One Rock Festival Changed My Life by Giving Me Tinnitus

The white noise and crickets irritated me and made my tinnitus louder
If white noise is agitating your ringing, then yes, this is reactive tinnitus. I have been dealing with reactivity for the last 9 months. I agree 100% with @Jsm_Joestar, you need to let your nerves calm down before approaching any type of sound therapy and I strongly recommend that you don't use sound machines just yet. My advice from personal experience would be to give your ears at least 4-5 months of rest, then gradually approach sound therapy with natural white noise.

Best of luck.
 
@Michael Leigh, do you believe there's a minimum decibel reading when we should start using earplugs? Should I use them if it's around 75 dB?
No I don't, because no two people will experience noise-induced tinnitus the same. If hyperacusis is present, it can complicate things further. I have covered this in my post: Hyperacusis, As I See It.

The moment one starts to become concerned about decibel levels and using sound apps on their phone, they begin to put more pressure on themselves which can lead to all sorts of problems. I am not saying noise reducing earplugs shouldn't be used, quite the contrary, but trust your ears and how you feel in the environment you're in. I suggest not to use sound apps or a dedicated decibel meter unless it's for demonstration purposes, because psychologically, they can cause more harm than good when healing from noise-induced tinnitus and hyperacusis.

Michael
 
If white noise is agitating your ringing, then yes, this is reactive tinnitus. I have been dealing with reactivity for the last 9 months. I agree 100% with @Jsm_Joestar, you need to let your nerves calm down before approaching any type of sound therapy and I strongly recommend that you don't use sound machines just yet. My advice from personal experience would be to give your ears at least 4-5 months of rest, then gradually approach sound therapy with natural white noise.

Best of luck.
I'm thinking you're right because my mind/tinnitus isn't reacting to any noise at the moment so maybe sound therapy can wait. Did any medical professional tell you at the time to hold off from sound therapy or is this purely from experience?

Sorry to hear you struggled with tinnitus so much that you had to basically avoid social situations (6-7 people). That must've been hard man. Has your reactivity decreased at all and have you always had it?
 
I'm thinking you're right because my mind/tinnitus isn't reacting to any noise at the moment so maybe sound therapy can wait. Did any medical professional tell you at the time to hold off from sound therapy or is this purely from experience?

Sorry to hear you struggled with tinnitus so much that you had to basically avoid social situations (6-7 people). That must've been hard man. Has your reactivity decreased at all and have you always had it?
That's a good sign man, if your tinnitus isn't reacting to any noise, then I wouldn't push them into any white noise just yet. Give it a few more weeks or months. I went to several medical professionals who had no idea what "reactive tinnitus" even was. They basically said to use sound machines and mask it which made my shit worse because my ears weren't ready for sound therapy yet.

Thanks man, I appreciate that.

And yea, it's gotten way better! I stopped taking other people's advice and just started listening to how my body reacted to sound. Eventually after a few months I noticed the reactivity was starting to calm down, so I slowly started pushing back into sound and natural white noise. I'm still not 100% healed but I'm watching movies and playing my PlayStation again with sound. It's still a work in progress.
 
That's a good sign man, if your tinnitus isn't reacting to any noise, then I wouldn't push them into any white noise just yet. Give it a few more weeks or months. I went to several medical professionals who had no idea what "reactive tinnitus" even was. They basically said to use sound machines and mask it which made my shit worse because my ears weren't ready for sound therapy yet.

Thanks man, I appreciate that.

And yea, it's gotten way better! I stopped taking other people's advice and just started listening to how my body reacted to sound. Eventually after a few months I noticed the reactivity was starting to calm down, so I slowly started pushing back into sound and natural white noise. I'm still not 100% healed but I'm watching movies and playing my PlayStation again with sound. It's still a work in progress.
Apologies, I meant my mind/tinnitus is in fact reacting to noise. Which sucks. But I'm glad to hear you're doing better. I'll be seeing a few health professionals over the next 2 months and see what they recommend when I mention reactive tinnitus but till then, I think I'll try to avoid most loud environments until my body feels ok. I can't wait to get back to movies and games myself.
 
This is all I want. I know it sounds stupid and trivial but I enjoy gaming and watching movies so much. Not being able to do it has been the worst part so far this past month.
I sincerely hope you get back to doing what you love, man. It took me 6-7 months to heal enough to watch TV again. I was constantly getting spikes to the littlest sounds. I know the feeling.

@FestivalT, definitely, just take it easy until your appointment. There are a handful of severe reactive cases, unfortunately I'm one of them. But I'm still fighting.
 
Sorry to hear about your struggle to sleep. Do you eventually sleep? And when you do, is it a good amount and/or uninterrupted?

Regarding Lenire, what doesn't work for someone may work for you so, why not right?

I've downloaded some apps to help with my tinnitus:
  • Widex Zen tinnitus (sound therapy)
  • ReSound GN Relief (sound therapy)
  • Calm (meditation)
  • TinniBot. I just downloaded this one and I heard it's got a lot of good features which can help tinnitus sufferers.
Hopefully one of those can help you @Blackbird1016 (y)
I have been able to fix my sleep. But it requires a fan on and taking 1 mg of Melatonin. I am not sure how I would fare in a situation where I did not have access to these things, which bothers me. I don't like being dependent on things, even if it's just a fan and some Melatonin.

The Melatonin also changes the emotional quality of my dreams. They seem to be perpetually dark and unpleasant since I started taking it.

I'm hoping to ween myself off it soon.
 
How exactly did you come across this information? If that's the case, they'd be false advertising and begging for a lawsuit.
The information is correct as far as SNR goes, which I've learned is different from NRR. I started doing some online research when I didn't feel the Loop Experiences were attenuating much at all (& the Loop Quiets certainly weren't feeling like -27 dB) & found a discussion thread online where a Loop rep actually confirms the info. Then I went back to the Amazon website I bought the Loop Experiences from & when looking through the pictures, I saw 7 NRR being advertised (so even less than the 8 NRR mentioned in the thread). Sometimes SNR & NRR are rather close together, but in this case they are quite far apart, which to me is concerning when you're really counting on that protection. I've also learned that NRR applies to 98% of people, while SNR only applies to 84%.

Hope this info helps & that you're feeling better!

Maddy
 
What's the low dose of medication that you're taking?
I take Cymbalta.
Do you ever wonder whether your habitation may have progressed further if you stopped going to concerts altogether? Do you ever go days without noticing your tinnitus?
No, I do not. I am habituated. I only notice my tinnitus when it's totally quiet or when I am on this website/talking about it. When it started a year ago, it was a 6-7/10 volume. Now it's a 1-2.

I went to a rock concert this past Friday. Going to another this Thursday.
 

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