Aging Process & Tinnitus

[Static Sophie 73]

I feel that everyone's journey with this condition is unique to them and this may not apply to all (I don't want to cause readers any extra worry!) but for me I suspect my tinnitus is getting a little more 'noticeable' the older I get. I started with tinnitus when I was 28 and I'm now 45. In that time, I've noticed my back and shoulders are a lot tighter and my posture not as good - this didn't cause my tinnitus but I think it now can aggravate it at times.

I believe my tinnitus kicked in when I took an AD for anxiety in 2002 - I only took about 5 tablets. I may have had it very mildly prior probably due to noise exposure but the AD really ramped it up and made it a feature in my life. Prior to that I was living blissfully fine.

Are any other 'long termers' similar?

 

[BobbyH]

My tinnitus started when I was 18-22 from acoustical trauma. I've always had it and at around age 50 it became worse (louder) enough that I couldn't pass hearing tests to maintain my medical certs for my job. It wasn't so much I couldn't hear, it was that I was having trouble hearing through the increased noise. About 5 years after that it actually got so bad, I was raising my voice to talk over the tinnitus. Took me a couple years to train myself to talk softer through the noise. My doctor and audiologist don't know why it got worse and no one is suggesting it's age related. I'm being sent to an ENT next month to rule out anything new that might be causing the increase. The original diagnosis was damaged hairs in my cochlear. If that's still the case, age should make broken or missing hairs any worse.

At any rate, that is my long-term story.

 

[Static Sophie 73]

Yeah, I do fear getting older won't be kind to many in this regard and particularly given hearing issues are cumulative too