Acoustic Trauma Induced Tinnitus from AirPods Accident (Spotify Blasting at 85 dB)

A month ago, I was playing music through the Spotify app on my TV (which I was using my iPhone app to remote control). I went to make a call and put AirPods in my ear, forgetting that the Spotify music would be linked to my phone, though music was being played on my TV. So the music started streaming all of a sudden via bluetooth on my AirPods. The phone’s volume was pretty high (85 dB per the health app), and it blasted into my ear for a hot second before I tossed the AirPods off. Ever since then, I have been experiencing tinnitus that varies in my left ear, and as of late, my right ear as well. However, the tinnitus in my left ear is more severe and variable, whereas the right ear tinnitus is low ringing that is more constant.


As stated earlier, I went to the health app on my phone to check the volume, and apparently, it was only 85 dB (not low, but not extremely high either). I am surprised the tinnitus has lasted this long from that volume exposure for a mere second, although perhaps the “acoustic shock” part of it may have played a role. The most unbearable part about the tinnitus in my left ear is that it sometimes turns into periodic high pitched ringing that goes on and off, which is very distracting and not even masking sounds can mask (although they diminish its impact). I have found that this is usually triggered by some things such as having noise close to me (like playing music on my phone that is near me, but not loudly), straining during exercise, and possibly alcohol as well.

I have been working out mostly from home due to the shelter in place, and with my limited and light equipment, I tend to do more reps, which increases straining time. I find that if I strain too much, the periodic high-pitched ringing in my left ear usually will persist for the remainder of the day and well into the next day.

Do you think this tinnitus will ever go away? And any tips? Before this, I have attended 2 music festivals and a few raves without earplugs before, but for the past year and a half, I have been good about using earplugs. I have experienced tinnitus before, but it usually dissipates in a few days and has never persisted as loudly or as long as this. I asked an ENT for a prescription for amitriptyline 10mg at bedtime to see if that’ll help. It’s hard to avoid headphones for me since I need to answer the phone on headphones at work (though I don’t use loud volumes). Any help/suggestions on what to do and prognosis would be appreciated.

JT

 

HI @copasetic84

One of the most common causes of tinnitus is exposure to loud noise, and the main culprit is using headphones at too high a volume. This is closely followed by attending clubs and concerts were loud music is played. I am going to give you some advice, whether you want to follow it is entirely up to you but if you do, then you will probably save yourself a lot of misery and heartache in the future. If you don't then you risk the tinnitus becoming worse and very debilitating.

Your tinnitus has probably been there for quite a while but remained at a low level where your brain was able to easily ignore it. I believe this since you've experienced tinnitus in the past but it would go away. This happens to a lot of people until one day the noise doesn't go away and becomes a problem. You need to stop using your Airpods and any form of headphones or headset even at low volume. My advice is never to use them again. If you decided not to do this then as I've mentioned above you risk the tinnitus becoming much worse.

Your ears and auditory system need time to heal and this can take 6 to 18 months or longer. Please click on the links below and take your time to read my posts. Try to avoid quiet rooms and surroundings especially at night by using sound enrichment. More about this is explained in my posts. Some people in this forum will tell you using headphones is fine as long as the volume is kept low. My advice is not to use them even at low volume. Some people with noise induced tinnitus, use headphones without any problems but unfortunately many people do. If you use headphones even at low volume and your tinnitus spikes it is likely to increase to a new permanent level. I am serious about this so be careful. If you want proof about what I am saying. Please search through some of the posts in this forum, from members who have habituated to noise induced tinnitus, returned to using headphones and regretted it because their tinnitus has permanently increased.

You also need to be careful of other forms of loud music whether in the car, home or venues you attend. Wearing earplugs is no guarantee you're safe. More about this is explained in my posts.

Take care and I wish you well.
Michael

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/new-to-tinnitus-what-to-do.12558/
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/tinnitus-a-personal-view.18668/
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/hyperacusis-as-i-see-it.19174/

 

There is no way on earth that a split second of 85dB will damage your hearing. It would have to be at least 110dB.

What you're suffering from is an increase in tinnitus due to paranoia and the anxiety that results from that.

 

I'd drop the headphones right away if I were you. At least for a few months. You want to give your ears the best chance possible to recover. I'd recommend taking magnesium and turmeric with curcumin, as they have both helped reduce my noise induced-t. unfortunately there is no way of telling if your tinnitus will go away, but I very much hope it does.

 

Avoid any kind of straining for at least a month and a half.

