How Old Were You When Your Tinnitus Started?

Mine just started a month ago, went to a concert and that sure as hell didn't help... actually it made it a little worse atferwards because i was just starting to forget about the sound, but now it's pretty loud when i'm at home

 

Mine started 3 months ago, went to bed woke up with it other than that i was perfectly a healthy person...

 

I was/am 23, same as quite a few of the people here!

 

Same thing here, what a surprise!

 

My T started when I was 26. At that time I thought and was told (for example by not so helpful relatives) that it is something a young person shouldn't have and that would occur only in people over 60. But apparently there are many young people who get it for one reason or another.

I have to say that between 18-26 I never used earplugs while going to bars or discos, was never told earplugs should be used and no one of my friends used them. I wasn't exposed to much noise in the half year prior to the T, but I guess the noise damage had accumulated already earlier.

 

Got it at 25... listening to prog metal too loud on my headphones did it =)

I have always worn earplugs to shows, and in fact have always made my friends wear earplugs themselves. The first experience I had with it was acute tinnitus after the second show I ever went to - an Opeth concert. The tinnitus actually felt *nice* that night because the concert was so good. I heard about tinnitus in passing, after I found out that Lars Ulrich had it. Didn't really give it much thought though. Oh, how I wish I had =) Alls well that ends well though, and it's just some bad luck many of us got it.

 

Started to notice it when I was 16 after a snowball hit my left ear. A year later I went to what I thought would be an acoustic concert that turned out to be punk/hardcore stuff. Got T in both ears after an hour. Needless to say I didn't know what T was back then. Only noticable at night so I basically ignored it. From then on I took really good care of my ears. Never went to loud places and listened to music at low levels. I remember my friend couldn't believe how low I listened to my music Then, 4 years later I got drunk and stayed at a loud night club for 2 hours and destroyed my ears. I was there with 3 other friends and none of them got T or bad hearing after. Life's not fair I guess..

 

I was 28, I fly to and from work twice every 5 days and had a excruciating sinus infection & being in a pressurised cabin was up there with child birth then the next time I flew to work (5 days later) I had my Beats by Dr Dre headphones on and my Ipod was MAXED out (volume @ 100%) I had them in but my Ipod was turned off , I accidently bumped my Ipod & it turned on, the blast of the noise that came out of those headphones was so loud it hurt my ears ( I had permanent T a week later).. those 2 things are the only instances I can trace my T too.

 

mine started 2 weeks ago. im 26. i think i can trace it to constantly using headphones 10 hrs a day everyday listening to music. i had a horrible case of flu (sinus?) with an infection in the throat that i dint treat very well.
also, i had to go to a plant for inspecting the parts . this was around a month ago. there were rooms where the noise was so loud that i cudnt hear myself talk The thing that bugs me the most was that i wasnt even gona go there but some last moment changes meant i had to zzz. my only regret ever in life!

 

43 started hearing a noise after moving house and a stressful year or so - I thought the noise was something in the house for a while then realised it was me! Then I found out my dad and brother both have T and they developed it around a similar age - Cher

 

Have you ever received any plausible cause by reading scientific material or has anyone in the weird and floppy occupation called medical doctors provided you with some clues? Have you ever been told the ever so classic line "it's most likely some sort of hearing loss" phrase?

 

Seems to me that in order to avoid getting T one must avoid life. So many potential causes.

 

It appeared a few weeks before my 25th birthday.

 

About 58 when it went ballistic..Had it for years before but it was so mild I rarely paid any attention to it.

 

Wow, some of you are so young! I am hoping there will be a cure or good treatment that will benefit you for most of your lives.

I just turned 58 today. I got my T from barotrauma following a transatlantic flight six months ago. I had a prior sinus infection that I had been told was gone but apparently was not. I got off the plane with tinnitus and it hasn't stopped since. Never was one to listen to loud music, clubs, ear buds, etc. I have been facing very stressful times at work for the past two years, however, as so many of my co-workers have lost their jobs and we continue cutbacks.

 

hi , i turned 50 on april 10 2013 and april 12 two days later it started, kevin charles

 

Got it when I was 37-38.was listing to iPod at max volume .
T volume had gone down ,but was exposed to very large firecracker and it seems my T has increased after that .

