A Second of 100 dB Sound from Headphones Caused My Tinnitus / Acoustic Trauma

[SadMan]

Hi,

I was exposed to loud noise coming from the headphones. It lasted for one second.

The ringing in my ears has not gone away for 22 days. The doctor prescribed Betahistine 24 mg. Is it helpful to take Betahistine in acoustic sound trauma?

If the tinnitus has not gone away in 22 days, is it considered chronic?

The headphone sound was 100 decibels. Would you recommend taking Ginkgo Biloba 80 mg?

 

[SadMan]

Should I use earplugs? Does it help tinnitus?

 

[Danny B]

Hello! Really sorry to hear about your experience. I have no knowledge about the medication side of your post, but I can tell you that 22 days is nowhere near chronic. Acoustic traumas take a long time to heal, so don't worry. It is almost guaranteed to fade with time, as hard as it sounds the best thing is to find other ways to occupy your mind right now so you're not listening for the ringing as often.

Earplugs are a good way to protect your ears in noisy situations while they heal, but you don't need to wear them all the time.

 

[Adaś]

I was exposed to loud noise coming from the headphones. It lasted for one second.

It is almost the same what triggered my tinnitus. But you still have good chances for recovery. Consider taking NAC (anything below 2000mg/day should be safe), it does not need prescription in most of the countries, search about it on the forums.

Magnesium and vitamin Bs can also help with recovery. Some say that a course of steroids can help, but you need some ENT/M.D. that will prescribe them.

Keep your stress under control, as it can aggravate tinnitus symptoms. Try to get decent sleep every night. And be patient.

 

[SadMan]

Sometimes there is very mild pain in my right and left ear.

When the loud tinnitus noise started, I suddenly felt dizzy. Is that normal? The headphones were 100 decibels.

 

[SadMan]

I wear ear plugs until I go to bed. I guess that sounds a little good. Does anyone think it is necessary to always use earplugs to make the tinnitus go away? I am thinking of using earplugs for months. I'll just take it off at night. If we need to protect our ears from loud noise after tinnitus, what harm can it do?

 

[SadMan]

Hello! Really sorry to hear about your experience. I have no knowledge about the medication side of your post, but I can tell you that 22 days is nowhere near chronic. Acoustic traumas take a long time to heal, so don't worry. It is almost guaranteed to fade with time, as hard as it sounds the best thing is to find other ways to occupy your mind right now so you're not listening for the ringing as often.

Earplugs are a good way to protect your ears in noisy situations while they heal, but you don't need to wear them all the time.

Thanks. The message relieved me. The sound level is constantly changing. Especially in the evening it increases. The doctor I went to did not tell me to protect my ears from loud noise. While the ringing sound was fading, I went to a shopping center. In the evening of the same day, my ears rang incredibly. After your message, I started using the earplugs all day every day. I just take them off at night while sleeping.

Because suddenly a loud noise can be heard outside. For example the horn of a truck. Since I don't know when there will be a loud noise, I protect my hearing all day.

 

[SadMan]

It is almost the same what triggered my tinnitus. But you still have good chances for recovery. Consider taking NAC (anything below 2000mg/day should be safe), it does not need prescription in most of the countries, search about it on the forums.

Magnesium and vitamin Bs can also help with recovery. Some say that a course of steroids can help, but you need some ENT/M.D. that will prescribe them.

Keep your stress under control, as it can aggravate tinnitus symptoms. Try to get decent sleep every night. And be patient.

My fate partner. The sound of tinnitus is sometimes very loud. I know the ringing will not go away. I just want the sound to get a little lower. How many months will it take for the tinnitus loudness to decrease?

Sometimes I even think about suicide. I even think of cutting my ear nerve.

(I use vitamin B12).

Thank you so much.

 

[Adaś]

My fate partner. The sound of tinnitus is sometimes very loud. I know the ringing will not go away. I just want the sound to get a little lower. How many months will it take for the tinnitus loudness to decrease?

