I've Got Tinnitus from One of the Happiest Events I've Had in My Life

Hello, my name is Vincent and I've had tinnitus for three weeks after a loud gig where I've played the guitar. Feel free to skip the prologue if you're only interested in the symptoms I have. Thank you for taking the time to read my post. I wrote it from the heart.

Prologue:

I will be turning 30 in a month and I've been reflecting what I've haven't done enough in my life and realized that I didn't play my guitar enough in my twenties because I've gave up on my dream of being a musician and went on to be a 3D artist because I couldn't mess around anymore which was actually my fathers opinion speaking through me, not my own. I saw some photos of my high school metal band and I got a full nostalgia blast and remembered how happy I was back then so I've decided to brush off the dust from my guitar and accept invitation from an old friend to play in a band. Not for the fans, but for me, because I enjoy it.

So I had a gig three weeks ago and it was wonderful but I didn't wear any ear protection, usually I would put at least small balls of cotton wool. And it was really loud and we played for 2 hours, I was in front of a monitor that was so loud I couldn't hear my guitar coming from my amp behind me. And because of my insecurities as a guitar player I didn't ask for them to lower the damn monitor because I didn't want to end up being a wuss in front of my band mates and people who we played for. That's my biggest regret. So now I ended up with a tinnitus and a possibility that I might not be able to play again ever because it was more important to me to be accepted and validated by others than it was to state my needs. Learn from my mistake.

The gig itself was wonderful and I couldn't be happier how it went down. I've fulfilled my dream of playing again and was really excited for the future.

The Constant Phantom Noise:

When I came home I've realized the noise in my ears was much more present than it usually is after a concert, I could barely hear what my girlfriend was saying to me over the noise in my ears. So I hoped it would just go away in a few days, I've talked with my fellow band members and they've all told me not to think about it, it will go away for sure since they have been exposed to loud music much more than me that there's no chance I will get chronic tinnitus.

In the evening of the first day after the gig high pitched noises started to annoy me, even noises like when I would type keyboard or the sound of clicking the mouse. I couldn't tell whether I was just anxious that those noises could hurt my ears that were now healing from an acoustic shock trauma or it really bothered my ears.

In the evening of the second day I've started feeling a sensation that my ears are a bit swollen so I've stayed at home during those days and consulted a ENT doctor who administered me to take small dose of prednisone for a few days with b complex vitamins. I've borrowed Ear Muffs from my drummer and would use it when there were some louder noises in the house.

After a week I went out with friends and even with wearing ear muffs and taking into consideration not to go to a loud restaurant, I've even asked that the music would be lowered, I've realized my tinnitus went louder when I came back home and I've panicked. I went to another ENT doctor where I did audiometry and pulled a big piece of wax buildup out of my left ear. From what he told me my hearing wasn't damaged but he administered very large dose of prednisone to take for 15 days. My father who is a doctor told me that corticosteroids are not being administered anymore by the USA doctors for tinnitus because there were studies that showed it doesn't do much if anything at all. That dose of corticosteroids made me manically euphorical followed with muscle and joint pain, insomnia, nausea and intense hunger. Guess my nervous system is very sensitive. I've decided to gradually quit the corticosteroids therapy because with consultation with my father and another doctor who finished studies in the UK I've realized it doesn't help much but it's causing me side effects that weren't worth it.

This week ( third week) I almost thought it went away so I was about my business making sure that I don't expose myself to more than 60-80 db but functioned as normal. Then when I've listened to some music which I listened to under 50 db the guitar in the song hit some high note that made my tinnitus louder, it's almost as the guitar hit the same or similar frequency of the tinnitus. Then I've realized that I should probably stop listening to music altogether before the ringing subsides. Then after talking to some woman who had a high-pitched voice my tinnitus worsened and when I went home I realized it's been the third week and it still hasn't went away, I panicked that I might have it permanently so I couldn't sleep because of it. I took 1 mg of clonazepam to calm me down.

