7 Weeks of Tinnitus After a Loud Concert, Hoping for a Good Outcome

[Poseidon65]

I'm using Phonak hearing aids.

 

[Vassili]

Update at 18 months.

Over the past month, my tinnitus has actually been pretty mild, such that it's not detracting from my quality of life much at all. Let's see if it stays this way.

This is wonderful to hear. I am currently 21 months in and my tinnitus and hyperacusis are almost gone (95% gone, I think) but I have flashbacks now and then.

 

[Juan]

Sound damage is cumulative, so be careful with loud sounds after "strike 1", which is that concert experience...

 

[Matchbox]

Didn't Prednisone give you a new tone permanently?

I talked about what it did right for me, not wrong. It screwed me up but it doesn't mean it's the wrong tool to use.

I can attest, before worsening, Prednisone made my tinnitus vanish within hours.

 

[Poseidon65]

20 month update; my tinnitus continues to be mild enough as to not really bother me.

I do still wear hearing aids (which play white noise and also amplify slightly), and I also am using external white noise when at the workplace and when sleeping.

 

[Wrfortiscue]

20 month update; my tinnitus continues to be mild enough as to not really bother me.

I do still wear hearing aids (which play white noise and also amplify slightly), and I also am using external white noise when at the workplace and when sleeping.

I have a piercing tone like you and will be getting hearing aids. Does the noise make tinnitus worse over time using the hearing aids?

 

[Poseidon65]

I have a piercing tone like you and will be getting hearing aids. Does the noise make tinnitus worse over time using the hearing aids?

At least in my case, the noise has not made my tinnitus worse. The amount of white noise and amplification I use is reasonably mild, nowhere near dangerous levels. For example, the white noise is almost certainly no louder than 40 dB, which should be safe to hear continuously.

 

[Wrfortiscue]

At least in my case, the noise has not made my tinnitus worse. The amount of white noise and amplification I use is reasonably mild, nowhere near dangerous levels. For example, the white noise is almost certainly no louder than 40 dB, which should be safe to hear continuously.

Thanks! Is your tinnitus really noticeable after you remove the sounds?

 

[Poseidon65]

Thanks! Is your tinnitus really noticeable after you remove the sounds?

How noticeable depends on the day (there is some natural fluctuation), if I'm having a spike (in which case, definitely yes, though I've not had many spikes lately), and also how noisy the environment is when the sound is removed (is there a fan on or any natural sounds?).

 

[Wrfortiscue]

How noticeable depends on the day (there is some natural fluctuation), if I'm having a spike (in which case, definitely yes, though I've not had many spikes lately), and also how noisy the environment is when the sound is removed (is there a fan on or any natural sounds?).

Thanks for answering my questions

 

[Poseidon65]

22 month update. I'm now doing mostly fine, even without hearing aids (which I used to wear).

One thing that' s helped is going back into work, rather than working from home. The office is more lively and so there is more natural distraction and background noise than sitting at home in my bedroom (where I worked from during the pandemic).

 

[IntotheBlue03]

@Poseidon65, were you able to habituate to the high frequency tones as well? 2 months in and suffering greatly here. Thanks.

 

[Poseidon65]

Yes, I'm pretty much doing fine these days in all respects.

2 months in is still very early, and I totally know what you're going through. With time, you should see some reduction in the noise level as well as some habituation to it.

 

[IntotheBlue03]

Yes, I'm pretty much doing fine these days in all respects.

2 months in is still very early, and I totally know what you're going through. With time, you should see some reduction in the noise level as well as some habituation to it.

Thanks. Very happy to hear that. Curious, when were you able to start masking? I pray for the ability to do that every day but hoping maybe I will be able to in time. My tinnitus is reactive right now and makes this near impossible. It's the piercing/zapping quality that drives me crazy too more than the volume. Looking forward to any reduction/habituation though!

 

[Poseidon65]

I was actually able to mask right away (never had reactivity).

 

[Ava Lugo]

Thanks. Very happy to hear that. Curious, when were you able to start masking? I pray for the ability to do that every day but hoping maybe I will be able to in time. My tinnitus is reactive right now and makes this near impossible. It's the piercing/zapping quality that drives me crazy too more than the volume. Looking forward to any reduction/habituation though!

The people who can mask are super lucky! I wouldn't be on here anymore by now if I could mask it. Scientists need to figure out why some have maskable normal tinnitus and some unfortunate few have debilitating unmaskable tinnitus .

 

[IntotheBlue03]

I was actually able to mask right away (never had reactivity).

@Poseidon65, what sounds were you able to mask with? Aside from reactivity it seems high frequency tinnitus is very limited as far as what masking sounds work.

 

[IntotheBlue03]

The people who can mask are super lucky! I wouldn't be on here anymore by now if I could mask it. Scientists need to figure out why some have maskable normal tinnitus and some unfortunate few have debilitating unmaskable tinnitus .

I'm so sorry. I know how torturous this is. I honestly feel this difference alone makes tinnitus catastrophic for us. In addition when mine gets loud, I can physically feel it which I hate.

Do you have high frequency tinnitus as well? It overrides and competes with all external sounds around you? Sorry I should know by now, but there is so much information to keep up with on Tinnitus Talk.

 

[kingsfan]

I'm so sorry. I know how torturous this is. I honestly feel this difference alone makes tinnitus catastrophic for us. In addition when mine gets loud, I can physically feel it which I hate.

