Tinnitus

Only recently did I discover that, hitherto, I have been mispronouncing tinnitus.

Probably because I never heard it pronounced properly in the first place, due to my tinnitus.

Oddly enough I usually don’t hear my tinnitus; my brain filters it out somehow.

So when I occasionally do hear it it’s not such a big deal. In fact it’s sort of comforting – I grew up with deafening cicadas and I like the fact that I carry around a permanent reminder of endless summer holidays.

However my tinnitus does increase the background noise at all times. Which makes the signal to noise levels of my hearing lower than the unafflicted.

This turns out to be more of a drama for others than it is for me.