Recently Had Ringing in Ears After Loud Noise

Hi,

I never had this issue before and it is really starting to worry me, and freak me out because I don't know how long it will last.

About 48 hours ago I was watching a movie with my headphones, the volume wasn't too loud but there was one point in it where there was a LOUD few gunshots. I think I felt a weird sensation in my left ear, took my headphones off, didn't really notice anything but I turned the volume down just to be sure I didn't hurt my hearing.

Afterwards I took them off and noticed the ringing, I think it is only in my left ear but I am not sure how to tell.

I remember as a kid I was able to hear ringing in my ears but only like inside of a turned off quite car with the windows up, now it I hear the same noise but everywhere, even outside. It isn't deafening but when in mostly quite rooms it is uncomfortable and foreign.

One thing is that I also have had issues in my left ear in the past, I felt like sometimes my ear would pop and I could literally breath through it. Also, not but a couple of days before I had this happen my left ear had a very bad itch, and it felt as if it went deeper inside of my ear, there was also puss or something on the outer side, I am not sure if maybe this made it weak, which led to my issue now.

So 2 days, going in 3 I have what I guess would be tinnitus (I think in only my left ear but can't tell) and my ear is starting to feel full, like maybe it is starting to have fluid or something.

So I am not sure if it is a perforated eardrum, or what. I just hope it is fixable and the ringing goes away SOON, I hope it doesn't last longer than a few weeks...

I am going to contact my doctor tomorrow and make an appointment ASAP, and hopefully they can help or send me to someone who can.

Any advice and support is appreciated,

Easton

I should probably add that I am 20, don't listen to loud music, and I always wear earplugs when I am operating something like a lawnmower, leaf blower, etc when outside.

My headphones apparently only go to 105db, and I didn't have them turned that high up, so I am not sure how this happened. I tested my hearing on a bunch of reputable websites with the same headphones at the volume specified (they are high resistance too which means the volume would actually need to be much higher) and I made 100% multiple times.

So my hearing is fine, I just hear ringing and I think I feel like my left ear feels full or just very weird.

Also, to describe what the level of the ringing is, I can hear it over my ceiling fan in high, but the fan is pretty quiet... I can also hear it if I listen for it outside during the day, it is more faint, I live in the country though and it is also pretty quiet. That's the only way I can describe the noise.

 

Please do not use headphones, they can annoy your ears and possibly cause hearing/ear issues. What is done is done, try to stay calm. Stress and anxiety can make the tinnitus much worst. Tinnitus is unpredictable, there is no telling if it will stay or go away. Take it day by day and see how you feel.

Just remember that you are not alone, all of us face tinnitus on a daily basis and this board and it's members support each other

 

Hi,

See a ENT for verify your ear and your hearing.

 

It will probably go away soon. But from now on, you will have to try to stay away from loud noises. You might even consider stopping the use of headphones.

Check out the thread below where I summarize everything (24 tips spread over three posts) I learned about managing tinnitus after reading the posts on this forum for the past 11 months
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/thread...itus-recently-this-info-will-be-useful.25741/

 

Okay. If it was one time that caused it then I read that it usually goes away soon, vs people that go through life beating their ears to death. I know a lot of people that work in industrial environments and listen to metal bangs all the time and don't use earplugs. Not sure if they have the same thing happen or what.

I did feel a weird sensation in my left ear when it happened, and it sounds like it is only in my left ear, and it still feels different. So it could be a perforated eardrum, and from what I have read tinnitus is a symptom of it, so hopefully if that is the case then when it heals the annoying ringing will go away or fade.

I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow, so I will see what they say.

 

So I went to my doctor's office and he said to wait 3 weeks, and he scheduled an appointment with an ENT.

He said my eardrums look fine.

He said that usually this happens in people older than me that have been exposed to loud noises a long time, and that hopefully it is just temporary...

I just don't want to live with this forever, I can't hear silence and don't know how long this will last, I cried myself to sleep the other night because I don't know if this is permanent.

