As a Pediatric Audiologist, I see a lot more of what I consider "normal" tinnitus than the kind that is likely indicating a problem with the ears or the brain. This "normal" tinnitus is most common in pre-teen and teen-aged women who describe a high-pitched, soft ringing that usually lasts about 10-15 seconds. If their hearing, middle ear muscle reflexes and otoacoustic emissions are all normal, I counsel them as to the wonders of the spontaneous otoacoustic emission. I find that once they know that his is a normal sensory firing coming from the inner ear that is just the result of hormonal changes, their anxiety around it goes down, and it tends to bother them much less moving forward.