obviously, my actual hearing is not as good as 
>many
>people, but my ability to listen actively is much greater--I'm really 
>good at
>musical dictation/transcription, etc. I've really had to learn to listen 
>past
>the ringing in my ears, so I find it easier to listen past other 
>extraneous
>noise. At least, that's how it seems. The flip side to this is that I 
>find it
>nearly impossible to truly "tune out" background music (non-musical noises
>aren't such a problem). Elevators and grocery stores can be a living 
>hell....
>
>Ringingly,
>
>Drew Wheeler
>
>
>