Got Tinnitus from a Metallica Concert Last Night — Anything I Should Do Right Now?

Hi all,

I went to a Metallica concert last night and had non-stopping tinnitus and hear-loss since then.
My hearing ability is like it went from a pair of top quality headphone to $5 ones.
My seat was not so far from the speaker as you can see from the photo.

18hrs has passed so far. I looked up the forum and followed some suggestions：
- Tried to get Steroids/Prednisone from pharmacies but no luck. They either don't have it or were not willing to sell it to me.
- Took some Vitamin A,C,E, Magnesium supplements.
- Booked an appointment with ENT on Monday, as most of them are closed in weekend.

Is there anything else I should do right now?
Thanks a lot！

 

I got my steroids prescription from ER. Explained to them and had to try in 2 different places but it worked.

 

Try harder to get steroids, any doctor can prescribe it. Taking NAC supplement can also help.

 

See the ENT, but steroids in general aren't great -- let an expert diagnose you. What you will need most of all is one of the hardest things to have -- patience to let your ears recover. I've endured ringing in my ears from numerous punk concerts and it has always passed after several days. The vitamins / magnesium are a good idea. At the moment I'm taking pharma-grade Ginkgo Biloba (Tanakan) for antibiotic-induced tinnitus. It's supposed to help with circulation for your ears recover. Like you I need patience to let time pass so it can heal. Best wishes.

 

Thanks for the replies! I've got prednisolone somehow.

 

You're doing the right thing by reacting early, but it's very very early days to start worrying. 18 hours is a short time. Back when I was more reckless the 'concert ring' and fullness could last up to 2 days.

Based on some of the things I've read, I'd advise you to try and calm down. The extra stress you are putting on yourself may have a bearing on whether this sticks around or not. Eat well and try not to think about it; don't obsess over it.

 

Is Tanakan OTC or do you need a prescription? What dose are you taking?

 

Jeez, Lars Ulrich has tinnitus, pretty sure James Hetfield also. Yet still no warnings to the audience. It's madness!

 

Pearl Jam have the right idea by handing out ear plugs at their shows.

 

No, it's fucking business.

 

It's definitely an issue and a lot more needs to be done when these concerts are promoted. I wouldn't blame the band though, because it's ignorance on their part more than anything else. I don't think this kind of thing even crosses their mind, but the venues should have some health and safety enforced upon them. The tickets should have bold warnings printed on the front, and a few posters around the venue should also be displayed.

Unfortunately I doubt it would change much, but at least the warnings would be there. Humans don't generally react to warnings until it's too late and the damage is already done. I think we are mostly born with an innate feeling of invincibility.

 

No, they have tinnitus, they know how bad this is. They say it's cool to the journalists, "every musician should have tinnitus", but when they are alone in their bed, they just wish it would go away.

 

It doesn't matter if they have tinnitus Foncky. 10% of the population have it, and this includes many other musicians and celebrities. The problem is the lack of education. I doubt tinnitus is really on Lars' and James' radar unfortunately, and not because they are nasty or mean, but because they are indifferent. Tinnitus doesn't affect their life, so they most likely forgot about it 20 years ago.

The same is true of a lot of bands and musicians. It's a massive lack of education. The bands, by and large, are not really entirely at fault. People need to be educated, and at the end of the day, if they are aware then they must take precautions.

It's not any bands intention to go out and injure people; they go out to entertain, put on a show, and put smiles on people faces. That's honestly all they are thinking about. Tinnitus has been swept under the carpet for so long now that it's just par for the course to some of these guys. I doubt they understand the misery that it can cause. This all comes back to awareness and education.

We are the minority that are suffering and we need to be louder or take more action to make others aware of the darker side of tinnitus and hyperacusis.

 

Indifferent? Well they use custom molds for concerts, which is obviously to save their hearing. Lars was mentioning tinnitus in the interviews. So it is not entirely true this is NOT on their radar.

I'd agree that it wasn't their fault in the beginning of their careerl somewhere in the 1980s, when they were not aware of the hearing problems and they ruined their own hearing. But now, I think they are perfectly aware what hearing loss means, so only explanation is that they chose "money" and to obey "contractual terms" of their label.

I am pretty sure many of them understand the misery, maybe not Metallica, but some bands like Nine Inch Nails or Mr. Bungle clearly express these problems in their lyrics.

Many musicians suffer too, but for some reason they are too weak to stand against their own industry and change something. I can imagine that they don't want to put their careers and steady cash flow at risk.

Indeed, indeed. But again wouldn't giving away earplugs open the floodgates of court actions, since that would be explicit acknowledgement of the link between concerts/sporting events and hearing loss? That's why the best way to protect the interest of the whole entertainment industry is to pretend there is no problem and just put disclaimers on the back of their tickets with tiny letters that they are not responsible for any harm.