The worst was last night when I've tried to study in silence and I've became so self conscious of the constant ringing which was on a scale of 1 to 10 was around 5 or 6 but it was just tiresome after a while and I couldn't focus on what I was studying because of it. It worn me out and made me quite edgy and realizing this might be for life I went into flight or fight mode but I couldn't do either because it was following my around wherever I go like the monk's black creature from Sheridan Le Fanu's story "The Green Tea". I felt imprisoned but the prison was in my own head, the sense that I've taken for granted was now torturing me. It sounds like neverending metal axe sharpenig on a grinding wheel on a slow but constant speed. That being said I still can tune it out by not focusing on it when I am in an normal conversation environment around 60 db but I hear it quite good when I go to bed or I'm in silence. I'm afraid from the sound of my keyboard now, I'm wearing Ear Muffs when I type but when I wear Ear Muffs the tinnitus is even more present so it's a vicious circle.

Clonazepam helped but I am edgy as hell because I don't know if this will pass or not, it seems so debilitating to live with this chronically and that my life is going to be very limited from now on. I feel imprisoned. I am going to yet another doctor on Monday that specializes in tinnitus to see what can I do about this. I feel very afraid and angry when I think that it might stay like this or get worse if I expose myself to a louder sound.

 

@Vincent777

Hi Vincent (Van Gogh?)

I'm not going to tell you how to cope with it, and bla bla, because I know that you just like me, want to hear if this is something you have to deal with the rest of your life.

Unfortunately, no one call tell. What I can do for you, is to give you some hope. My uncle had in his younger days noice-induced tinnitus for 4 months before it faded away. 4 months! So just like my uncle, there is a chance that your tinnitus will also resolve on its own. Time will tell.

And even if it doesn't go away. Your tinnitus will get will decrease in volum as the time pass, till the point that it won't even bother you. In the mean, you have to take good look after you ears so it doesn't get worse. Stay away from headphones! It doesn't matter if you're listenting to music in low volum with headphones, as the music goes directly to your ears. You're on the early stages right now, and there is a good chance your tinnitus will subside. What you need to do, is to help your body heal. Let your ears get relief. And hopefully, and most likely, you will get your old boring life back.

Do me a favor man, ask your tinnitus-specialist doctor if he got any statistics of how many who had their noice induced- tinnitus go away within months. Ask also if its common to have tinnitus for many months before it fades away, and when you should concider the tinnitus as permanent. Can you do that for me?

You will be okay boy, keep me uptaded after your appointment on monday! Take care of your ears, aight?

 

Welcome to the tinnitustalk forums Vincent. As a person who suffered from hyperacusis and tinnitus for 3 months, and phantom sounds for about 1 month(now only myoclonus of the middle ear with only slight phantom sound problems) I can empathize with your pain.
Good work on seeing an ENT so quickly, and it's great that you were administered a steroid treatment so close to the time of trauma(your first treatment of it); in asmuch as you pushed for that that treatment, goodwork as well.
Here is a supplement I took that helped my symptoms greatly, while I was going through very similar symptoms.
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/thread...i-cant-tell-what-but-it-does-something.12665/
You can look at the amazon reviews for it as well.
I recommend studying something that will stretch your mind, as that will distract you. I believe it also increases the chance of recovery because the mind isn't dwelling on the tinnitus and new pathways are being made. I also use a balance-board used for creating new pathways for brain trauma patients and children with learning disabilities.
I'm also being treated for anxiety and sleeplessness, as these have put me at risk in the first place for my symptoms, and treating them helps increase the chance of recovery. I take Paxil during the day(didn't start working for 3-4 weeks), and half a 0.5mg tab of colonazepam at night for sleep. While I was waiting for the Paxil to work, I took quarters of a tab of colonazepam to take the edge off during the day.
Nice to meet you.