From what I read here and elsewhere, most of the people habituate to the sound of their tinnitus or their tinnitus fades away. Since it is all subjective it is hard to distinguish whether it is loudness that changes or perception. From my experience after a while you will no longer perceive tinnitus sound as intrusive but rather as a background and you learn to hear through it. Habituation ability and time varies from person to person. In my case it was around 7-8 months from the initial onset.

Sometimes I even think about suicide. I even think of cutting my ear nerve.

Such thoughts happen to many of us. But stay strong and be patient, it will very likely get better for you. What is very important is to stop responding with fight-or-flight to your tinnitus. I know it is hard, but someone wrote very accurately it is like the old joke that over the time stops being funny. Focus on things that make you relaxed or keep yourself busy.

 

[SadMan]

In my case it was around 7-8 months from the initial onset.

Thanks Adaś.

I will wait 8 months. I hope my sleep problems are resolved. I will try to resist this sound for 8 months. Modern medicine will hopefully cure this disease. By the way, I am sick with multiple sclerosis. I have Hashimoto thyroid disease. All of these are Autoimmune diseases. So these 2 diseases do not have a complete solution. I had 3 unresolved illnesses along with tinnitus. What an unlucky person I am. The illnesses I catch are always unresolved diseases. I am 40 years old. I hope new diseases are not added to my diseases.

 

[Adaś]

I had 3 unresolved illnesses along with tinnitus. What an unlucky person I am. The illnesses I catch are always unresolved diseases. I am 40 years old. I hope new diseases are not added to my diseases.

I am sorry to hear that and I know what you feel. I am 41 and I spent majority of my childhood fighting with scoliosis - exercising, wearing full-time brace, sacrificing normal childhood for sake of having a normal life when I am an adult. And I went through that and then had a good life for around 16 years until at age of 33 I got tinnitus.

I was shattered - why now this? Why nobody warned me that such a trivial mishap can have such bad consequences? I still fail to comprehend why 1-2 seconds of max volume headphone blast can wreck one's hearing. This does not make sense to me. All I know looking at example of mine and yours that it can. Despite NIOSH saying this should be fine for 4 minutes. I just think our hearing might have been already compromised by some earlier exposure, and it was the straw that broke the camel's back.

Just try to search "blasted headphones" phrase on Twitter and you will see how many people accidentally blast their headphones at full volume every day and they are fine.

Nevertheless, your tinnitus is still young, it will very likely fade away and you will pay less and less attention to it, and most likely you will move on with your life, like many other users on this forum.

I wish you all the best.

 

[Danny B]

Thanks. The message relieved me. The sound level is constantly changing. Especially in the evening it increases. The doctor I went to did not tell me to protect my ears from loud noise. While the ringing sound was fading, I went to a shopping center. In the evening of the same day, my ears rang incredibly. After your message, I started using the earplugs all day every day. I just take them off at night while sleeping.

Because suddenly a loud noise can be heard outside. For example the horn of a truck. Since I don't know when there will be a loud noise, I protect my hearing all day.

A few of your symptoms are pretty normal, I remember feeling strangely dizzy when I first got my tinnitus too. Mine also generally is better in the mornings and worse in the evenings, it's always changing.

I had a similar phase to yours when I first got it where I started constantly protecting my hearing in every way I could, however I'm at the point now where I only use ear plugs if I go to the movies or a loud party. It's all up to personal preference though. A few months ago a car alarm went off directly next to my ear and I was convinced it was going to be way worse, but actually nothing ever came of it and my ear didn't seem to respond at all. Sometimes this thing is a strange beast.

You sound like you're in a similar situation to me when I first got it, which is actually good news for you. There's a good chance you'll recover, I have friends who got tinnitus from loud music shows and eventually made a full recovery. If you stick around on this forum, I recommend spending most of your time in the "success stories" section to give you hope, there's always still hope of a recovery even far down the line. Not to mention all of the research going into this condition, with promising clinical treatments being tested in trials right now. Your brain will cure itself, or science will help you out.

