New to the Common Thread... Music Lover with Probable NIHL

Greetings everyone...

I am new here but found this site to have a wealth of useful information relating not only to Tinnitus, but to those dealing with sensorineural hearing loss, as those two are so tightly related.

I'll explain my story and hope to get some encouraging feedback and will look to this site to understand more how to deal with tinnitus and what therapies might help minimize the effects and promote healthy healing.

I am a 40 year old avid music lover and have literally been to hundreds of live shows, generally enjoy music played at higher volume levels than most, etc. Yes, I know I was taking risks, but my understanding of the complexity and fragility of the function of the human ear was virtually non-existent before I had a problem! Had I only known, right? I'm sure so many of us here took what we had for granted and wish we'd taken appropriate precautions to protect ourselves. Hindsight is always 20/20.

So, back to my story.... I probably attended 50 live music events in the last year alone... Most are smaller venues now and not terribly loud anymore to be honest, but ironically I started carrying earplugs with me just in the last year. I usually don't wear them, but good to have in case it really is too loud or feels like I would put myself at considerable risk.

Anyways, a co-worker of mine convinced me (beyond my best judgement) to go to some all night EDM music fest in Chicago. To be honest, it really didn't sound like my kinda thing, but I caved and went as I figured worst case scenario would be me wasting my time or not having fun.

While I know repeated exposure to loud decibels at these sort of shows over time (like, years) will eventually lead to hearing loss, I never in a million years thought that one show would have been enough to cause irrepairable and debilitating pain and hearing loss!!! The kicker is, I actually even wore earplugs most of the night, but I found them uncomfortable and muffled, so I was frequently messing with them, mashing them down, and even removed them for a period of time. Boy was that a mistake! The sound pressure levels in the room were so great (it was really like nothing I'd ever experienced before, nor ever want to again!) that I think it could have been enough to cause damage even if I'd left them in the whole time. My friend was wearing the much better Etytonic plugs that I wish I had, and didn't have the same negative experience with his hearing like I had.

Long story short, we left and heard a little mild ringing, which isn't totally unusual after a loud show, but didn't sense anything was "wrong". I awoke the next morning to terrible tinnitus (the likes of which I'd never heard before - loud hissing that woke me and would not let me get back to sleep). I also noticed the hearing in my left ear seemed muffled and I had this odd sensation in the same ear that felt like I'd lost all sensation in my inner ear. Like it was numb to the world.

I was very concerned, but what could I do? I read some stuff online that seemed to suggest these sort of symptoms could last a day or two, and sometimes even up to a week.

It was horribly uncomfortable, and I felt pain when I heard certain frequencies (that was the hyperacusis setting in!). Anyways, a week went by and I did have some improvement. At least the shooting pain was gone and some of the fullness.

But, about halfway through week two and really noticing differences, particularly when listening to any sort of music and other sounds causing pain in my ears... I better get this checked out. My primary care physician said she wanted to see me before they would refer me out to an ENT. So, almost another wasted week there. She said there was no blockage and responded well to the "tuning fork test". But, she explained that "these things usually go away within a few weeks." Said to wait ANOTHER week, before I went to the ENT. I ended up reading that after a trauma, there is a short window of opportunity where Prednisone (oral steroid) has been shown to help bring back some loss of hearing, but generally only works if treated in the first few weeks after such trauma occurred, otherwise it is permanent! I panicked and at least got on Prednisone right away. So, weeks 3-4, and some of the week after I was on a steady dose of prednisone anti-inflamatory.

Had some slight improvement, mostly to the tinnitus, which seemed a bit less severe, but also learned that there are "triggers" that seem to set it off for a day or two at a time where it seems to 'flare up'.

The audiologist ran a series of very standardized tests and concluded that my hearing (while surely damaged), "still falls within the normal range of someone my age".

While somewhat relieved that at least the damage wasn't extensive enough to need a hearing aid or anything like that, she couldn't really answer any of my questions as to what was going on with my hearing, my discomfort, why I feel suck a lack of sensation in my ear canal.... She told me that acoustic trauma (like what I sustained) can take 4,6 or even 9 months before I am "fully recovered"... But, that in most of the cases she's seen, most people "bounce back" to normal, or at least close to where they were before.

I seemed less convinced, but it had only been 4 weeks at the time.

I'm now at 6 weeks post trauma, and I feel like I haven't noticed any improvement in a while.

The odd part is the tinnitus is probably the least concerning of my symptoms. I still have fullness, discomfort, sensitivity to certain frequencies, and a general (for lack of a better description) "numbness" in my inner ear. Worst is as an audiophile, music just doesn't sound the same anymore, and fear it may never again.

That's probably been the most concerning and depressing part about all this. That is truly one of the greatest joys of my life and to not be able to enjoy that anymore will be a real travisty.

I look forward to getting to know people here on the form, and will look to you all for advice and moral support.

I am still hoping and praying that these symptoms will dissipate in the next 4-6-12 months, but I'm also sorta mentally trying to prepare myself for the probably reality that they wont.

Thanks again if you made it this far. Is my story too long winded!?? I think I just needed to vent. If you read all this.... Big thank you from me!!!

 

@DanKH
Hi, Dan,
You've come to the right place for support and information. I just joined here myself a few days ago, and this is a great forum with a lot of people who will surely have some input for you on your particular situation. (And no -- your story wasn't too long-winded!)

