Two Identical Noise Injuries, Two Very Different Outcomes — Wondering if Attention & Stress Played a Role

[zeukin]

I wanted to share my experience because I still can't fully wrap my head around it, and I'm curious if anyone else has noticed something similar.

Years ago, when I was an audio engineering student, I made a mistake that a lot of us probably have at some point. I had my audio interface volume maxed out, put on my headphones, pressed play on a loud track, and immediately got hit with an extremely loud blast straight into my ears.

Right after that, I developed the most intrusive tinnitus sound I've ever experienced. It was loud, high-pitched, and impossible to ignore. At the time, though, I didn't know much about tinnitus. I didn't Google it, didn't search for cures, didn't read horror stories. I honestly just thought, "Well, that was dumb — my ears are probably pissed off and this will settle down."

I kept living normally. I was still exposed to everyday city noise, subways, etc. I wasn't avoiding sound, and I wasn't monitoring the tinnitus constantly. And sure enough, about two weeks later, it completely went away. Total silence. Back to normal.

Fast forward to years later — and here's the part that really messes with my head.

I had almost the exact same type of noise insult again. Same situation: audio interface set too loud, headphones on, very short but intense blast. If anything, the second blast was shorter than the first one.

This time, tinnitus started immediately again — but now it was accompanied by hyperacusis as well. And unlike the first time, it didn't fade after a couple of weeks. I'm now 7 months out, and I'm still dealing with it.

The biggest difference between the two episodes wasn't the sound exposure — it was how I reacted afterward.

This time around, I:

• Started maniacally searching for answers
• Read nonstop about tinnitus being permanent for some people
• Constantly monitored the sound
• Panicked about whether it would ever go away
• Fell into a loop of stress, fear, and hyper-focus on it

And now I can't help but wonder if that played a role in why it stuck around this time.

I'm not saying tinnitus is "all psychological" or that stress causes ear damage — I know that's not true. The noise injury was real. But it's hard to ignore that:

• The first time, I didn't assign much threat to it → it resolved
• The second time, I treated it like a catastrophe → it hasn't (yet)

I'm sharing this not to blame myself or anyone else, but because I think it's an important piece of the puzzle that doesn't get talked about honestly enough. The brain's role in attention, threat, and plasticity seems to matter more than we like to admit — especially after the initial injury.

I'd really like to hear if anyone else has had:

• Multiple tinnitus episodes with different outcomes
• An experience where it went away once, then stuck later
• A sense that fear, monitoring, or hyper-focus made things worse or more persistent

Thanks for reading. I hope this helps someone feel less alone — and maybe gives some perspective to those early in this who are panicking like I did.