Acoustic Trauma from a Concert — Ear Fullness Triggered by Sound?

Hello everyone, I am new to this forum, and I apologize, and appreciate anyone who takes the time to read my story/concern, as I am seeking to investigate anything/everything that I can do to fix my hearing as I feel that I am losing my life as I know it.

I am a 25-year-old male who has been an avid concert/festival goer, and also musician for over 8 years at this point. Due to COVID-19, I haven't been to a concert/festival since, and well I visited a friend in Pittsburgh this weekend and decided to hit a concert for the first time. I've always been adamant of using my 100 dollar ear protectors after one concert I had a ringing ear for one day, but needless to say, I was reckless that night, wore no earplugs as they were left back at my apartment 3 hours away, blacked out on IPA's beers and according to friends I hung out for awhile at the rail of the concert for maybe close to an hour or a bit over it but not over two hours.

I woke up the next morning, extremely hungover, and with a strange muffled/swimmers ear feeling in my left ear, but I chalked it up to being hungover since I really did not have any ringing associated with this. Throughout the day, I was nauseous, and with full-blown anxiety, but again, I thought I was very hungover, due to blacking out very bad to the point I could not walk or talk correctly according to friends.

I woke up on Monday and this issue was not going away, and I was getting extremely concerned because my nausea, dizziness and muffled ear felt like it was getting worse, so I made an appointment with my PCP for the next following day, this Wednesday, and had this looked at. I appeared to have no visible trauma, no eardrum perforation, no liquid, no infection, but it appeared that the inside of my ear was a bit numb to touch. I was not infected with COVID-19, and Zyrtec did not help whatsoever. I was set up with an ENT visit that same afternoon after this. The ENT found no visible trauma or liquid, and said my hearing test came back normal for the low and mid ranges for both ears, with a very slight decrease on my left. He believed I may have damaged the part of my ear that translates the high noises, given it feels a bit numb and the hair cells may be damaged. He started me on 60 mg of Prednisone per day, and this morning it is my second dose.

I find it that in quiet rooms my ear feels somewhat okay. I do not hear ringing, or feel the fullness all that much. For example, in the mornings in bed as I scroll on my phone, my ear feels somewhat normal, as soon as I get up and begin to head to the bathroom, turn the lights on and grab my toothbrush and paste, I can notice the fullness, meaning sound does this to me. If I do the dishes, or open a bag of chips, it hurts having to hear this with a slight ringing and ear pain such as hyperacusis. If I stay quiet, and read a book or something, I can ignore the fullness, once I talk, I notice the fullness.

I think the strangest thing is that pressing the lobe of my affected ear inside helps the fullness go away for a second and the low volume return to normal sound. The weirdest of it all is that when I do the head tapping recommended for tinnitus, it's almost like nothing is wrong with my ear for a couple of minutes. I know I'm only on my second day of my Prednisone dose, but I feel as if nothing is getting better, and everyday I'm losing more and more hope, and I cannot function at all anymore due to my own stupid mistake.

If you have made it this far, thank you for reading my situation. Does anything in my story resonate with another case or situation that can shed some light on what I could be experiencing? Is there anything I can try to alleviate this? I have heard of mullein oil and supplements that can help, but I'm not sure if taking these while on Prednisone may make my situation worse.

 

Hi @Jaybait2.

The onset of tinnitus can stressful but this usually gets easier with the passing of time. I have never taken Prednisone but know of people that were prescribed it after an acoustic trauma and found it helped to reduce their tinnitus. From what you have described I believe this is happening in your case. Your oversensitivity to sound seems to be hyperacusis, a condition that often accompanies noise induced tinnitus. This usually improves with time too.

I have some suggestions for you and believe if you follow them, it will make your recovery easier. I advise that you don't listen to audio through any type of headphones even at low volume. This includes earbuds, headsets, AirPods, noise cancelling and bone conduction headphones as you risk making the tinnitus worse.