I hope it is only temporary and doesn't last over a few months. If it lasts until my ENT appointment what should I ask the doctor about?

Is there anything even remotely possible to lessen it or remove it early on?

 

I'm just going to probably leave one more reply then I am gone.

I know the exact sound level I listened to, which actually pisses me off.

The MAX the sound level went to was 80db. Anything below 85 is considered safe, the average I listened to was around 70db

I know this because I remembered the volume level of the movie, I have a prime setup to test it, I setup my headphones, the same cable, the same receiver and movie and pressed play, used a soundmeter app, two of them actually, and got readings of 80db Max and 70 average. These apps are within OSHA standards of +/-2 db.

So somehow I got tinnitus from listening to "safe" levels.

I am beginning to think my ears are fine, my hearing is probably fine, and maybe my ears rang because they were startled from a sudden 80db pop and my brain locked on to the sound like an aircraft on a heatseaking missile. So what was really SUPPOSED to be temporary, maybe last hours, days max, has lasted 2 weeks. I have gotten more used to it and don't get as sad/scared about it already, just pissed when I notice it.

I am beginning to think this is psychological and the anxiety/mild depression made it worse, and now I have to try to not notice the sound and in time, maybe a couple of months it won't be as bad or will be gone

Being in a quiet room sucks right now, and that makes me notice it, even subconsciously. So for the next month or two, or however long it takes I am going to drown this demonic crap out of my brain with something in the background, and NOT try to stick my head in a quiet room and notice it. I noticed that if I think about it I can hear it over a TV on moderate volume, but a fireplace cancels it out (crackling noise for whatever reason makes me calm I guess), I can hear it outside in the country, just wind and animal noises, but isn't as loud as inside.

I swear it is fine when I wake up in the morning, and then once I start thinking about it my brain is working like an amplifier and cranking it up, just writing this I noticed it get "louder" but I know it can't be, it's in my mind.

Also, reading about the negative stuff around the internet on this makes it worse because I believe it is in many cases anxiety and stress related, and can be shut off by the brain in time when you shut it out. So I may look at any replies in the coming days if anyone does, but that's it, because moping around reading about it I swear makes it worse.

So I hope and pray it gets better for me, and I know it will in time, I am probably not wearing headphones anymore, and I am wearing earplugs more when I think there will be loud noises, I also know that many people have it worse, and my dad actually also has it after being in the Air Force for 20 years (flight line takes a toll) but people like that take a beating over years, I had one instance of safe levels and my anxiety I think made it worse than it is.

Hopefully everyone can get rid of this, I think for a lot of people just not thinking about it will make it go.

 

I have never been to any concerts and I have been protecting my ears my whole life. My T was caused by a one-time acoustic trauma. That was a year ago.

It sounds like you haven't clicked on my link. This is addressed in the first tip there.

An ENT will most likely not know much about T...

The answers are at that link. You can try HBOT, supplements...

Interesting. I have long been suspecting that the reported safe levels are higher than they should be.

This will most likely work and will make you feel better.

 

Hi everyone...

I’ve had tinnitus since this summer through loud music exposure. Recently I listened to headphones at a very low level and what was a strangely comforting hiss has turned into a much louder bleeping noise in both ears which I’m finding it very difficult to adapt to. This has been the case for two weeks now, I still hold hope that it might die down.

I don’t want to attach negativity to my tinnitus as I don’t think this helps the anxiety I have started feeling. I am going for a craniosacral session tomorrow to see if this helps relieve any stress related to my tinnitus. Just thought I would see if anyone else has experience anything similar or has any advice

 

Paging Michael Leigh

 

This is the stupidest sh!t ever.

I went to the GP and ENT and it felt like they could care less. I'm about 3-4 weeks in this crap.

So far I know more about Tinnitus than what most ENTs probably know. I read from some sources that EVERYONE has tinnitus, it's just a matter of how your brain reacts to it
In other words, everyone's brain works like a DAC and filters the sound out, so unless you went through the entire Iraqi war beating the hell out of your ears, then like everyone else it should go away.