 

Thank you for the kind reply ceaseus97! Means a lot to me to get support in my dark hours. Haha no it's from Vincent Price.
Nobody from my friends really cares, they probably think I'm hypochondriac. Yes, I guess I've been careless to go out without ear muffs or ear plugs these first three weeks as I thought it wasn't big of a deal but the doctors told me just to avoid louder places and that's it. Nobody said not to listen to music at all or to avoid high pitch noises even in 40-50 db sound level (quiet library to normal conversation sound level).

Yeah I will take good care of my ears from now on, I will wear ear muffs (ear protection that is used on a shooting range) 24/7 and won't leave the home for a while and focus on reading books while avoid listening to music or films, I have a queue of books I've been putting on hold for ages now.

I will ask him that, thanks!

I will, cheers and thank you once again for the reply.

 

@Vincent777 No no no.. no! Do not wear ear plugs or other protection all the time, you will only make things worse. Trust me, your ears will get too sensitive to all sounds and you will start suffering from hyperacusis as well. Thats not a good idea man.

The idea is to let your ears recover slowly and over time by allowing them to readjust themselves. Protect yourself against loud noises outside. You can still listen to music, but without the headphones. Listen to it at low volumes. The same goes when watching the TV, showering and so on.

I think it's a good sign that you're already being so careful after the first warning. Usally people only understands the seriousness when its already too late. But you in the other hand, have already understood it all on your own. That may be the only reason your tinnitus will resolve in time. So in a way, you're a lucky man. But whatever you do, don't cover your ears when flushing the toilet. not a smart move bro

you get my point. take care aight

 

Oops someone beat me to it.
There is a hyperacusis section of this forum you should visit if you haven't already; that is what you have. Standard tinnitus doesn't get worse when you hear moderate noise. From what I understand, the general consensus is that you shouldn't over-protect your ears; it casues more sensitivity; also it increases your ability to hear your own tinnitus, which as I understand it, can increase the tinnitus and/or hyperacusis. So try not to wear heavy protection all the time. The idea is to protect yourself from spikes, but help your auditory nerveous system be desensitized. This experience of the loud concert put you out of calibration.
When you go into any kind of moderately noisey environment musician's ear-plugs are great, because they protect you from the higher frequencies which can spike your tinnitus, but allow you to hear what people are saying(they have less protection in the mid-range). You also don't hear your own tinnitus as much with musician's earplugs.
Here are the ones I have. They are very low profile; people won't notice them as much(with your hair they won't notice them at all). Also there are custom pairs that can be made from a mould of your ear(only to be done by an ear-doctor).
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B013H8FUVA?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00

 

@AnxiousJon

Thank you so much for the reply!

Yes, I just now wish that I haven't listened to my dad and endured that horse dose of prednisone, they've administrated me 80 mg 3xday for 3 days, then 80 mg twice a day for three days etc. But I was frantic on it even the second day. But what's done is done right, no point in eating myself up over past.

I've ordered that supplement on ebay right now, two bottles just in case. Hope it works, thank you!

Yeah, I will definitely stay distracted and positive, I've noticed I was spiraling into negative thoughts and moods pretty fast since last night. I just gave up on living and wanted to sleep through the whole day. Hard to stay positive when you don't know the outcome, I was positive for the last three weeks and it made me careless, so I'm being positive but super careful now. Been wanting to read tons of books and it was always last on my list of priorities so I see this obstacle as a positive thing because I can now read without distractions.

This helped me sleep last night along with clonazepam, maybe it will help you as well:

BAMBOO WATER FOUNTAIN | Relax & Get Your...

Healing music for Body, Mind, Spirit: Help...

Also I listen to this radio when I work from home to help me relax and get into the mood, it's an ambiental post-rock/trance with a little of dubstep: http://www.divbyzero.de/index.php/streams the a m b i e n t & d o w n b e a t radio station.