If your symptoms continue to improve as I believe they will, you need to be careful of being exposed to loud sounds in the future. Don't put your trust in earplugs, even the best types will not not prevent your tinnitus getting worse if external sound is too loud, because the sound will pass through your head and transfer to your inner ear by bone conduction and spike the tinnitus.

Even if your tinnitus reduces to a very low level and might only be heard in quiet surroundings do not be fooled by this. If the tinnitus should spike from loud sound or from using headphones even at low volume, it can increase to a level you wouldn't believe is possible. I am very serious about this and sorry to sound so sobering, but I think it's best you know what you're dealing with. Noise-induced tinnitus can changed fast.

If you follow my suggestions you will probably be able to live a fulfilling life doing everything that you want to within reason. Keep away from headphones and loud sounds through speakers. Use hearing protection when using power tools etc. Please click on the links below and read my posts.

Go to my started threads and read the following posts: The Habituation Process, How to Habituate to Tinnitus, Will My Tinnitus Get Worse? Tinnitus and the Negative Mindset, Acquiring a Positive Mindset. Hyperacusis, As I See It.

Start using low level sound enrichment especially at night by placing a sound machine by your bedside. The volume should be set slightly below the tinnitus. The benefits of using a sound machine and sound enrichment are explained in the links below.

All the best,
Michael

New to Tinnitus, What to Do? | Tinnitus Talk Support Forum
Tinnitus, A Personal View | Tinnitus Talk Support Forum

 

Hey, @Jaybait2.

I am 28 and I have acute tinnitus in my left ear that started after a concert on 5/27 and was put on Prednisone as my initial treatment. Same dosage as you. 6 day taper. I took my first dose 5 days after the concert and took the last 4 days ago. I am pretty sure it helped, but like Michael warned against I did continue to use my AirPods for a total of like 5 hours in the initial days that followed. I do think this set me back so please do heed our warning about using headsets/earbuds/AirPods for the indefinite future.

Generally speaking, everyone here (myself included) has had a similar experience to you in feeling such as hopeless, grief, and depression in immediately following tinnitus onset. I'm only 14 days out from my onset, but I'm already in a better headspace. The key is to be mindful about how you are feeling. Do not force anything. Wear hearing protection in noisy environments, etc.

I also have moderate-severe conductive hearing loss in my left ear at between 40-60 dB. I know a large part of my tinnitus is connected to this, but I also believe that a major lack of sleep is playing a role as well. I am also a medical marijuana user and have been smoking for most my life and people claim that it may have an impact too, but know one really knows. Many say that tinnitus is connected to stress, anxiety, and depression, but I hardly experienced any of those things pre tinnitus. My tinnitus has made me an anxious person and learning to cope with it has been super important. Do not sit idly by and think this will go away like a common cold. You have to be deliberate in taking care of your ears especially because ours is noise induced. Tinnitus is subjective so everyone's pathway to "recovery" is different. I put that in quotes because I know that I may never recover. Being a realistic is just a part of who I am.

Since 5/27-today, my tinnitus has decreased in intensity from a 6/10 to a 4/1o and it has only affected my left ear. I can not adequately mask it due how bad my conductive hearing loss is so sleeping has been hard. I have always been hard at hearing in my left ear, but I am sure that last concert was the straw the broke the camels back. Like I had mild-moderate and now it is moderate-severe. Thankfully it is not an issue with the inner ear, but I know the more hearing loss I have, the louder my tinnitus will get. Anyways, I am considering hearing aids and sound therapy (two different doctors recommended hearing aids).

All said and done, I have faith you and I will be okay. Sending love your way and I'll circle back to give you an update on my journey as well as to check in on yours.

Cheers,
Camp

 

Give your ears a good rest and stay away from noise for a few months. Eat healthy and make exercise.

