Is This Chronic Tinnitus After Going to an Indoors Techno Festival?

Hi all!

First of all, I want to say how much I appreciate Tinnitus Talk. It has truly been a huge help to me.

Anyway, my story: on November 12th of this year I went to a live indoor techno festival for the first time in my life. As a newbie, I did not use earplugs, a choice that I would regret to this day.

After the festival, which ended late in the evening, I noticed high-pitched ringing in both my ears. I’m talking fighter-jet-loud. Because I had heard from friends that this is “normal” after a night out, I did not pay much attention to it and simply went to sleep, kind of assuming that it would go away the next day.

It did not. It was still there, but I was still relaxed. Fast forward a week, the ringing had stopped in my right ear completely, but was still there in my left ear, albeit on a considerably lower volume. You could almost say that it wasn’t there anymore, just the slightest of a ringing sound.

After this week, I was really happy that the ringing had went away and counted my blessings. I immediately bought earplugs and did not visit any other festival or club in the meantime, until I decided to watch a World Cup game with friends last Friday, the 9th of December. Netherlands scored, and all my friends roared GOAL for a couple seconds which spiked my tinnitus in my left ear again. I was devastated. It is now December 16th, and although the ringing has gradually subsided, it’s still there, much louder than when it went away after the first week.

Do you guys think it will go away again? It’s still kinda manageable at this point and it is (very slowly) reducing in volume so I’m still relaxed about it, but I am wondering what you guys think. Can I not go to parties again?

Thanks for reading and sorry for the long message.

 

If it doesn't go away, you will get used to it over time. The fact it's getting better is a good sign.

Just wear earplugs going to loud events and it will be fine. Get custom molded earplugs. You don't need to totally avoid these things forever, just wear earplugs.

 

Hi @tiniturk.

Exposure to loud noise is one of the most common causes of tinnitus and this is what you have. It usually improves with time, provided you do certain things to prevent it getting worse. You need to give your ears complete rest and that means keeping away from loud noise, such a loud parties, clubs and concerts. If you don't, the tinnitus is likely to get worse and become permanent.

If your first experience of tinnitus was on November 12th, I believe there is a good chance the tinnitus will reduce to very low levels and could completely disappear in time. In addition to keeping away from loud noise, I advise you not to listen to any type of audio through headphones, earbuds, headsets, noise-cancelling or bone conduction headphones, even at low volume, as you risk making the tinnitus worse. It is your choice whatever you decide to do but I am serious, if you are not careful, your tinnitus can increase to levels you wouldn't think possible. Sorry to sound so sobering.

Please click on the links below and read my posts: New to Tinnitus, What to Do, Tinnitus, A Personal View.

Go to my started threads and read my post: Hyperacusis, As I See It, Will My Tinnitus Get Worse?

Earplugs can be helpful but don't put total trust in them. The reason being, if external sound is loud enough, it can pass through the head and transfer to the inner ear by bone conduction and spike the tinnitus. More about this is explained in my posts.

Try to avoid quiet rooms and surroundings especially at night by using low-level sound enrichment. More about this is explained in my posts.

All the best,
Michael

New to Tinnitus, What to Do? | Tinnitus Talk Support Forum
Tinnitus, A Personal View | Tinnitus Talk Support Forum

 

Unfortunately this is not true @SmallRonnie, especially for someone in the early stages of tinnitus like @tiniturk. He risks his tinnitus increasing and making it permanent if he continues going to places where loud music is played. Earplugs can be helpful but only up to a point. If external sound is too loud, it can pass through the head and transfer to the inner ear by bone conduction, which can spike the tinnitus.

If a person is fortunate, the spike will reduce within a short period of time. However, if it doesn't, it can increase the tinnitus to a new permanent level and in the process, completely change it to variable tinnitus. Variable tinnitus is usually a more severe form of noise-induced tinnitus and can be very difficult to habituate to. Noise-induced tinnitus is not something to take lightly because it can be ruthless and very unforgiving when severe.

Michael

Can I Habituate to Variable Tinnitus? | Tinnitus Talk Support Forum

 

Many thanks for the reply, Michael. I will try to avoid loud places for the time being. My tinnitus has been the same volume for the last couple of days, so no reduction. However, if it does stay permanent like this, I’m still grateful. Very manageable at this point. I can only hear it when I’m alone in bed at the late evening and early morning (when I wake up).

I have one question. Almost 2 to 3 times a day, I have a spike for a couple of seconds in my left ear. The high-pitched ringing just goes to a much higher volume. Is this a warning sign, or completely normal in the early stages?

 

I disagree with you on this point. You cannot know for sure that anyone will have an increase in tinnitus from going to a music event while wearing earplugs.

This is fear-mongering that is not needed. You are scaring people into never wanting to leave their houses. Most people really will be fine just wearing earplugs.