Life can still be just as good as it was before the tinnitus, too. It sounds crazy, but the human brain is amazing at re-organizing itself and habituating to stuff you would never expect. You ever think about the fact that your tongue is always resting on some surface inside your mouth? Or that you can always feel the socks and shoes wrapped around your feet, or the clothes against your skin? If you wear glasses, how often do you actually notice that there are frames constantly in your peripheral vision? My tinnitus has become kind of like these things, it is so inconsequential in my day-to-day life that it simply fades into the background like those do. And I would consider myself to have pretty loud tinnitus, the only thing that really blocks it out is the shower.

I was downright suicidal when I first got my tinnitus, now I'm actually at one of the high points in my life satisfaction. Getting tinnitus is an emotional trauma, and trust me when I say it gets better. Both mentally and physically. You will be happy again!

 

[SadMan]

Thank you for your messages, Danny and Adaś. You gave me hope.

I went to another ear doctor today. He told me to wait 6 months or 1 year. He said that after a year you would consider getting a device for tinnitus. I wanted a cortisone injection into the ear. Since I have no hearing loss, he didn't want to do this.

I bought zinc and magnesium tablets today. I will start using these vitamins. My dizziness is less than before. The ringing is still there. Sometimes the ringing tone gets very bad (especially at midnight)

Hope we all cure our tinnitus problem. I pray every day.

 

[SadMan]

How can a headset cause tinnitus at the loudest volume within 1-2 seconds?

I haven't been listening loud since I was 24 years old. I got tinnitus at the age of 40. When I heard the sound from the headphones, I got dizzy and the ringing started. Right now, my only dream is to decrease the tinnitus intensity. I do not believe that tinnitus will go away permanently. It is stuck in my ear.

I still can't believe it. How did a headset give me tinnitus?

 

[Kriszti]

How can a headset cause tinnitus at the loudest volume within 1-2 seconds?

I haven't been listening loud since I was 24 years old. I got tinnitus at the age of 40. When I heard the sound from the headphones, I got dizzy and the ringing started. Right now, my only dream is to decrease the tinnitus intensity. I do not believe that tinnitus will go away permanently. It is stuck in my ear.

I still can't believe it. How did a headset give me tinnitus?

Your hearing could have been compromised long before the headset incident, maybe the loud music when you were young harmed you, and the 1-2 second loud blast was what broke the camel's back.

I'm sorry, I know it truly sucks, and it is really unfair and mysterious why one gets this affliction while other people who abuse their ears don't.

You are early in, don't give up. In the acute stage chances are high that your tinnitus can either go away or improve.

 

[SadMan]

Your hearing could have been compromised long before the headset incident, maybe the loud music when you were young harmed you, and the 1-2 second loud blast was what broke the camel's back.

I'm sorry, I know it truly sucks, and it is really unfair and mysterious why one gets this affliction while other people who abuse their ears don't.

You are early in, don't give up. In the acute stage chances are high that your tinnitus can either go away or improve.

If you guys did not give me courage and hope, I would give up by now. Thank you all. I will try not to give up.

 

[aimlesshiker]

I am in a similar boat as you. I think it's been about 24 days for me since I noticed my tinnitus.

It's fluctuated over time due to both stress, Prednisone (not sure if it helped or not?), and I think, gradual habituation. The human body is pretty remarkable and can adapt to almost any situation. I believe in you and hope that you see some progress, whether the tinnitus gets quieter or eventual habituation.

I found this post that has helped me change my perspective... it's hard to think of like this but it makes sense to try to see it in a positive, not negative, light. And think about how strong you are for enduring this! We need to give ourselves more credit and take more time to relax.

 

[SadMan]

When I used earplugs, my tinnitus level decreased a little. That's why I wear earplugs all day. Is there any harm in this? Tinnitus increases when I hear sound. That's why I always protect my left ear.

 

[SadMan]

I am in a similar boat as you. I think it's been about 24 days for me since I noticed my tinnitus.

