Just My Experience with the Last Spike...

[Wojtek Kalka]

Just an update maybe someone learns a bit from my experience ...

well I have a tinnitus after a loud metal concert from 23+ years now .. just over 40 got it with 18 .. it was noisy but over the years I used to ignore it very well .. some rare days it got annoying .. so I went to a concert three weeks ago with my custom made 25db ear protection. I was there only for three to four hours and the next morning my tinnitus was a lot worse ... after it did not change in 24-48h ... I got really annoyed .. started to research about modern treatments ... talked with my old doctors, and had a really hard time handling the new base line .. well it was about twice as loud and nothing can could mask it.

So here are some results .. first of all f*** ear protection no matter what .. that is it for me with loud concerts forever, I stay with classic and jazz ... spoke with my German doctor about it who I highly recommend and appreciate and he said that it happens that people get acoustic traumas with ear protections more than once .. apart from that, I do ride motorcycle, play guitar and saxophone and do other things that are medium noisy .. never had any issues but if I go to a race I protect my ears, these days I prefer to stay apart from noise and I strongly believe loud speakers like on most concerts are a total ear killer, same as guns etc ..

So in the last 23 years a lot of things did happen, a lot more people got tinnitus, but still every club here in Bangkok is full of teenagers without ear protection at 120db, schools give kids condoms but not ear plugs ... well a a loud tinnitus is not an easy thing to live with.

Also I was astounded how little some doctors still know and always try to sell you a treatment. Well the interesting part is that my doctor believes there will be no cure for a very very long time, not before we can not reprogram the brain. Well estimate I ever make it to 70 I have about 30 years left .. so not in my lifetime.

Now it took me three pretty annoying weeks to accept my new baseline, which settled now about 60-65% louder as it was before .. which is a tiny relieve, I still hope it goes down more. It is interesting the whole situation reminded me a lot about my fight 23 years ago which lasted about 6-8 month until I learned to accept it, I see the sound as an inner voice that I do not understand. Well after 23 years I rarely noticed I had one even it was always present and not easy to mask. So for all out there who think all hope is gone .. remind yourself how many people starve to death every day, or have it a lot worse than you it helps.

It is also interesting that in 2017 there are not really - well in my humble opinion - informative websites about this topic out there that go beyond the popular knowledge, and a lot of scam. This forum is one of the best I found, yes this forum is great but it is not that sophisticated when it comes to specific research papers, doctors and treatments ... masking tools, software etc ...it is a beauty and a nightmare getting information from everyone .. you learn a lot but if you dig deeper you often hear the same .. but very thankful for information I found here and people I talked to.

Other people often are a good help but remind yourself, start helping yourself others will join in, and
one of the best lessons I learned in my life about Tinnitus so far .. it does NOTHING to you if you do not let it .. but this is a lot easier said than done ...

Wonder how many base lines I will have to accept in my life ... all the best to you out there.

 

[fishbone]

Yes, i'm in the same boat as you are. Got this BS tinnitus in 88-89 and it's not all that fun. I been to a few really loud shows and my ear plugs served me well. I went and saw an irish heavy metal band, about 2 months ago and it was in a small pub and man o man it was loud. I would have not been in there, unless I had those ear plugs.

I guess being a veteran of the tinnitus world, makes us able to truly understand, what we are dealing with. I am a positive person, but i don't see tinnitus being cured in my lifetime either and yes there is no education about tinnitus and how it can rob someone their life and happiness...

 

[Wojtek Kalka]

@fishbone Did you ear plugs protect you? Mine failed this time

 

[fishbone]

@fishbone Did you ear plugs protect you? Mine failed this time

I been to a few rock/heavy metal concerts and my ear plugs were very helpful. I wish these same ear plus were around almost 30 years ago

 

[Wojtek Kalka]

Well my post was that ear plugs do not protect you from everything, happy they did for you . What kind of tinnitus do you have? High pitch sound?

 

[fishbone]

Well my post was that ear plugs do not protect you from everything, happy they did for you . What kind of tinnitus do you have? High pitch sound?

My tinnitus is VERY loud and in both ears. Its sounds like a LOUD electric generator, semi loud microwave/air conditioner noise and at times those odd noises that you hear, when doing a hearing test.

I tolerate it very well and i still go to some music events and stuff. I care more for the hearing loss that I have, than the tinnitus. Its brutal and yes, very annoying but i have had a rough life and my skin is super thick and im not bothered by many things in life. Life can condition one to become like that, it all depends if that person, is willing to adapt and have that tough skin.

