Back from Vacation — Did I Damage My Ears More?

I have been a week in Malgrat de Mar, Spain. First time flying.

Flying went ok I think. I did use special plugs for flying.

But I am worried. There were a lot of noises. Big hotel, big dining room with a lot of people.
Did some excursions. Loud bus and talking through a mic. I have been on a boattrip. Loud engine sounds.

And the walks on the boulevard. Loud music. Did plug my ears but not all the time.
Used mine ear protection but not all the time.

My tinnitus was louder and it made me stressed out.

Did I damage my ears more?

 

It is unlikely that you would have caused any damage to your hearing. Worrying over this will only instill negative thinking and make you believe your tinnitus is worse. See a Hearing Therapist for counselling to help you with tinnitus management and treatment. Although earplugs are helpful they are not the treatment for a long term solution.

Michael

 

You will only know in a month or two. If it is still there after two months, you might have done some real damage. Next time, consider wearing ear protection religiously, and also not being in noisy places (e.g., boat, noisy dining room, etc.)

 

You seem to have remained with louder tinnitus. For a while. That's all. That does necessarily means that you damaged your auditory system "more". None of the noises you mention are loud enough to consider them "acoustic trauma". I think you have "reactive tinnitus" (gets louder after loud noise exposure). Most of us do. I used to have much louder tinnitus everytime i tried to mask it with supposedly "soothing" ocean sounds or other nature sounds.

Please do not panic. It is essential. You do NOT need to put your autonomic nervous system on red alert even more. You are harming yourself this way. You must wait with patience and confidence. Maybe more than a month or two. It may take 6 months, a year, nobody knows. There ISN'T a "time limit".

T will come down to its baseline. Sooner or later, but it will come down.
Maybe there was an overstimulating of the auditory system (for sure, actually), but it will settle down. Trust me, for i speak from experience.

In your brain there aren't enough substances that were supposed to calm the nervous system back down after that stimulation. (That's what tinnitus is, actually)
Have faith, be optimistic, no matter how long it takes.
No permanent damage, do not worry.

 

Four months ago, I pressed a phone (its volume stuck at maximum) to my bad ear. My T changed from a hiss to a high pitch tone. It had remained a high pitch tone ever since. A phone is not loud enough to cause an acoustic trauma. And yet now that our ears have been compromised, noises that healthy people won't even notice can cause lasting problems for us. I know of many others who were exposed to moderate noises and had bad consequences that Lasted a long time (not sure how many months have to pass, before a spike ought to be considered permanent).

 

This is pretty stupid. Yesterday my T were very low. I had to look for it to hear.

But now it is loud Again.

How is this possible?

 

That's what normally happens... What matters is the overall monthly trend. On any given day/during any given week your T will fluctuate...

 

Ok thank you. But will it settle down like it were before?

 

I hope it will...