[goeric]

Mine was came after attempting to pop my ears during a very bad ear infection. I was trying to relieve the pressure, as I have done a lot, but because of the bad ear infection it was actually making it worse. The pain was so bad and it felt like my ear was never going to pop. Eventually, the pain subsided but at that exact same time, in place of the pain, was a ringing.

My ENT said the tinnitus was most likely caused by the bad ear infection and tried to assure me that me trying to pop my ears didn't have anything to do with it, but I can't help but feel like that wasn't the case, as I made the pain so much worse.

Anyways, agreed with others here that the first few months were the worst, and now it's mostly unnoticeable unless I actively think about it, drink a lot, or leave a loud environment.

[pbhjpbhj]

"pop ears" = equalise pressure, like you do on an aeroplane flight.

Just in case people aren't familiar with the idiom.