[skimojoe]

The produced by the brain aspect as never washed with me too. My tinnitus started right after a severe sinus infection that spread to my ears. I was so blocked up an needing some sleep that I did a nasal wash and was to forceful in blowing my nose (my ears popped). Since then tinnitus has been there everyday, whereas 35 years before never even knew it was a thing.

[Retric]

The theory isn’t that it’s caused by the brain alone, but rather it’s like the fandom limb pain sensation after an amputation. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phantom_limb

The difference is your auditory nerve doesn’t directly carry touch signals so you hear sounds instead of say an itch.