Trigger warning: this story includes descriptions of tinnitus
Caris Lount first shared her tinnitus story with us in 2025. To mark Tinnitus Week 2026, Caris opens up about her first memories of tinnitus, the challenges she’s faced along the way and the strategies that help her live with it today.
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First memories of tinnitus
The earliest memory I have of tinnitus is at my fourth birthday party. A balloon popped and I ran to my mum, really confused about where this ringing was coming from. She didn’t know what I was talking about. That stuck with me, because I thought, ‘Why doesn’t my Mum know how to fix this?’ Because my Mum was there for everything.
Describing tinnitus – then and now
A few years ago, if you’d asked me to describe tinnitus, I’d have said ‘carnage’. ‘Chaos’. ‘A living hell’. There were times when I couldn’t come out of my university dorm and if I did, I couldn’t hear my friends over the ringing. That was the most isolating experience of my life.
But now, another word I’d use is ‘transformative’. Without tinnitus, I wouldn’t be working as a hearing care assistant. And more importantly, I wouldn’t be as strong as I am today.
I honestly would never have thought I could stand up and do speeches or be interviewed on TV. But tinnitus has given me the opportunity to learn cognitive behavioural therapy and lots of techniques that have made me a stronger person mentally.
And now I feel like I can face anything.”
What my tinnitus sounds like
For me, tinnitus is like constantly having a play button stuck on – I can’t turn it off or put it on pause. It’s a constant ringing, hissing, buzzing. It’s like having an extractor fan on alongside a whistle blowing down your ear.
I don’t know if it’s just me, but the more I listen, the more arises – the more different tunes start playing.
Fear and panic at university
When I went to uni and started clubbing, sleeping badly and getting stressed about exams, the ringing got much louder. One morning after I’d been out, I considered getting my friends to write things down on a whiteboard because I couldn’t hear what they were saying. I was panicking. It was absolutely terrifying.
Tinnitus in a silent exam hall
The moments you need the tinnitus to go the most are when it plays up to its max, like when you’re sitting in silence in an exam hall. All you need is a bit of external stimulation to break the silence, but you’re just expected to crack on – and you can’t wear headphones because it seems like you’re cheating.
There needs to be so much more awareness around this, because those are the moments where tinnitus can completely shape your future.
The need for routine and self-care
At university, I was really struggling with no routine. I was getting lots of takeaways and I wasn’t sleeping well. I just wasn’t looking after myself.
Over time I was like, ‘Right, I need to make a change’. So I just started meal prepping. Something as simple as that got me up in the morning. I was like, ‘I can’t wait to eat my overnight oats!’ It’s so random, but it made me understand the importance of routine and structure in your life when you have tinnitus. It got me out of a really rough stage.
Sleep sounds
I think some people think that by listening to sounds, you’re letting tinnitus win, but I don’t think that’s the case at all. Sounds have honestly changed my life.
I go to bed every night with rain sounds on my phone. This calms my nervous system and helps me sleep through the night without waking up to my tinnitus.”
My tinnitus friend
Like many people with tinnitus, I’ve learned to see it as an annoying friend. This is sort of comforting, because it humanises it and means I don’t see it as a threat. Because I’ve lived with it my whole life, it knows when it wants to annoy me. It yaps a bit here and there and you just learn to get on with it. It’s not going away anytime soon, so you’ve got to make peace with it.
Spikes as a stress response
My tinnitus is still unpredictable at times. When I’ve had a lack of sleep or I’m really stressed out, it gets louder. There have been times when it’s so loud that my head feels like it’s vibrating. I’ve thought, ‘This can’t be right. There must be something else going on there.’ But I’ve learned that it’s just my stress response exaggerating the tinnitus.
That can be scary, and that’s why it’s so important to have a tinnitus mental toolkit in place so you can fight back.
There’s always going to be down days with tinnitus, no matter how habituated you are. I think one of the misconceptions around becoming habituated with tinnitus is that every day has to be perfect. But it’s not. There’s always going to be down days, and that’s completely human.
Finding RNID’s tinnitus guide
When I was first told I had tinnitus and hearing loss, the doctor sent me to websites that were designed for older people, with big fonts and cruise ads. I thought, ‘But I’m young! I’m not retired!’ It made me feel really singled out and not part of the community.
But RNID’s website and their tinnitus handbook aren’t like that. They’re inclusive of everyone. The handbook has testimonials from lots of different people with tinnitus, so you don’t feel like the odd one out. It’s got transparent information and advice about tinnitus and how to get relief.
The RNID guide isn’t just for people with tinnitus – it’s for anyone who wants to understand what people with tinnitus are going through.”
I wish I could go back and give it to my Mum during the period that I was really stressed out about it.
What I’d tell my younger self
So if I was to talk to the little girl who’d heard the balloon pop, I’d say ‘You know, it’s all right. Just calm down. It’s not going to hurt you. It’s not a threat.’ And I’d say to my uni self, ‘The way your brain can change is amazing. You’re going to learn so many different coping strategies and you’re going to be fulfilled and happy, even if you can’t see it right now.’
Showing that life goes on with tinnitus
When I was having a really rough time, I thought tinnitus was the end of my life. So I started Googling famous people with tinnitus, because I wanted proof that I could succeed.
Now, when people come into clinic and think their tinnitus is sending them off the rails, I can say, ‘Look, I’ve got it myself. It’s ok.’ It’s such a comforting thing for them to see that I’m calm and that it’s not ruling my life.
