Tinnitus from Loud Concert Went Away Only to Come Back — Is It Here to Stay Now?

About 3 and a half months ago I went to a very loud concert - so loud that people started complaining and the band even stopped playing at one point and asked the sound guy to turn it down (which he refused to do because he thought it sounded fine). Instead of leaving the concert like I should have, I stupidly thought it would be good enough for me to just move to the back of the venue so I wasn't so close to the speakers. But it was a small venue and after the concert, my ears were ringing for more than a week. The ringing was very loud at first, but it progressively got quieter and quieter until it went away completely.

About three months later the ringing came back. I wasn't exposed to any other loud noises after the concert so I had hoped that when it went away, it would go away for good. But now it's back. Fortunately it's not nearly as loud as it was after concert, but it is very consistent and has not gone away or changed since it started up again. It's been about 3 weeks now. While it's not absolutely unbearable, it is distressing to me and I am wondering: (A) if the ringing is going to get louder over time, to the point that it does become unbearable, or (B) if it's going to continue like this forever.

Is there any chance that it will go away completely or is this permanent? I've learned my lesson and won't be going to any more loud concerts, but is there anything I can do now or am I just going to have to wait and see if it goes away?

 

If it begins fading sometime in the next month or two (a likely scenario), it ought to continue to fade and you will likely be able to get to the "can hear it only in quiet rooms" stage. If there is no change in the next 3-6 months, then it will likely stay like that forever. Assuming you are successful in avoiding hurting your ears again, it there is no reason for it to get worse.

It's unusual that it stopped and then restarted again. Are you sure you haven't taken any ototoxic medication?

http://hlaa-sbc.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Ototoxic_Brochure.pdf

Have you been to a dentist? Have you been exposed to moderate noises like that of a vacuum cleaner?

 

Unfortunately, the answer is "yes"...

Check out
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/thread...eone-else-who-has-tinnitus.26850/#post-307822
for some tips about making sure it doesn't get worse.

 

Thanks for your reply, this helps. I have not taken any of the medications in the brochure you linked, other than maybe alcohol and caffeine, but even then only in small-moderate doses and not regularly. I haven't been to a dentist since the concert. I don't recall any specific moderate noise exposure since the concert, as I've tried to be careful since this happened (for example, I started wearing noise cancelling headphones while vacuuming). I do live in a large city and may have been briefly exposed to loud sirens from emergency vehicles. Since the tinnitus started up again I have started plugging my ears whenever I hear a siren approaching, but I may not have done that during the 3 months or so when the ringing stopped. I don't remember any specific instances though.

 

I can't imagine that having a major on you...

Some of the people who get tinnitus become more vulnerable. The only thing that comes to mind is that you have wax buildup in your ears. Some people's tinnitus goes away several weeks after cleaning their ears. If you do that, make sure they use manual tools (as some people get tinnitus after having microsuction/syringing used on them to clean the wax).