Only a Few Days

[Steven]

Hi everyone,

A few days ago I started do develop an inflammation to the throat, eyes and right ear. Probably nothing more then a heavy cold. It dit seem to be better in the evening, and so I decided to venture onto the city with some friends. We went to our usual place we'r we go out. A nice party place with a great DJ and of course very loud music. I didn't bring my ear protectors with me (I do forget them sometimes) and I even thought that the loud music would not have a big impact since I didn't hear that well anyway because of the cold.

Unfortunately I was wrong... The next day I noticed a very sharp noise in my ear. Afterwards I even heard the 'echo's' of everything around me. That quickly subsided, but a high frequency tone remained... It's been just 2,5 days since I noticed it. Because I immediately realised something was wrong, I went to see a specialist. He conducted some test and indeed my right ear is a little bit red of inflammation and I also scored worse on the hearing test on my right ear. At certain frequencies I scored only 70% wat is considered to be normal (which I'm even surprised about since the noise is quit high). So hearing damage has occurred.

He subscribed me corticosteroïds, it could help since I went to him quit fast, but there are certainly no guarantees... I don't know what to think of this all... Is it a combination of an inflammation or just the loud music? I went to that place on some occasions and did experience some ringing for a few hours but nothing like this... It's frustrating that there are no certainties... I'm looking on the internet for similar stories and sometimes people recover after a few days,... But sometimes they don't. I now know how frustation it must be for some of you who have it chronically.

Does someone has a similar story like mine? What are chances that I will have to live with the condition?

 

[Jim]

Hi Steven, welcome to the group. My experience is similar to yours only in that I went to club and walked away with tinnitus. So I can't give any input on your other symptoms. Good that you went to the Doc quickly. I have a friend that recently had sudden hearing loss with tinnitus due to a viral infection. The treatment was similar to yours, steroids. Good luck and let us know of your progress.

 

[Nancy]

Jim, I have the same issue as your friend...had viral infection, which turned into hearing loss, tinnitus, and Meniere's Syndrome, which causes vertigo. So far the tinnitus has been the worst, as it doesn't go away.

 

[Steven]

Hi everyone,

2 weeks have passed and lucky for me I can repport that my tinnitus and also hyperacusis have gone away. After a week it slowly subsided together with my severe cold. My housedokter said there was some water in my ear which probably inhibited the healing process (but probably also made my ear more susceptible for noise-induced hearing damage). The steroids could have been a beneficial factor. After reading a lot of articles and stories on this forum and internet, I realize that it could easily be a lot worse. Even some people in my environment have a permanent tinnitus which I was not aware of. They also got it from a loud environment.

I think I can consider myself lucky that my ear gave me an appropriate warning. Therefore I've decided to buy myself personal size made earplugs. There not cheap but it's certainly a well investment in the long run. I do hope that this topic (and also the other ones in this nice forum) will convince people to be more careful in loud environments. I'm certainly convincing friends.