I started a self defense art form, that i have always wanted to learn and been at it for 2 months now and its very loud and just not recommended for people with tinnitus. I , on the other hand careless for my tinnitus and do it 3-4 times a week and its so rewarding to tell tinnitus to F off and i'm gonna do what i love to do

 

[Candy]

@fishbone had it robbed you of your happiness?

 

[fishbone]

@fishbone had it robbed you of your happiness?

Not 100%. I am still happy and live my life and enjoy it as much as i can. tinnitus doesn't end the quality of my life, yes it makes hearing hard for me, but its not the end. So, what i can't hear as good as many people. Life does go on, ONLY if you folks let it go on. Tinnitus is very difficult to handle and not coping is utter hell. I got stuck with garbage almost 30 years ago and i simply got use to it. we can get use to it, if we let it. Fighting it and not accepting it is the worst, one can do with tinnitus.

I have full blown, UNforgiving tinnitus in both ears. I drive a 2015 dodge challenger 392 hemi engine over 500 HP and it's VERY loud. I drive this car in sport mode (even LOUDER) each day. I do admit, maybe once or twice a week i drive my quiet truck. I love driving this muscle car and most tinnitus suffers would not drive such a LOUD car.

Driving this car make me happy. the hell with tinnitus, i will not let it own me and reduce me, to what tinnitus wants me to be.

I do stuff that I loved to do or dreamed of doing as kid before i had tinnitus.

1.Do my no nonsense martial art
2.Drive a super fast car
3.Surround myself with dogs that I love to death
4. Possibly have a new GF that I can treat like a queen

I don't just have tinnitus, i have psoriasis (skin/scal disease), arthritis, gastritis, acid refulx. I thank god , that i have another day to live and i hopefully can see tomorrow. even, if i don't see tomorrow, i have lived a great life and have done it all and have no regrets

I have a lot and yet i still smile and thank god for giving me everything he has in this life. I use to complain and have the victim mentality, but as i grew up and learned. I stopped being the victim in life and started living it and fully appreciating it.

Tinnitus is not the end of life, it can and will go on, if you LET it

so NO, tinnitus hasn't robbed me of my life, if i cannot do somethings because of tinnitus, I will do other things. We have choices in life, it is up to you....what choices you make and how you live your life.

 

[linearb]

hi again @Wojtek Kalka, I greatly enjoy your posts and your perspective because you're one of the few people here who have been dealing with this (slightly) longer than I have. Likewise @fishbone, I always enjoy your perspective too because I am on the same page with you in general as far as tinnitus being a wretched bother but not something that's worth giving up any more of life to than we must!

It's interesting to me the lines people draw, as far as what is "okay" for each of us. I'm basically done with concerts, but there are a couple bands I will likely violate that for if they manage to get tour visas in this era of America as a second-world pile of xenophones. However, I do still ride some motorcycles and shoot (low caliber) guns from time to time, I'm done with the big boomsticks but for pragmatic reasons I need to have a .22 around and if I've got one, then I need to operate it from time to time so that I'm not scared when I inevitably have a mangey or rabid raccoon lurking on my 1000' driveway.

Wotjek, just based on other stuff I've read, I think there's a good chance that your tinnitus might eventually return to your old baseline even if you have damaged your ears further... I'll toss a thought for you into my daily gratitude prayers. If the prayers of an athiest are good for anything, anyway....

 

[JurgenG]

How is this possible? Where you in front of the speakers? I hate how this condition is so unclear over what you can and can't do..

 

[Wojtek Kalka]

Yes I was very close to the speakers for a short time to shoot some photos for a friend. He asked me to shoot at his event now I really regret it. Anyway ear protection gets you 20-25 maybe max 30 db down, rarely more .. my doctor said most time it is only 15 because people do not use good ear protection ... so calculate yourself .. well you can do everything just be sure to know the consequences ... very loud concerts are really bad for your ears ... @linearb thanks a lot I manage .. I hope so too, but do not expect it, but I manage fine every day better .... hehe not praying as atheist and very anti religious person, well imho religions are one thing why this world is such a bad place for a lot of people ..

 

[JurgenG]

But even than, you have premolds so you can't use them wrong?
Lets say you had a -20 dB weakening, even if the concert was 100 dB you would only have gotten 80 dB.

 

[Wojtek Kalka]

A loud concert is 120db so you get 100 ..sounds above 85db are harmfull