Music with Tinnitus?

[Alexiskaye]

Hi! I am sort of new to tinnitus, I've had it for about a month now. I am 17 years old, so this has been a pretty hard adjustment. Not to mention I'm already a worried mess. Very high anxiety.

I love love love music. It's been my therapy my whole life. I feel it in my soul and in such a spiritual way. Before tinnitus I blasted music and danced and participated in musicals and attended concerts. Weirdly enough, my T came from a virus. I lost my hearing in my right ear as well.

One of the hardest things about this is I miss music so much. I can't enjoy it like I used to because I have anxiety every time I turn it on. As soon as I listen I can't focus on anything else but the noise in my ear. I cry almost everyday because I miss music so much and I don't feel like I can appreciate it like I used to. I'm so sad because I'm so young. Anything positive would help. Does it get better? Is my anxiety making it worse?

 

[fishbone]

Hi! I am sort of new to tinnitus, I've had it for about a month now. I am 17 years old, so this has been a pretty hard adjustment. Not to mention I'm already a worried mess. Very high anxiety.

I love love love music. It's been my therapy my whole life. I feel it in my soul and in such a spiritual way. Before tinnitus I blasted music and danced and participated in musicals and attended concerts. Weirdly enough, my T came from a virus. I lost my hearing in my right ear as well.

One of the hardest things about this is I miss music so much. I can't enjoy it like I used to because I have anxiety every time I turn it on. As soon as I listen I can't focus on anything else but the noise in my ear. I cry almost everyday because I miss music so much and I don't feel like I can appreciate it like I used to. I'm so sad because I'm so young. Anything positive would help. Does it get better? Is my anxiety making it worse?

Welcome to the forum

If you have tinnitus and have bad hearing, then it is a good idea to stay away from, dangerous levels of sounds. Tinnitus can happen at any age. It does take some adjusting, but people can live with it and enjoy their lives. Hopefully your virus goes away and your hearing gets better. It's a tough ordeal, but we stand by our members and support them...

Be well....

 

[GregCA]

One of the hardest things about this is I miss music so much. I can't enjoy it like I used to because I have anxiety every time I turn it on. As soon as I listen I can't focus on anything else but the noise in my ear. I cry almost everyday because I miss music so much and I don't feel like I can appreciate it like I used to. I'm so sad because I'm so young. Anything positive would help. Does it get better? Is my anxiety making it worse?

I play drums and felt the same way at T onset. Like you, my T wasn't due to loud music, but it didn't matter: I had been hit too hard to take any chances, so I took a break. But it was hitting me hard and figured that if I didn't do any of the things that were making me happy, I'd get close to committing the irreversible.

Through my ordeal, I consulted with about a dozen doctors (my surgeon, multiple audiologists, a T expert, multiple ENT docs). They all - without exception - recommended that I continued listening to music, and playing too of course - even with headphones. Their only requirement was to keep the volume at a reasonable level.

This was very different advice from what I was getting from the internet "experts" that roamed T forums, and I was a bit puzzled as I was a T newbie at the time. I started questioning these online doctors and realized that they were well meaning but didn't really have any credentials. Some got defensive that I dared question mantras such as "thou shalt not use headphones".

So I decided to trust the pros, and slowly reintroduced music in my life, and now I enjoy playing my drums regularly again.
To be completely honest, it's not the same as before: I can still hear my T piercing through whatever I'm playing, but it's still a net positive to me. The anxiety in the beginning made me feel guilty about listening to music again, but that's now gone, making it a much more enjoyable experience, albeit imperfect.

Talk to your docs to figure out what's best for you: just because something worked for me doesn't necessarily mean it will work for everyone.

On a more medical subject:
Did you do a hearing test? and if so, what does your audiogram look like?
Are doctors 100% sure that your loss is due to a virus? (I wonder how they can be) - Have they considered you could be a victim of Sudden SensoriNeural Hearing Loss? If so, there are time sensitive treatments you should be following (that's why I'm mentioning it).

Good luck!

 

[Alexiskaye]

Thank you so much for such a long and useful reply. It's nice to know I'm not so alone! I guess all I can do now is lower the volume and work on the anxiety. It might be good to take a break so that it doesn't get worse in the beginning stage.

Also, they think it's because of the virus because I had a really bad head cold before it happened. I was super nauseous with my Labyrinthitis and went on Prednisone for 2 weeks which seemed to help a lot and take out the fullness and pressure in my ear. Also got steroid injections. My first hearing test I could hear nothing. Zip. Profound hearing loss. Second week, 60/100 words I could make out. Fourth week, 90/100. Fifth week, 88/100. Still can't make out what anyone is saying to me though so hearing doesn't seem to be improving.

I'd be super interested in learning about those sensitive treatments. Thanks for all of your help.

 

[Tinker Bell]

I play drums and felt the same way at T onset. Like you, my T wasn't due to loud music, but it didn't matter: I had been hit too hard to take any chances, so I took a break. But it was hitting me hard and figured that if I didn't do any of the things that were making me happy, I'd get close to committing the irreversible.