Mystery Reader

 

i think that you will recover but it is going to take much longer than you think maybe, 1 or 2 years be patient eventually it will be fine

 

Wow.... I'm shocked at how long it can take to recover from trauma. I was originally reading a month or two, but the medical experts are saying it will be at least a year (and that's if I'm one of the lucky ones). I guess time will tell.

Have you had similar experience and did you get most of it back after a year?? Longer??

 

I am older - 47 at the time - and the damage was more extensive, I had hearing loss under 8khz - 40db at 4khz and 60 at 8khz but recovered slowly over 1-2 years, now its maybe 25db at 4hkz and 8khz but beyond 10khz, I cannot hear clearly and hear nothing above 11.5khz on my left ear and 12.5khz on my right, this is due to shooting rifles by a right handed person.
.
My T has been reduced by half in terms of intensity, and pitch is higher and thinner but T still loud at times when I am not feeling well and such...it never goes silent but i try to ignore it by staying busy and focusing on positive stuff and such

make sure you protect your ears for the next months or years, try to stay under 70db at all times,

 

@DanKH

Welcome to TT. I wish you weren't here.

I'm in this for a little over 2 months and I've learned things improve very slowly. I didn't notice any change in my t for 6 weeks. It was the same constant blaring EEE. That was a very hard time for me. They say not to compare your t day by day or week by week but how it compares now to how it was a month ago.

Have you learned about masking? You play a nature sound such as rain or waves or crickets just below the level of your t so you can just barely hear your t. It keeps you from going nuts and helps your brain realize the t is not a threat. Search the site for masking and read any posts you find by Michael Leigh about it. You can mask when you go to bed, it's supposed to help with your sensitivity to sound as well. I'm not an expert on masking so please read some more in depth posts.

t improving is a slow process so be as patient as you can.

 

I'll post my hearing test results later, but I they rate it as -10 db, being better than baseline (at 0 db), and then 10, 20, 30, 40, etc... as in reduction from the baseline at various frequencies. I'm not sure I quite understand the matrix, but anything above 20 db at each frequency is considered "normal". I am at 0 db in the normal voice range of 1000 hz to about 4000 hz, but drop off in the 4-8,000 hz range. Right ear falls sharply at 8khz, but that's where there test ended. Not sure what I detect above that. And, the lower frequencies, they only tested to 250 hz, but I was at 10 db @ 250 hz.

Granted, I think there's a big difference between detecting a tone in a test, and the quality of what you are hearing. The test just basically shows I detected an audible tone, but not how well (or, the quality) of what I'm hearing.

When doing the test, a lot of the tone was barely detectable, but they told me to press the button if I could hear the tone, no matter how faint the sound was.

 

If it gives you hope after about 3 months my hearing did moderately improve since the initial trauma.
High frequency noises more clear as opposed to 3 months ago when they were very mushy. I'm in tinnitus and hearing loss going on 5 months as of now.

 

Okay, I'm posting my audiology test results summary here below. I'd be interested to hear comments. I still feel pressure pain and have sensitivity to certain frequencies, etc.





Test results seem pretty positive, but I still feel like my hearing is muffled and tightness (fullness) in left ear can be awful at times.

 

@DanKH,
I'm sorry for your exposure and T and other problems you are experiencing.

I too had (and felt) high pressure and it can have a tremendous affect.

I'm glad you got on the steroid, and I hope with time you will heal. Meanwhile, hang in there!

 

@Bobby B I don't think it's possible to stay under 70 db at all times. That's almost conversation level....certainly riding in a car is above that.

 

I see you have had it since 2/2018... Have you experienced any improvement in hearing and symptoms since your injury?

 

At the 2 month mark now, I would say yes (cautiously). It was worse in the first week (no steroid) then was better, flatline progress (with some up, some down days), and now some proportion of days with less noticing the eeeee sound. In fact, on a good day, the sound is just a low white noise static much quieter (1/5 the level) of the eeee ringing sound.

It's not gone (though I surely want and pray it to be). Today the T was up some in the late afternoon. I had used some audio therapy and the T quieted down. But it's been 3 hours since I could do that, so now...to the evening beer.

 

@DanKH
hearing looks fine, you will recover provided you dont re

@Jason37
conversation is 60 db and my car is 60 at highway speed but its a quiet car
70 is quite loud that's when I plug in or slap muffs on - this is really the best to give your ears a good break from loud sound for some recovery.

 

I'm a little concerned as I am flying somewhere this weekend and it's the first time I've flown anywhere since the incident. I have always had sensitivity to pressure upon descent in plane from pressure imbalance. I'm just wondering if this is anything I need to be concerned about? Anything I should do besides chew gum and lots of swallowing?

 

I found this writeup at the BBC:

I've bought about 4 kinds of earplugs, and they shipped in quite fast. I would have some handy if you are concerned. There is the foam kind (like 3M etc), and there is a kind which says it can block loud noise and allow conversations, which I haven't field-tested yet...called Etymotic ER20.

At worst, without plugs, I have rolled up kleenex tissue pieces and inserted them

 

no way a modern large aircraft cabin is 105 db at take off - its about 85 db at take off and 65-75 cruising I measured it many times

 

Wow you have good hearing for your age and having been to that many shows. I am similar although only 29, my right ear dips to 30 dB at 3 and 4 kHz. I believe my hearing loss there was gradual so to be honest music all sounds the same as it ever did. My left ear is good, no loss there.

I use custom moulded ear plugs at gigs nowadays.