My Experience and Tips — Tinnitus from Loud Music (Primarily Concerts and Headphones)

Hello! I’m a new member and fellow tinnitus sufferer. I’m located in North Carolina after living in NYC from 1991 to 2019. I have a high pitched tone/hiss that I’m sure is caused from loud music (primarily concerts) and headphones over many years and it recently got worse – which is why I joined this forum. I’m not new to tinnitus, so I thought others may benefit from my story and I hope to learn what I can from others on this forum.

My History

I’ve always been in great health and also love pop/rock music. I love high quality music and have high end headphones. I don't often abuse the volume, as I knew it could damage my hearing, but I play music loud on occasion. In about 2000 a concert did get to me and I recall having some ringing in my ears. I did a hearing test and my hearing was normal. The ringing eventually went away or I didn’t notice it. It was minor. But in 2003/04 I went to a U2 concert and forgot my hearing plugs. Kings of Lion opened and they were EXCRUCIATINGLY loud. It was so bad I couldn’t really hear the words. The snare drum was a constant loud bang – almost like a gun shot. It was this concert that caused me to have temporary foggy hearing for a week or two and then tinnitus. I was very worried.

BTW, I'm almost certain my tinnitus is not from a drug, illness, vaccine or other outside source. It was caused by concerts and/or natural damage to my hearing over time. I can only speak to tinnitus from noise induced hearing loss.

From that point on I was more careful and had custom made silicon plugs made for my headphones and for concerts (some with 10 dB to 20 dB filters and others with no filters with 30 dB of protection). These worked great. I was told there was nothing that could be done about the tinnitus. It would flare up here and there, but believe it or not, over time it faded. It took years but I think I somehow habituated over time without knowing or my understanding is the hairs in the inner ear can sometimes recover some (if not completely broken).

Sidenote: I'm not well versed on all the hypotheses about what causes tinnitus, but it makes logical sense to me that mine is either (1) damage in my inner ear that is sending a constant signal to my brain (which I would think would be impossible to stop, or (2) the damage caused no signal to be sent and my brain is filling a void of some sort (the tone is generated in my brain). The fact that my tinnitus diminished over time tells me I have #2 and my brain somehow generated less tone or I habituated and was able to tune it out more often.

I had another hearing test in 2011 which showed mild hearing loss at high frequencies (4 kHz to 8 kHz). And I think I had a flare up in and around 2017 and did another test. Again, some mild hearing loss at the higher frequencies but getting close to moderate at 8 kHz. From 2017 to just a few weeks ago, if I was to close my ears and really listen for the tinnitus, it was there but at a low enough level that it never bothered me. It was more a muddled hiss. I would explain it as not having pure silence (like when you sleep and everything goes out), but some muddled higher frequency noise. Somehow I just go through it. So lesson here... be patient. It can take months to years.

What did I do over those years? I made sure I wore protection at all loud events and I kept busy! I work in an intense industry and I’m also very active. I’m the type who doesn’t like to sit still. I have many hobbies (too many!). When your mind is focused on other things, it gets distracted from the tinnitus. Over time your acclimate and somehow your brain figures out that you don’t need to pay attention to it. Or maybe I have some form of it that dissipates over years. I have no idea what helped me, but that’s what I did. I went on with my life. My tinnitus us not painful and it didn’t prevent me from getting to sleep (at the beginning it did, but that’s from the initial anxiety of first getting it). I suggest doing everything you can to keep busy.

You will often notice that when you focus on a discussion, or are deep in drafting an email, reading a book or watching a movie, that the tinnitus is just not there. This is your brain focused on other input. We don't parallel process well (try listening to two different conversations at the same time - you can't). But if you stop and enter a silent room, then all of a sudden you hear it. This happened to me but over time I somehow learned to ignore it.

