Tinnitus Since 2014 from Listening to iPod at Full Volume — Recent Increases This Year

Hey everyone.

I've been lurking for a week or two. Thanks to all of you who have provided guidance and information on here over the years.

I got tinnitus in January 2014, after listening to a song on my iPod at full volume (I was angry at myself and tried to escape the feeling with music). I had almost certainly been causing damage by listening at higher volumes in the years prior, but that one time definitely pushed my ears over the edge. I realized what I had done and kept my emotional response to a minimum. It was only noticeable at night, and I habituated quickly. I still listened to music fairly loudly in different contexts with no apparent issues.

My life was basically the same until this year. In April, I'm pretty sure I caused a slight increase from listening to music through headphones at full volume. Intense life stress pushed me to listen at dangerous volumes again. Then at the end of October, a similar situation happened. Loud music to cope with intense life stress, a permanent increase in tinnitus. This time it went from "annoying at night" to hearing it all day. Each time I broke my rule of listening to music at more than 50% volume. I found an app to limit the volume output on my phone, which has been working for me since then.

I had just found a way to cope again, when I decided to see a movie in IMAX almost two weeks ago. I brought earplugs just in case. For some stupid reason, I didn't put them in until after the previews, which were so unbearably loud it should have been enough for me to leave the theater. But I didn't. I put the earplugs in, but the damage was done. Or it was being done throughout, I don't know. The lower frequencies were so loud I wouldn't be surprised if the increase was caused by conduction through my skull. If it was a 2-3/10 before, it's more like a 5-6/10. My left ear, which was closer to a speaker, is only just now starting to feel normal. The tinnitus is still louder on that side, and the volume seems to have permanently increased. I have a new, slightly lower pitched tone in both ears, too. Apparently the theater I went to recently upgraded their system. They said the dB limit was set at 85, but I find that hard to believe.

I play and write music in my spare time. I'm trying not to let this derail my enjoyment of music, but it's extremely difficult. Certain softer/quieter kinds of music, like solo piano, are depressing to listen to for obvious reasons.

I guess the main lesson is, regulate your emotions better than I did. Stop listening to music at more than 50% volume. Never worth it. And don't see anything in IMAX! I'm kicking myself so hard.

 

Welcome to the forum. Sorry to hear you have those bad experiences of loud noise exposure. If you ears are already unstable before, having these loud noises unfortunately can aggravate the ears. Nevertheless, you seem to be able to cope with the spikes before and it is likely you can too this time given time and your spike intensity drops back to more normal level. Just be prudent about protecting your ears when you have a history of acoustic trauma. Take care. God bless.