Do you have high frequency tinnitus as well? It overrides and competes with all external sounds around you? Sorry I should know by now, but there is so much information to keep up with on Tinnitus Talk.

Honestly, as far as masking goes, if natural environmental sounds don't mask it, then it's just replacing one terrible sound with another. I suppose a nice summer night with cicadas can be a nice escape if it masks your tinnitus, but it's pretty torturous to listen to it all day, every day.

 

[IntotheBlue03]

Honestly, as far as masking goes, if natural environmental sounds don't mask it, then it's just replacing one terrible sound with another. I suppose a nice summer night with cicadas can be a nice escape if it masks your tinnitus, but it's pretty torturous to listen to it all day, every day.

You're exactly right and that's the problem I run into. Aside from the reactivity, all the high frequency options are terrible from crickets to white noise so I feel like there's no real options for all day/all night use. Correct me if I'm missing any, besides maybe shower/rivers?

Here I thought your profile picture was you this whole time lol. I made it through the photos thread tonight to destress and for entertainment. Nice to put some faces to names.

 

[kingsfan]

You're exactly right and that's the problem I run into. Aside from the reactivity, all the high frequency options are terrible from crickets to white noise so I feel like there's no real options for all day/all night use. Correct me if I'm missing any, besides maybe shower/rivers?

That's why you shouldn't be searching for something to completely mask it. I run a couple of tower fans on low speeds. It does not even come close to masking, but it does add some extra sound to my environment so I'm not alone with the ringing, hissing, static. Fans normally spike my tinnitus, but I have found that the tower fans are soft enough that they don't. Does my tinnitus still get to me even with this? Of course, but it at least helps.

I used to play cicadas at bedtime, but I would set a sleep timer for about an hour or two. Listening to it all through the night would spike me in the morning. Now I just turn on a TV show or movie on my phone and run my fans until I fall asleep.

Here I thought your profile picture was you this whole time lol. I made it through the photos thread tonight to destress and for entertainment. Nice to put some faces to names.

Haha omg. Yea, no... my profile photo is elderly Fred Durst.

 

[Poseidon65]

@Poseidon65, what sounds were you able to mask with? Aside from reactivity it seems high frequency tinnitus is very limited as far as what masking sounds work.

I was using white noise, and still do so every night (though I no longer feel the need to mask during the day). I use the myNoise app for iPhone for this. MyNoise let's you customize the sound with frequency sliders, so that you can experiment and find something that's effective for you without being too annoying.

 

[IntotheBlue03]

That's why you shouldn't be searching for something to completely mask it. I run a couple of tower fans on low speeds. It does not even come close to masking, but it does add some extra sound to my environment so I'm not alone with the ringing, hissing, static. Fans normally spike my tinnitus, but I have found that the tower fans are soft enough that they don't. Does my tinnitus still get to me even with this? Of course, but it at least helps.

I used to play cicadas at bedtime, but I would set a sleep timer for about an hour or two. Listening to it all through the night would spike me in the morning. Now I just turn on a TV show or movie on my phone and run my fans until I fall asleep.

Haha omg. Yea, no... my profile photo is elderly Fred Durst.

OMG I would've never guessed that was Fred Durst! I hate the current world, I would give anything to go back to the 90s/early 2000s but that's me lol. Here I thought you were some older guy. I'm guessing you're closer to my age lol. It pains me to see how many younger people are on here with debilitating tinnitus!

Thanks for the tips. I haven't tried my tower fans since this started but I used to sleep with one all the time. I'm going to see if I can go back to that and put these crickets on a timer from my Alexa as well.

It's been killing me to sleep without it anyway. And you're right, I need to find a way to settle for sounds that don't completely mask if I can find anything that doesn't cause it to react through the roof. That seems to vary daily. I'm still in the stage where I have severe anxiety so falling asleep is still challenging even though I do get there from exhaustion.

Do you take any sleep meds?

 

[IntotheBlue03]

I was using white noise, and still do so every night (though I no longer feel the need to mask during the day). I use the myNoise app for iPhone for this. MyNoise let's you customize the sound with frequency sliders, so that you can experiment and find something that's effective for you without being too annoying.

Thanks for the feedback. I wish white noise worked for me. Anything that's constant seems to irritate my tinnitus in addition to the reactivity. Experimenting with crickets and cicadas on that app currently.

 

[Poseidon65]

Update at 26 months. Still doing fine except for a recent spike, which was caused by going to a birthday party at a lounge with a DJ playing.

I was wearing musician's earplugs (NRR 14 dB), but apparently the NRR wasn't high enough. Thankfully the spike lasted only a week, and is now gone (I was worried it was a permanent worsening).

Going forward, in venues with loud music in the background, I will either wear foam earplugs or simply leave, and I now carry both foam earplugs and musician's earplugs on my keychain, so that I always have what I need.

 

[Mister Muso]

You asked how the second and third year compared with the first. For me it's been like this:

-First 6 months - new tones, chaos, depression

-Second 6 months - stabilisation and easing off

-2nd year - more stabilisation and easing off, carefully getting life back

-3rd year - MAJOR SPIKE lasting months! But it is what it is. More acceptance and habituation, not monitoring it all the time.

At least my hyperacusis is easing off a little every year. I've been to a few small concerts since my spike eased off and my baseline is a little higher again but it's tolerable. There are days when I don't think about it for hours, and if I do I don't notice it much. I can read in a quiet room but still need masking sounds at times. 2nd year I didn't use masking so much, but it can still be useful.