Muffled Hearing and Loud Tinnitus After I Went Out Clubbing Last Night

Hi everyone!

I have been reading Tinnitus Talk the whole of today and thought I would add my experience and ask for some recommendations.

I went out clubbing last night which is quite rare for me. Once we exited the club, I could not hear very well, I even said half-jokingly that I am now officially deaf.

Unfortunately, this did not clear up overnight as I had hoped and I continue to feel like my hearing is muffled plus there is really quite loud noise in my head - it goes from ringing to sort of white noise and I have also noticed a sensitivity to regular sounds. This freaked me out a lot as it has never happened before or if it did it only lasted very shortly after I gig and I don't even really recall it. I don't feel like it has gotten better much since I woke up this morning. We were only in the club from about half past 12 am till 3 am but I am afraid it has done permanent damage.

I read that Magnesium helps so I had some along with a multivitamin tablet.

I am wondering what else I could do in these early stages to improve things? I was wondering if anyone had a similar experience and things got back to normal after a while?

I am getting really anxious here as it is still a loud noise I can hear and it gets worse when I speak + I have a bit of a blocked nose at the moment so that is probably not helping things.

I have spent today mostly in silence as I thought it will heal better but it does not seem to be improving much and it is giving me a horrible headache.

I will be grateful for any responses or advice.

 

You can try these AS SOON AS POSSIBLE:

• Intratympanic Dexamethasone shots
• Oral Prednisone if you can't get intratympanic Dexamethasone shots
  
• Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy
• N-Acetylcysteine (600 mg, three times a day)

Depending on where you are located, the first two might be difficult to get but you should at least be able to get oral Prednisone if you doctor shop. Tell them about your muffled hearing (they like to prescribe Prednisone more for sudden hearing loss than tinnitus only). N-Acetylcysteine is available over the counter. Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy might be available near you, you need to search for it.

Even if you don't do anything it will probably get better in a few days but the above can increase your chances of being cured. Please avoid loud noise in future, your ears are now permanently more fragile and next time it might not get better.

 

Dear Pauli,

First of all - tinnitus after such events can stay for a couple of days and can fade out completely (a couple of my friends had similar issue). I hope that this is your case.

Although my advice is, if you feel anxious - because probably your mind and your body knows best, try to do hearing exams as soon as possible (but mind that some of them might be loud, ask only for a quiet exam) or go to an ENT and tell them what has happened and ask for steroids. Mind that using steroids needs to happen max. 3 days after the event that caused tinnitus.

It's hard to say what's better - to wait or go to an ENT. Honestly, no one knows so I recommend you to do what you feel is best to do.

 

Thanks so much for your quick answer. I am in the UK and the earliest I could call the doctor to get something prescribed is on Tuesday, I wonder if that is too late? I tried calling 111 but they did not seem to be concerned and just said to wait plus I am not sure whether they can actually prescribe anything.

I will have a look at the Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy - never heard of that before, and will get N-Acetylcysteine first thing tomorrow morning.

I will definitely not risk this again and would not even have done it this time if I had known what it can do. It is a real shame that it seems that there is no awareness of this, it would have saved a lot of trouble

Thank you Olu. I just looked up nearby ENTs and they actually have an emergency number so I will try calling them tomorrow morning if it is not gone and ask for advice. I am unsure what to do as it does not appear to be getting better much, so maybe it would be better to have some intervention like that early on.

 

If it is gone, remember to come back to tell us, too many never return to tell. I will hunt you down if you don't return!!!

 

I think the most important thing to do is to get to an ENT doctor (or neuro-otologist) AS SOON AS POSSIBLE, be it some emergency clinic, private clinic or anywhere they do hearing tests (audiometry) to address that muffled hearing that may or may not be hearing loss. In that case, they need to prescribe steroids (Prednisone) - orally or injections in the ear.

Other than that, there's not much you can do, as all vitamins and supplements have almost zero evidence of actually working against tinnitus. So, you need to wait it out. Be careful around loud noise from now on and get a pair of good earplugs or earmuffs.

I've also read that staying in absolute silence is actually not good after an acoustic trauma like yours, as it reinforces the tinnitus sound (not really proven in any way, but kinda makes sense). So, you can use some low level sound - nature sounds, music, podcasts etc - either to mask it or distract you from it. Don't push yourself if sounds are uncomfortable though, and be careful with volumes.

