Sounds very much like we both ignored all the loud noises when young and have the same symptoms now. I’m 66 now and have noticed I’m asking more people to repeat themselves and to speak up. Not a good sign. My uncle is 97 and went deaf over the past 4 to 5 years.
At the time we just took the loud noises as part of life. The consequences of all that noise wasn’t being looked at by researchers as I recall.
Both of my paternal grandparents were born deaf. I sometimes wonder if there might be a hereditary component to my tinnitus.
I keep forgetting to ask about it.
I have to ask people to repeat themselves but ONLY CERTAIN PEOPLE. I had a hearing test a couple of weeks ago and was told that I DID NOT need a hearing aid, my hearing loss is so minimal that it would not make a real difference. I noticed that I had zero problem understanding what the technician said. My conclusion was that I work with some people who speak and with some others who only mumble and slur as if they were drunk.