It's fluctuated over time due to both stress, Prednisone (not sure if it helped or not?), and I think, gradual habituation. The human body is pretty remarkable and can adapt to almost any situation. I believe in you and hope that you see some progress, whether the tinnitus gets quieter or eventual habituation.

I found this post that has helped me change my perspective... it's hard to think of like this but it makes sense to try to see it in a positive, not negative, light. And think about how strong you are for enduring this! We need to give ourselves more credit and take more time to relax.

View attachment 41601

How did your tinnitus start? Did you get tinnitus due to loud noise?
Do you have hearing loss?

My vitamin B12 level is 376 pg / ml. It's not too low, but I started taking vitamin B12 today.

Now I'm trying to get used to my tinnitus. I hope I can succeed. Has your tinnitus level ever decreased?

 

[SadMan]

I woke up at 1 o'clock at night. My tinnitus had increased too much. I took Betaserc. The tinnitus intensity decreased after half an hour. I will continue to take Betaserc. Even if the tinnitus is due to acoustic trauma, this drug works for me, I understand that.

 

[BuzzyBee]

I woke up at 1 o'clock at night. My tinnitus had increased too much. I took Betaserc. The tinnitus intensity decreased after half an hour. I will continue to take Betaserc. Even if the tinnitus is due to acoustic trauma, this drug works for me, I understand that.

That's interesting! It usually takes a few days or couple of weeks to start working (if it works at all). Maybe your tinnitus is just fading naturally at this point? Good luck, and I hope it keeps improving.

 

[SadMan]

Today is the 33rd day. Today, I had the first HBOT session and I will have 10 sessions in total. The ringing continues.

I started HBOT approximately in the 5th week after my tinnitus onset. Is it too late now?

I found the information below. I am waiting for your comments.

Source: http://www.b-ent.be/Content/files/sayilar/77/2007-3-S7-071-Desloovere.pdf

 

[SadMan]

That's interesting! It usually takes a few days or couple of weeks to start working (if it works at all). Maybe your tinnitus is just fading naturally at this point? Good luck, and I hope it keeps improving.

Tinnitus increased even though I took Betahistine the next night. I think it would have increased even if I hadn't taken the medicine that night. I am not sure. So I will continue to take Betahistine for 6 months. Even if it doesn't work, I'd have tried it.

 

[Vincent R]

Hi,

I was exposed to loud noise coming from the headphones. It lasted for one second.

The ringing in my ears has not gone away for 22 days. The doctor prescribed Betahistine 24 mg. Is it helpful to take Betahistine in acoustic sound trauma?

If the tinnitus has not gone away in 22 days, is it considered chronic?

The headphone sound was 100 decibels. Would you recommend taking Ginkgo Biloba 80 mg?

I don't know if your tinnitus will go away or not, but there is a big chance it will get softer. Twenty-two days is a very short time frame as far as self-improvement goes.

There is no medication that helps against the harm caused to your ears. Early into the trauma, it might help to take N-Acetyl L-Cysteine (NAC), Magnesium and similar antioxidants to minimize the damage. My advice is to skip the psychofarmaca entirely and wait for any fading that might occur by itself.

Protecting your ears with earbuds is a great idea, since this will circumvent against tinnitus getting worse due to new traumas. Just make sure they are properly inserted (Google for instructions). Some doctors may tell you not to wear earbuds as it might make you more sensitive to noise - ignore this dangerous advice. Also, don't let any ENT perform tests that involves exposing your ears to loud noise, regardless of how they try to coax you into it. Such tests can both cause and worsen tinnitus.

You have a good chance to bounce back from this setback. I hope the hard-earned experienced outlines in my post shorten your road back a little.

 

[SadMan]

Some doctors may tell you not to wear earbuds as it might make you more sensitive to noise - ignore this dangerous advice.

