Habituation to Tinnitus Caused by Loud Music Through Headphones and Worsened by a Concert

Hey y'all. I'm 25 and have had tinnitus for as long as I can remember. I want to share my story with you.

It began around age 10, when I frequently listened to music loudly through headphones. This wasn't great for my ears, and I recall a constant ringing, particularly noticeable in quieter places.

In high school, I played a loud instrument in the band, practicing in an echo-filled space for about three hours daily. I became accustomed to the ringing. In college, I grew more aware of hearing protection, especially at concerts, where I always wore industrial-grade earplugs.

At 23, a concert experience changed things. Even with earplugs, the intense bass triggered a severe reaction in my ears. The ringing became louder than the music. After enduring this for about five minutes, I moved away from the bass, which helped.

Post-concert, my tinnitus symptoms diversified. I documented various experiences over several months. I had louder ringing in my left ear, pressure fluctuations, stress, and sound-reactive tinnitus. The tinnitus would come and go, and at times, I heard around eight different tinnitus sounds, up from an estimated four before.

For about nine months, I was very cautious, overprotecting my ears, avoiding concerts and clubs. However, I did attend one event with earplugs, which caused no permanent issues.

Gradually, I began to habituate to my tinnitus. I continued to protect my hearing, bringing earplugs to restaurants and wearing over-the-ear protection (like shooting earmuffs) while driving. Over time, I realized I might be overprotecting my ears. I read that this could worsen sensitivity, so I started to wear less protection at home, except during loud activities.

Now, I still use ear protection in certain situations. I wear ear protection in the car mainly because of a fear of loud airbags, and earplugs in restaurants if it's noisy. When walking on the street, I wear noise-cancelling headphones to guard against sudden loud sounds like honking. My tinnitus, particularly worse in one ear, doesn't bother me much anymore. I experience odd sensations and fullness in my ears, but I've become accustomed to it.

Since then, I've encountered several loud incidents without ear protection, like car horns, a LOUD truck horn right next to me, my soundbar randomly at maximum volume next to my head, fire alarms, breaking dishes, door slams, a baby's scream, and being near loud children. Thankfully, none resulted in permanent damage (nor temporary actually).

My tinnitus has improved overall (I only hear about four different ones right now, with one that goes up and down). I think about it, but it's manageable. I don't and never have used white noise; I've learned to accept and live with my tinnitus (likely since I have always had it so I never felt the need to). It doesn't bother me unless it changes. In 2019 and some other year, I experienced a low-pitched tinnitus that occurred in silence and disappeared with ambient noise which was highly unusual. I habituated to this, as it was a predictable pattern. I have not had it since but I expect to have it occur again at some point probably.

I'm still cautious but maintain a social life, wearing earplugs when necessary (not industrial-grade, unless the environment is exceptionally loud). The only downside to earplugs is they make it hard to hear people while eating, but I've learned to manage this by taking pauses to listen.

Sometimes I seek comfort in it which is weird. It's like my own white noise. I know many of y'all don't feel this way but I have had it so long that it's part of my life. Obviously when it got worse I wasn't the biggest fan, but I proved to be able to get used to it again. Though now I'm extra cautious.

For y'all out there who read this try to find something you're passionate about and have a good life style. I regularly workout (protecting my ears with noise cancelling headphones with a decibel limit), hang out regularly with friends, got a great job at the peak of my tinnitus situation (since I was constantly home on my computer I would just work), and found yoga. I'm definitely not in the worst situation regarding my tinnitus. I cannot imagine what it would be like to have tinnitus that is louder than regular interactions.

Anyways, that's it for me. I wanted to post my experience since my incident 21 months ago but never got the chance. I stay the hell away from tinnitus forums or subreddits since it's always so negative. I try and always have been as positive as I can be. I don't know if I'll come back and read replies to this post but I'll definitely post an update in a few years potentially.

Take care y'all and protect your hearing (though not too much!)

 

Translation: "I have a mild tinnitus".

Thanks for reporting.

 

I'm happy to read you're managing to deal with your tinnitus, while still maintaining a healthy social life.

Thanks for your sharing your story