 

Hey @Jaybait2 & @jecamp1,

I'm 36 with tinnitus for a long time now. It's gotten slowly worse with more sounds occurring over the years, but I've grown accustomed to them by now. (It usually takes about a week to get over that there's a new noise in my ears). Recently (5/29) I've developed what I believe is hyperacusis. My symptoms are about the same as what you described and I just went through the same exact treatment of Prednisone for sudden hearing loss just these past couple weeks.

In my case, I just woke up one day and suddenly engine noises from cars driving down the street were very clear in my left ear. I thought it was just impacted earwax since that is a reoccurring issue with me for several years. But when I tried to clean my ears, nothing was coming out. I went to the doctor but they said my ears are clear and found nothing physically wrong, which had me worried because now it wasn't something easily resolved. My audiogram showed a slight decrease in my right ear on lower frequencies, but still within normal range, so they gave me trailing prednisone to prevent potential permanent hearing loss.

At first listening to anything was very uncomfortable. I didn't want to shower for a few days due to the sound of water hitting the tiles. Over the course of about a week of listening to things very quietly, I was able to be outside with ambient road noise without much discomfort. I thought things were going great and decided to hang out at a friend's house. We just watched some TV at a normal volume, with A/C and fans on in the background. I had very mild pressure feeling in my ear but nothing seemed alarming. Though at the end of the day, my right ear had a constant vibration in it. Fortunately I was able to still fall asleep.

The next morning the vibration was thankfully gone, though I think my noise sensitivity had completely reset; I turned on my macbook computer, and the start-up "dongggg" felt so uncomfortable. In my excitement to go back to normalcy so soon, I believe I over-exposed my ears with noise and set back my progress.

I say give your ears a rest. Listen to things at a VERY low volume. In my case, I felt a very slight improvement to my volume threshold each day. Be cautious not to overdo noise exposure. Be patient. I've come to terms that this is probably going to remain a life-altering condition. But I know now that it's something I can slowly build up tolerance to and hope to some day return to some normal activities. Although I'll probably never try going to loud places like the the movie theatre ever again.

 

Hi @Jaybait2, may I ask how you are doing now?

My situation is similar to yours in terms of symptoms - had acoustic incident happen 5 days ago and now ear fullness in one ear, no hearing loss though, no tinnitus but slight sound sensitivity maybe. I'm trying to decide what to do, I have some Prednisone here but not sure if I need to take it as my doctor said no hearing loss and that they don't prescribe Prednisone in this case. (I do have some at home though).

Did you get better?

 

Hey, did your fullness ever improve? I'm having a similar experience at the moment.

No hearing loss or change in tinnitus but fullness for the last 4 days after an exhaust popped right next to me.

 

Hey @andwaai99, well, funny you ask. Since that first incident yes, my ear fullness went away although the left ear still sometimes tightens up to a loud sound. Yesterday someone made a loud metallic noise near me though and both ears got very tight and achy again. So, yeah. Let's just say I cried a lot yesterday and today just trying to keep calm.

I think you'll improve. Did you have fullness before? Are you sensitive to sound right now? Is it getting better? I think mine is getting a tiny bit better. But last time it took a few weeks so...

 

Sorry to hear that’s happened to you again, how frustrating...

I’ve experienced fullness/muffled hearing in the past after being at a concert etc. but this is usually better by the next day. I’ve always been quite sensitive to sounds, even before my tinnitus (now I’m extra cautious of course) but this hasn’t changed in the last few days and isn’t extreme or pain inducing.

So far no improvement with the fullness - still feels like my ear and surrounding area is blocked/tight - as if I need to pop it but can’t. Is this similar to what you felt?

Also wondering, did you ever take the Prednisone? I was prescribed Methylprednisolone but as my audiogram showed no hearing loss I didn’t take it due to the side effects I’ve heard about here.

I did a Tympanogram which was abnormal on the left side but not sure what this means exactly or if corticosteroids would even help with that.

 

Thank you. Yeah, it's very hard mentally. I'm trying to stay positive.

