I have bad tinnitus in both ears, the result of perforated eardrums and subsequent infections. I recognize everything posters have described, and if I cant see someone is talking to me, I just dont hear them. It has been about 10 years now, and you learn to live with it, but I cant say it is easy, and getting through the day can be tough. Most tricks on offer, sometimes for substantial money, are just ways to distract by adding another noise... the bottom line is there is no cure or fix, the specialized receptor cells dont grow back and your brain responds to the absence of signals from them by adding its own the sounds you now hear in your head. Until medical science figures out a way to turn off the brains reaction, were stuck with this.
It really is an invisible disability. It can be totally debilitating, and yet those around you cant see a problem, and it is hard to describe to someone who is not experiencing it.
