Skid Solo Hi!
Im a Tinnitus sufferer too. Im in my very early twenties and its only come on within the last year.
First and foremost, Tinnitus is not a disease or illness, its simply a symptom. Sometimes it can indictate a hearing loss or sometimes it can occur for no apparent reason. THERE ARE THINGS THAT YOU CAN DO, you dont have to just live with it. What helped me the most was the very notion that the excellent audiologist that I saw put to me: it has been discovered that in most cases tinnitus is a noise that everyone hears, and in course everyone learns to filter out, say like breathing sounds. However, certain events trigger a reaction which makes people who suffer from tinnitus hear those sounds that once they and most other people have learned to filter out again. The sounds themselves are quite harmless - activity inside the ear that you have been made conscious of, or perhaps 'music of the brain'. The worst thing you can do is monitor your tinnitus constantly; keep active, if you sit down and the noise becomes intrusive get up and walk around and find somewhere with some natural noise that provides you with relief. Ive found that over time if you surround yourself with pleasant unobtrusive background nose, especially when going to sleep you habituate to the tinnitus and it gradually becomes less and less obtrusive and in some cases disapears. Try white noise generated from a non tuned in radio.
When you let it rule your life, it can become louder and more obtrusive - its all about mind over matter. Tinnitus gets better over time, not worse but perhaps look at it as a warning signal, you could be overdoing things, or exposing yourself to too much noise. I wear earplugs when around airports or bars and clubs, that really helps.
How obtrusive is your tinnitus? Are you aware of it all day? Id really like to share my experiences with you or offer more advice if you find it useful - ive learned to deal with it, so post back!
Hope this helps,
GatportAirwick!