Tinnitus and Ear Pain After Very Loud Music in Studio

Hello guys!

I’m Imogen from the U.K. and I’m 22 years old.

I’m really not sure whether it’s too premature to post here, but I’m a very anxious person anyway and reading information and stories here calmed me down and reassured me that I’m not by myself, so I thought it couldn’t hurt to maybe see if anyone else has had a similar experience and what I should do next.

In the early hours of yesterday and late the previous day, around from 10:30pm to 2:30am I decided to go with my friend and her two friends, who I don’t know very well, to listen to them play drums and guitar. They have a studio they can book into online so we popped down. Now I had never been here before, and thought me and my friend would be in another kind of listening room behind glass or something. I didn’t realise it was just a kind of average sized soundproof room with their instruments etc.

Initially, one of the guys said you might want to put earphones in or something to protect your ears, and I had some but decided against it because my friend and the other guy didn’t put any earphones/earplugs in or anything. I doubt apple earphones would’ve protected me against the sound anyway. I had to lean in quite close to my friend’s ear for her to hear me, but I’m not sure in dB how loud it actually was. They turned the volume up as high as it would go and obviously there was proper speakers and amplifiers in this small room. Initially, it was way too loud but after listening for a while you kind of got used to it.

After a couple hours of playing, we went outside for a smoke and I was acutely aware of sound being muffled, tinnitus and ear pain and it being kind of difficult to understand my friends. One of the guys kind of brushed it off, laughing he was “deaf” and explained he had tinnitus anyway and usually the main side effects of the sound go away in a couple of days. I felt reassured as he has clearly been to this studio many times, even though he has tinnitus, but seemed ok about it. My friend also said her hearing was fine.

We got home around 3am, and it had improved since the initial shock of sound being really muffled and I could hear my friends talking fine, just had ear pain, like pressure from a plane, in my left ear and tinnitus. However, I could barely get to sleep as I was so anxious, I felt so sick about it. I managed to get 2 hours sleep and at around 7am decided to go to a drop in clinic at 8. The nurse checked my ear and said everything looks fine, and this is to be expected when really loud music is played, so I felt reassured.

However, I still have this fullness in my ear and discomfort and the ringing, which I can kind of distract myself from and only notice it in my bedroom where it is most quiet. Sometimes I find it goes on and off, but I’m not sure whether I’m just getting distracted and it’s actually always there. It sounds most like TV static and can sometimes set off ringing in the other ear if I concentrate on it but my right ear is usually fine.

I’ve come to terms with the fact I could’ve done permanent damage, as many googling instances had said. My dad also has had tinnitus for many years and works in the NHS but it is one thing that he’s said he has struggled with but I think he copes through meditation etc.

So sorry to be very long winded, and possibly early days, but I just hoped to get some positive replies. I have been beating myself up about going to the studio as I was on the fence about going anyway, and now completely regret it, but I guess I can’t turn back time. And just hoped to hear about how to reduce this ear pain and ways to cope if this doesn’t improve in the next coming weeks. Also advice on whether I should book an appointment at the GP or whether there’s any point if they’re just going to tell me to get on with it?

 

Hi Imogen, since it's still early days there is a very high chance that the fullness you are experiencing will soon dissipate and your tinnitus may even fade completely. If you are really worried about damage, you could go to an emergency room and ask for a medication called Prednisone which is a corticosteroid the dose would need to be between 40 and 60mg depending on your weight and the duration you would need to take it would be around 5-7 days, and while it could help, it has a very short window of about 72 hours at being able to help reverse damage. And in addition, it can cause some really bad side effects as it is a synthetic form of a stress hormone and the dose is very high. Another thing you could do is take some Melatonin, around like 3mg, this could also help if there is any damage as it is a very powerful antioxidant, and a bonus is that it won't make you feel awful like the Prednisone. Also in addition to either of these options, you should also take high doses of vitamin e and c to help as they are also antioxidants.

What I really want you to do also is to stop beating yourself up over going to the studio, I know it is really hard not to do, but it serves no purpose, we all make mistakes. As you already said, you can't turn back time, it is what it is. Just learn from this and wear protection in the future when it comes to situations where you are being exposed to high-intensity noise, even if you think they may look a bit dorky. I got my tinnitus through a similar situation where I also had plugs but didn't put them in because other people didn't, so I totally get it.

Hope this helps and I hope you feel better soon.

 

Hello, thanks so much for your reply!

I had read about the corticosteroid and think I may go to A and E to see if I can get anything done. I booked a gp appointment for tomorrow at 9 but I would rather get looked over as soon as possible and they had no available slots today. I will try absolutely anything to give this more of a chance of going so even if I have to feel awful for 7 days it’s worth it.

Yes that was honestly it, I would’ve left early if I’d known this would happen and would’ve just said it was too loud for me but as I didn’t know these people very well I didn’t want to be rude and it didn’t seem bad at the time.

Thanks again so much for your reply, I’m going to head to the hospital now and see if anything can be done.

 

Hey, no worries, did you end up going to the doctors?

 

Just wanted to mention that some people have adverse reactions to prednisone. It may not be the best option for somebody who's already dealing with anxiety. My acupuncturist said he tried it for a health issue, and it took him several months to recover from. -- I don't know how prevalent these kinds of adverse reactions are; my acupuncturist strikes me as an unusually sensitive person.