I think in this case, and in many other cases it's caused by:

#1 Anxiety

#2 Reading about it and thinking about it

#3 ADD/ADHD plays into anxiety and lack of focus.

I notice that when I wake up in the morning and get up, 5-10 minutes into the day there isn't any noise, but I either look for it directly or subconsciously and it appears, then it's stuck. Or if I am really focused on something the noise is gone, I notice it, it comes back.

I know this is definitely not an ear issue, it's a neurological/psychological issue where people that are either ADD or anxiety prone, or both, can't ditch the noise like others.

Why?

Because you read about people going to a 110+ decibel concert blowing their ears out, many leave perfectly fine, other have ringing ears for a few hours, maybe a few days, then it goes away.

How is it that these people are fine, yet some others are not? They were exposed to the same sound, the same level of sound, and they're fine.

Logically this means it's all in the mind. In my case 80 decibel noise couldn't possibly cause this, it was probably something that normally happens to most people after listening to headphones, and with them it would go away in a short time, but my anxiety locked on and it's still here, in my head.

I had "hyperacusis" in the following week or two after freaking the hell out. And I find it hilarious that people here and elsewhere think it's, or consider it an ear problem when your ears haven't changed, your mind did. Another thing that I noticed that scared the crap out of me was that I started hearing a "tune", like some weird musical beeps. As soon as that started I said "hell no, I'm not letting this sh!t happen to me" and immediately went and drowned it out and kept myself busy. There wasnt a tune coming from anywhere but my brain, I haven't heard that again thankfully, but that further reinforces my point that this is all in the mind. One thing that is interesting is that I used to be able to hear this sound in my car when it was off and dead silent, it's no louder in the car than it used to be, so if that's the case then why am I noticing it elsewhere? Exactly, it's not actually louder.

I go back for a hearing test in 3 weeks (I'm sick of this 3 week sh!t), and considering the sound level I was exposed to, and the fact that I never expose myself to above moderate noise, they're going to tell me it's fine, then if the noise is still here, they're going to tell me there's nothing to be done. Doctors are idiots, if they can't prescribe a drug there's no hope.

I think getting off the support forums, and reading about it helps, and I have done that, I just wanted to post an update after the ENT visit. I think it's all in the mind, and no one can fix it besides me. From what I have read about Tinnitus and the mind, NOT THE EAR, it's best to listen to pink noise below the sound, and after not being anxious it should go away in time to where it disappears forever.

I am going to have to try to delete this account because of the fact that if I don't I will think about it, and I've already googled everything about Tinnitus, literally, so there is no point in me wasting my time and probably making it worse. Supposedly if everyone has Tinnitus, and their brains filtered the sound out, then mine should too if I let it...

 

I think your right about the anxiety side of things, from being here and reddit it seems like a lot of people have suffered from anxiety before getting T. It may be that a lot of people have anxiety in general which i can believe but maybe there is more too it. I know from my own experience iv only just come to realise that ive had a mild form of T for at least a year or two, but because i wasnt aware of it being a problem i shrugged it off and never noticed it. Until now that is, but thats because i threw fuel on the fire in a club with a band playing. After wards i was like how come the band and everyone else in there is ok and my head is now wrecked? No two people and no two brains are the same. The brain is a crazy thing indeed it, it forms its own version of events for its host based on previous events. The first time we do something the feeling we get is always the best or the most intense because its new to the brain and overwhelming. If we do the exact same thing again the experience is different even though the input was exactly the same. Im not sure what I'm on too here but no two people are the same, no two brains are the same because we all have a different version/history of events.

 

My case is also the same i got my T from overusing headphone at my workplace, do not use headphones and stay away from loud noises, it may take 1 to 2 years to get healed if your lucky.

 

I also get my T from low volume headphones using, but my number of hours are 5 daiky, i use them at my work place, i also have the popping and clicking, sound when i swallow, it has nothing to do with fluid in ears, after damage pressure changes in the middle ear which produces that sound.

 

but but but... the man says it comes from the brain not the ears...