Very Worried — Long-Term Noise-Induced Tinnitus

[Jamesmmj0178]

Does anyone have experience with long term noise induced tinnitus. If you do, could you share your experience.
I'm worried if it'll get worse or if i'll go deaf in the future. Thanks

 

[Elinor]

My first T was gradually noise induced as I grew up with music and musicians. I already knew I had T before my teens, but I wasn't careful at all and didn't take any precautions. I kept listening to loud music. I started taking it seriously a couple of years later when it got louder. This T has been fairly stable after I became more careful and I can't say it has increased a lot in volume after 10 years. It doesn't really bother me either.

I did develop new sounds after barotrauma from flights and colds. These sounds sometimes bother me and they tend to worsen after colds or really anything that causes prolonged ear pressure. Despite all this my hearing is fine and always has been.

Preventing damage is key. I'm sure you know the drill. Don't listen to loud music, this goes for headphones and speakers. Use earplugs/earmuffs in loud environtments or avoid them (loud work settings, concerts, etc). It's a good idea to have earplugs easily available at all times when you're not at home. As long as you're precautious your T and hearing will remain the same.

About going deaf, the majority of people who develop noise induced T do NOT go deaf. Going deaf is usually linked to hearing loss, but even then A LOT of people have that too and still do not go deaf. As long as you're careful you'll have nothing to worry about.

 

[Jason C]

Does anyone have experience with long term noise induced tinnitus. If you do, could you share your experience.
I'm worried if it'll get worse or if i'll go deaf in the future. Thanks

Was the loud noise from a concert or something else??
I have wondered this myself, I have tinnitus and hearing loss from an alarm.
7 months in and it hasn't gotten worse but hasn't gotten much better either.

 

[Jacob83]

I've had noise induced tinnitus since I was about 17 and I'm 33 now. I love music, and ever since I was a child, I can remember being glued to headphones. I habiutated to my original tinnitus within a few months and it never changed at all until about 6 months ago. I don't know what caused my tinnitus to spike so much out of nowhere, but I know I was not kind to my ears in my 20's and I was taking a lot of ibuprophen this summer waiting to get a broken tooth fixed. I've habituated to my current tinnitus, as well, but I'm doing every thing possible to prevent it from getting worse now.

I asked my dad who has had noise induced tinnitus for 40+ years now how much worse his got over his lifetime and you know what he said? It never got worse! He said he can only hear his when it's dead silent. I was shocked and he was shocked mine got worse. My dad was never a music guy, but he's an outdoors craftsman and he only wears ear protection when he shoots guns. Never mowing the lawn, using drills, woodsaws, etc, and he's survived 3 heartattacks. Go figure.