Question for Those Whose Tinnitus Was Caused by Noise Exposure

I have a question for those who's tinnitus was caused by noise exposure:
Did your tinnitus begin immediately following the loud noise exposure?
Or was there a period between the exposure and the start of your T? If so, how long after the loud noise (days/weeks/months) did you first notice your T?

 

Mine didn't start right away. It's started heavy fullness in both ears. Two weeks later T came along.

 

That is a good question and one I’d been wondering about for other people as well. I noticed my T in left ear 3 weeks after a loud concert. I had ringing in my ears in bed that night after concert and a feeling of fullness in left ear and hearing loss the next day but didn’t hear (notice?) the T for 3 weeks!

So yes I’m also really curious about others experiences of onset time after the noise damage because I wonder was it there all the time and then one night I just locked onto it and would not let go? Or did it really take 3 weeks to come on? I’m hoping its just I didn’t notice it as it makes me think habituation is more likely possible. If I can overlook it once maybe I can do it again.

I would really like to hear from others on this question as well. I’m a newbie – first post. I’ve been reading this site for the past 2 weeks trying to focus on the success stories. Thanks to all you great people that write them. I’m not in a good place at the moment – but taking medication to survive.

 

I went shooting on may 2012 had t towards the end of the session all day ..woke up fine didnt have it anymore.. But i did have like blockage or fullness and my left ear kept popping to loud bangs went to the doc a week later said might be infection he prescribed me antibiotics nothing after that continued my life and then say november inwas stressing bad over work and one day i just woke up with t and thats where it started.. So it was a mixture of the shooting and stress... Somehow it was hiding very lightly till something brought it out.. And mind i exposed myself to partys and theaters and that stuff in between so not sure if it was ultimately the stress the only thing that could of caused it as the loud events between the months didnt..

 

Mine was right away. Went home from the club and ears rang like they always do but this time i woke up and it was still there.

 

Right away.

 

Had the loud ring that most get when exposed to loud noise, that went away and was replaced virtually straight away with an electrical hiss and slight tones, and 25 years later still there but louder!

 

Started 4 days after noise exposure. Very quiet in the beginning, became more present after 2 weeks...

 

Noticed it a week afterwards but I think it was there all along, I was just too busy till then.
My ears rang loud right after but seemed all better the next morning. Next week I was watching a show and noticed certain sounds were different and then panicked.
It went through some small changes but been about the same since. Still annoyed by it but getting use to being annoyed.

 

Started one week after noise exposure. But I didn't have ringing ears right after the exposure, wich is why I don't know if my T is because of loud music or if there's another reason for it....

 

Appeared suddenly six days after, fully formed.

 

Went to the concert, my left ear was very muffled. I noticed it instantly but It wasn't loud. Spent a few days in london with tubes and loud restaurants as I didn't think anything of it. Got home on the sunday night, slept fine. Monday night it all turned horrible, so loud it was unbearable.

 

Yep same here stress and noise exposure and after a week...life was never the same again.

 

Did any of you all take prednisone to see if it would help? I know it helps inflammation but could it help noise induced tinnitus at all?

 

believe it or not,i played in rock bands for 3 decades , just got tinnitus 2 years ago !

 