So up to a few weeks ago I was doing great. And that’s when I seriously messed up (please learn from my mistake). I was traveling and got invited to a small venue concert with a friend. I didn’t have my earplugs with me. When the music started it wasn’t too bad and it didn’t seem as loud as the big concerts. I stayed a couple hours and when I left my ears seemed ok meaning NOT cloudy or foggy. But nope. Within hours or a day, the tinnitus was back. And louder than I remember (but our memories can fool us, so I'm not sure). I likely had some more damage or the loud music somehow triggered my brain to generate the tone again. I’ve was so upset at myself. This was a stupid mistake. I should have asked if they had any type of protection or I could have run to the drugstore to find something. LESSON: if you have my form of tinnitus, take protection very seriously for the rest of your life. You can still enjoy all concerts with 15 dB to 20 dB filtered plugs and have no problems.

So now what?

Well this is why I’m here. I want to see what the latest research is on tinnitus. It’s been a while since I have researched the topic. In doing so I came across Neosensory and the unit was delivered yesterday! I’m trying it because I believe that my history is someone related to being able to habituate over time. Take a look at Neosensory and learn about the research and progress being made here. Assuming my tinnitus didn’t go away through some “healing” process, I have to assume I habituated over a long period of time. Perhaps Neosensory can help accelerate my habituation. I’ll keep everyone up to date on my progress.

In summary, don’t get down or give up. This is something in which “mind over matter” is important. We are only human and we are all going to have medical issues over time. I’m just glad I’m not paralyzed or have Alzheimer’s (which my father had). Keep a positive attitude, exercise (that’s the other thing I’ve been doing for years) and stay busy doing things you love. Focus on your life. Also, don’t get caught up on vitamins and quick fixes. Those are highly unlikely to work and the time you spend trying to find a quick fix is time you’re letting your brain focus on the tinnitus. Also, get outside. When I’m outside, the birds and other noise masks my tinnitus. It’s ironic because when I wear my ear protector mowing the lawn, I don’t hear the tinnitus at all when the mower is running (even though the volume is reduced by the earplugs). But as soon as the mower goes off, the tinnitus is horrible. It’s as if steady noise (the mower0 at one frequency makes it worse when that noise goes off. You want your ears to get a diversity of sounds at normal levels. Birds and high pitched sounds work great for me (they mask or mix with the 3 kHz to 8 kHz tones). So I don’t hear it when running outside or having a conversation outside. I also don’t hear it in the shower or with running water. My tinnitus tone is just over 9 kHz, so high pitched tones mask it. But in a quiet room, it’s noticeable.

Do everything you can to keep busy and enjoy any activities you can. Over years, hopefully it will slowly improve.

I’m far from being an expert on this subject, but I’ve dealt with a minor case in the past and now I’m dealing with what seems to be a worse. It doesn’t keep me from falling asleep, as someone my brain turns off that part of my brain when I’m tired. However, for the first time, if I wake up early and I’m not in a deep sleep cycle, it was hard a couple times to fall back asleep because I wasn’t as tired.

My latest hearing test, unfortunately, shows additional hearing loss. Now the 1 kHz to 2 kHz range has mild decline and the higher frequencies are also starting into moderate territory. What is interesting is I hear conversations perfectly, even in loud venues. I don't find myself asking people to repeat themselves. The audiologist said to come back in a couple years and if my 1 kHz - 2 kHz range falls, then it would be prudent to start amplification (hearing aids). They say to start them early so your brain doesn't lose it's ability to understand and process sound (something like that).

I will keep everyone updated on Neosensory. I’ve used it for two days and it is AWESOME TO USE. The tones are cool and it's actually relaxing. While the tones are generated, your brain doesn't focus on the tinnitus so it's a relief. The bimodal response from the motors in the wristband is neat. The premise makes sense - the vibration tells your brain this is a real tone from the outside world so pay attention and over time the brain adjusts and ignores the tinnitus. I love it so far but it will take a month or two to determine if it will work for me.

Looking forward to learning more from others on this forum!

 

...welcome to the forum and thank you for sharing your experiences and insights.

 

I look forward to hearing if Neosensory works for you. If it does, please post a review.

 

There is a thread here on the Neosensory program (I pasted it below my comments here). One of our members actually tried it and unfortunately ended up sending it back because it spiked their tinnitus.

Neosensory — Bimodal Stimulation Device for Tinnitus: Any Reviews? A Scam or Not?