A Question to the Community: Could My Tinnitus Have Been Avoidable?

Hello there,

I often wonder about something. Basically it comes down this. I got T in june, 2015 from standing to close to speakers at a dub-reggae party. The people who have experienced these kind of parties know how loud those sessions can get. I had a few too many drinks and forgot to put in my earplugs for like 20 minutes. I actually had them with me, but after sitting at at a bar outside the venue where the music was happening, I forgot to put them back in when I got back in the venue. The next day I noticed a static noise that has not dissapeared since. Luckily the volume became lower or I habitated to it. Hard to tell the difference.

Anways, the months after developing T I blamed myself immensely for this stupidity. I actually knew about T and always warned people about loud noise and standing to close to speakers. Ironicially, I ended up with Tinnitus and the others are completely fine. I can handle the feelings of guilt better now but they still gnaw at me from time to time.

Something that I always wonder about is this: Was T gonna happen to me eventually due to genetics for example while aging or another noise exposure or is it possible that I would be T-free for the rest of my life if I had watched my hearing all the time? In other words, was T unavoidible for me or could it have been avoided if I hadn't done this stupid and irresponsible thing?

I know that no one can give a definitive answer, but I was wondering how other people think about this subject.

Good day!

PS: This is an example of how loud these things are. The sounds is really distorted because the bass is so loud that it's impossible to record correctly. In the venue itself it actually sounds really great. Turn your speakers way down!!

King Shiloh @Tivoli de Helling 21-2-2015 pt4

 

Whoops, didnt put the youtube clip in correctly apparantly. Anyways, if you're curious you can copy the title in youtube and find it.

 

I have wondered the same thing. Only a co-worker caused my T. Would I have gotten it sooner or later anyways or did he just completely screw my life over?

Was it just that one incident or was if the straw that broke the camel's back? I don't know.

 

Exactly! I would feel alot better about it if I knew that I wouldve gotten it sooner or later. I keep going back to that night and feel stupid. But maybe I would have gotten it anyways. N0t a very constructive thing to think about, but it makes you wonder.

 

I think we could have avoided the development of tinnitus.
Hair cells are very very sensitive, 10 decibels above the limit are enough to cause damage. Means standing 2 metres further away from a loud speaker makes a huge difference.

My T was caused by a third party too. I'm blaming myself as well because I should have cared more about the stupidity of others. This guy who did that to me (negligently) has nothing because he wore headphones meanwhile.
I have loud tinnitus in both ears and hyperacusis in case of high frequency sounds.

Had very good ears, was on many rock concerts without earplugs (not near the speakers) and never had any problems.

In my opinion tinnitus is sometimes maybe a sooner or later thing when someone doesn't care in general about his ears and is responsible for the damage (e.g. in case of hearing loud music 24/7).
But in case of an acoustic trauma it's more like just being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Therefore it's very hard to assume the responsibility to yourself in case of an acoustic trauma. Because in many cases it's an unfortunate accident where you couldn't imagine in no way that something like this could happen.

 

Sorry to hear that man. I don't know what's worse, getting it because of your own stupidity or because of someone else's. Did you have any hearing tests done before you got tinnitus?

 

I think I would have an easier time accepting it if I had caused it.

I get angry when I think about it which makes my T even louder.

 

Did you get t at Tivoli de helling? That's exactly where i first got it six years ago.

 

Got mine too from some accident caused by some moron. Years of buddhism have helped me to move on somewhat and i have since learned to channel my emotions into growing stronger from the experience, however wretched it is.

 

I've experienced it all really and believe me it's worse when someone else is to blame.

I got T randomly one morning,I have my suspicions but there was no real trigger it just started and within a year it was gone.

I made my T worse by going to a noisy place with crappy ear protection,it was a dumb thing to do.

Then some dumbass two years later was the reason I developed H.

Then two years after that someone else worsened my condition by again,being stupid.

I toss and turn everynight but not about me making my T worse that time,as I had habituated and was prepared to live the rest of my life to the full and be happy.No I toss and turn about the two idiots that screwed my life by giving me H and it's too hard to accept it,that someone else's actions left me like this,someone else's actions wiped away my dreams and happiness and my future.It kills me everyday,why was I there why did that have to happen but it's all in vein,there's nothing I can do about it now

 

I get it, I went through all this when my T started. I was constantly blaming myself for all the loud music exposure I inflicted on my ears over the years.

However this is not helpful to your situation at all. The damage is done, you do have tinnitus and how you deal with that is the more pressing issue. It's easy to slip into those "If only I hadn't..." thoughts when you find yourself in a low place however in the long run, it's not going to help.

 

You might be familiar with "stages of grief" theory, which always includes a stage of anger on the path toward acceptance. Since we are all grieving - silence, if nothing else, I think it's only natural that we feel some anger. In the first few months I was angry at myself for not getting to the doctor sooner to get some prednisone....recently I became angry at the people with the cannon that harmed me, because they told me they were not going to use it anymore on their boat, and they apparently do. This new, fresh anger of mine came with a spike I'm still struggling with, and I have to believe my preoccupation with my symptoms will reduce when I let it go.
I went to a psychologist who has T + H (best thing I did) and he said the hardest grief work is for people who deliberately went out to get sloshed and "get their bell rung".
I honestly don't know if your T would have happened any way. I thought about causing some legal trouble for the couple with the cannon because I was so angry, but then I recalled that I have a family history of early hearing loss and apparent susceptibility to acoustic trauma...and that realization is helping me on the path toward acceptance.

