Can I Go to a Concert (Slow)?

Hello everyone,

I have been having tinnitus for a month now and even though it started after a loud concert I have no hearing loss at the moment (I went to a specialist for tinnitus -- can share his info if anyone is interested) who also determined that I don't have any invisible hearing loss etc. I had been very very anxious for the past year and particularly the past month and I was told that this may have been a more important factor in my persisting tinnitus. I have been having tinnitus for less than a month now.

Anyway it is very quiet and I can barely hear it at the moment (sometimes in quiet rooms) and I have been doing pretty good at ignoring it.

My question is can I go to a concert that I assume will be about 100 decibels with ear plugs and stand towards the back? I only want to see it for about 45 minutes with breaks to rest my ears. Should this worsen my tinnitus?

I don't want to do anything risky but at the same time doc told me to do things that make me happy and this band does.

PS. it's indie pop, pretty slow with 2-3 faster songs.

 

I also got "do things that make me happy" advice from doctor and it was the worst advice I got.
Best advice would be "wear ear protection and never go to any loud venue ever".
Just because you have no hearing loss doesn't necessarily mean that your ears are fine.
You may be one of those people whose T doesn't get worse for 20 years but I think it's too early to tell and I would give your ears some extra time to heal.

 

I personally wouldn’t attend especially as your Tinnitus is still very new and was originally caused by a concert. You need time for your ears to heal and hopefully you will be one of the lucky ones and it goes. As you can barley hear it, I wouldn’t take the chance of making it any worse.
I’d recommend using some noise reducing plugs in any loud situations as this can help with the healing process (try and not over use them and listen to your own body)
Whatever you decide, hope it all goes well.

 

Thank you for your advice but I don't think doing things that make you happy is bad advice. Of course it doesn't need to be a concert but so much of T perception is connected to your emotional state as well. Besides doing things that make you happy is never bad advice in my opinion.

 

Yeah I don't think I want to risk it. Although I also had to fly in Boeing wide body airplane that averaged 85-90 dB for the entire 12 hrs and about 110 during takeoff and landing. I think it gave me a small spike but still getting better I feel like. ( I would have skipped that too but I really had to). But a concert may be pushing it.

 

aircraft are no 110 or 90

no one would be able to talk inside

usually 85 at take off and 65-75 cruise

 

Good question man,
I am wondering about going out also, because I like doing that.
In any case you should get the strongest earplugs you can find I would say. Have them on your keychain for example so you never forget them. I have the Earpeace brand plugs with the strongest filter they offer.
Also the NAC supplement has proven to be effective at preventing hearing damage if you begin taking it in advance. Source: https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/n-acetylcysteine-nac.395/
Magnesium Citrate also works preventatively I read in some studys btw.
I would be very very carefull if I where you, especially so soon after onset, the ENT I saw after my initial onset gave me the advice to give my hearing a rest as much as possible in the comming months after onset so going from that advice I would say he would advise against it.

 

It's entirely up to you.

You need to weigh up if it's worth risking potential worsening of your tinnitus for one concert.

Personally, I've been to close to 50 or so concerts since my tinnitus onset. I would recommend custom moulded ear protection as I never go without them.

I'm very much an advocate for continuing to do what you love.

 

I have been to two weddings after my T, and tomorrow is the third. I wear protection when I notice that the music is getting to loud. So take ear plugs with you, if the noise becomes to much then wear it, if not, then just enjoy it. Of course you can still have fun and should so. But always go with protection just in cause it becomes to uncomfortable.

 

@Egg and others please be careful. After 2-3 months your t may start to go down and your h may also be less noticeable so you think you're getting better and expose yourself to more and louder noise. This plan can backfire as your ears need time to recover. I was exposed to emergency sirens for 5-10 minutes and it set me back even though I plugged my ears.

Bring ear muffs with you wherever you go in case there is a fire alarm, siren, low flying helicopter, group of harley motorcycles, etc. Have ear plugs for times you want to be more low key or can predict the noise coming. I live on a busy road and wear plugs when I get the mail.

I know this seems ridiculous, and I bet some will tell me it is, but you have to be very gentle with your ears in the beginning. I don't know how long the beginning is but hopefully we'll know when we're out of it.