You may want to consider doing some acupuncture, as they have ways to reduce the pressure in the ears. It's also one of the modalities that a good number of people have had success with. You might also want to consider looking at an acupuressure chart, which show you where to massage certain areas on your hands and feet to send nerve energy to your ears. I've read stories of this actually helping. I've recently been experimenting with Gua Sha, and though I've only done it a couple of times around my ears and neck, it does seem to have improved my Eustacian Tube Dysfunction, which may be at least partially responsible for the clogged ear feeling.

I think the odds of you getting lasting improvement are good. But you do need to be especially protective of your ears for the next everal months at least. -- All the Best...

 

I didn’t end up going to A and E as that is more for really serious emergencies and I phoned my dad before and said they would be very unlikely to prescribe Prednisone as it’s quite a strong drug for something that is not really “life threatening”. I trusted his judgement so I didn’t go, but I did go to my gp appointment today and she prescribed me with steroid nasal spray. She was really nice and said if it persists I should go back in a week and get booked in with a specialist.

I have been taking about 3000mg of vitamin C a day and have ordered some melatonin as you cannot buy it here over the counter in the U.K.

She also said I might have Eustachian Tube Dysfunction as my ears keep popping and crackling when I yawn and swallow!

I have actually been doing some massaging around the ears, and tapping around them which does help. Found that on a YouTube video which I think was for acupuncture and it actually stops the tinnitus for a short while. I also put my hands over my ears and tap the back of my head 50 times and this makes it go away too.

So yeah, that’s everything I’m doing so far to help. I haven’t actually experienced any hearing loss, or if I have it’s not enough for me to notice it, but the Doctor also said I should get a hearing test if all of this persists.

I’m not as anxious about the tinnitus now, I only notice it when I think about it or when it’s quiet, but I usually listened to relaxing sounds to get to sleep anyway, like white noise stuff, so it kind of drowns the buzzing out anyway.

I have also ordered really durable ear plugs so this never happens again.

My anxiety has definitely made it worse, as I’m also in my final two weeks of Uni! So stressed enough as it is, but thanks so much for all of your replies and help. I’m going to try and take it all on board!

If the tinnitus is here to stay, then I’m determined to accept it and not fixate on it. The tinnitus hasn’t really improved, it’s just stayed at a constant level, so I don’t know whether that’s a sign it won’t get better, but we’ll see.

Thanks again guys

 

Please remember to protect your ears going forward or this can come back with a vengeance.

 

These are incredibly good indicators. Anything you can do to improve functions in the head, like keeping sinuses clear, preventing colds and flus, avoiding undue eye strain, getting upper cervical chiropractic, stretching, yoga, etc. will all help. -- My own orientation is that "alternative" approaches and therapies generally speaking have more to offer many of us than traditional approaches.

 

You are experiencing temporary tonal shift (TTS) from a noise trauma.

https://www.hear-it.org/temporary-threshold-shift

"Definition of temporary threshold shift
A temporary threshold shift is a temporary shift in the auditory threshold. It may occur suddenly after exposure to a high level of noise, a situation in which most people experience reduced hearing. A temporary threshold shift results in temporary hearing loss.

People who experience a temporary threshold shift may often also experience temporary tinnitus.

Causes of temporary threshold shift
A temporary threshold shift which results in a temporary hearing loss is normally caused by exposure to intense and/or loud sounds or noise for a shorter or longer time. This could be e.g. an explosion or a concert.

Treatment of temporary threshold shift
If you experience a temporary threshold shift, it is recommended that you spend some time in a quiet place and not expose yourself to loud sounds. The recovery time for a temporary threshold shift varies. It may take only a few hours for the symptoms to subside but it can also last for days. If your hearing does not recover within a few days, you should seek medical advice."

Be sure to be adamant about protecting your ears from any further loud noises. The tinnitus can take months to go away, but there is a good chance that it will. Avoid going to loud noise venues like rock concerts, bars and music festivals and the like. Wear your earplugs for other loud noises, including vacuuming, blender, paper shredder, lawn mower, and other louder appliances. Also, do NOT use your headphones or earbuds, etc as the speaker is too close to the ear.

Feel better soon!

 

TTS's always have some permanent hearing loss. synapses and Audiotory nerve fibers can die and at times won't grow back even when the hair cell survives


http://canadianaudiologist.ca/hidden-versus-not-so-hidden-hearing-loss/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5019483/

 

How do you feel about your tinnitus now?

 

This poor women has hair cell damage and peripheral neuropathy in her cochlea! That's the root pathology of her problem.

Why are you advocating pseudo-science practices of energy points, chi (which doesn't exist) and sticking needles in one's skin (acupuncture) and bruising oneself (gua shua) for a damn pointless reasons that will not treat her noise injury? How is that going to help?

There's not much actual doctors can do but tell her to rest her ears take magnesium, b-12 and predisone that might help with whatever natural recovery is possible. However what you told her to do is quackery.

 

Fully agree. But what to do?
Only time can help us?

 

You're saying a medical system that is at least 1700 years older than western medicine is invalid? Chi/prana is real, and anyone that engages in manipulating it will quickly realize this is the case. Acupuncture is obviously useful for many ailments, otherwise it wouldn't be practiced.

Will Chinese medicine help tinnitus? Probably not if it's noise induced.