Maybe Permanent Tinnitus — What Do I Do Now?

Hi everybody,

I'm a university student in my third year out of five. I am very new to this site and in fact very new to tinnitus.
As everybody may imagine, there are thousands of thoughts and questions in my mind right now. Last Saturday, about 5 days ago, I went to a very loud venue and was unknowingly standing next to the speakers for two and a half hours. I left the venue probably permanently damaged with a ringing that has not gone away for five days. I don't have a long history of very loud concerts at all. I have however used ear plugs in the past but have been careful about the volume. I am not a musician and normally am not exposed to very loud noises in my daily life.

It is much better now than that first morning and almost impossible to hear when I am outside or in the office where I am interning at. I have been prescribed steroids (Prednisolone 5mg three times a day) to use for a week but it seems like they haven't done much good so far except cause a lot of pressure in my left ear -- it constantly feels plugged now.

So apart from that brief introduction I wanted to ask you guys about coping. I know it is relatively early, but it seems to me that any ringing that doesn't get better within two days is going to be there for a while. Obviously much of my knowledge is gained from this site and I am sure there are as many cases of temporary tinnitus as there are permanent ones : I have just not been accessing them. So long story short, where does this leave me? My doctor said the ringing will go eventually and he was more so concerned with the hearing loss associated with it. So he kind of blew me off about the ringing issue.

What are your opinions about this situation? Should I focus on healing and believe that it will get better or is it about time (after 4 days) to start accepting that this is permanent and focus on coping methods? If so what are some methods that have worked for you guys? Meditation, therapy etc.? Any tips and opinions are appreciated. I think I need hope and positivity more than anything else because it has been very hard to have a good attitude about this situation.

 

I been in your situation before myself. I went to a frat party and had too many beers and danced by a speaker for 1-2 hours myself. My ears and hearing was muffled and It did some damage to my ears. I suggest that you wait it out and see how it goes. 5 days is really a short time. We never know how the tinnitus will act/re-act only time will tell how things go.

I suggest that you do protect your ears and avoid situations, like the one you had. We should always try to adjust and cope with our tinnitus. It's never too early to do this and it's never too late to do this either. You can read about coping methods and techniques. They are listed on this site.

I also suggest, that you try to calm down and relax. What is done- is done. Now just wait and see how you feel and let us know.

 

It sounds like your T is fading rapidly. You are now at a place where many get to a year after onset. It ought to continue to fade.

You might find some of the tips in the post below to be useful to you.
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/thread...eone-else-who-has-tinnitus.26850/#post-307822

 

There are plenty of cases of temporary tinnitus. I'm still here because mine didn't go, like most people, but as you have ascertained people for whom it went will not be here. I asked around when I first got it and a lot of people I knew had had it temporarily, from a week, to a few months, to a year, and it had gone for them eventually.

It's very important to relax your nervous system as much as possible and ignore the tinnitus as much as possible