I’ve had Tinnitus, a ringing in the ears, since I came home from the Vietnam War in 1970. Although it can have several medical origins, I’ve always attributed it to months of being in close proximity to the staccato noise of machine guns and automatic rifles.
Last night I was awaked by what sounded like the steady release of compressed air, or maybe steady rain on the roof. It was so loud that I got up and walked around the dark rancho to see if I could find the source. It wasn’t raining so perhaps it was a break in a water pipe or the natural gas line that feeds the water heater and the stove? Apparently not.
I finally realized it was probably my Tinnitus acting up and I went back to sleep. When I awoke the noise was still there, still sounding like sleet through the limbs of trees or a broken gas line. As it probably will be from now on, an escalation in the old problem that is more of a curiosity to me than anything else.
THE TEXAS SCRIBBLER 
Need to have it tested and apply for disability at the VA if you haven’t done so before. Otherwise file for a higher percentage.
I asked, they said there was none such. I have no percentage now and want none.
I hope it’s not interfering with your sleep.
It normally doesn’t interfere with anything, including hearing and sleep, probably because I’m used to it and can filter around it. It was only that sudden escalation of it that woke me up. I had no trouble going back to sleep.
I described it as a “ringing” which is the classic definition, but it’s not really ringing like a bell. More like white noise, which is sometimes described as steam escaping from a radiator, except we don’t have radiators. It’s more like compressed air escaping from a tank, or surf sliding across a sandy beach. It isn’t really unpleasant, once you get used to it.
Things that make the tinnitus worse are, caffeine, aspirin, alcohol, nicotine and other known ototoxic drugs. Personally, when I feel stressed out my tinnitus really cranks up.
Thanks for the comment, Roobay. Welcome aboard. Yes, I think stress can do it and the other things. And of course you are a good example of why it’s almost certainly not Vietnam-related, having never been in the military. Which is why I didn’t push the VA too hard on “disability” payments. There is too much of that already, in my opinion, veterans claiming service connections to common diseases like this.