Tinnitus After Loud Concert: It's Been 8 Weeks, and I'm Noticing Some Improvements

Hi all, I just wanted to introduce myself.

On September 8, 2023 I went to a loud concert. That night my hearing was fairly muffled but that seemed to resolve by the following morning. I woke up and had fairly loud noticeable ringing in both ears. After the second full day of this I went to the ER and they said it should resolve within a couple of weeks. After the first few days the ringing wasn't noticeable unless in a quiet room or at night, in which it became very noticeable.

Over the next couple of weeks, I noticed it really began to improve (especially the left ear). Then one night I had a really bad ringing that couldn't be masked. This eventually went away and then my ears felt a lot better. Tinnitus was much less noticeable over the next couple of days. Then out of some bad luck, my mother's dog made a very shrill bark directly next to my right ear. Several hours later, sounds such as fans, A/C, and other higher pitch noises sounded unbearably high pitched. This would compound and get louder until I walked away and then the sound would even out. This drove me absolutely crazy because these types of sounds are everywhere.

After a couple weeks of dealing with that, these sounds became less bothersome and some days they aren't bothersome at all. The tinnitus in my left ear has become very mild and I can only ever hear it if I wake up in the middle of the night. It basically sounds like a mild humming. My right ear on the other hand is still all over the place. There are some days where it's basically gone or so quiet that I have to try and listen for it. Other days it will have a new tone that sounds like a static pulsating hiss that goes away after awhile. A/C vents and fan noises will some days sound mostly normal and others will annoy the hell out of me.

After about 2 months of this, I am noticing signs of improvement and I am trying to stay positive that things will keep moving in this direction. Some days are good and others can get bad.

I am currently taking a multivitamin, Omega 3 (fish oil pills), and ginger root pills (I just started taking this one), and wanted to know if there is anything else I should be doing other than protecting my ears.

 

You need to be careful about protecting your ears @Muggumbo. If this is not done correctly, you could make your ears more sensitive to sound and potentially make your tinnitus, and what I believe you also have, hyperacusis, worse!

It is a good idea to avoid being around overly loud sounds which can spike the tinnitus and hyperacusis. However, overusing earplugs, whether they are noise reducing or expandable foam earplugs, can lower the loudness threshold of your auditory system, making your ears more sensitive to sound, which can result in your tinnitus and hyperacusis spiking. I also advise that you don't listen to audio through headphones even at low volume, as there's a risk of making the tinnitus worse. This includes earbuds, headsets, noise-cancelling and bone conduction headphones.

Try to avoid being in quiet rooms and surroundings during the day and especially at night. This can be achieved by using low-level sound enrichment. Place a sound machine by your bedside at night; more about this is explained in my posts in the links below: New to Tinnitus, What to Do? and Hyperacusis, As I See It.

Go to my started threads and read: Tinnitus, a Personal View.

I advise you not to try any invasive tinnitus treatment at this early stage, but instead be patient and give your ears time to heal.

All the best,
Michael

New to Tinnitus, What to Do? | Tinnitus Talk Support Forum
Hyperacusis, As I See It | Tinnitus Talk Support Forum

 

Here's my story from about where you are at currently:

2 Months Later, My Tinnitus Is Nearly Gone

I am like well over a year with this thing and I am pretty much fine. I do everything I did before and use hearing protection when needed.

Hang in there and keep an optimistic attitude. I think you will be okay.

 

Thanks. I actually read your story before making an account here lol. I'm hoping that mine goes away since I don't seem to have any measurable hearing loss. So far, some nights I can barely hear my right ear even if I try and sometimes I can hear it even if it's somewhat noisy. Hopefully the fact that I am getting some quiet days over time is a good sign.

I hope yours keeps doing better.

Thanks Michael, I will continue protecting my hearing without going overboard. In the first 3 weeks silent rooms drove me nuts, but now it's not as bad. I can hear the tinnitus but it's not at a maddening level in silence anymore.

It's mostly this weird hyperacusis that's causing me issues along with the occasional tinnitus spike. Most sounds don't bother me, even louder ones, but sometimes an A/C vent will drive me nuts. Other times it doesn't.

 

You are welcome @Muggumbo. You are in the early stages of noise-induced tinnitus with hyperacusis. Everything that you are experiencing is quite normal so try not to worry too much although I know it's not easy. It is important not to try any invasive tinnitus treatment even though it is tempting to do so at this early stage, as there's a risk of making your symptoms worse. This is the reason I have advised you to read my posts, which help you understand what you are going through. It's also important not to listen to audio through any type of headphones even at low volume, the same applies after you have habituated. Please read my articles on the habituation process.

I am confident that you will make steady improvement, so keep using low-level sound enrichment, especially at night. Talk to your GP/PCP if you're feeling stressed.

Take care,
Michael

 

Just an update:

About 11 weeks in and my left ear seems about the same, maybe a little bit better but it's hard to tell.

My right ear has been all over the place. Some mornings I wake up and it will be quiet and other days it will make cricket noises or a pulsating hissing noise all day long. The regular ringing tinnitus that I had seems to be very quiet most of the time but this new changing tone drives me up the wall.

My reactivity to certain noises seems to shift almost daily. Some days sounds like fans and air vents don't seem to bother me and other days they make my tinnitus act up pretty bad in my right ear.

Trying to continue to stay positive and hoping this new sound gets quieter or goes away. One day it feels like I'm almost healed and then the next several days will suck.

 

Hey @Muggumbo, I'm following your story, which seems similar to mine. My ringing is mostly in my right ear. The left ear is just a light buzz. My level of ringing is all over the place from zero to screaming the next day. Today was light pulsing in my right ear.

Do you ever get quiet days where you have almost no ringing? Also, what is your sound tolerance for semi-loud places like restaurants?

Rooting for you.