I only took Prednisone for like 2 days last time. I think I didn't need it because I also had no hearing loss.

I'm sorry this happened to you also. What caused it? Were you at a loud concert?

Yeah, mine feel like what you describe. Sort of blocked. No muffled sound though. A bit of pain. Yesterday my partner cracked an egg about 5 meters away and that sort of hurt and my ear tightened up. Do you react like that too?

So my ears are still tight. Worse on the left. They are tighter in the morning, maybe from sleeping - I think when I lay my head down somehow that muscle maybe gets tighter? I don't know. I was hoping it would be less tight today as yesterday seemed pretty good.

How are you today?

 

Yeah it’s really tough to stay positive but we have to do what we can!

A motorbike drove past me and the exhaust backfired from 1 metre away. That’s been 1 week and no improvement unfortunately.

I wouldn’t say I have muffled hearing this time like in the past after prolonged noise exposure (concert, bars, clubs etc.). It just feels like my whole left side is full/blocked up.

Is the fullness you had different to the tightness you’re experiencing now?

And you mentioned it took a few weeks for you to improve - did you notice a gradual improvement? Or more sudden? The fact I’ve had no improvement yet is making me super anxious...

I do tend to react defensively to sudden loud noises and tighten up but that stops once the noise does.

Perhaps what you’re experiencing could also be TMJ related? I’ve seen that mentioned a lot on the forum.

 

I think my fullness and tightness are the same as last time.

Yes, it took maybe 3-4 weeks, after which my ear was sensitive to sounds for a while after.

Do you get any ear pain from external sounds? Or any pain at all?

Nope, mine is not TMJ related, it's just ear.

I think you can probably calm down to be honest, especially if you don't have any pain, it'll just relax probably within weeks. Usually it does take a few weeks. I know how scary it is, but especially if you don't have hyperacusis, it's probably going to be just fine.

One thing to do I would probably suggest is to protect your ears right now. So wear earplugs/earmuffs around loud sound or even sharp sounds like when you wash dishes etc. Do you understand the whole Tensor Tympani thing? After a loud noise, your ear muscle tenses up to protect you (Tensor Tympani or Stapedius muscles or both) and that's what's causing the fullness. So now you are waiting for that muscle to untighten and calm down basically. It's a good idea not to expose the ear to any loud sounds so that the muscle can calm down.

Sorry, I would have responded earlier, but I did not get a notification for some reason. I will just visit it more often to check for your reply.

 

I’m certainly glad you saw improvement! Hoping I experience the same over the next few weeks.

It’s a very strange feeling and I can relate to the tightness you mention (seems to be across my whole left ear/head/jaw) + then there’s blocked feeling from within which dulls my hearing.

I seem to get some relief randomly throughout the day - as if the pressure was equal across both sides. But it’s very short and goes back to how it was within seconds. Did you have anything like this? This made me think it was potentially pressure related, but not sure how noise could cause/alter pressure.

I wouldn’t say I get pain from external sounds. When there’s a loud / high pitched noise I do tense up and experience some discomfort but that’s all.

Yeah I think I’m just scared of it not improving - it has really affected my anxiety and is all I can focus on all day.

I have been trying my best to avoid loud noise and using earplugs/noise cancelling headphones when exposed. I did see a lot about the TTTS but can’t quite determine if that’s what I’ve got as other people seem to have things like fluttering and experience change when exposed to noise - whereas sometimes a little bit of noise coming from the left side makes it feel more balanced/comfortable for me.

How are you now?

 

I still think this pressure is due to the ear muscle spasms, along with the face/jaw pressure. Lots of people have this, it's because the muscles in the ear are pressing on the trigeminal nerve so your whole face/head might respond.

TTTS is characterized by the thumping/fluttering but I think what we have is just the same muscles going into a bit of a protective spasm as they overreact to the noise.

I feel like I am maybe getting bit better although I'm still feeling the full ears. Yesterday was better maybe? This morning also, but then got a bit tight again?

