Can I Go to Festivals with My Tinnitus?

[bekker]

hello people,

i've got my tinnitus since august 2015 from partying. it wasn't that bad and i didn't noticed the tinnitus anymore so i kept going out without earplugs. Then in december after a night out it went worse and know im suffering from bad tinnitus. I went going out 2 times since february. I need to sleep with sound around me and i hear the tinnitus in quiet areas during the day and in my bed. sometimes i hear it with noise around me. I've been to the doctor. He sent me to an audiologic center. They said I still can go out and now I have customized earplugs (33 decibel).

My question is can i really still go to a festival? I want to reduce my partying and go to 3 or 4 festivals a year and want to quit clubbing or keep it to 1 0r 2 times a year. i had 1party at someones home with big music boxes and i went to a pub with loud noises. i had my earplugs in but both times i felt the tinnitus a little bit more and my ears were more sensitive the days after. but it was temporarely and i think that it was also the focus on my tinnitus that makes it louder.


I want to go to a festival this saturday. Should i go and do you have some tips for me. I do not want my tinnitus to lead my life and not go to festivals and celebrations anymore.......

 

[linearb]

Up to you.

Any time you do anything that makes your ears feel raw, hurt or sensitive, it's probably bad.

 

[yonkapin]

Stay away from large speaker stacks, give yourself regular breaks to avoid fatiguing your ears - try to take breaks every hour or so for 15 minutes. Supplement with NAC, B12, Niacin and magnesium. Drink plenty of water and be sensible.

Also, if you feel that your hearing has been seriously damaged after a big night out go straight to a doctor and request to go on a course of oral corticosteroids. My GP has been very cool and actually left me with a script ready to go if I ever feel that I've truly damaged my hearing. I would say the biggest signs that things might be going bad is if you experience a temporary threshold shift (muffled hearing), dramatic increase in your tinnitus volume and ear pain.

Great that you have custom ear plugs, they've saved my ass countless times. I have a pair of ACS custom plugs with 26db filter - they sound lovely.

Which brand do you have with 33db of protection? Are they plugs with filters or solid fill?

 

[bekker]

I've got them from www.pluggerz.com

Those corticosteroids you talk about. How long after the new damage i can take them. I went to a bar with very loud music this saturday for 2 or 3 hours. During the time there i noticed my earplugs werent so go good in my ear. But i Didn't noticed it at once because i was drunk. When i came home my ears where making very loud noise in bed but it went away. But now 3, 4 and 5 days after the saturday i think the t became louder but i don't know it for sure. I think it could be my perception also because i'm very focused on the t right know

 

[Sebastians]

Is getting wasted in loud bars really the life you wanna lead? Look what it brought you already, tinnitus and stress.

 

[bekker]

What a stupid post sebastians.... Where did you read that i'm drunk Every week or night and go to bars Every night or week so thats the live i lead. Shut your mouth if you have nothimg usefull to say

 

[yonkapin]

I've got them from www.pluggerz.com

Those corticosteroids you talk about. How long after the new damage i can take them. I went to a bar with very loud music this saturday for 2 or 3 hours. During the time there i noticed my earplugs werent so go good in my ear. But i Didn't noticed it at once because i was drunk. When i came home my ears where making very loud noise in bed but it went away. But now 3, 4 and 5 days after the saturday i think the t became louder but i don't know it for sure. I think it could be my perception also because i'm very focused on the t right know

Oh wow I've never seen that brand before - they seem to have a lot of options and information available on their website on their attenuation levels too, pretty neat! Will definitely check them out. 33db filters sound good.

Corticosteroids are usually recommended 24-72 hours after exposure to loud noise, and you will find that some people like to state that as an absolute fact, however there are studies that cite improvements using oral corticosteroids weeks after exposure to loud noise but obviously the sooner you begin treatment, the better.

That said, it can be hard to distinguish between real hearing damage and temporary spikes or simply anxiety - it's a headache I know all about. If you truly feel that you've done some further damage to your hearing then I would say just to go the GP, or ENT and try a course of oral corticosteroids. I've been through a few courses and my experience has been that my tinnitus will spike for the first day or so on treatment and then I experience extended periods of relief of all my hearing symptoms - doesn't apply to every experience I've read on here but the medication is usually well tolerated - especially when used short term.

I would recommend you check out the supplements I mentioned earlier also, if you have some money to spare. NAC especially has been cited in studies to be oto-protective, as with magnesium. They're always good to have handy.

Anyway, good luck chief - hope things improve, and as an avid music lover I totally feel where you're coming from. It's a delicate balance we need to maintain.

 

[Sebastians]

What a stupid post sebastians.... Where did you read that i'm drunk Every week or night and go to bars Every night or week so thats the live i lead. Shut your mouth if you have nothimg usefull to say

Relax mate, or you may spike your T. Do whatever you want. Once bitten, twice shy.

 

[Cristian Ro]

When I went to the doctor, I asked about my Tinnitus - maybe the loud music I listened with headphones? My headphones were so loud that my mother was hearing me from the next room!
The doctor said: your tinnitus is it in one ear? Yes? But your headphones were for the both years, isn't it?
Well, she said my T. isn't because of the loud music.

Still, I'll never will go anymore to a concert withour ear buds, I will never "force" my headphones.

 

[Telis]

What a stupid post sebastians.... Where did you read that i'm drunk Every week or night and go to bars Every night or week so thats the live i lead. Shut your mouth if you have nothimg usefull to say

What a stupid post bekker. Did you not state this:

i've got my tinnitus since august 2015 from partying

 

[Julien87]

You can go to festivals, but for me there is indeed a risk to make your T worse permanently... The big problem with festivals is that you ear is "suffering" for a long period of time. So you decide to take the risk or not..

Personally I decided to ban concerts/festivals, loud bars and clubs from my life. It's less cool for my social life of course but I don't care, that's not worth the risk for me. (and anyway, I've never been a party animal so that's fine )

 

[Gosia]

You can, but you may regret very much. Can you live with debilitating T which may appear as a result ? Nobody else but you can tell.

 

[Mike TerMaaten]

I do not want my tinnitus to lead my life and not go to festivals and celebrations anymore.......

HI

Tinnitus totally leads my life.
now it's only very subtle, and i still completely abstain from any Speakers.

If you want to have any chance of the T. going away, then abstaining from that type of environment is necessary.



I just looked at your post and Avatar again..... you got your T. from loud noise/ festival ? Yea....... you need to refrain from that environment ! ( If you give a dam about your Ear Nerve

 

[bekker]

I've been to the festival and everything went ok. I took NAC before and after the festival and i had my 33 decibel earplugs in. Also i took rests Every hour. I don't think i can go to a party inside/clubbing anymore because i did that last week and my ears did hurt after that. I've made new rules 3 to 4 festivals a Year and i don't go clubbing/ bar with loud music anymore

 

[mandi]

@Mike TerMaaten Do you include flights in the things to avoid? Also car traveling and traveling in general,
which can often cause spikes?