Noise-Induced Tinnitus After Attending Music Festival for 6 Hours

Hello guys,

My name is Daniel. I am from Los Angeles California. 10 days ago (Sunday, December 10th) I attended a music festival that lasted for about 6 hours. It was nonstop continuous music that apparently was too loud for my ear. Immediately after I left the concert I heard ringing in my ear. I didn’t make a huge deal out of it because I was super tired.

Unfortunately, the next day I woke up and the ringing was still there. I was given Prednisone from my doctor about 40 hours (Tuesday, December 12th) after the acoustic trauma. The first day I noticed that it helped out and I thought I was out of the woods. The following day it went back to its normal level.

I then decided to see an ENT specialist (Wednesday, December 13th) and he saw my ears and said that the tinnitus would go away in 1-2 weeks. The ENT also said that the Prednisone would do nothing for me.

On Thursday, December 14th I saw my general doctor again and he also said that my tinnitus would go away in 1-2 weeks.

On Monday, December 18th I noticed that my tinnitus had lowered substantially. It went from being an 8/10 to a 3/10. On Monday night however it peaked again. The following day I noticed it reduced in volume once again. Today is Thursday, December 21st and I feel like it is back raging again. I’m at the point where I don’t know what to do.

The first week it was driving me absolutely insane so the doctor put me on Sertraline. I only took it for 3 days because I DO NOT want my body to get used to it. I keep telling myself that the tinnitus will be there forever instead of thinking that someday it will go away. Currently I am not having anxiety issues like I was last week but tinnitus is still not allowing me to focus at work.

FYI: I am currently taking Lipoflavonoid, Magnesium, Zinc, and multivitamins. I know there isn’t a cure for tinnitus which makes me really sad. I was supposed to go on a trip to Thailand tomorrow but I will most likely have to cancel because I don’t want to be exposed to unnecessary loud noises.

Does anyone have any suggestions on what I should do next?

 

Tinnitus is really lame, no doubt. As far as getting better, from what I've read, different things work to varying degrees for different people. Just be sure to research the risks of anything that you might try so that it doesn't get made worse. I've tried flushing my ears out with water (syringing) a couple times, and both times it made my ears worse. The second time it gave me severe hyperacusis so that I can't be around a lot of narmal sounds like clinking dishes, people talking loudly, ext. Doctors still do this procedure to remove ear wax and the ENT I went to recently doubted it could be harmful, but a simple Google search of "syringing ears" will warn you how unsafe it is, and there are a lot of stories I've read of people getting tinnitus or having it get worse because of trying to do syringing themselves, or having a doctor/nurse do it.

For my tinnitus, I currently mask it with my dehumidifier when I'm trying to sleep, as sleeping in a quiet environment is virtually impossible. There are other masking sounds you can get and play while you sleep which help some people deal with it.
Since your tinnitus was caused by excessively loud noise, it's a good idea to be careful about exposure to loud environments. Many people will wear hearing protection if they are going to go to a concert, and some just avoid overly loud environments like that. Many of experts warn against using hearing protection too much, and say it should only be used in places where the volume levels are unsafe.

One possibility for recovery if yours doesn't go away any time soon is tinnitus retraining therapy. I've been reading about it, and while some doubt its effectiveness, others say it really helped. Basically, a specialist fits your ears for a sound generator that plays a certain noise. You listen to it for a certain amount of hours per day, for a certain number of months, and it can help lower the tinnitus level (or in my case build up my tolerance for sound.) It does cost a few thousand to do though, and there is scepticism about its effectiveness by some.

I'm only speaking from my experience and what I've read, and definitely not an expert, so be sure to research carefully for yourself.

Tinnitus is no fun, and I'm sorry you're having to deal with it.

Best of wishes!

 

My advice: It's early on for you. Aside from a trip to the doctor (which you have done already), you need to chill and wait a bit and see what happens. It's easy to get wrapped up in negative thinking early on. I went through this myself. For many people, after a noise trauma event like a concert, the tinnitus reduces substantially or goes away entirely over time. It may well take longer than 1-2 weeks. My tinnitus (not noise induced) took over three months to get down to a pretty low/negligible level. You need to sit back and wait for a bit and see what happens. If you are noticing changes from day to day or every few days, that's a good sign, most people with permanent tinnitus have it settle into something rather constant for the long term.

In the meantime, protect your ears from loud sounds. I know that it's hard at this point, but try not to obsess over it and either keep yourself busy or find something enjoyable to do. If you are having trouble sleeping, try sound enrichment (play relaxing music or nature sounds or white noise... experiment and find something that works for you). Mask it during the day if it affects your concentration. (I used a noisy desk fan for background noise at work for a couple of weeks.) Masking all of the time is not helpful for long-term habituation, but early on it can help give you a "break" while you wrap your head around what's going on.

 

Hi guys.

Just wanted to provide an update on my tinnitus. I'm almost 4 weeks into my tinnitus. It has gradually died down. I can still hear it but it is not the same as it was the first few weeks. I've had good days but I've also had bad ones. I feel fullness in my left ear.

I went to an audiologist a few days ago and he said my hearing is perfectly normal. The last few days I've noticed spikes that come randomly. They only last for about an hour but they are still scary.

It seems like the morning is when my tinnitus is at its lowest level.

I've been avoiding loud environments to avoid aggravating the tinnitus and put on earplugs when I drive.

On Sunday I have to fly to Portland, Oregon for work so I'll make sure I have earplugs and noise-cancelling headphones while on the plane. Since my tinnitus has been gradually dying down, I'm still hopeful that someday it will be completely gone. My ENT said to give it a few more months.

Unfortunately, there is a part of me that knows/thinks that tinnitus will be with me for the rest of my life.

 

Great to hear that you've been making progress with your tinnitus. How are you doing now?

 

Hi Everyone.

I wanted to provide you all with an 8-month update. During the last 8 months I’ve had lots of ups and downs, but unfortunately mostly downs. I’m still learning how to cope with the tinnitus and I’ve made some minor adjustments to help me out. Some of them being installing ceiling speakers throughout my house. At work I bought 2 small mini fans which have helped out quite a bit.

Also, sometimes when I absolutely cannot deal with the tinnitus at work, I will put on some bone conduction headphones that help mask the tinnitus. So far this has been a godsend for me. I haven’t had any negative effects.

The “eeeeeeee” is no longer there like it was in the beginning. If you compare it to day 1, it has subsided immensely. It is now more like a hiss and I feel like it has been fairly constant the past 3-4 months. I haven’t had any spikes the past 3 months. I also haven’t attended anymore concerts, parties, or anywhere they are playing loud music. Some great news is that I’ve started to try resuming my daily activities. For example, I am now back at the gym and I don’t wear anything to protect my ears. Driving is no longer an issue because I don’t feel the need to wear my earplugs.. I now go to moderately loud restaurants without any issues. In general I’ve been using my earplugs less and less. For the time being I still don’t plan on ever attending another concert or a party where they have ridiculously loud music playing.

Overall I feel like I’ve made a lot of progress, but there’s still a lot of healing that can be accomplished. I still struggle with tinnitus in quiet places (my bedroom and at work) but I’m trying my best to find solutions. With all that being said, I start TRT (Tinnitus Retraining Therapy) today. I think it will be greatly beneficial and it will help with tinnitus even more. Hopefully it helps control my anxiety and reduces the amount of mood swings I have throughout the week.

 

@drivera2592, how are you doing these days?