I think that's great, Emily, that yours goes away at times. I once - in my 20's - had a hearing issue that came and went. Turned out that it was allergies causing swelling within my eustachian canals. I got it in the fall. My doctor figured it out. Taking antihistamine and decongestant medication helped significantly. Even using decongestant nasal spray helped it. Then, a few years ago, I stopped getting it. For some unknown reason, other seasonal allergies (stuffy nose in Springtime) have not bothered me either past few years.

I'm not so hopeful about this "hum" though. Since I noticed it, it hasn't let up for even one hour. My PCP says it most likely is related to aging. I googled it: sensorineural hearing loss. It has to do with degenerative changes in the inner ear, in the cochlea - something about little hairs wearing out. This produces both hearing loss and can be the reason for tinnitus.

I'm really curious to know if all hearing impaired people experience tinnitus.

Since I've been googling the topic I am seeing lots of ads popping up on my screen promising cures for tinnitus. They all look like baloney to me.

A nurse practitioner told me that reducing hypertension with diuretics sometimes gets rid of tinnitus. But my blood pressure is fine. I think it's to do with those inner ear bones.

A lot of what I read says that some of the age-related hearing loss we experience is due to all the noises modern civilization exposes us to. Now I really resent it when a loud commercial comes on the TV. I'm starting to think there should be more laws against noise pollution. I want to protect what hearing I've got left.