I've had it since I was a kid, I had a burst ear abscess and it is probably linked to the damage I sustained from that.

I remember it driving me nuts as a kid trying to sleep with the ringing in my ears. It doesn't really bother me overly much any more, which is surprising considering it had the potential to have a profound impact on my career (I was a musician and audio engineer - a career which I probably would not be able to do now. Although it is interesting how many 'old-timers' in the industry have very bad hearing, especially if they have worked in live sound). But I think because I sustained auditory system damage quite young, I have always compensated for my altered hearing range - last time I had my hearing tested (about 8 years ago) I had lost about 50% of my hearing from 7kHz with it reducing to about 95% loss at 19kHz. I am about to get my hearing tested again, because it has worsened over the years to a point where my perception of speech frequencies is impacted and I will probably require hearing assistance within a few years. So probably for me the hearing loss has a greater impact than the tinnitus, although the tinnitus is a symptom of the hearing loss.

Here's a link to the Aust. Tinnitus Association - it may have some info that will help!