Best of luck!

 

Thank you DimLeb!

It has now been 24 hours and I don't feel like it got better much, if at all. It is keeping me awake and very anxious plus I still feel pressure in my ears. I am getting really worried it is here to stay. The worst thing is that I think I won't be able to get help quickly as tomorrow everything is closed due to the Queen's funeral.

 

Okay so I managed to call with an audiologist today and she said that they can't give me the steroids as this is only done when the hearing issues are due to a virus and not acoustic trauma. She just told me to wait and speak to my GP tomorrow. So it seems nothing can be done apart from the vitamins and waiting.

@Aussie Lea, you are not gonna have to hunt me down haha.

Thanks so much for the support guys. I cannot really imagine getting used to this - how do you manage?

I think it is now maybe like 10 percent better than yesterday but I am not sure whether I am just imagining that out of desperation.

 

Sounds very similar to how mine started. Hopefully you can get a handle on it. Try and see someone soon.

 

There is a good chance you'll be wasting your time seeing a GP tomorrow in that they will likely refuse you the Prednisone which is probably your best chance of recovery. And not only that, the GP will feel good about refusing you Prednisone. Even though they know there's a good chance it'll cure your tinnitus, the UK don't licence the steroid as a treatment for tinnitus. They believe that the side effects risk of taking Prednisone far outweigh the minuscule inconvenience of tinnitus.

I wonder what these GPs would do if they got tinnitus?

My advice to you is either:

a) Go to to A&E and say the hearing in ONE of your ears is getting worse. Do not mention your tinnitus, you need to convince them your hearing is going. That way you'll be more likely to be given Prednisone.

b) Make an appointment with a private doctor and say the same. They are more likely to be sympathetic and give you the steroids.

What you do in the next 24 hours could have a massive effect on your future quality of life.

You could of course do nothing and it might be OK.

Are you willing to take that risk?

 

How are you doing today?

I've had this experience many times when I was younger after long rehearsals in the practice studio with my bands. It would take several days for things to go back to normal. I never went to the doctor when it happened because I live in the US and young adults usually did not have any access to health insurance back then unless they had a good job that provided it. I never had a problem until later in life.

 

@Aussie Lea - reading posts like this makes me wish that I'd found Tinnitus Talk hours rather than weeks after my acoustic trauma. I'm appreciative of what a supportive community this is!

 

Hey guys, so it is me back 6 days and £380 later.

The GP told me to wait a couple of weeks and refused to refer me to an ENT. I went to a private ENT, hence the £380. He did hearing tests and said everything is normal + my middle ear appears okay as well. He said I just have to wait and see what happens and to learn to live with it if it stays and that he has got it as well (he was a lot older though, I am 23). After talking with him for a bit he said that there is a chance that steroids will help but he does not think it will and it has got a lot of side effects. He prescribed it anyway, Prednisolone tablets 20 mg for 1 week and said it is up to me if I want to try it but I need to start within 1 week since the incident which will be tomorrow.

So now I am not sure what to do. The tinnitus got better, I can really only hear it in quiet rooms so it is not bothering me during day to day activities but I still have the feeling of fullness in my ears and they kinda feel blocked.

Not sure if waiting would be better as it is already subsidizing as I read somewhere that Prednisolone can actually also make tinnitus worse? So if it is healing naturally, maybe it would be better not to interfere?

What do you guys think? I am going to look up some studies about it. I will have to decide soon.

 

What did you decide to do?

 

I took the pills (Prednisone 20 mg twice a day, so 40 mg per day) but they did not do much. It is hard to study and do things still but the past few days have been a little bit better. I forget about it when I have other things to do sometimes and when I am out of the flat.

The worst issue now is my sleep - I need to function, go to uni, work, I have a lot going on and I am still feeling exhausted and stressed but today I managed to sleep 6 hours without waking up without any meds so I guess that is some progress.

I feel like all that the Prednisone did was fucked up my sleep even more but I am hoping that will get fixed with time. I still hope the sound will go away, I have been reading success stories on here and hope it will be okay maybe in a couple of months.