I agree with you one hundred percent on this. You are quite right. I can never sleep in the evening when I don't protect my hearing from noise. I can sleep if I protect the hearing.
I hardly sleep in the evening when I talk a lot. I guess even my own voice being loud affects my tinnitus. I speak in a low voice.

N-Acetyl L-Cysteine (NAC)

I think it's too late to take NAC now. It is now the 33rd day. I take Magnesium.

 

[SadMan]

I can hear tinnitus even in a noisy environment. Does anyone have such tinnitus other than me?

I am in a crowded bus where everyone is chatting.
I hear my tinnitus over music.
In short, I hear it everywhere, it never stops, I cannot.

I wonder if anyone other than me has such severe ringing.

 

[tbuzz89]

I wonder if anyone other than me has such severe ringing.

I'd say that a majority of people on this forum have tinnitus just as severe. I'm in the same boat as you; I hear it over everything except for a shower.

 

[SadMan]

I'd say that a majority of people on this forum have tinnitus just as severe. I'm in the same boat as you; I hear it over everything except for a shower.

How many months have you had this problem? Has there been any improvement? I can hear the ringing even in the shower.

As long as I stay at home, the ringing noise decreases a bit. However, the city I am in is very crowded, it is very noisy outside. That's why it increases back when I go out.

I'm undergoing HBOT therapy. They turn on the TV in the HBOT room, it's too loud. Can I wear my earplugs in the HBOT room? Will it cause any harm? Because we equalize the pressure.

What kind of torture is this?

 

[tbuzz89]

How many months have you had this problem? Has there been any improvement? I can hear the ringing even in the shower.

I'm at eight months exactly today. Lately I've been having some better days. It's still always there but on the "good" days it isn't has harsh, but it's very up and down. I try and take the fluctuation as a good sign. I'm sorry you can hear it in the shower, this is an incredibly difficult ailment to deal with; torture, as you said.

 

[aimlesshiker]

How did your tinnitus start? Did you get tinnitus due to loud noise?
Do you have hearing loss?

My vitamin B12 level is 376 pg / ml. It's not too low, but I started taking vitamin B12 today.

Now I'm trying to get used to my tinnitus. I hope I can succeed. Has your tinnitus level ever decreased?

I think I had accumulated hearing damage from concerts over the past several years, and a few days of driving around with loud music (probably 80-90dB, not sure) and/or a night of headphone use (I listened to an hour-long album) was the straw that broke the camel's back, for me. I think. There's no way for me to tell what exact moment I started having tinnitus.

Mine has gotten better, though I can't tell if I'm just habituating/getting used to it, or if I'm actually healing or not. Some days I barely hear it unless I listen for it. Sometimes it gets louder and I have to turn something on (music, a fan) to drown it out. But in general, it's giving me less anxiety. I've been avoiding loud sounds and wear earplugs if I'm using something loud like a blender, but I still listen to music in my car (just quieter now, tested with a dB app).

I had my blood tested for unrelated reasons, before I got T, and my vitamin B levels were normal (in fact everything was normal).

Something that has helped me is—especially with acoustic or noise-induced trauma—there's not a whole lot we can do right now. That may sound depressing but once you stop trying to look for answers and magic solutions and start trying to live a normal life, even trying to ENJOY life, you'll start to notice the T less. It sounds like yours has been really tough to deal with and is fairly noticeable, but humans can adapt to anything. I think spending less time on these forums has helped. It's nice to know this community is here if, god forbid, mine gets worse, but don't make tinnitus your life. Best of luck and good health to you.

Edit: that being said, I don't think it can hurt to try supplements such as turmeric, vitamins, anything anti-inflammatory. Keep taking care of your overall health as well as your ear health. CBD helps with my anxiety, too. I'm not a doctor, just offering some suggestions/reassurance.

Edit #2: Your tinnitus seems to be very sensitive to any changes in sound. I haven't notice mine get better/worse in relation to any noise (though I don't live in quite as a noisy environment as you do). Perhaps something to talk with your doctor more. I think it may be a sign of hyperacusis, too? I hope you find some answers soon!