The Interesting Case of the Wonderful Concert

Hello!

I am a 16 year old male.

I don't know if I suffer from actual tinnitus or phantom tinnitus.

My story begins 5 months ago, I don't normally listen to music loud and pride my self on good hearing.

I was going to go to my first concert (Lindsey Stirling) and my mom has hearing loss and a BAHA. She made me do a bunch of research and I think I might have gotten a bit paranoid. I swore to my self that I would wear ear plugs.

I forgot them and had to spend half the night with my fingers in my ears. Afterwords everyone was hearing a loud ringing but it had mostly dissipated in the next few hours. I avoided loud things for 3-5 days after words.

Yet hear I am 5 months later and I still hear a soft crazily high pitched test tone which after going down post concert, has steadily been on the rise in my mind.

I looked all over the internet but I think that has just made me more paranoid. I even noticed that I listen to music a few volume notches louder too.

I doubt that I would get 5 month tinnitus after one pop concert? Right?

Any help would be appreciated!

 

Hello there @PonderingLlama, you definitely can get long-term tinnitus after just one concert - that's what happened to me. I don't say that to scare you, but it is the case. I had never had T before in my life, not even for a day or an hour after any loud event. One concert that was too loud was all it took. It can be just the one way-too-loud event or it can be the straw that broke the camel's back if you've listened to a lot of loud music in headphones/concert etc. before.

All of that said, do not panic - anxiety definitely does not help. If the T is from the concert and it seemed it was going down, it's probably you focusing on it that's making it seem louder rather than it actually being louder. That is assuming you've been taking care of your hearing since.

If you think there's a chance it could be something else, make sure to get it checked out by a doctor. Otherwise, try not to panic or read too many horror stories. For all the other people you can find here that are having a very, very difficult time, there are many of us (self included) who are pretty happy and habituated but stick around to spread the good cheer : ) My point is, whether it goes away or not, you can be okay and have a great, full life. But make sure to take care of your ears, they are precious. Put a pair of earplugs in every pocket!

We're all here for you, let us know how things go.