I do feel like this has robbed me of many opportunities already as I am scared of going out to places which may be loud but I guess that is life. It could be worse and if other people managed to deal with it, eventually I will have to as well. I just hope it won't impact my uni too much as I have been doing very well so far and it would be a shame as this is my last year.

When I look at my previous post it actually looks like I was in a lot better place than compared to the past week but I will attribute that to the steroids as my sleep got progressively worse on it and maybe I would have also been less anxious without it. I will just try to let my body heal and see what happens.

 

Steroids will increase your anxiety and make it more difficult to deal with your tinnitus. It will all even out soon.

 

For what it's worth, I think you made the correct decision taking the steroids.

Sure, you are suffering some side effects but that will be long forgotten in a few weeks from now. What you will never know, and is probably a good thing that you don't, is how many more sounds could have been added/increased in volume had you NOT taking the steroids.

It's a comparison that no one ever make because you can never compare the situation of taking steroids to situation of not taking them.

The 'safe', and better, choice is to take them IMO.

 

It's insane that this is the state of the UK. Having gone through the system myself, the fact that tinnitus sufferers have to lie to get the treatment they desperately need just adds insult to an already acute injury.

Hope everything is settling @Pauli, I know how hard it can be but seems like you are already on it. Just be careful about going into rabbit holes on this forum, you don't want to develop a bad fear of all sounds but at the same time take precautions. Invest in reusable earplugs and carry them with you on your keychain.

See how the steroids go and taper off in line with medical advice. Sounds like mild tinnitus to me. You're young (I'm 25 lol) so if you give it time and silence, and don't do anything daft then it *should* clear up within 6 months to 1 year I'd bet. But don't quote me on that.

Meanwhile, try to combat the fear/anxiety. This will only make it worse. But this will always get better in any case as you adjust. For now, hang in there my friend. We're all with you.

Oh, and steer clear of excessive salt/MSG/caffeine.

Wishing you well,
Sam

 

Thank you for your reply Sam, it really made me feel better. Agreed that the NHS is in a desolate state. I am starting to believe our post-communist healthcare in Slovakia is better as I never had issues getting to see a specialist. But here we go.

Yes I am glad I took the Prednisone as otherwise I would wonder till I die whether it could have helped. But I really don't think it made much more than messed up my sleep. Worth the try anyway as it doesn't seem there is much more available other than waiting now.

 

3 week update:

I think I have a little bit of an improvement, the loudest eee sound went away (it came back and went away a couple of times and it is gone currently). The first time this has happened was after I went to the gym - not sure if that is a coincidence but I will definitely go to the gym more after this.

I can still hear quite a faint tone that sounds a bit like a radiator - it changes a little but predictably and I can still hear the hissing though.

Sleep was a lot better last 2 nights (got almost 9 hours last night!) although I keep waking up a lot I am able to fall back asleep usually. This is largely due to engaging in autogenic training which is a relaxation technique and listening to sleep meditation by Michael Sealey on YouTube - might be worth a try if anyone has sleep issues.

 

For me Deflazacort has worked better than Prednisone, although Prednisone is supposed to be stronger.

 

Juan, did your tinnitus go away or reduce significantly after it? I don't think I could personally go through another round of corticosteroids

 

I used Deflazacort primarily for hyperacusis and it did alleviate the symptoms and maybe improve the outcome, the new baseline after a setback. Unfortunately, Deflazacort does not make hyperacusis disappear, or tinnitus disappear. There are no drugs on the market that can achieve that.

 

5 week update - just thought I will write it here if anyone is interested and to track my own progress with this.

So, I am feeling a lot better, I am able to sleep almost as well as before the tinnitus with the exception that I have to still listen to some background noise (guided meditation) to fall asleep and I am not able to nap during the day. But when I wake up during the night, which now happens a lot less often if at all, I can now usually fall back asleep without turning on any background noise.