Thanks everyone for the responses.
My story is that on the 19th December last year I went to a party at a restaurant with a live band and was seated next to a huge loudspeaker (last to arrive). It was uncomfortably loud, and I've spent many days since wishing I had made an excuse to leave rather than endure the excessive volume. Not wanting to be rude and leave, social pressure convinced me to stay despite feeling uncomfortable in that environment. In hindsight, and a warning to anyone else in this situation: your hearing and sanity is far more precious than whatever perceived rudeness you will display by walking away.
A few hours later I left the party with muffled hearing. I don't recall noticing any ringing at that point.
My hearing seemed fine the next day.
A couple of days after the party I came down with a nasty viral infection (sore throat, fever, laryngitis, cough).
This finally cleared up by new years day (Jan 1).
January 7th (19 days after the loud party) was the first day that I noticed the high pitched sound inside my head. It's been there ever since, though I seem to have some days when I don't notice it, and there was a period when I was on holidays overseas and I didn't seem to be aware of it for a week or so (was I habituated? Or was it actually gone for a while?).
Lately its been bothering me again. Thankfully it's not very loud so I'm able to get to sleep ok. My T is a high pitched noise, which I can only describe as a glassy static sound somewhere between a ringing tone, a hiss and a whistle. I can voluntarily create a very similar sound in my ears by clenching the muscles in my neck, only my T is a higher pitch than that. It seems to be directly inside my head, almost as though it's coming from something resonating inside my brain.
I started this thread to help determine the cause of my T - was it the loud party or the infection? The T didn't seem to start until around 2 and a half weeks after the party. But, based on your responses, it seems that T can start several days / weeks after noise exposure so it's still likely to have been the cause. Or perhaps it was a combination of both the noise and the infection...
After hoping and wishing that it would eventually go away on its own, I finally decided to make an appointment with a local ENT. The appointment is tomorrow. I searched online and found an ENT with great reviews, but I'm not expecting much from him based on the comments I've seen here...
Emotionally I'm coping ok on the whole. Some days I feel like I'm able to move past it, other days it really gets me down and I start ruminating on the mistake I made by going to that party, feeling angry at myself, wishing more than anything I could go back and change the course of events. Part of me wishes that the viral infection was the cause - at least then there was nothing that I could have done about it, whereas I could have used earplugs or left the party when I was feeling uncomfortable.

 

Well, for me it started immediately...I'm guessing it does for everyone. Then again some people start with temporary tinnitus and then it escalates to permanent tinnitus if further noise exposures occur. So it's all dependent on the damage caused.

 

immediately....left the club and ears were ringing like they had before, but this time more extreme...thought not much of it, went home, went to bed, woke up the next day and thought shit it's still there..still didn't panic too much as thought it would go in a few days....12 years later...still there but louder

 

Only in the very early stages of tinnitus (<48 hours)

 

Started after 12 days of loud clubbing but under high stress for 4 months allready, so what is the cause I dont know, hearing is perfect but I guess that is for most of the acoustic trauma sufferers?

 

@Nucleo Gotcha! When I first got tinnitus I thought it was from a concert I went to a week before and experienced delayed ringing.. But I also experienced facial pain/ear congestion. Went on steroids, it disappeared. And then a couple times this year, I took steroids and it went away. Finally find out I had an inflamed jaw. It's hard sometimes to really pin point on how your T started!

 

My situation is almost identical – bought seats for small indoor concert and was allocated front row (next to an amp). Was too polite to leave and unaware that just one exposure could do such damage. I’ve lost some hearing in my left ear. I don’t normally go to such events. I’m having same problems with acceptance and ruminating as in hindsight it was so preventable.

My head knows I need to get past this but my heart is in misery.

 

So how long after first exposure did it take for u to have permanent t after steroid injections?

 

@Geo It took a full week for permanent T to settle in. I didn't even have ringing at the concert at all but I've figured out it was all muscle/tmj/inflammation since when I take muscle relaxers, ibuprofen, and steroids my ringing goes away along with the facial pressure and ear congestion!

 

So ur t is very faint enough that these meds vanish it?

 

Mhm it's more like a super soft echo now... But it could be just going on its own! But yes, steroids make it completely disappear. But you can't take steroids a lot because it has very bad side effects on the body.

 

Immediate, though a week later I smoked pot to see if it would chill me out and it got much louder, I had a twelve hour panic attack followed by benzos at the urgent care, and I suspect if not for the pot->panic->benzo, things might have been a bit different. Water under the bridge now, though!

 

My started about 30 seconds after the acoustic trauma. Gunshot in a small room, suddenly nearly completely deaf, then "eeeeeeeeeeee...."

 

Age 17: pretty much immediately after light noise exposure, it then settled down, but never went away.
Age 28: one-week-spike which started one week after having surgery.
Age 28, later that year: played a rehearsal (w/ earplugs), tinnitus increase 24-48hrs later.


I'm also really wondering why T sometimes shows up with a delay.

 

I disagree, I took it about a week after exposure and it lowered my T significantly.