I have been through many very loud events while wearing earplugs and my tinnitus never once spiked.

@tiniturk, Michael Leigh means well but do not take everything he says as a fact. There is a lot of truth to what he says but it's not true for everyone. Maybe lay off parties for a few weeks or until the tinnitus is down a lot and then go try them out but only with wearing good earplugs.

You need to talk to a doctor and don't take medical advice from random people on the internet with zero qualifications. Go to your GP and ask to see an ENT, they mostly can't help much but it's better if you do it.

 

Please read my posts on my started threads @SmallRonnie, and you will realize that I am not fear-mongering.

 

You are welcome @tiniturk.

Like others in this forum, I have been a veteran to noise-induced tinnitus for many years and have corresponded and counselled people with this condition. Please follow the advice given in my posts and pay particular attention to: New to Tinnitus, What to Do? Tinnitus will fluctuate a lot in the early stages, it can randomly spike too but will settle down in time.

With respect to @SmallRonnie, he means well, but please adhere to the advice I have given. I am not saying that you shouldn't go to parties, on the contrary, you must be careful of exposure to loud noise. If you have the time, please peruse my post history, you will see that I have always said my advice is not absolute. Please do not put total trust in earplugs as it's folly to do so.

Print my posts and refer to them often as this will help to reinforce positive thinking, which is so important in the habituation process.

I wish you well,
Michael

 

Thanks again for your kind explanation @Michael Leigh.

I am trying to maintain positive thoughts. These days I am alone at home so I keep on hearing my tinnitus. I will abstain from clubbing and listening to music via headphones until I get this thing under control. I am currently following your advice and using the sound of rain as sound enrichment.

In your experience, as someone who has helped a lot of people, is it still fully possible for my tinnitus to completely go away? I once read that if your first encounter happens when you are younger (I am 24), you have higher chances of tinnitus going away in a year or so, and I am now in my second month.

Thanks again!

 

Thank you for your kind words @tiniturk. You have asked some interesting questions, and I will do my best to answer them.

You are young and this is in favour. The fact that you're just two months in with tinnitus and showing some improvement is also good, but there are a few things to keep in mind. The recovery and habituation process takes time and cannot be rushed, this is the reason I have said to print my posts and refer to them often, as they will help to reinforce positive thinking, because your brain is hearing a strange new noise and it will take time for it to realize it isn't a threat, to your mental and emotional wellbeing.

It is possible for tinnitus to completely go away or reduce to such a low level that it is only heard in quiet surroundings. This can happen within the first 2 years from onset and possibly longer. However, please be aware, no matter how low the tinnitus becomes, it is your brain that has reduced it to this low level. If you return to listening to audio through any type of headphones, even at low volume, or you are exposed to loud sounds which cause spikes, then you risk the tinnitus increasing and in the process it could change to variable tinnitus.

This is not scaremongering, I am giving you facts based on personal experience and corresponding with many people that have noise-induced tinnitus. I have explained this at length in my post: Can I Habituate to Variable Tinnitus?

I know how you feel at this moment but please try not worry about wanting your tinnitus to go completely away. When you habituate, as I believe you will, it won't matter in the slightest whether the tinnitus is silent, mild or moderate, as your brain will see the tinnitus as unimportant and ignore it! I have explained this in my posts: How to Habituate to Tinnitus and The Habituation Process.

I would like to pickup on something @SmallRonnie mentioned, about taking medical advice from random people on the Internet with zero qualifications. He is correct and you should talk to your GP about any concerns you have regarding your tinnitus, especially if it's causing you stress, this often happens in the early stages of tinnitus which I have mentioned in my posts. Please don't try and tough it out. Talk to your doctor.

I am not a doctor so I refrain from giving medical advice. However, I have many years experience with tinnitus, particularly noise induced, with or without hyperacusis. This has enabled me to help people having difficulty coping with these conditions and asking for help.

Most GPs and ENT doctors know very little about tinnitus and the way it can affect a person's mental and emotional wellbeing, because it's not something that can learnt in-depth from a book or at medical school. It is only by living with it and corresponding with people that one can acquire this knowledge. It is for this reason many audiologists, that counsel tinnitus patients, were either born with tinnitus or acquired it at some time in their life.

Take care,
Michael

 

I completely agree with this. I have hunted with massive ear protection--wearing both foam earplugs an the highest-level earmuffs available. I shoot the gun and hear hardly any sound, but half an hour later the tinnitus ramps up for weeks. I will not do this again.

I've had several incidents of major noise trauma--in all cases the peak intensity eases over weeks or months, but I believe it adds to an accumulation of baseline tinnitus with each exposure. Live your life but you want your ears for a lifetime.

 

I am sorry to know that your tinnitus spiked @HauntedComputer, even though you were wearing high-end hearing protection, at least you now know not to put total trust in hearing protection. Hopefully people reading your post will do the same.