The sound got quieter maybe like 15-20 percent since 1 week after the acoustic trauma (and probably like 70 percent better compared to day 1 when passing cars would increase the sound badly and my own voice was too loud and sounded distorted) - I almost never hear it outside of my home but I still hear it in quiet rooms. If I speak to someone even in a quiet room I forget about it so I think it got better as before I could hear it in between the words but I also do not focus on it as much anymore. The loudest tone is present on some days and gone on others but it has been gone most of the time lately. The rambling radiator sound is mostly gone too, it now sounds more like a unitary tone with some fluctuations but not as many as before. Sometimes even this goes away and all I can hear is hissing. This is generally in the morning after a good sleep. It feels a lot quieter whereas before I would wake up to the the loud sound and nightmares that I am in some place after an explosion. I am still a little bit sensitive to louder unexpected sounds but it is a lot better than before. I try to keep in quiet environments as much as possible for now.

I am no longer anxious about the sound, just a bit sad that I have some hearing impairment at this age and will have to be paranoid with my ears for the rest of my life.

Anyway, I would like to ask if anyone has got any experience with flying and tinnitus? I would like to fly home before Christmas so this will be around 3 months after the acoustic trauma and I wonder whether that has got the potential to make it worse due to the pressure changes and if there is anything I could do about it?

 

Hi @Pauli - glad to read about your updates, and sorry that you've had such a rough go of it. Some of your symptoms sound similar to those I've been dealing with, so I've been interestedly reading through this thread.

In terms of flying, I'm probably not the example to use - between 2-6 weeks post acoustic trauma, I flew on one transatlantic flight and four additional flights within the US. I did not use any hearing protection for any of them. I did this because I experienced my acoustic trauma while traveling abroad, and I had an entire itinerary of visiting family and friends to follow upon my return to the US.

Since then, and for future air travel, I have purchased a pair of EarPlanes earplugs, which can be used without worrying about the earplugs interfering with the pressure changes from the altitude climbs and drops. I will be flying next month and hope they'll be useful. In an ideal world, I think air travel is probably a dumb idea, at least in the more acute phase of an acoustic trauma, but alas, we all live in the world of reality and life commitments.

Anyway, to answer what I think I'm hearing as your concern, I probably set myself back a bit with all my flying around after my acoustic trauma, but after a couple of months of being at home and in my routine, I don't think it contributed to any lasting and further damage to my auditory system.

Be well!

 

Congrats on your tinnitus improvement!

As for flying, earplugs + earmuffs before boarding the plane and after unboarding if you are going to be around the platform (waiting for a bus to go to the terminal).

Earmuffs inside the plane and during the flight.

You should be fine!

 

I have a loud drone and high-pitched tinnitus... Driving spikes my drone, flying does not, at all. It's not loud. Blowdrying your hair, vacuuming or the kitchen air ventilation thing (I don't know the English term) are all much louder in my opinion.

I don't wear any protection on flights - I just try to reserve a seat in front of the engines.

 

I thought it would clear. I went to a nightclub in my 20s and came out with ringing ears and went to bed with ringing ears. It took about 3 days to get back to normal and then I had silence until age 57. Your ears give you one chance to do something dumb when you are young. I think you will be ok; just stay away from nigh clubs.

 

Thanks for your replies!

Earplugs sound like a good idea - I found some for 10 pounds online so I might try that. It must have been tough getting tinnitus and having so much travelling planned but I am glad it did not contribute to any lasting damage in the end.

I am not really worried about the loudness on the plane although I was thinking about getting a seat in the front, but it's more the pressure changes I was thinking may be an issue but I will see.

That is what my GP said as well. She said she thinks it will go away as I don't have any issues or a neurological disorder and it is due to the noise as a one-off event.

However, the ENT said it may also stay so I don't know. I still hope maybe it will be gone completely in a year or so but even if it is not, I can live with it when it is at this level, even though it is annoying and stops me from doing things like gym classes etc.

I was also thinking, how much do you think I should be shielding my ears from sounds now? So far I have only used earplugs once whilst out and that was because there were some roadworks I had to pass and it was pretty loud but otherwise I feel like sounds under 85 dB for a short time, like a bus or a restaurant, should not really do any damage? I have mostly been at home or at work lately which are pretty quiet environments but I will have to be able to live again eventually lol, although no nightclubs and probably no live music either I went to 1 party about a week ago and it was not excessively loud but there were about 30 people and a little bit of background music and I have not noticed any worsening of tinnitus but I thought I should probably avoid this, for now anyway. I am just wondering how long this period will last. I will post any updates if something changes.

 

Normal everyday sounds you should be ok. I plug my ears if a motorbike roars past or an ambulance etc.