I also went through depression and general anxiety disorder period 6 years ago and because of cognitive-behavioral therapy I am now 10 times better, stronger and mature emotionally than I was before the depression. I was using clonazepam 0.5 three to twice a day for three years and I was very anxious I will get addicted to it but here I am 4 years without using it and I didn't had any withdrawal symptoms from it. It's a good drug in my opinion, helped me a lot through that period. Just don't abuse it. I had such bad anxieties to the point where I started getting derealization symptoms and clonazepam helped me great deal with that. I'm saying this to explain that everything can be overcome if you don't give up, it seems easiest to give up but down the road you pay the ultimate price.

Wow, first time I hear about this. Does it work for tinnitus?


Thank you for the support guys! I feel better already!

 

Oh wow, thanks for telling me! I thought there couldn't be any harm done if I isolate my ears? What about cotton wool balls? I just hate the sound of my damn keyboard, I gotta get one that's less noisy. Thanks brah!

 

Oh wow, so actually I might've made my tinnitus worse from ear muffs? These are the ones I have, I did sense how my hearing is more sensitive after wearing it for a while. And yes, I can hear tinnitus louder with them on. Good thing I came here!

Yeah I got those as well. Thanks!

 

I haven't seen any improvement with the balance-board yet, but I just started using it again. I use it while reading. I doubt you have significantly worsened your condition by over-protection, seeing how early you are in the process still.
As far as a future hope for music goes(in this life at least), maybe a word from one of my favorite guitarists will encourage you: skip forward to 7:52 seconds

Andy Timmons Pt 2

If you are unfamiliar with him, just a taste:

Andy Timmons on Jeff Beck

 

I love that white noise hearing aid therapy, sounds awesome! Thanks a ton I will share this to my band members.

Here's the recording of my gig where it all started, I'm the lead guitar. https://www.sendspace.com/file/00udmd

Although I don't know if it's smart to listen to music even on low volume now that we have tinnitus problem?

 

I listen to some music based on the kinds of frequencies that are in it. You just sort of have to feel-out what you can and cannot do. Also means you have to make firm boundaries and keep them, even if people generally don't understand.

 

Has anybody tried Audionotch? Is it worth the hassle? Also they require you listen to their music/white nose therapy through earphones which I'm not sure is healthy.

 

Might want to use the Search function of the site to search for anything related to it and browse through "treatments" and "alternative treatments and research" sections to look for devices that produce sounds for retraining, and then maybe ask in one of those sections about this kind of stuff.

 

Will do that, thank you!

 

I have some ear muffs that look like that... except the only time I wear them is if I am outside doing yard work with a mower, trimmer, or blower and it's very loud. Certainly if you are going to be in an extremely loud environment for an extended period of time it makes sense to protect your ears. But I agree with others, protecting them too much against everyday sounds can make it worse.

I remember when I first got T, I had some sound sensitivity too. Dishes clinking, ice cubes dropping into a cup, and pretty much most sounds that can be heard in a kitchen just hurt my ears. All of that went away with time, and I strongly believe it is because I did not change my typical routine and did not overprotect myself. I forced myself to get up, go to work and do all the things I normally would do. Over time, things slowly improved, and I'm sure it will for you as well. Good luck!

-Mike

 

Good to meet you Mike. Thank you for sharing your experience.

Yes I have that sound sensitivity definitely but it's good to know the sound exposure will fix it. I just have to be wary of the spikes. I've eased my mind a great deal now that I've went through the threads here and I'm more informed.
Dr. Hubbard answers cleared a lot of confusion as well, bless him.


I am really impressed with the community here. People are so positive despite this very disturbing disability.

It's so funny and a bit ironic to see that people here are way more positive than on the the hair loss forums I've been visiting of late. ( I've damaged my hair with straightening treatments) People there are just miserable and negative and wallowing in self-pity.

 

You are serious? I would rather be bald than have this ringin' in my head! I would shave all my hair right now! Hahaha.

