Music Festival... Stupid Idea?

Hi all, the title of this thread kind of says it all. My room mates, who are some of my best friends on the planet, really really want me to go to a music festival this weekend. This would be my fourth time going to this festival, first time with T though.....It breaks my heart that I'm even debating NOT going, because this festival/venue is honestly among my favorite places in the entire world. It's a small festival, 3000 person limit, and they probably won't even have that many, closer to 2000, but it's still 3 days of live music.......I will be able to walk back to the campsite if necessary, but still.....

I attribute my T to exposure to ototoxic chemicals. I have yet to figure out if this did actual cochlear damage or if it has caused neuromuscular inflammation. My T is EXTREMELY somatic. Moving my toes, feet, legs, fingers, etc. all change the frequency/volume of my T. My T is also pulsatile, but not in the classical sense. I don't hear whooshing or clicking, just a rise and fall in my T with every heartbeat. These are all symptoms of neuromuscular based T, so I am optimistic at least that this is the cause. My T is not very loud and is easily masked. I am VERY grateful for this, but at the same time I don't want to make it worse trying to be the "old me." I have no measurable hearing loss and I can hear tones up to 17 kHz in both ears......sorry for the slight derailment, just thought it would be important to explain my T/situation.

I don't know what to do. My friends want to leave in 3-4 hours, and I just can't come to a decision. I have two pairs of LiveMusic brand musicians plugs. The more powerful pair boasts a 26db NRR at 125hz and a 39db NRR at 8000hz. I would absolutely stay as far back from the speakers and what not as I could, but I still worry that I could be walking into the lion's mouth......ANY ADVICE IS GREATLY APPRECIATED!

I'd love to go, but I also don't want to add another thing to my "stupid decisions" list, which is way too long already. Hell, I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for an item on that list....but I digress.

Thank you for any time and responses!

- Steve

 

Will you really enjoy yourself if you go? Not worry constantly about possible consequences? If the answer is yes.....if the answer is no....

IMO it doesn't matter why you have T, you HAVE IT now and it CAN get worse.

Trust me.

p.s..many people T changes by movement of this or that..however fingers and toes? That is a new one.

 

and another thing. .my T is of neurogenic origin and noise exposure has made it worse...along with H and RT.

 

Thanks for the response @Street Spirit, I honestly do value your opinion on this and in general on TT.

I feel that if I went, I don't think I would panic too much as I'd be so preoccupied with hanging with my friends, I just don't want to be a downer (having to walk away or leave, etc), and of course I don't want it to get worse, but I'm just having a hard time getting back to "living life" when this puts a halt on so many things. I know this is the case for almost everyone here, but it's still a tough balance to figure out.

Do you think that protection wise the plugs I have would work? I feel that I could go and have a good time if my plugs are sufficient, but if people here don't think so, I'm more inclined to go with that advice as opposed to the well-meaning, but ultimately uninformed advice from my friends.....

Thanks again SS, hope you're having as good a day as possible!

-Steve

 

Didn't see your other response @Street Spirit, sorry. What caused your T if you had to guess? (And if you don't mind sharing, no offense taken at all if not)

 

Honestly I wouldn't go , but that's just me no more concerts or clubs anymore in my life , even with ear plugs sound can be conducted through bones keep that it mind

 

Thanks for the response @uae96 , it's just a very tough pill to swallow. Live music was my life before this. Just can't believe that I have to step away from it all at 21.....

 

I'm 19.... I know how good it is to be in these festivals but man you just gotta learn from the mistakes I'm more than happy to stop going if i know it would damage my hearing and tinnitus , be wise with these kind of decisions

 

But that's exactly what I'm looking for here @uae96 , opinions as to whether it would worsen my T even with plugs. I do hear where you're coming from, but at the same time you recently went out on a jet ski with no hearing protection. I'm thrilled that you did and I'm stoked that it seems to have had no effect on your T, I honestly am, looked like a lot of fun! But it could have gone either way, luckily it went well.

I guess I just don't know when to play it safe and when to have a life again....it doesn't help that I couldn't go to any fests last summer before this was an issue either...."A ship is safe in harbor, but that's not what ships are built for."

-Steve

 

Jet skiing only for an hour and it has much less damaging sounds than concerts Yeah I took that risk I really needed it to get out of the house , I counted the db meter it was at 83 db when going at s fair speed but covered the wind ofc , my only worry was wind noise
And no one can tell you if you're t will worsen or not , everyone's different Some people can go on dancing for hours for hours with no change on t what so ever , and some people just get. A spike by a baby screaming or a balloon that pops

 

I went to a festival too this summer, but oddly enough, it didn't make my T worse. Just make sure that you use earplugs (very important!) and that you stand as far from the stage as possible. I know it sucks, but that's better than going deaf
If you do so then it shouldn't be a problem. However, I did miss some concerts, (to prevent my T from getting worse) and I think you only should hear artists/bands you really like, just in case.

 

Thanks again @uae96 , I hope it didn't seem like I was busting your chops, I didn't realize you were only out for an hour, that is definitely a little different than a 3 day festival. Like I said, I'm VERY glad you got to go out and do that, looked like a blast!

Hey @TheGagagirl1234 , glad to hear you had that good experience! Was it a multi-day festival? Or just one day?

 

It was a 3 day festival, and that's why I think it's odd that my T didn't get worse.

 

Well that's definitely some good news @TheGagagirl1234 , thanks! I'm still not sure if I'll go tonight, I have classes starting back up on Monday so I should probably lay low this weekend, but it's a tough decision.....