All the best,
Michael

 

I'm dealing with a similar style case to yours (tinnitus after two music festivals).

I have a lot of information on my thread about it if you want to look.

It's basically a crap shoot as to whether or not it resolves.

I've had mine 3 months in both ears and it's pure hell.

 

Hi @Blackbird1016,

Sorry to hear of your condition. Visiting this forum has either been incredibly humbling (understanding that other people's tinnitus is more severe than mine) or incredibly depressing (seeing people writing that tinnitus becomes worse with every year). I can only hear mine in quiet environments at the moment, when I'm alone in bed at night, for example. I can still sleep through it, though. All other daily sounds mask my tinnitus, fortunately, and I do hope that it just goes away within a year. I will not be listening to music via headphones and will not visit any music festivals until I either habituate or heal from this.

This all falls, however, pale in what you suffer at the moment. I pray that you find peace ASAP and damn this European health care system where tinnitus gets zero attention.

 

Just a quick update on my condition. I still have tinnitus, and for the last couple of weeks the ringing has not subsided. It is now at a constant 5/10. Daily chores mask it almost completely, but I hear it very clearly in silent environments. Especially at night, when I am trying to sleep. I am not using sound enrichment at the moment because I found out that I fall asleep faster without it and that rain sounds or white noise just distracts me.

When I wake up in the morning, I have near-silence. After being awake for 5-10 minutes, the tinnitus volume rises and it stays there until the next morning.

For the last 8 days I have been using Prednisolone after contacting a family-friend who's an ENT doctor abroad. So I am using Prednisolone almost 7 weeks after the initial trauma.

The dosage for 10 days total: 100 mg - 100 mg - 80 mg - 80 mg - 60 mg - 60 mg - 40 mg - 40 mg - 20 mg - 20 mg.

This doctor also told me that it was actually very late since Prednisolone should be used within the first week after the trauma, but my own ENT doctor (in my country) didn't really take me seriously and did not prescribe it. I have to say this medicine helped, albeit just a little bit. The ringing I had before using this treatment was louder. Maybe it's placebo, maybe it's natural healing, I do not know.

@Michael Leigh, since I have found out you are one of the experts on this subject, I had a couple of questions on this matter whose answers I could not find in one of your threads.

1. Will not using sound enrichment at night/during the day have a negative impact on my healing? Can I habituate or heal completely without sound enrichment? I find that it distracts me more than my tinnitus when I want to fall asleep.

2. Is it normal to have near-silence for a couple of minutes after waking up in the morning, after which the tinnitus returns to its ''baseline''?

Please forgive me for my grammar mistakes.

 

hi @SmallRonnie, could you let me know if the burning feeling you experienced has subsided? I am 4 to 5 months into tinnitus, either created by medication or having a bad cold - I can't be sure. After Christmas I have started to experience mild burning pain in one ear. The sensation is fleeting but comes on about 6 times per hour. Are you familiar with this feeling?

Also, I see you are from Ireland, can I ask where you got your Melatonin from?

Thank you.

 

It has been 6 months since my tinnitus onset so I thought it’s time for an update. My tinnitus remained a mild, unilateral (left) sound until last month when it unfortunately spiked permanently (I think) after I was driving on the highway for 3 straight days in a pretty loud car during my vacation abroad. I now have moderate, stable tinnitus. My hyperacusis healed for like 95%, very rarely some sounds still sound harder than they are. I stopped going to loud events like concerts until a couple of days ago, where nothing happened afterwards fortunately. I plan on going again after 5-6 months, but not sure. Not planning on another acoustic trauma, tbh.

I have molded earplugs which I use when I know I will go somewhere loud and I always have them with me in any case.

I think I habituated, but silent environments still do majorly suck. I have a quiet room and the tinnitus frequently drives me crazy when I work from home. Some sounds in the background do not mask it anymore since it went from mild to moderate, but that’s only when I decide to focus on it. This reason got me thinking about doing CBT and trying NAC and other supplements to try to bring it back to mild. All advice is welcome in this regard. Of course it still can just be a temporary spike, but I don’t think so.

I also must say that visiting this website regularly absolutely negatively influences my anxiety. Just yesterday I read someone who posted that an acoustic trauma is bound to happen to everyone and that tinnitus will always get worse, no matter how good you protect yourself. Like, come on. I love this website and its users since it helped me gain so much knowledge about this condition, but I must limit myself in how much time I spend on it.

I will post another update if something changes, or after another 6 months. I no longer have hope this condition will go away, though.

P.S.: apologies for any grammar mistakes. English is not my first language

 

I agree, the likelihood is that your tinnitus will stay the same for many years if you protect from very loud sounds. Only a small minority of people will worsen or get the worst symptoms. But we must protect from harmful sounds and ototoxic meds. Tinnitus Talk can be helpful, but also can definitely depress you into not living at all.

