I have an inconstant tinnitus that appeared around twenty days ago.

i still cannot tell where exactly i hear it. sometimes i think it’s a sound in the back of my head. at other times i think it’s more around my left ear. when i cover both my ears, the first supposition is confirmed, but when i lie down especially on my left side, the second one comes to mind.

if i have to describe the sound, i would definitely say that it is very much like white noise or a very distant cricket sound, the kind of sounds you hear at a quiet summer midday. the good thing is that sometimes it stops and even when it’s there it is not very loud. sometimes i have to cover both my ears and listen closely to trace it back in my head. although when it first started, i remember that it would wake me up late at night or early in the morning. it would be loud and i would find it very hard to sleep.

what really makes me anxious is the cause of the tinnitus i get and why it is not constant as most people i read about have it.
when i first had it i was in a bad place. i thought maybe because of stress and anxiety i was experiencing at the time. then, i went on vacation, and that’s when it first got away and started to get very low. as soon as i came back home, it got back a little bit higher than during vacation and probably as it was before.

i cannot tell if it’s because of the noise, earbuds (usually they are not high but i use them a lot to watch on my computer alone in the room at campus where i spent the last five years) stress, or the act of lying down. i noticed that lying down without a pillow makes my ears stuffed as if i’m under water.

i’m very scared that my hearing will be damaged because of the tinnitus. is this possible? what do you think the cause of this? do i have to see a doctor?

sorry for talking too much. i thought this might help.

thank you.