I've walked out of a restaurant with loud speakers and didn't go to a school function with an orchestra playing because as disappointing as that was my t increasing in volume, hopefully temporarily, would have been worse.

I wish things weren't like that but with t they are.

 

It’s entirely up to you buddy, as I said I wouldn’t take the risk as this could make your T worse but other people have been to concerts and have been totally fine. T is totally unpredictable at times so what may affect one persons
T may not affect another. It’s crazy this life with T I would never tell anybody how to live their life, can only give my point of view.

 

@Egg
Personally, since you're so early in (and especially since you seem to be showing signs of improvement, according to what you wrote) I wouldn't risk it yet.

Mystery Reader

 

Everyone's different, I have a 30 dip at 3-4 kHz in my right ear where I have tinnitus. I have done concerts with ear plugs and was fine. You have to find your tolerance level.

 

take off can go beyond 100db. As can landing.

Cruising, I have recorded as anywhere from 70-94 depending on type of plane and where in the cabin you are sitting.

 

@Egg,
Your tinnitus has a good chance of going away so would not risk it at this present time.
It's not never but maybe see if you still have tinnitus after a year then review it again...
love glynis

 

Since your experience is a mild form due to a loud concert I think it is best to avoid the concert this one time. It is likely your situation will clear up and maybe cease. But if you push it before your ears have time to rest and adjust it may be a not so good outcome?

This doesn't mean a life time of avoiding concerts @Egg.

 

A little acoustic trauma here, a little "small spike" there, and pretty soon you're talking about chronically injured ears, with ever increasing potential for one of those "little" things to cause major damage. Which "could" lead to a very long period (perhaps life) of unrelenting internal jangling, producing unrelenting anxiety, depression, sleep deprivation, and more. I guess you have to ask yourself if a single concert at this brief moment of your life is really worth the risk of a life of abject misery.

If you read this forum for a while, you'll see I'm not exaggerating about a worst case scenario--it happens. And BTW, some of the posts of EXTREME REGRET you'll read on this forum are almost heartbreaking. Some people can barely forgive themselves for being so foolish as to expose their vulnerable ears to things they know they should have known better not to.

I hear you about how people should do things they enjoy. However, I would ask, do you enjoy silence? Or the soft sounds of nature? You may have to say goodbye to them forever if you you don't make prudent decisions for yourself in these crucial coming months. -- Do take care! -- All the Best!​

 

@Egg,

You may want to check out THIS THREAD. Below is part of the initial post:

Fast forward to the 13th of June this year. As tinnitus was not playing any role in my life anymore, I literally forgot that I had it and became a little ignorant about the sensitivity of my ears. I went on a long walk on the beach, with my iPhone headphones on loud level. You guessed it; next morning I woke up with a screaming spike.

Unfortunately, unlike other spikes, this spike feels like I`m back to square one for me. A week after the increase, I developed Hyperacusis again, which I hadn`t felt in years. At this point I`m not sure if this is the result of the damage I`ve done, or the fact that I`m obsessing about the sound in my ears again. My tinnitus is at a high level most of the time, albeit it does subside some days/moments. The worst part is that I`m in this panic state again... I Know from experience habituation is impossible while in this state.​

 

DONT DO IT. You can get SEVERE T and You dont want this please please believe mem.

 

It's possible that you could get worse, but it's possible that you will be fine also.

 

you have hearing loss
those test only measure tonal noises in quiet 0-8000hz and the human voice range (0-5000hz) in quiet
tinnitus by acoustic trauma isn't possible without hearing loss

Hidden Hearing Loss: M. Charles Liberman PhD

 

Go to the concert at your own risk, i wouldn't.

 

@Egg
I don't go to concerts anymore because of T. Concerts were my whole social life. But I won't risk making T worse.

 

I went no spike I'm fine.. also my hearing is fine for up to 16000.
This was a very mild concert with barely any speaker system. Pretty much just an acoustic performance that was 90-100 db at the highest. I wore protection as well.
thank you everybody

 

Thank you. I went because it was a very small mild concert. It's been 4-5 days I'm fine. My T is still there but barely. Didn't get better didn't get worse.