New Member with Noise Induced Hearing Loss, Tinnitus, and Diplacusis

Hello,

I have been watching the forums for close to a month now. Last month after gigging a lot (I'm a working keyboardist) in several bands my ears were ringing and I noticed it wasn't going away after a day or two. This time it was different. I felt distressed at the last two gigs I did like the volume of the band was bothering me. I waited a week and then went to Urgent care where I was put on prednisone for 9 days. That didn't resolve it so I went to an ENT three days later who put me on 9 more days of prednisone. I've been off prednisone for a week now and I am still ringing like a whistling teapot in my left ear. I had musician plugs in on my last gig and bent over and near the drums before the band started playing and the drummer whacked the snare pretty good, not sure why. But it hurt and it was about 3 feet from my head - I thought I was okay because I had 25 dB filter musician plugs in at the time. The ENT did a hearing test and told me I had good hearing, but there is a drop around the 4000 Hz range in my left ear. They called it noise induced hearing loss.

I notice now that if I play a B7 Bb7 or C8 on the piano (the highest keys on the piano) that in my left ear those pitches sound a half-step lower than they do in my right ear.

I suspect this is why I'm getting this strange high pitched oscillation sound in my head.

I'm hoping this is going to go away. I am 40 years old and have gigged for the last 20 years of my life with no issues like this before, just a few episodes of ringing for a few hours after gig or next morning at most. Obviously, I'm quite distressed because it's hard to enjoy the music the same way when you have a constant pitch in one of the ears, and it's annoying to say the least. The constant pitch seems to usually either be a Bb6 or an octave above, and sometimes it sounds like it goes between a Bb and a B.

Has anyone or any other musicians been through this and recovered after some time off? I haven't gigged or been around loud music/sound for a month now and I'm itching to get back out there, but certainly not at the risk of not healing or doing more damage.

 

Sorry to hear of your noise induced tinnitus. At least you had some earplugs in when this happened, but it was still too loud for you if this was the result. Often the body can tolerate the noise for years, and then some additional exposure put things over the edge- without an obvious reason why it was the trigger.

This can takes many months, to even years to heal. Unfortunately, additional noise, including music can make this worse, and puts you at risk of making this worse. In my case, I am coming up on a year from when my T got out of control, and while better, I still have good and bad days.

 

@gcjazz Hello, You will not like what I will say but I would say consider avoiding gigging completely whilst you don't have terribly loud tinnitus in both ears along with Hyperacusis (my symptom). Although not in a band myself, playing electric guitar with a friend (with earplugs in, at his home, our small amps turned about 25% volume) made my bearable tinnitus go from being background to being very intrusive and distresssing. My life has been ruined by it. Also I went to many concerts after I first got Tinnitus and wore earplugs but I did get some terrible spikes from it and the loudness of the pitch definitely did increase. I guess you have to evaluate and choose your own decision....but my life is a living hell because an ENT told me i should still go to concerts and do things i enjoy, just from now on with earplugs. And i ended up a wreck like this. It's like playing Russian Roulette with your ears, so I definitely would think carefully about this. If I had stopped gig going and playing guitar after my first bout of severe tinnitus (which healed and went away, or went very quiet) I'd still be very healthy today. Instead, I think about suicide daily, and I have spent hours researching methods when I am down about my condition, which is fairly often. Life shouldn't be like that. I used to love music, now I often cannot deal with it. If only I could go back to the past and change somethings... I wish you luck in your decision, whatever it may be.

 

There are always exceptions but basically you need to give yourself time off to let your ears recover. There are plenty of musicians who carrying on gigging ( Look up Owen Brinley from the band Department M, read his very positive story) continuing to gig something you can think about at a later stage but right now, you need to rest and heal your ears.

 

Lots of us musicians on this forum.

It took me 3 months before I could even play the piano again at home following the onset of my NIT in April. At first I was distraught thinking I would never enjoy music again.

Things should improve given time, but it's a lottery as to what degree I'm afraid. I wish you good luck in your recovery.

 

How likely is it that the hearing regenerates? I am 3 weeks into tinnitus and I feel that my life took a total turn. If there are really cases of people who recovered, it would help to know, what advice could they give us to take care of ourselves and read that this can take months or even years to get better.

 

@Josdela

I mostly recovered, with my hypearcusis gone, and tinnitus down to a liveable level.

The simple answer is consistent avoidance of noise, with sensible use of hearing protection for situations you cannot avoid. For example, I wear my earplugs to vacuum, and don't go to the movies.

I also take daily omega3 which I think has helped as well.

 

I would reiterate most of this apart from you can go to the movies, gigs etc, if you choose to. It’s not a given. It’s that you have chosen not to do that, which, while understandable is a choice.

 

I went to a gig last month. It was an open air festival just 20 minutes walk from my house and my old band was playing, which I enjoyed.

However the next band after them had a really thumping bass sound which set off my hyperacusis and I had to leave.

Everyone's journey is different, but don't lose heart. I may never go to a full scale live gig again, but I am slowly beginning to enjoy acoustic and low level music in a limited degree. It's baby steps but keep a long term view and don't rush it.

 

This is nicely balanced. How long have you had tinnitus? I’m assuming not long, but I could be wrong. That’s sort of how I got back into things, I loved lots of acoustic stuff anyway and I mostly tested with those gigs...oh, apart from I went to see The National about a year later...I used foam plugs and was fine. Everyone is different though, so you do have to listen to your body.

 

@Appleseed Moderate tinnitus since May this year, then severe with hyperacusis in June. I started taking it seriously then. Tinnitus back to moderate again now but still up and down.

Amitriptyline helps my hyperacusis but the side effects are a nuisance. I've almost reached a state of acceptance of my tinnitus, but I'm aware it could still get worse as well as better.

Mindfulness meditation helps which I've been practicing for the past few years.

 

I hope it settles for you and I’m sorry that it became severe so quickly. You seem to have a good outlook, mindfulness is something my counsellor was telling me would help with my un-tinnitus related depression, so far I’ve got as far as downloading the Smiling Mind app....so I should be more dedicated. I’ve also heard that some people use transcendtal (spelling) meditation....
It’s a long road but you can get there and it seems you’re on the right track