Month from a Concert and My Ears Are Still Ringing, Although My Symptoms Have Improved

Hi all! Exactly a month ago on this day I was in a concert (band called Dirty Loops). The trio I thought would never play music so loud thus I did not think of taking earplugs with me. It was a club of 500 people and the concert lasted hour and a half. I stood about 5 meters away from the stage next to the left line array.

Soon I noticed the music was too loud for me. Sometimes sound cracked or "peaked red" for my ears and did not sound good anymore. Synth solos, especially high notes, hurt my ears the worst. The left ear took most of the damage.

The tinnitus was horrible the next night. It shocked me to notice it did not went away during the first 48 hours. I started to panic. I had pressure in my ears and lots of high "EEEEEEEEE" sounds. Like some kind of server room with lots of electric devices around me. Besides that I heard kind of shower or vacuum cleaner sounds.

Also, I got some hyperacusis since my ears were sensitive to some sounds like when keys drop to the ground, traffic light sounds and so on. I was not able to sleep or work. I woke up at nights to hear the sounds. I did not only hear them, I felt them as well.

During the first weeks I saw 2 ENTs. They just guided me to use some masking apps (they are horrible and I heard tinnitus over them) and gave me sleeping pills and medicine called Betaserc. They told me if the tinnitus does not stop, they can give me antidepressants. I have never needed antidepressants before.

This continued exactly 2 weeks until some of the most distracting sounds faded away. Also the pressure was gone. LUCKILY! However, now when a month has passed I still have some of the tinnitus left. I am able to sleep, but I hear the tinnitus when my left ear is against the pillow. I also hear something where like TV or speakers are on all the time, you know that sound that speakers make when the volume is turned high level but no audio is played. I still have hyperacusis. It's like 50% better than before though.

It is nowhere near as bad as it was 2 weeks ago, but still I am very uncomfortable with this situation. I'm worried will I still heal more? It's been like 1 week now that I have not gotten any signals of getting better.

I promise to keep this thread updated.

 

The fact that it has improved this much is a very good sign. You will likely heal more provided you avoid noisy environments, keep your stress level low, sleep plenty and eat well.

Keep us posted but don't obsess too much.

 

It’s good that it turned into mostly a hiss. It should keep fading. The hiss may not ever go away but it’ll probably get so quiet you’ll never notice it unless you think about it. Rest your ears. And take care of them for a while.

 

Another example of ENTs being useless fucks.

Stay away from moderate / loud sounds for a while and you might have a compete recovery.

 

It sounds like your tinnitus will continue to improve. Avoid loud environments for a little while they heal.

You can buy earplugs that attach to your keychain so you always have them. I suggest you get some in case you need them.