Loud Music Through Headphones (+ Anxiety and Panic Attacks) Probably Caused My Tinnitus

Hello there.

I first discovered I had tinnitus in January of 2020.

I am a DJ and producer and was engineering music in headphones very loudly one weekend. Nothing happened immediately, in fact it took a whole four days until I developed a little 16-bit Nintendo jingle in my left ear. It is only my left ear for some reason.

I believe it to be the loudness of the music which caused this, although I had also been suffering anxiety and panic attacks prior which I believe can be contributing factors for such auditory conditions. This noise was mildly irritating, but changed into a distressing loud whistle which in turn subsided back to the familiar 16 bit ditties in under a week.

Believing this to be a minor temporary aliment I flew to Germany, as I was booked to perform at a rave in a club. I was unsure but I wore earplugs. Bear in mid these were crap earplugs with useless dB protection and I was near speakers. The tinnitus returned louder which freaked me out and I cancelled all upcoming bookings. The spike lasted under a week.

Then COVID-19 happened which was the perfect time to rest my ears. I had two sets of custom earplugs made up during this time 30 dB and 35 dB reduction and my tinnitus was fine. I was able to listen to music as normal at home without any problems even without plugs.

All the way until late June 2021 when I got a tattoo.
The tattoo gun had spiked my tinnitus before but only for a day or two. However, this time I wore my earplugs, and when the bone on my shoulder was tattooed I felt vibrations go up through the bone and into my ear. An ear that was blocked with an earplug which caused the occlusion effect and a spike that is only just fading. I learnt that I shouldn't wear earplugs for tattoos.

My tinnitus at its worst is a whirring whistle but of late is fading to the 16 bit Nintendo noises that I have grown to like. Since this tattoo I have been more careful with the volume of music and TV which seems louder.

My audiologist has recommended listening to brown noise through headphones. I queried this as on this board headphones are a no go. However I am finding some success with the noise. No music through headphones just brown noise.

I have decided that I won't be playing in clubs as my confidence has been shaken. No more attending gigs either for now at least.

However, I am booked at an outdoor festival in September and I am considering wearing my 35 dB reduction plugs setting up behind the speakers leaving the area as soon as I have played and taking another long break after that.

I have friends in bands who play live with tinnitus and use the plugs and I am hoping an outdoor setting would be better then a loud club with beats ricocheting off the walls.

If after playing an outdoor fest with 35 dB reduction it spikes I am officially giving up and concentrating on other things for a good few years.

Well that's my story, thank you for reading.