But seriously, I have spent a good amount of time researching all the musicians I like and whether or not they have hearing damage. Most of them have explicitly said, "Yes I have the ringing, I have tinnitus and some hearing loss. It does not bother me that much."

Bob Mould of Hüsker Dü has tinnitus, along with everyone in Dinosaur Jr.
They are still subjecting themselves to Insane volume levels.

30 YEARS OF DINOSAUR JR. - "FREAK...

Brian Chippendale (the drummer) has it and I am damn sure Brian Gibson (the bassist) has it as well. He has been using a 3,000 watt plus bass set-up for over twenty years.

Lightning Bolt " Dracula Mountain "

I have also noticed many of the songs I listen to have people making allusions to what sounds like tinnitus.

This song, at the very end has the line, "If actions speak louder than words, I'm the most deafening noise you have heard. I'll be that ringing in your ears, that will stick around for years." The only reason the lyricist would understand what that was like is if he has tinnitus.

Tilde-Touché Amoré

This one has the line "Yester-year, still rings in my ears.." at about 1:20.

TTNG - If I Sit Still, Maybe I'll Get Out...

With all that being said, everyone's ears are totally different and you have to do what is best for you. I hope you make a full recovery and that your tinnitus totally disappears, but if it does not, I would not say that your musical career is over. Just keep the volume down and protect your ears!

 

Yeah, I understand completely. I recall I also had some periods where if things got too bad, I would just go lay down for 30 minutes and take a break from everything.

There is a good bit of negativity here, too... but that's to be expected given how much some people here are suffering with tinnitus. It's a hard thing to deal with, especially for the ones who have it the worst. This may be a dumb question, but won't your hair just grow back naturally in a few months anyway?

-Mike

 

Thank you DudeMannDude! Yeah well I guess that just means that they don't have any serious problems if that's their biggest problem.

I'm beginning to suspect that I've had tinnitus long before this gig but I just didn't notice it. I've played in a black metal band in high school and I remember my ears used to ring pretty badly after some rehersals. No wonder, it was black frigging metal haha.

That's interesting that tinnitus is inspiring them to write music.

Thank you, I hope so too! But silence comes first, playing in a band comes second.

 

Trust me, they are much worse there haha. I mean people do mention they are thinking of suicide here and I can definitely can understand the desire to be deaf in any way possible because this constant ringing plagues your mind so much. But there, man, some of them act as the whole world betrated them because of male pattern baldness. They experiment with all kind of experimental drugs that cause serious health side effects.

Sadly, my hair got quite diffused all over my head after the keratin straightening treatment also called Brazilian blowout and it's been like that for the last 2 years.

 

This is fascinating! I think I've found my tinnitus frequency in my right ear via http://www.generalfuzz.net/acrn/ and my tinnitus stopped for a few moments. Although I've accidentally slided the bar fast so it went fast through high frequencies and I felt slight pain in my right ear. Idiot... Curiosity killed the cat. Where's the mood option for stupid?
I'll wait for the doctor to test me properly on Monday.

I was checking all the frequencies and realized that on 8807 hz, 10318 hz, 12533 hz, 16000 hz I don't hear it on that volume level, only when I turn volume up. But on my left ear it's different frequency.

Made me realize how beautiful silence is there for a few moments. But now it seems I'm even more aware of the ringing so this doesn't help me adjusting to the tinnitus so I'll just stop.

Speaking of techniques to stop the tinnitus did you guys tried the skull thumping technique? I wonder if that does more harm then good.

 

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/finger-drumming-technique.5730/

It is the one labeled "areswit"

 

Oh, I didn't see "dumb"; it's also there.

 

There we go, arsewit it is.
Btw the finger thumping technique works for me, just tried it. Especially for the right ear where frequency is higher. At least for a while. I've actually felt a big relief.

