Tinnitus Spiking After Attending Gigs with Hearing Protection — Mild Hearing Loss Causing Anxiety

Hi everyone, I haven't been on the forum for ages, but find myself back, which is not always a good sign.

After having moderate tinnitus for nearly 3 years from noise exposure, I have recently started attending gigs again with hearing protection. I also do quite a few gym classes with hearing protection in most cases.

I have had a couple of spikes from the gigs and also random spikes which I seem to work through over days and weeks. I have a spike going on at the moment from a gig nearly two weeks ago and while I don't think I find it any louder than previous spikes, my anxiety levels have gone crazy and I can't function, basically.

To top it off, I got an audiogram done yesterday as a follow-up to one I got at the onset about 3 years ago. The audiologist showed me that my left ear had deteriorated, no longer in the 'normal' range, but into the 'mild' hearing loss range at 6 kHz and 8 kHz. Right ear still just inside 'normal'.

This has boosted my anxiety even further, with catastrophic thoughts, which I also attribute to my long-standing generalised anxiety. I thought I had been very careful and had habituated fairly successfully, but this has set me off badly.

Really struggling right now if anyone has some kind words, advice, etc.

All the best,
Paul

 

Hi @Paulanski.

I am sorry to know that you are going through a difficult time at the moment with tinnitus, and I hope it calms down for you soon. There are a few things that I advise you to keep in mind to help prevent the tinnitus spiking, which can lead to it getting permanently worse if you're not careful. Sorry to sound so sobering but you have noise-induced tinnitus. This type of tinnitus can easily fool a person into believing once they habituate, it's perfectly safe to attend clubs and concerts where loud music is played providing they are wearing hearing protection but sadly, nothing more could be further from the truth.

A person with noise-induced tinnitus can do this if they wish but they risk their tinnitus spiking and ultimately it can return with a vengeance that they wouldn't believe is possible. The same applies if they listen to audio through headphones, earbuds, headsets, noise cancelling and bone conduction headphones even at low volume.

Some people that have noise-induced tinnitus believe spikes are a normal occurrence but they are not. Recuring spikes usually have two meanings. The first is an indication that the person has an oversensitive auditory system caused by exposure to loud noise. The severity of the spikes can vary between people, but the underlying problem is hyperacusis which needs to be treated. The second usually affects a person that has habituated to noise-induced tinnitus for a year or more, then suddenly begin to notice their tinnitus spiking. The common cause is further exposure to loud noise or listening to audio through headphones, earbuds or headsets even at low volume.

You need to be careful when going to places where loud music is played. Don't put your trust in hearing protection. If external sound is loud enough, it will pass through the head and transfer to the inner ear by bone conduction and spike the tinnitus, which is what has happened in your case. If you continue to go to places where loud noise is present and your tinnitus spikes, you risk the tinnitus increasing and it could change to variable tinnitus.

Variable tinnitus is my interpretation of a more severe form of noise-induced tinnitus. Please go to my started threads and read my posts: Can I Habituate to Variable Tinnitus? Will My Tinnitus Get Worse?

Give yourself time and hopefully the tinnitus will calm down. Talk to GP/PCP if you're feeling stressed. Start using low-level sound enrichment at night using a sound machine by your bedside.

Hope you start to feel better soon.

Take care,
Michael

 

Appreciate your response @Michael Leigh and I do need to reconsider my approach after reading your material.

My tinnitus has never been maskable, so I tend not to use sound enrichment at all and I think this has helped me to habituate. I do, however, use earbuds at night to listen to podcasts at minimum volume, which I know you have advised against.

I suppose my biggest hurdle at this moment is taming my anxiety. I have started back on an antidepressant recently and feel that (hoping) I am adjusting to that. It has also disturbed my sleep for the moment. All of this, I feel, has brought my perception of tinnitus to the fore, as I can't reliably say it is any louder than I have experienced before - it is just at the front of my mind and I keep obsessing over it.

I know there is not much people can say or advise, I just need to meditate and distract myself as I have done in the past, I guess.

Thanks again for your message and advice.