I have suffered since the age of 17 (visit to a disco when I stood near the speakers) and it has not been that bad. Have gone days without noticing it. That was until about 3 weeks ago when I did some hammering of plasterboard to a frame all day - next day it was worse and it has stayed worse. The only time the high pitched white noise hiss does not bother me is on the flightdeck. The fairly loud white noise of air and all the fans on the 737 tend to mask it. On bad days (like today) its a real depressant and bad for relationships with the rest of ones family. I am 50+. Just going to have to learn to live with it at the new level.