F*ck Smoke Alarms Forever: My Tinnitus Origin Story

Two decades of playing music/going to shows probably set the stage, but I'd only notice my tinnitus when out hiking or underwater or something, until last October when my smoke alarm went off in my face, and now it's a constant presence, along with some hyperacusis. In the grand scheme of things, my tinnitus is comparatively mild in volume and pitch, as I can tune it out easily enough and it doesn't affect my ability to work or sleep, but it definitely screws with my ability to listen to music and do sound work (more on that below), and I have no idea if I'll be able to go see bands in the future without making it worse, even though I wear earplugs religiously.

I did a high dose of Prednisone about a month in, and noticed that it went down for 2-3 weeks after my regiment was over, but came back without any clear trigger (my guess is either a couple weeks of shitty sleep or doing a mix for a school project). Since then, it's close to as bad as it was in the beginning.

I've been in school for sound design and audio production for the last several years, and am stubbornly staying with it, as I'm sick of being a middle-aged grocery stocker. For the most part, the tinnitus doesn't affect my ability to listen critically, but whereas before I could edit or mix for hours without issue, now my ears can get quite fatigued.

My audiologist says there's an 85% chance this will go away in a year and a half — my exposure was for about four seconds at what I've estimated to be a 120 dB alarm at point blank range (in a small room, so I'm sure the reverberations might have increased the loudness), but I'm unfortunately super skeptical.

Anyways, that's my origin story.

 

If your ears were in relatively good shape before the fire alarm incident (no prior acoustic trauma that caused acute tinnitus) then I would say your audiologist is correct, you have a very good chance of a full recovery, and probably a near 100% chance it will fade a lot from what you have now. Give it time.

 

Please give your ears some rest. Don't stubbornly put them to the test.

I've been playing music since I was a kid until 2018. Of course accidents happen. But if I could go back in time, I would never want to do this to my ears ever again. I would gladly become a grocery stocker with mild tinnitus.

Besides, we are not even talking hyperacusis. If you had extreme tinnitus and hyperacusis like me, you could not even be able to go to a grocery store. They handle these plastic boxes way too loud. You cannot imagine. Believe me.

 

Even if it doesn't go away, it will most likely improve over time if you protect your ears.

 

I did some live session work back in the 2000s and I would be able to sit down and transcribe all the bass parts off the artists' albums note-for-note without need for isolated tracks. Now I can't really make out any of it because of my tinnitus.

I could probably crank the volume to unsafe levels and do it, I guess.

 

What's the hyperacusis like for you? I also was a musician (drummer) and came down with hyperacusis and tinnitus after a night club outing one year ago. Amazing how you can have zero symptoms, and then overnight everything changes permanently. I woke up with continued ringing after the show, a ton of floaters in my vision, and light sensitivity that would last for nearly 2 months. It was sort of like a bad migraine/hangover that I just couldn't kick. The hyperacusis would stabilize overtime, but similarly, a fire alarm got me in July and set me back and that's when the hyperacusis became severe.

Noise injuries are insidious little things. The hyperacusis is only in one ear actually, my right ear, which is interesting. The hyperacusis is still pretty bad, but I don't doubt that my anxiety plays into its severity as well and I need to treat that if I want to have any hope of navigating the complexities of this condition. Tinnitus I think I could learn to live with, but it's sort of inextricably tied to hyperacusis and this aversion to sound and discomfort I get in loud environments or from high frequency or loud sounds (notably dog barks, silverware, car mufflers).

I'm still trying to navigate my new normal but am thankful for a quiet desk job and that I don't depend on playing music to make a living.

 

Just be aware that making a recovery in a year and a half doesn't mean the tinnitus will go away, but rather that you will be able to habituate to some degree and handle it better. If you're lucky and protect your ears from loud sounds, there may be some softening of the tinnitus itself. Best wishes.

 

Adjusting to the "new normal" is definitely difficult. It's ironic how fire and smoke alarms are life-saving devices that can also ruin lives as an unintended consequence. It really does make navigating a lot of situations feel like a minefield.

I'd say my hyperacusis, on the grand scale of things, is comparatively mild—certainly "can't leave the house" bad, and certainly better than the first month after it happened (I work at a grocery store, and stocking the chip aisle was downright unbearable). I'd also say it varies in intensity, probably based on things like how well rested I am, and I notice that I'm able to microhabituate in some cases. But even subtle differences in volume, depending on frequency. I find if I'm watching a movie or TV show, I often have to continuously turn the volume up or down, or if eating out, I sometimes have to pick a seat that isn't as close to an overhead speaker because the music is just a bit too loud.

I live near San Francisco, and BART, our commuter rail system, is particularly loud, to the point where I've been wearing earplugs *and* earmuffs since my accident. I went to visit my parents in Seattle a few weeks ago, and noticed that except for a few sections, the light rail system was quiet to the point where I didn't even have to wear earplugs for most of it (including underground portions).

Eight months into this, I'd say I have better days and worse days with the tinnitus, but I don't see it getting better. The majority of the time, it's a silver-y hiss, and I'm thankful for when it doesn't become a pure tone. Unfortunately, I still get spikes when listening to music on headphones, even at low volumes (I have roommates), though I used to get intense ear fatigue after just a few minutes, and now I can listen to music for a good deal longer before any ear fatigue kicks in.

I ended up dropping out of my audio program, which was super heartbreaking, but am trying to remind myself that if there's any chance of doing sound work in the future, I need to rest my ears now. I'm switching to a graphic design program, which is very much a second choice, but gonna try to make the most of it.