 

I was 13 when I started to hear high pitched hiss but it didn't really bother me then. Few years later when I was 17 my tinnitus got louder and it started to affect my daily life. Other symptoms such as hyperacusis and ear pain came with this louder tinnitus.

 

I was 25 when I got tinnitus last year, august 2012, I will always remember that date. My brother woke me up in the middle of the night to tell me a fire alarm is going off in my dads shed, went down to the shed, it was packed full of tools, my main concern was the neighbours complaining as it was 3 am. I entered the shed and it was so loud my eardrums were beating to the rhythm of the smoke alarm like two heartbeats in my head, didn't find the alarm, went to my dads room to tell him the alarm is going off, told me to sort it out, so I went back into the shed and unbelievably closed the door behind me, so the noise wouldn't disturb the neighbours. I was in the shed for another 1 minute before my dad came and found the alarm straight away on the floor. Straight away I had temporary threshold shift, I said to my dad my ears are were ringing. Luckily my tinnitus was only mild for 14 months after.

That was until 5 weeks ago when my mother woke me up in the morning to ask me to help my dad with his car, it wasn't starting. Looked under the bonnet slammed the bonnet shut, 6 hours later I got blocked ears, which I think is temporary threshold shift again, the feeling lasted 5 days until disappearing. My tinnitus went from mild to moderate 2 days later. Now I can hear it over the tv, nighttime it is impossible to get to sleep without drinking alcohol, tried going to bed sober, but was awake all night listening to the new piercing tone in my head. Right now I think my life is ruined, over, not worth living, just bad luck!

 

I turned 45 y.o. June 2012 then August 1 2012 woke up at 3 a.m. with high pitch T....

 

petloy, how strange, i turned 25 years old in june 2012 got tinnitus august 2012 3 am!

 

Same for me, realizing that I may have had T for many many more years but it never bothered me (I hate myself for that, that would most propably prevented me to use the damn earbuds too much a day (at work, running), If I could turn back time!!!! ). I also have the same thoughts/questions; why could I live with it back then and now it has become a dreadful thing???

That I have had it for many many more years is also something that feeds me with fear that my T will 'slowly' evolve over time (irreversible damage).

If I would know that my current T is my endstate... not fun... but I can start to accept this always around noise but I believe that is wishful thinking. Also looking at the progression at the most people on this forum!

My T started at the age of 38.

 

Started at age 25, last winter (that age area seems to be pretty common among users on here!)

Work with loud agricultural machinery all my life and spent alot of time in Rock concerts and DJing rock/metal, all without plugs. My rining ears had started to last a couple of days after shows so I had invested in some posh plugs. I forgot them for a show and the ringing started really badly! After folk on here calmed me down I saw my GP and got my ears syringed. This took the T Down to very very low levels. It was awoken again after a Wedding disco in the summer and was almost unbearable about a month later when combined with a sinus infection. Meds sorted that, now It's just at the "irritating" level. I take plugs absolutely everywhere now.

I can remember when I was younger always hearing a little something in my ears when it was silent out. Not a rininging per se but I definitely remember a noise. Perhaps I was always succeptable, who knows. I've got what I've got and I'm now at a stage where I can be comfortable with it. I just need to not start forgetting plugs now I am....!

 

I was 25. I got it this year after going to a concert - it was a blues festival. I am among those who simply had no idea earplugs should be worn at concerts, or that restaurants and bars are normally dangerously loud. There was a moment at the concert where the music was so loud it actually hurt my ears - that is pretty dern loud. I had tinnitus when I walked out of the festival and have had it since. Really, I'm so lucky that it isn't worse and I have "normal" hearing still. Gotta count my blessings. I never even had temporary tinnitus before it hit me, no warning.

I wish this kind of thing were taught in US schools (not sure about the rest of the world) along with sexual protection etc. I was enough of a worry wart that if someone had told me one concert or night out could make me ring like this - I would have always been cautious. Now it's up to us to make sure people know - I am a walking public service announcement for earplugs haha. At least we can save some others the agony : )

 

I was (at the moment still am) 23. I listened to loud music with buds for years, several hours a day. 2013 was a stressful year and probably that was also a part of what triggered it.

 

22, after 2 nights in a row of being at a loud concert.

 

17, after dental work and keeping my mouth wide open for a long time.

 

august 17 2013 after a root canal i'm 52