My 17 year old

[cyberfrog]

Looks like just got tinnitus based on what he tells me. Planning on seeing a doctor. Should I expect that this will get worse as gets older?

[cutesheep]

Because he is younger, there could be other factors at play - more likely from some event where they were exposed to some noise. For adults, it might be more related to age.

[cyberfrog]

Thanks for saying that. The part about kids being more likely to get tinnitus from a specific noise event really has me thinking. If that's the case, would it usually be something obvious like fireworks or a loud concert or can it come from smaller things they might not even realize were harmful? I'm just trying to understand what kinds of noise events could realistically cause this in someone his age.

We finally got in to see an audiologist today. They ran a full hearing test, and it turns out he has a mild dip in hearing around 4 kHz, which they said is a pretty common area for tinnitus to show up. Hearing him sit in that booth and wait for those little beeps just about broke my heart. He tried to play it cool afterward but I could tell he was shaken. Honestly so was I.

The doctor mentioned that noise exposure is a common cause at his age, and that sent me into detective mode. I started replaying everything concerts, fireworks, the constant headphones, even that old lawnmower he insists on helping with. But when the doctor asked him directly about loud music, he hesitated just enough to make me wonder if he hasn't exactly been honest with me about how loud he's been listening. He swears he's careful, but… I don't know. I feel like there's something he's not telling me.

I'm trying to stay supportive rather than smothering him, but this whole thing has me feeling pretty overwhelmed. For anyone who's gone through something similar how did you navigate that balance? And how do you handle it when you suspect your kid might be downplaying what really happened because they don't want to get in trouble? Any advice would really help right now.