Nevertheless, the entertainment industry will not change itself. We are the ones that can initiate the change, we should stop moaning for a cure, we should start demanding that these who put us at risk take responsibility. Unfortunately I have the impression that our community here is extremely passive. My thread here received very low feedback. All of this makes me sad.

I love music too, but the music industry makes me sick, literally.

 

Just some proof that musicians are not indifferent to hearing damage. Dave Mustaine of Megadeth (and ex-Metallica) discussing hearing damage on Twitter.



Worth a read the whole thread. What's shocking is that despite obvious hearing loss problems in Megadeth they still cause hearing loss to others:



This is a crazy world we live in.

 

I think you misinterpreted what I meant. I meant that from a day to day perspective, it’s highly doubtful that it’s something they are concerned about much, if at all. That’s all I meant by radar. As in it’s very unlikely that it’s on their minds 24/7. They are no doubt aware of the damage to their ears, though.

Metallica would make their own contractual terms as they are so big. They don’t need to bow down to a label anymore. The label needs them if anything. I think it’s harsh to blame the bands per se. A lot of it is industry and socially driven. People want loud concerts, that’s just an unfortunate fact of life. However, things are steadily changing for the better as overall volumes are coming down considerably compared to what they were in the past. There are also regulations that restrict what the maximum levels can be. I think better education is required all around as this will help persuade people to protect their ears in these types of environments which in turn could lead to a different social view on how loud concerts should be.

It’s not as simple as you believe this to be. I’ve spoken to professionals about this, both high end, and local. It is not their fault. It is a societal issue (and it is improving). Many do quit playing.

There are many concerts that have done this. In fact, it’s becoming more and more common.

You make some good points but I feel that’s a little extreme. I agree that venues should protect their patrons better, and I also believe that there should be a high degree of education regarding dangerous levels of sound, globally. This is not just a live music issue; it is systemic and crosses many industries (construction, armed forces, weddings and parties, paint balling, scarefests, etc etc.

 

I was having a tinnitus debate with someone at work. I told him about my years of abuse drumming & using headphones. He stated he used to pound inside the equivalent of a giant tin can at one point. Mine is worse because his does fade for the most part...

First time I saw Metallica was the Ride the Lightning tour in a smaller venue. Same with Blizzard of Ozz...

 

I made my awareness video, as you know Ed.

I was hoping that other severe sufferers would follow suit, but nobody has, have they.

I didn’t find it easy - it cost me a lot - not in terms of money, but in having the guts to show my pain and my vulnerability.
But I will never regret doing it.
I just wanted people in general to know the personal cost of this wretched condition.

 

All I try to emphasize is that in many if not most of the cases it is not our fault we are suffering, despite what many try to convince. If we pay for something we should have full right to expect it is safe or expect we will get a clear warning if it is not. But instead we get small letter disclaimers that the venue organizers are not liable for hearing damage, often not written on the tickets but somewhere in general terms and conditions that you can see on demand. This is all we get. Yes, things are changing but too slowly, these are baby steps. And this thread made by someone who got tinnitus after Metallica concert in 2017 proves that.

I completely agree that lack of education on hearing loss is a systemic disease. But I think the music industry should be the one that leads in such education, since music is all about hearing and to be honest music should be a pleasure, not something that causes torment later on, both to musicians and listeners. Unfortunately now you can expect better (legal) protection when you are a construction worker or serving in armed forces, at least you can get some compensation when your hearing is damaged when you were on duty. But if your hearing gets damaged during a concert, then it is currently all your fault. This sucks.

I know, I know it is improving, but way too slowly. We have known that excessive decibels cause irreversible damage and side effects like tinnitus for at least for 40 years. How much longer musicians and their fans have to fall into same trap all over again? Why after so many years this is still such a taboo?

 

I’m on your side and I agree with the points that you are making. All I’m saying is that money and demand make the world go round and right now people want gigs to be loud. That is what sells. It is a societal problem. This is also why bars and nightclubs are so loud. We need better education from a young age in order to have any hope of reversing this trend. Musicians are just a cog in the wheel and largely have no say over any of this and this goes for all styles from classical, to jazz, to the theatre, and to rock and pop, etc.

This is also why kids blast music into their ears at insane volumes through headphones and earbuds. Lots of musicians have brought awareness to this issue but it largely falls on deaf ears, pardon the pun. You also have to realise that the sound is primarily down to the sound engineers and what they perceive the people will want in terms of volume and mix.

Most venues nowadays stay under 100 dBA, especially the regulated larger arena types. With correctly fitting earplugs, it would be incredibly unlikely that one would suffer any meaningful damage as long as one wasn’t leaning into a speaker, for example. The fact is, though, is that hardly anybody uses earplugs, let alone correctly!

Campaigns to push this issue never really get anywhere because people always believe they are indestructible until they realise they aren’t. That’s human nature for you. We are stupid.

 

They're only after the money. Actually Metallica was one of the first groups to sue when their music was posted on Napster and the first file sharing websites.

They care about the money, not about the wellbeing of their fans.