Thank you for linking all these threads for me anxiousjon for me. Can I buy you some ice cream in return? <3

 

That's great to hear.
My blood sugar takes a dive when I a eat most sweets(reactive hypoglycemia), so I try to stay away from sweets, but it was a nice thought for sure.

 

@DudeMannDude

Unsure if this is your music-tase, but I thought it was worth sharing. I was listenting to Bad Guy by Eminem and I noticed his reference to tinnitus: "I'm the ringing in your ears. I'm the polyps on the back of your tonsils. Eatin' your vocal chords after your concerts."

 

Hi Vincent
I also have noise induced T and some hearing loss.

My advice is to keep wearing those ear muffs if you want your ears to really heal.
You need to keep noise under 70 db for at least a few months.
Unless you live in a desert or remote countryside, there is no way you can control the noise yourself as soon as you step outside your house.

Walk into a restaurant or cafe with some music and loud crowd and that's a constant 85 db with 100 db peaks .Ride a train or car or walk along a busy street can be 85-90bd db as well, and a sudden unexpected heavy door slamming or fire/police siren can be even far worse if you don't wear ear protection.

Its great to desensitize the ears and listen to various sounds to rehabilitate - I do it too - but do that at home in a controlled environment not outside.

Some people on these site have T which ins't directly noise induced, maybe caused by anxiety or meds etc.. so for them 85bd is safe perhaps and wearing ear protection all the time is "bad" but not for us.

its really easy to make it even worse so be very careful..
I did read a lot of posts of guys with long term T and loss and most of them noticed T worsening - permanently - with noise levels that would be considered "safe" by normal standards. I did a few mistakes myself which I regret now..by being not patient enough with my ears healing process

Wearing ear muffs makes T more noticeable and harder to ignore for sure but over time your mind power can make T disappear even with ear muffs.
In life the easy way isn't often the best way.

You will see after a few months T will slowly move to the background and you will get used to it - but what remains is a weakened internal ear which you must protect.

And yes - good move on starting the steroids asap, that's very important and I noticed some improvements too even though I was 2 weeks in

 

Good ol' Eminem, I remember him from the 2000, he was all over MTV and VH1.

 

Hey @Bobby B, thank you for all the info and for explaining what db levels can be outside and in a restaurant.

(Bobby Bricks from Twin Peaks? ) I'm a major Twin Peaks fan.

Sorry to hear you have the noise induced tinnitus as well. :\

The fact is that my tinnitus got worse when I was out about in the city but I wasn't sure what db levels were appropriate and which ones weren't. I wasn't sure if I was overprotecting myself, being hypochondriac for no reason. I've learned through here that the spikes or sudden noises are the ones that are bad. Speaking of which my keyboard felt to the ground just now with a big slamming noise, ouch. :\\

So noise induced tinnitus is the reactive type? It definitely is for me.

Yeah it did get worse for me, it was unnoticeable when I finished with the corticosteroid therapy last Sunday but then when I went around the city, talked to noisy or high-pitched voice people it came back noticeably.

Crap, my biggest fear is that the tinnitus might worsen permanently. :\\\\ Thanks for telling me.

What mistakes did you do? Go out to the concert?

I hope I will be able to play in couple of months but again I'm scared to death that it will bring tinnitus back because like you said my outer ear is now weakened and permanently susceptible to tinnitus. Then playing in a band would be a BIG risk, like playing with fire. But to think I will never be able to play anymore just makes me depressed... Although I would trade it in an instance for peace in my mind and silence if I had to choose.



But I have to admit my tinnitus today seems much less, even in the completely silent room I can hear it muted, like from the distance.

I was listening to this all night along and when I went to sleep mixed with some white noise in the background:

Healing music for Body, Mind, Spirit: Help...

Tinnitus Masking noise / Tinnitus Remedy - 3...

This one is also found very good.

http://mynoise.net/NoiseMachines/rainNoiseGenerator.php


Where do you use earplugs when you go out or ear muffs when you go out?


Thanks once again!