Yes, I can relate to what you are saying where sometimes the pressure goes away, then returns. I think this is normal.

I understand your anxiety. Last year I was so stressed I could hardly eat or sleep for 2 weeks. This time I was very stressed too for the first few days. But truth is we need to relax because some people on this forum have said they believe there's a psychological component to this, we need to tell our brain that there's no danger and it can relax and stop telling those muscles to tighten up.

A week is a very short time for ears, I fully expect this to take a bit longer to relax for the both of us.

How are you feeling today? I hope it's a bit better?

I fall into panic and crying a few times a day but other times I'm able to be optimistic. Or trying to.

 

Yeah it definitely seems like the muscles are all activated/tense - which I think is also causing this slight reduction/dampening of my hearing.

Glad you’re getting better! I can certainly relate with the ups and down (physically and emotionally). Going from optimism as you said, to feeling like giving up. Just very frustrating how hard it is to relax, the more I try not to think about it... the more I focus on it...

The worst part for me at the moment is constantly popping my ears / moving my jaw trying to get some relief - even though it doesn’t help just can’t seem to stop. Do you experience this?

Still no significant improvement so far. Like I said I’ll have the occasional relief but then it returns very quickly.

Just need to try and relax and hope we improve over time!

 

I actually don't have the moving my jaw to pop my ears thing, no. I also don't have muffled hearing.

I noticed that my ears are a bit more "strained" or tight when I lie down on my side. When I am vertical it's almost like the pressure is minimal or even almost absent. Do you notice this too, that it's worse when lying down?

Also have you tried Magnesium to try and relax those muscles? I think it works for some people.

 

That’s good you don’t have any issue with hearing.

For me it’s the same regardless of standing/lying down. Although sometimes there’s slight relief when the pressure from the pillow is applied to the ear.

I also noticed when I pull the top of my ear, there’s some minimal relief.

Yeah, I’ve been taking Magnesium but haven’t noticed any benefit yet. Have you had success using it?

 

I haven't been taking too much Magnesium as I have to be careful with it due to some other health stuff. I might try tomorrow and I'll let you know if it does anything.

Have you had any changes? My ears feel OK most of the time but loud sounds make them tense up. Waiting for the reactivity to calm down.

 

Oh right, I see. Personally I don’t think the Magnesium helps too much.

Unfortunately I seem to have gotten worse. I don’t know if it’s a coincidence but now I have had actual pressure blocking my ear for the past few days with symptoms of Eustachian tube dysfunction.

So I still have the tight/full feeling but also fluctuating blockages from pressure and strange sensation swallowing etc.

I’m assuming the acoustic trauma can’t have caused this so I may just be unlucky.

 

What strange sensations are you having when swallowing?

I have throat spasms that have been affecting my swallowing for 6 months now. I have had all the tests and everything has come back clear. The neurological hospital believe this has been caused by my acoustic trauma when having microsuction.

I am still ongoing with tests.

 

It’s like my left side is blocked. When I swallow it’s like I only feel the swallowing sensation on the right side.

I also have some mild pain and tickle/itch sensation which comes and goes.

 

So you can swallow, and the food does go down, but it feels numb on the left? Almost as if the left side has been anesthetized and you can only feel the right hand side?

 

Yeah that’s right. It seems to come in waves and occasionally feels normal for a few minutes, then goes back to feeling blocked.

I’ve been having issues with pressure in the ear and blocked sinuses so not sure if it’s all connected.

But as I said it could just be a coincidence and nothing to do with the acoustic trauma a couple of weeks ago which caused the original fullness.

 

I described it that way as that's how I describe mine. It feels numb. I also have been diagnosed with mild sinusitis, and I feel ear pressure at times.

Have you had any tests or diagnoses?

 

No tests or anything. It seems to fluctuate each day. I’ve had a mix of the pressure, swallowing sensation, sore throat, sinus blockage etc. so assuming it’s a mix of things.