Hi, New Here

Hi, I just created this profile tonight to hopefully have a place to talk about this without getting eye rolls from my wife. I would like to give a bit of backstory and then ask a couple questions to you guys here.

I was never worried about hearing loss and tinnitus as a younger adult, so i was freq exposed to loud noises from cars, and loud music. In my mid 20's I was on a sailing trip in the BVI and I noticed a perfect black square under the boat (the water is crystal clear) and i thought it was odd. I then realized I couldnt find my wallet... Depth under keel read 30 feet or so if i remember correctly. I strapped my scuba fins on and mask and dove in after it. I flew down as fast as I could bc I had no tank and got the wallet and shot back up. I went down so fast I couldnt clear my ears fast enough, and as soon as I came up it was loud ringing. It lasted for months before it finally went away. I remember after that always having a very quiet ringing that I could only hear while wearing earplugs, or in a very quiet room. I thought it was normal after a while that everyone heard that kinda stuff.

Skip ahead almost 10 years and I am just now at a point in my life where I can afford to travel and my wife and I love going to electronic music festivals. We have been to several already and a bunch of shows. After a few shows I realized I needed earplugs and started wearing them. I never noticed any lasting increase in tinnitus after shows, maybe for a day or so then it would always quickly go away. Well this March we went to ultra music festival and had been semi close to the front of the stage for like 5 hours the last day and we were exhausted. Some people up front walked away and we jumped up there and hung out on the rail... 10 feet away from a huge speaker stack... I remember thinking "This isnt a good idea, but I have my fancy concert ear plugs in I should be fine" I tried to talk my wife into moving away but she said she was tired and didnt want to leave the rail so I stayed for another 2 sets about 3 hours... I remembered looking around and noticing most of the people were not wearing anything! So that made me feel better plus I was not uncomfortable, yes it was loud but nothing felt bad. The next couple days went by and I felt fine. Then maybe by day 3-4 after we got home i noticed some ringing, more so than usual. I remember trying to go to sleep and just hearing a LOUD ringing. Thinking it would go away after a day or so I didnt think of it much. Now here it is 2 months later I still have ringing, I cant tell if its really any better or I am just getting used to it.

So my concern is this, obviously will this ever get back down to where it was before? Last time it took about 3 months to go away. So i am not there yet. Also did the initial injury to the eardrum while diving start me down this path? And will I ever be able to go out and enjoy music again live? I have always had a passion for music and it would really be upsetting if I have to just avoid these places all together. My wife already bought tickets to another festival in Sept. I am trying to figure out a way to go and be safe. If my ringing has subsided I think it should be safe to wear ear plugs and stay at the back of the open area in front of the stage, the sound in these open air venues falls off quickly but the bass is what worries me.

It just really makes me mad bc we finally are at a point in our lives where we can go out and do these things and now I feel terrible knowing standing in front of that stage could have screwed my ears for the rest of my life and ruined my ability to go out and enjoy these things. My wife has hearing loss, and she has been to an audiologist who told her she is borderline needing a hearing aide. Her issue is just not hearing well not tinnitus related so I talk about this and she doesnt really understand how crappy and inescapable it is.

Also, one last thing, from people's personal experience here, does wearing ear plugs and avoiding louder sounds help speed up recovery after a flare up?

 

Hi!

This is coming from someone who's tinnitus didn't go away: You can still visit these festivals as much as you like.
I got my tinnitus from a festival 1,5 years ago (loud tinnitus). Since then I've gone to 10+ festivals and my tinnitus hasn't increased from those festivals (or at least its not very noticable). The only difference is I wear custom made ear plugs. The term custom made is VERY important here. I wore festival earplugs at the first festival I went to after I got tinnitus, it made it worse. Find yourself some custom made ones that filter about 30db, this worked fine for me. Also avoid getting too close to the speakers at all times. And if you notice that the festival has its volume turned up very loud, push the earplugs in as far as you can so it almost feels like your blocking your ears entirely.

Obviously there's still hope for you that your tinnitus fades, but even if it doesnt, don't worry. Your hobbies and fun activities don't have to change one bit. Just be a little bit more protective of your ears.

Also don't focus on it too much after a festival, there's a big difference between your tinnitus getting louder, and your awareness of it increasing.

- Roy

 

@dmochowski Rolling the clock back 10+ years so so, you would have suffered barotrauma whilst diving so quickly

You may not like this but with respect to your festivals etc, you need to stay away, and away from ALL loud noise. Your ears are fragile and tinnitus is a warning sign - i.e. the alarm going off telling you something is wrong.

Custom ear protection should have been mandatory from the start but sadly, the damage may already have been done

 

I now realise you actually responded to my post too, where I told you the same. Oops.