 

I'm in that " why was I so stupid" phase! ...

 

How did you get T Jamie?

 

I'm pretty sure I would not have got T from my general lifestyle. I have exposed myself to short bursts of loud noise throughout my life and never had an issue and if using power tools or anything really loud for long periods I always wore ear defenders - I deliberately wanted to preserve my hearing and knew about tinnitus. I also didn't enjoy visiting really noisy clubs or playing music really loudly, so that wasn't going to cause it either.

Sadly however, negligent doctors failed to spot my allergy to a prescription drug (even though it was bloody obvious and I kept telling them I thought I was having an adverse reaction) and 2 years since the onset of tinnitus, I still feel anger towards them - I think I always will - but more than that, I wish I had gone with my own instincts and just stopped taking it and ignore their useless advice - I feel so foolish that I trusted them!

 

Sure.
If I had 1) not gone to my concert or 2) worn ear plugs then it would most likely to been avoidable.

HOWEVER, no one knows if I would have run into an accident, or a third-party that would have caused it later on. Or maybe kept using headphones frequently at higher volumes. A lot of things could have lead up to getting T. I know your dwell and that "blame-game" that I've been in too. But honestly, no matter if you are thinking about the past or the future, there is nothing you can do about either. Maybe the future in regards about protecting your ears when you can. Don't dwell. It just makes you feel worse, I know that very well.

Best wishes!

 

I am 40 and blame myself, the music industry and those who I pay my taxes to. I feel if I didn't attend the concert almost a year ago my hearing wouldn't have broken and I would have gone through the rest of my life fine because it is not made up of any other loud noises. If an vehicle air bag went off or I was involved in a gun shoot out, sure maybe then, but those events scenarios are very unlikely to happen.

So to summarize I truly believe my T was avoidable for life.

 

Hi Radiohead

I totally feel what you are talking about.

I'm in this phase since the beginning and today I can't stop blaming myself.
You can read my story if you are interested to. I was lucky one time and I was given all signs I couldn't read cause I was immerged in the daily life. 2nd time wasn't lucky enough.
Now I'm totally depressed. I'm always wondering what if? What If I just missed the bus and I couldn't go to my gym class? What if I listened to my body and didn't go to that drink? What if I didn't meet a stupid doctor who didn't warn me at all against loud exposure? I still don't have the answer. But I'm pretty sure I could avoid all this pain if I just took the time to think about doing the right things.
And today I'm struggling with T&H plus depression.

 

@bill 112 I liked to listen to music on high volume.... Sooo after months the wonderful T came in my ear the ent Doctor said no to that m, he mentioned stress that caused it. I'm going to go with music more

 

Thanks for taking the time to respond everyone!

I must say that my feelings of guilt are slowly diminishing over time. In the beginning I was so mad and disappointed with myself. But it seems to get less and less. My T isnt that bothersome anymore. I even went to a concert again. With earplugs of course and really far way from the speakers. I hope that it will happen for all of you as well. Fingers crossed that it doesnt get worse though. But if that comes, I will just have to deal with it. Theres just no other choice. There's no escaping this so accepting it is absolutely crucial.

I thought alot about the question whether whats worse; if you inflict T on yourself or if someone else does it too you. Inflicted by someone else seems worse to me now that I really thought about it. My thoughts go out to you. I hope that you will find peace and acceptance in your heart.

@Onnie I got it at DB's studios. Thats an even smaller venue then the Helling so more risk. I shouldve noticed this but I was too busy partying.

 

I don't know why everyone is beating themselves up... You probably would have got T anyway. I recently got it and I have no idea how... I don't listen to music and I never listen to any loud noises, never go to any concerts... I am home every day looking after my kids and have a pretty quiet life so I don't know how I got this out of the blue. People get illnesses all the time and they don't blame themselves. I think we all have sensitive eardrums and probably would have happened eventually. When I realised what I had I rang my sister to tell her and she laughed and said "is that what it's called? I had it for years I thought it was normal lol don't worry you learn to live with it" I felt better straight away

 

I don't Know what caused my T ,i have Never gone to party,not stressed,no meds,no accident no ...

 

No hear loss? no ETD? :O
T is so weird

 

Mine started out of nowhere,my ears were cracking and popping followed by fullness so I'm going to say an infection was the cause.One year later and yes I'm serious when I say this it was 100% gone!Nothing there only silence.

I'd learnt to protect my hearing after that experience and went out with my friends to a noisy place,I wore earplugs but they weren't enough,next day it was back but was very mild.

I swore never again!My T was Mild and I habituated to it,I use to even say good morning Mr.T when I woke up in the morning lol
I was happy and living a life doing all the things I loved!I honestly could have lived the rest of my life with T it didn't bother me at all!

But then and what I don't think I'll ever be able to accept is that another person suddenly gave me H and another person made it worse again.When you were as happy as I was it's impossible for you to accept such a faith to be thrown upon you.I don't really do anything I enjoy anymore pretty much because I can't and it's all because of someone being carelessI get nightmares about the incident and I often wake up sweating and gasping for air,it haunts me everyday