My Story — Tinnitus Started After a Music Event

Hi!

I feel like writing down my history and experience about my problems because i think it helps me deal with tinnitus better.

About me :

I'm 29 years old male, from Europe and I work in facility management. I grew up in a big house in the countryside without much surrounding noise. I was always very aware of sounds in general. I would fix squeaking doors, dampen my computer, even returned a computer mouse with almost inaudible minimal coil whine. Sometimes i would just sit in my room in dead silence and enjoyed that.

I have always cared about my hearing. I used headphones and in-ear monitors a lot , but always on lowish volume.
Once a friend gave me his headphones to listen to a song and I was shocked by the volume other people listen to their music.

I always left the room when heavy machinery (hammer drills etc) was being used, while the workers operated those things all day without being bothered (no earmuffs)...

The only heavier noise exposure were some concerts and festivals. I always tried to be far away from stage where possible.

Never had any prior problems with hearing , ear wax or anything remotely connected to auditory stuff.

The Onset:
Then came an OpenAir university celebration in July 2018. Music was loud but felt like nothing for me to be concerned of. I was also shit faced drunk. Apparently the music was blaring, but I did not feel anything (likely the alcohol). Friends I was with reported no problems afterwards.

When I woke up the next day, it was there - a slight, very high pitched, piercing frequency and ear fullness. Went to the toilet and noticed a difference in loudness perception as well when flushing.
The usual happened: feeling of impending doom , anxiety and the likes. With a slight hope of it going away by itself. It did not.

ENT Stuff
Went to the ENT to be prescribed with some medication, vitamins and magnesium which did nothing. Over the times i have seen several ENTs. Most were okay, tried to cheer me up and told me to relax and it would eventually decrease.

Also did a very extensive hearing tests (although only up to 8 kHz) with bone conduction and everything getting checked thoroughly. That was about a month after onset.

I was congratulated by the ENT on having great hearing and no measurable hearing loss. Almost all measure points were at the 0 dB line (that's where they start) . Interestingly in the booth, there was no tinnitus at all.

Tested my hearing at home with super high frequencies and found the underlying problem. My left ear is capped about 12 kHz - the culprit. Right ear goes to about 14.5 kHz or something .

Tinnitus itself:
I consider myself a mild sufferer, not hearing the sound most of the day (there are obviously better and worse days). I don't know if my loudness perception is already being considered as hyperacusis. There was no pain , but stuff like cutlery being moved or hair dryers are pretty unpleasant. Although I feel like some gradual improvement, but it could be imagination or "getting used to it".

I do have several "sudden hearing change" moments per day, usually lasting about half a minute where my ears get a bit muted and some frequency gets loud (not always my tinnitus frequency).

I also developed some visual issues like a slight movie grain and some peripheral vision flickering when in mildly lit places. I became "aware " of this months later.

Also I have an annoying clicking sound in the left ear when swallowing (I know clicking is normal), but that is way louder than it was before tinnitus. I don't know if my eustachian tube has any problems - valsalva maneuver works perfectly.

What I have tried:
Started with drowning out my noise at night with white noise / crickets chirping and tried to not focus on the sounds.
Soon my brain kind of felt tired and fatigued so i stopped with it after some time.

I kind of feel my brain being over active - like the day before a test where you learned a lot.


I'm not a heavy smoker, but I like 3-5 cigarettes a day. I also like going out for a drink or 10 at weekends.
So I stopped smoking for about half a year and barely drank coffee or alcohol. I'm a healthy looking dude, not chubby or anything, but I changed my diet and tried fasting and lost about 10kg. I did not feel measurable change.


What's next:
Although I'm a mild sufferer compared to most here, it still bothers me. Otherwise I lead a great life, with many friends, a caring girlfriend, no money issues, no other health problems, a great job with little stress and so on.

It still feels like I've thrown away this desirable life and I feel miserable about it. I still lead a normal life, partially because I am closely following the Lenire thread. It gives hope to maybe knock out my mild tinnitus completely. I also have not given up hope on it going away by itself. Although that sounds like a miracle to me nowadays.

I don't intend to attend any concerts or festivals ever again. Also bought ear protection for the rare occasion I am using some loud power tools.

 

Everyone makes the same mistake of seeing multiple ENTs. That is a waste of money when they only need one appointment to get a steroid and see if you need hearing aids.

Hidden Hearing loss is hearing damage outside of the bare necessities of human speech is not measured. Hearing damage outside of vital communication ranges can still cause tinnitus, hyperacusis and trouble processing speech in noise and music.

source: https://hyperacusisfocus.org/innerear/#hiddenloss

Hyperacusis defined as "pain from noise" and "loudness amplification of noise" are two seperate conditions that are unfortunately merged together.

source: https://www.entandaudiologynews.com...iological-mechanisms-of-hyperacusis-an-update

Just don't expose yourself to loud noise and rest your ears and we hope you will get better,

 

I was just sitting at home , listening to quiet radio and ingame sound and suddenly my Tinnitus is about 3 times the volume. Tried to stay calm and went for a relaxing shower . Tinnitus is barely masked by shower now . Never had this volume before. Tinnitus was mostly the same since onset .

That was an hour ago.

Ive always had those couple seconds of sudden new noises or amplified tinnitus , but that always subsided after about 30 seconds.

I dont feel like my hearing has changed , no stuffed ear feeling etc.

Any suggestions ?

 

Hi there. Just dropping by to say I’m sorry for what you’re going through. I feel like we’re in a similar stage of life. I’m also 29 with the job and the stability, and my tinnitus also brings me down. But I try to look on the bright side and be grateful for what we have (like jobs and stability .) I’d be lying if I said I was totally happy all the time, because the condition’s still there. But I’m standing in solidarity alongside you.

Side note: I found it helpful to let my girlfriend know what’s going on with me (without being overbearing about it) and she’s been supportive. As I’m sure you know, spending time with the significant other (virtual or otherwise) is a great way to get a break from the T. I barely notice it when I’m enjoying myself. Take it easy!