Battling Unexpected Daily Headaches and Aggravating Tinnitus

For the past few weeks, I've been getting headaches every early evening or late afternoon. My tinnitus has also worsened.

Two hearing-related things have been happening for about three months:

1. I joined a concert band, playing clarinet. I measured the sound levels at our last practice—it peaked at 90 dB, though it wasn’t sustained at that level.

2. I also joined a jazz band, which is louder. During our last show, my ears hurt because the drummer was playing very loudly. Normally, it’s not that loud. I’ve played in rock bands before, and this is nowhere near as loud as that.

However, several members in both groups use custom earplugs. I’ve already made an appointment to get fitted for some. On Monday, I’ll be getting a mold made, which I’ll need to send out for the earplugs to be made.

In the meantime, what can I do? I’ve ordered replacement regular earplugs, like the ones I used to wear at concerts, since I lost my old pair. I’ll wear them consistently from now on.

But how can I stop these symptoms? Will it just take time for my ears and mind to adjust? I certainly can’t keep living with daily headaches and severe tinnitus.

By the way, when I get a good night’s sleep, I wake up feeling fine. My ears still ring, but it’s not as bad.

 

It sounds like you're intentionally putting yourself in an environment that's not exactly easy on the ears. I suggest you avoid engaging in those activities again without proper hearing protection. Hopefully, with time and a bit of luck, your symptoms will improve. Best of luck!

 

I have new non-custom earplugs arriving today, and I have an appointment for custom ear molds on Monday. It will take about three weeks to receive the custom ones, so in the meantime, I'll be using the non-custom earplugs.

I'm not sure why I thought playing in a concert band or jazz band wouldn't hurt my ears. I just assumed it wouldn't be as intense as playing in a rock band, but I was completely wrong. Hopefully, a few months of once-a-week exposure won't cause permanent damage, and I can return to my regular, albeit annoying, tinnitus.

P.S. Right now, I have no headache. We'll see how the day goes.