Another Desperate Musician Checking In

[fecka]

Hey guys,

I'm a 21yr old musician, who loves/loved playing drums, and guitar, and also is a beginner singer and music writer, and I am really passionate about all these.

However on one gig, the music was waay too loud, and I was at the front with a friend, it happened exactly a week ago, and I have that high pitched tinnitus since (louder in my left ear, but present in my whole head) that doesn't seem to go away anytime soon.

I got my ears checked today, my audiogram seems to be fine, my ears are apparently "healthy", so it must be some inner ear nervous damage that causes it. I got some medicine that improves circuation in hope of regenerating my nerves, but I'm not really optimistic about it.
Also it feels as if I had some infection, but I apparently don't. My ears feel sensitive, and I hear crackling when swallowing/yawning, all this accompanied with a headache.

At the beginning I was afraid of trying to sleep, because it was then when I noticed the tinnitus the most, however after a week I got to a point where I don't want to do anything but sleeping, because that's the only time I don't hear it. It's been pretty hard coping with it, I had a mental breakdown today that I might have to give up music forever, the thing I love the most.

Right now I've been sleeping and just browsing this forum in complete silence, looking for clues on what to do. If anyone could give some advice, that would be much appreciated, I had been listening to music 90% of the time in my life (I'm not exaggerating), and it's not something I want to give up. I was considering ear plugs, but I have the fear of worsening my condition.

Anyway, on the positive side, I could finally join this nice community I guess.

 

[GregCA]

@fecka - fellow drummer here, with T too, but not noise induced ironically.

Stay away from loud noises in the future, and be particularly strict about it in the near future, because your ears are hurt and are trying to heal. Give them all the chances you can. You may have some hyperacusis.

Since you've been listening to music a lot in your life, the event that triggered your T could have been "the straw that broke the camel's back": noise damage is cumulative, and sometimes it crosses a threshold with severe consequences.

Good luck.

 

[Michael Leigh]

I'm a 21yr old musician, who loves/loved playing drums, and guitar, and also is a beginner singer and music writer, and I am really passionate about all these.

However on one gig, the music was waay too loud, and I was at the front with a friend, it happened exactly a week ago, and I have that high pitched tinnitus since (louder in my left ear, but present in my whole head) that doesn't seem to go away anytime soon.

HI @fecka

You need to give your ears a rest for a while. This means no listening to music through headphones and no playing drums or loud music until things improve for you. Even them you need to be careful. Please click on the links below and read my posts and article on tinnitus.

All the best
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/

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/is-positivity-important.23150/

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/tinnitus-and-the-negative-mindset.23705/

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/acquiring-a-positive-mindset.23969/

 

[fecka]

Thank you guys, I'll check those links out for sure.

 

[Bill Bauer]

If anyone could give some advice, that would be much appreciated, I had been listening to music 90% of the time in my life (I'm not exaggerating), and it's not something I want to give up.

You could still listen to music by using speakers that are facing away from you, and setting the volume to a moderate level.

If I were you, I would never visit another live concert ever again. Consider staying away from loud concerts for at least two years, to give your body a chance to recover.

Check out the thread below where I summarize everything (24 tips spread over three posts) I learned about managing tinnitus after reading the posts on this forum for the past 11 months
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/thread...itus-recently-this-info-will-be-useful.25741/

 

[GregCA]

You could still listen to music by using speakers that are facing away from you, and setting the volume to a moderate level.

Why get the speakers to face away from you?
If your goal is a lower volume, then just lower the volume at the amp level, don't make the speakers face away from you: you'll get sound distortion from the reflections of the sound before it reaches your ear. In other words, you're trading sound quality for no reason (unless I'm missing something).

 

[Bill Bauer]

Why get the speakers to face away from you?

I read about this tip on this forum. Now I can't find that post. It may make a difference if you accidentally play a loud sound through your speakers. I realize that if the speakers face away from you, you might set the volume to be louder than you would have set it if the speakers were to be facing you. I found a good volume with the speakers facing me and THEN I turned the speakers away from me. The speakers sounded pretty much the same to me after I turned them around, but I felt good about the extra protection against the unexpected loud noises.

Quality of the sound deteriorating is not something I care about, but of course someone who is into music might feel differently about this.

 

[GregCA]

I read about this tip on this forum. Now I can't find that post. It may make a difference if you accidentally play a loud sound through your speakers.

Sorry, I don't find this reason very convincing...