 

Hi @tiniturk, our situations are fairly similar. Mine started 7 months ago, after live music. The hyperacusis seems to have gone almost completely.

Mine started in one ear, slowly moved to the other too, but now seems to be more coming from my brain. In your case, do you still feel it comes specifically from the ear(s)?

I personally avoid loud events and will do so forever.

 

Yes, I do still feel it comes specifically from my ears. Especially when I lay down on my left side, I can hear my tinnitus very loud. That’s not the case when I lay on my right side, that’s when I hear my tinnitus very little. Maybe I do have a tone in my right ear also, but I can’t hear it due to the volume of my tinnitus in my left ear.

Btw, I will also stop going to loud events. I’ll still go the the cinema where I will use my molded earplugs, but concerts and such are for now a no go. I don’t want to risk it. I’m 25 years old and my peers party every weekend so it kinda bums me out, but better safe than sorry.

 

Well, here it is. My 1-year update.

I have almost completely habituated to my tinnitus. The hyperacusis which I initially had is completely gone, although sizzling sounds are still kind of uncomfortable, I'd say.

The reason why I haven't fully habituated yet is the evening, the hours I'm awake before I go to sleep. I live in a relatively quiet neighbourhood so evenings are (were) peaceful, but the constant ringing is stressing me out because that's all I hear whenever I try to sleep.

My tinnitus hasn't improved in the slightest and I now have fully accepted that this is something that I will have until the day I die (if no treatment will be available, of course). It hasn't worsened though, even after going to some parties.

My tinnitus is non-somatic so the Shore device isn't really something I'm following. I try to keep away from loud places like clubs and weddings but as a 25-year-old, it's so challenging to stay at home while your friends are living life, partying and what not.

I feel like I'm just barely keeping it together. One worsening and I'll surely have a mental breakdown.

 

This doesn’t sound like habituation.

 

Most tinnitus is "chronic", in that it's unusual to have it occur and then completely go away forever and ever. That's the bad news. The good news is that it most likely won't always be loud, and will go up and down in volume over time, w/ spikes from loud sounds or sometimes of its own accord. I wouldn't freak out over it, there is always the possibility/probability it will lessen and essentially appear to go away to the point where it's not that bothersome. Read up on ways to mask it, that's a great sanity saver.

You just have to play it by ear, LOL. Go w/ the flow (I'll think of more catch phrases at some point), because worry and stress WILL make it worse. Just be very careful about noise exposure, read up on foods, medications and lifestyle choices that may accentuate it, and don't come to forums on it more than necessary. Anything that draws attention to it makes the perception of it worse, and it will seem louder or more bothersome than it really is.

 

Maybe it isn’t, haha. However, I can keep my mind off of it for like 90% of the day. Even when there’s a moment of silence and I can hear my tinnitus clearly, I quickly find something to do and the ringing fades away. The first 5-6 months I was in constant anxiety, this is not the case anymore. So, maybe kinda habituated, then?

 

...but still you are barely keeping it together @tiniturk? If you are 90 % habituated, and thus have come to terms with your condition and you don't respond to it negatively 90% of the time, I'd say there should be a lot more to life than just "barely keeping it together" like you describe.

 

Hey all. I thought it was time for another update.

I have completely habituated to my tinnitus. The sound does not scare me anymore, and I do not care about it, even though it has not reduced. For the last few months, it only irritated me when I was alone in bed at night (which is the only time that I can hear it clearly), but even that feeling is completely gone now.

I did not believe in habituation the first year. How the hell could anyone who got it recently, really? My path to habituation was easier than others because my tinnitus is mild, perhaps moderate, and my hyperacusis went away within the first month after onset. I recognize that I'm very lucky in this regard and I will keep on doing whatever I can to protect my ears.

I will still be active on Tinnitus Talk because this community has given me so much and answered my questions when no one else would, and I want to return that favor.

 

That sounds pretty mild if you could only hear it clearly when you were alone in bed at night. That sounds even more mild than what mine was a few years ago before becoming severe. I was pre-habituated to it as it had slowly built over the years. Severe tinnitus is a different ball game. So yes, protect your ears, and avoid those noisy events you spoke of entirely because you don't want to deal with a severe worsening like I've had to deal with for over 2 1/3 years now. It has nothing to do with being scary, but there is a direct internal brain response that causes a lot of anxiety and insomnia, regardless of your thoughts.

 

Of course! I stopped going to loud events a long time ago, and I am not planning to change that anytime soon. English is not my first language, so the best description I had for the feeling I got when I heard the tinnitus was scared. Thus, I called it scary instead of trying to explain the relation between the sound and the reaction from the brain. I hope your worsening will get better with time.