 

Thanks for the tip! What specific brands did you use? I know there are many forms of magnesium.

 

Hi,

I am curious, how does the health app measure the sound? With which microphone?

It could very well go away yes.
You did the right thing going to see an ENT quickly. Now just give it time to heal, and I know it's not easy but try to relax and to be positive, this can make the difference. While avoiding dangerous levels of noise, of course.

Take care

 

I also got my t at a concert 2 feb this year the t is still there i taking magnesium and b12 no change.
It feels that the t is most in my head and i am afraid it will not go away since almost 2.5 mounths have pased.
And yes sometimes the s word is on my mind

 

I have tried Solgar suplemments and they are ok. If your only exposure was a very brief 85 dB blast through earplugs you should be totally fine. In theory that wouldn't be enough to cause any hearing damage at all.

 

I'm not picky about my magnesium; I suggest looking through this forum to get a more informed opinion. I get a 400 mg capsule from my local health foods store and that has worked well for me personally.

 

It can measure with any earbuds you use, but it is most accurate with the AirPods on the iPhone.

Thanks for the encouraging words.

 

That is a fairly presumptuous statement.

 

I'd go a lot higher than that in general excluding people with severe existing damage or weird issues; NIDA says more like 140-150 for instant impulsive damage.

I only bring this up because I know I've been exposed to 3-5 seconds of 110dn noise at ear level maybe a half dozen times since my tinnitus got worse in 2010, despite being very careful in general -- each event caused me anxiety, but, so far, no lasting issues I am aware of (nor did most of these events even cause a temporary threshold shift).

I also agree with this, hence my italicized caveat. Everyone is different and there are probably, or at least possibly, some with auditory systems that are so messed up that brief exposure to 100db causes excitotoxic damage or some other kind of problem. I would not at all deny the existence of such things, and it would reallllllly suck if that was your situation, but this is likely to be incredibly uncommon, edge cases and corner cases where people have severe existing problems. It's not really possible to avoid occasional impulsive noise at 90-100 db (do you ever do dishes?), so, people in that situation, if they exist, are what I would call "in a really bad spot". But there's not very many of them, compared even to the number of people than can just do 90db jobs hours a day and barely get tinnitus after years.

 

It doesn't measure the sound. It looks at the sound signal (digital) that goes to the headphones/airpods/others and derives the sound level from it. For it to work accurately, you have to calibrate the speaker device (which Apple probably does with Air Pods).

 

Well, it's been 3 months since the AirPods accident, and I still have tinnitus. The audiologists think it will most likely be permanent. Audiogram showed a noise notch 2000 Hz, and mild hearing loss in one ear. How do you guys cope with this? I am kicking myself over and over since this tinnitus was caused by a single 3 second accident, as well as ruminating over things that could have happened differently that day that wouldn't have put me in that situation. I bet we all wish we had a time machine, huh?

 

Hey there, I’m in the same boat as you. Same cause, almost the same timeline, though I’m a month behind you.
I think the same as you too, hating myself for being stupid enough to let it happen, thinking over and over about everything I did wrong in the days following. And like you, my tinnitus hasn’t really improved noticeably. But it’s still early days for both of us! There is still plenty of hope for improvement!
I’ve seen an audiologist and have an upcoming appointment with an ENT, if you want to compare notes.

 

Thanks Nikkinikki! This is my audiogram.

 

@copasetic84 while it's good to keep in mind it may be permanent, don't be entirely discouraged. Look at the success stories, MANY people report fading months after onset. That said, seeing you have hearing loss, check out the research section for all the hearing regeneration meds currently in trials.

It might take a while, but I do believe that the younger people here will have silence again one day.

 

I seriously doubt OP’s issue is rooted in sound exposure. It’s likely that it had been there for a while and was merely set off by anxiety at the time of ‘exposure’.

Tinnitus is mostly a thing of the mind which is exactly why it’s so hard to get rid of. Having studied anatomy and physiology I don’t believe for a second that brief exposure to not-so-loud noise can initiate a condition of any kind in a *healthy* adult

 

85 dB earbuds directly into the ear can certainly cause damage. It may've been the straw that broke the camel's back, so to speak. Tinnitus is cumulative and might only appear after the tenth or twentieth noise insult. If you had extensively studied anatomy and physiology, then you'd know that noise-induced tinnitus is caused by damage to the hair cells and synapses in the inner ear and a lack of input to the brain. Perhaps intense amounts of stress can contribute to tinnitus due to lack of blood flow to the ears, but it is almost never the sole contributor.