Through my ordeal, I consulted with about a dozen doctors (my surgeon, multiple audiologists, a T expert, multiple ENT docs). They all - without exception - recommended that I continued listening to music, and playing too of course - even with headphones. Their only requirement was to keep the volume at a reasonable level.

This was very different advice from what I was getting from the internet "experts" that roamed T forums, and I was a bit puzzled as I was a T newbie at the time. I started questioning these online doctors and realized that they were well meaning but didn't really have any credentials. Some got defensive that I dared question mantras such as "thou shalt not use headphones".

So I decided to trust the pros, and slowly reintroduced music in my life, and now I enjoy playing my drums regularly again.
To be completely honest, it's not the same as before: I can still hear my T piercing through whatever I'm playing, but it's still a net positive to me. The anxiety in the beginning made me feel guilty about listening to music again, but that's now gone, making it a much more enjoyable experience, albeit imperfect.

Talk to your docs to figure out what's best for you: just because something worked for me doesn't necessarily mean it will work for everyone.

On a more medical subject:
Did you do a hearing test? and if so, what does your audiogram look like?
Are doctors 100% sure that your loss is due to a virus? (I wonder how they can be) - Have they considered you could be a victim of Sudden SensoriNeural Hearing Loss? If so, there are time sensitive treatments you should be following (that's why I'm mentioning it).

Good luck!

I think the common treatment protocol is the same: oral steroids and intratympanic steroid injections.

If a virus or infection is suspected, sometimes an antibiotic or antiviral meds. But usually the virus has already passed so these meds are not necessary.

Often sudden sensorineural hearing loss is caused by a virus. It can be a virus that you had anytime within a month prior to the hearing loss.

 

[GregCA]

I'd be super interested in learning about those sensitive treatments.

It looks like you went through them (steroids) both orally and as a shot (probably Dexamethasone), so that's good. Another thing that people try early on is Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT). You could research that to see if you feel it would be helpful to you.

Glad you recovered a good chunk of hearing. I suspect your generation will be able to use regenerative treatments for the ear, so your predicament is probably not for life - if I had to guess.
Keep hope up, you'll be fine.

 

[Tinker Bell]

Thank you so much for such a long and useful reply. It's nice to know I'm not so alone! I guess all I can do now is lower the volume and work on the anxiety. It might be good to take a break so that it doesn't get worse in the beginning stage.

Also, they think it's because of the virus because I had a really bad head cold before it happened. I was super nauseous with my Labyrinthitis and went on Prednisone for 2 weeks which seemed to help a lot and take out the fullness and pressure in my ear. Also got steroid injections. My first hearing test I could hear nothing. Zip. Profound hearing loss. Second week, 60/100 words I could make out. Fourth week, 90/100. Fifth week, 88/100. Still can't make out what anyone is saying to me though so hearing doesn't seem to be improving.

I'd be super interested in learning about those sensitive treatments. Thanks for all of your help.

Oops, posted when you did. I think you took the right steps to try to treat it. I did the same.

Thanks to some other health concerns, I have seen several ENTs at top ranked medical facilities. All of them told me that my initial doctors and I took the exact steps they would have recommended if they had seen me immediately rather than months later. While it does not fix my hearing, it is at least reassuring to know I did what I could.

 

[Tinker Bell]

I suspect your generation will be able to use regenerative treatments for the ear, so your predicament is probably not for life - if I had to guess.
Keep hope up, you'll be fine.

I absolutely agree. I know it can seem frustrating when I view the research section, but I think major advancements are coming. Even technology improvements like better hearing aids have the potential to make a difference in our lifetimes.

 

[Alexiskaye]

Oops, posted when you did. I think you took the right steps to try to treat it. I did the same.

Thanks to some other health concerns, I have seen several ENTs at top ranked medical facilities. All of them told me that my initial doctors and I took the exact steps they would have recommended if they had seen me immediately rather than months later. While it does not fix my hearing, it is at least reassuring to know I did what I could.

I'm glad (but really sad-) that someone else had Labyrinthitis and experienced the same thing as me. Such a scary experience to go through alone. Could definitely use someone to talk to sometime.

 

[Ricardo1991]

Hey!
Hope you're good, trust me. You're going to enjoy music again I know it's hard at first but you might even find a greater appreciation for it! There are loads of professional musicians with Tinnitus, you'll find a lot of gold on this site.

Take care
Richie

 

[Alexiskaye]

Thank you for the positive energy. Sending good vibes your way as well.

 

[Tinker Bell]

I'm glad (but really sad-) that someone else had Labyrinthitis and experienced the same thing as me. Such a scary experience to go through alone. Could definitely use someone to talk to sometime.

I know it's very scary. Members continually post about the dangers of noise but overlook how much damage a (seemingly) simple virus can do.

I have a cold right now. Stuffy nose and stuffy ears (if that makes sense). The last time I had these symptoms, I lost my hearing a week later. So I'm a bit anxious. Do not hesitate to send me a message, I've been there and I'm still navigating this path.

One piece of advice that an audiologist and ENTs gave me: the source of your hearing loss no longer matters. Protect against loud noises, avoid ototoxic medications, and take care of your health to help (hopefully) protect against viruses.