Hearing Loss Question — Can It Be Caused by Two Concerts?

Could having slight ringing in my ear then going to a concert 2 (3 hour) Saturdays in a row cause any hearing loss? Or does hearing loss take a long time to happen?

 

Rudy,

I am not a medical person, but from what I've learned over the years, it can be either way. From what I understand, generally hearing loss happens over a long period of time. But traumatic hearing loss can occur instantly, like mine. My initial hearing loss and tinnitus was caused when I was exposed to an explosion while in a very confined space. This happened during a training exercise when I was in the Army and stationed in West Berlin in the spring of 1972. Over the years, with continuous exposure to loud noises (another four years in the service and then almost 30 years working in construction) my hearing continued to decrease and my tinnitus became louder.

I don't know if you have found this to be of any help, I can only relate to you the things that I have experienced in life or learned over the years in an attempt to understand what I was experiencing.

Good luck

Al

 

Im sorry to hear that man. I do appreciate the response though. About 1 month before the 2 concerts when I had the very faint T I had a hearing test that came out normal. I'm freaking out now because those 2 concerts really (excuse my french) f***ed my ears up. I dont know if I should get another hearing test or not.

 

I have many musician friends who play too loud and go to very loud concerts. Most of them don't have hearing or T trouble. Go figure. I've experienced temporary hearing loss many, many times and although I have T and H, my hearing is great. And I've tortured my ears. By rights I should be deaf because of the horribly loud music I used to play.

 

Do it if it will put your mind at ease.

 

It's hard to say and really depends on the person. Repeated trauma certainly isn't a good thing especially back to back concerts when your ears were ringing and telling you to rest them. That doesn't mean it's the root cause.

My brother goes to concerts like every week with no hearing protection and never has any issues. But then you'll read about people here who went to one and things were never the same again.

So the answer really is... nobody knows but another hearing test should help put your mind at ease. Go do it. If it shows up as a difference then work hard on not hurting your hearing again. If you must go to concerts wear ear plugs... the foam ones offer the most protection but there are also musician ear plugs that reduce the sound 15 or so dB and make it so you can still hear with clarity.

And well, if it comes back clean, at least you know it wasn't the concerts and can start thinking of other causes. Diet changes? Allergies? Cold? Sinus congestion? Etc.

Good luck and don't beat yourself up too much. Just make sure to err on the side of caution from here on out.

 

It depends mostly of the person, the loudness at the concert....

You can go check your hearing but don't rack your brain about that too much ( sorry if my english is bad)! what's done is done.

 

you have a point.

 

To an extent ofc. Finding out the cause can help with the 'cure'.