What kind of music was at the festival you went to? There will be some acoustic sets this weekend, but there are also a couple more electronic artists there too. I'd honestly probably skip those sets since I'm not exactly crazy about electronic music, but I still worry about it....

One more question if you don't mind me asking....What do you think caused your T? Does it normally spike from noise exposure?

Thanks again for the responses! Greatly appreciated!

 

If you're not crazy about electronic music then you shouldn't hear it, just in case.
I went to an outdoor festival which included many different artists with different music genres. I think I got T from listening to too loud and too much music, but other than that, I don't really have an explaination. I don't really have spikes, though, but I think it's because my T is very mild.

 

Thanks man , yeah it was needed it was a blast like always ,
But for that concert if you're friends REALLY want you to go and you as well , then just go for it with ear plugs ofc and to stay away from the bass effect of the speaker "you're more likely to regret something you didn't do then something you did "

 

3 days straight of live concerts is just straight up murdering your auditory system.

I wouldn't even advise people with no hearing problems to go.

 

I'd go. Bring plugs, stand well back and take breaks. I posted on a concert experience a few weeks back you can search my posts.

As I said in that post I'm not advising anyone to do anything, merely stating I personally would go and have done.

 

Fingers and toes? If that's really the case you have a new kind of musical instrument on your....hands.

 

Thanks for the responses everyone. Still not sure of my decision, but I will report back once I know.

And yes @PaulBe , I can change my T by opening and closing my hand, moving any toe, clenching toes and fingers, moving my eyes, my tongue, etc. I should also clarify, I'm not talking about applying intense pressure with fingers/toes. If My hand is resting, and I move my index finger an inch closer to a closed position, it increases my T volume and frequency. Literally any movement changes it......I thought it was strange, but now people on TT make me think it's REALLY strange haha

 

you thought right. Thinking about it though, all muscles require nerve signalling, and those signals have to come centrally, or at least through the spinal cord in the case of reflexes. Maybe not so strange after all.

 

I've got tickets to see Gorilla Biscuits, Pennywise, Iron Chic and Sick Of It All over the next few weeks... so I certainly hope it's not a crazy idea!

I hadn't been to a show for almost 18 months but I went and saw Good Riddance the other day (wearing earplugs, of course) and was staggered by just how loud it was inside. Like... obviously these shows are loud, but I took one of my earplugs out for about five seconds to talk to a guy and I was beyond incredulous at the volume of the music. And that was just between bands!

But to address your concern @SteveSkis92... my tinnitus stayed the same after the show. It is, however, somewhat severe to begin with.

 

Ehhh I wouldnt go.
Not worth a few hours of fun for more worse tinnitus.

 

Have you tried acoustic neuromodulation? It really works for me, and my T has faded to the point where I barely hear it anymore. Look it up on Youtube

 

No matter how many people here will write that they went to concerts and it didn't change their T you still risk it will worsen yours. You can never tell . You have to chose what's more important for you. Also, only because worsening doesn't appear right after the concert/festival doesn't mean it won't add a brick to the cumulative worsening over time . Already everyday life nowadays is damn loud , let alone sth as insanely loud as concerts can be . I've been to around 70 of them in my life and guess what - never again. (I'm 31) There's no social price in the world that will make me risk worsening my condition. I couldn't live , so the choice is quite obvious. ( That having said, you can find plenty of other threads on the forum concerning this issue.)

 

I went to a Music Festival 3 yrs ago, for only one day, I had two conclusions:
1- I'm too old for that sh*t (lol)
2- that bass is too damn high!
As a person having Tinnitus since 2004 I became very careful about going to concerts and avoiding loud places. That being said I love music too much to just stop listening to it and going to concerts, what I don't do anymore is being in the "front row" or near the speakers I use ear plugs every time I go, I never leave the house without them. Anyways, when I came to that festival, I went to several concerts in just one day, and at the end of the day the headline/featured artist finally came in and the bass and the speakers of that venue were bigger than the others, I freaked out, it was too much for my ears. I survived, but I don't think I'll ever go to a festival with my ears the way I have them now. Maybe when I was younger
Anyways! Depends on your situation with your ears

Best wishes.

PS: I got a very loud T afterwards, luckily it faded away a week later. FYI.

 

Don't do it. Not worth it at all. Even with earplugs in I increased my T a hundred fold. Not not not not worth it. Do not give into peer pressure or expectations.

 

I know it has been sometime but I still wanted to post. I went to a heavy metal concert this past Sunday (Pain in the Grass) with bands like slipknot, lamb of god, three days grace, just all around loud bass-y bands. I sat up in the lawn (ampitheater setting) and wore ear plugs. I will admit that my T is a little worse, but it was worth it going to the show. I believe that since it wasn't immediately worse after the show and that it doesn't seem to be a WHOLE lot worse, it should go back down. I just think that if anyone with T wants to go to a show, is to sit up in the nosebleeds with hearing protection.

 

I had this fear first too, because i got my T cuz of a festival. I went to a few festivals now again, but only wear the strongest earplugs possible and stand far away from the bass speakers. Also, i didn't see as many bands as i would've gone without T.

The T increase some get is most likely just imagination, because you try to find out if your T got louder and the more you listen to it the more you hear. Buy a dB-Meter and look it up while on the concert. If it's over 100 dB i would move away too. I did test it formyself(only phone app) and got around 90-95 dB most of the time, which is also blocked down by 25 dB with the earplugs. That range is safe, but you still get sound over your skull which could get still very loud.

But i wouldn't go for it if it's just some boring band you just randomly want to see. Also, for sensitive ears this is still not a good idea. It's everybodys own choice.