Tinnitus, Aural Fullness and Sensitive Ears After One-Day Festival

Hello everyone,

My name is Simon, and I am 23 years old. Two and a half weeks ago, I went to a techno festival. It was an outdoor festival, but it also had an indoor area. I was there for eight hours. I knew it would be loud, so I bought some earplugs the day before. The earplugs were regular wax earplugs—the kind you use to sleep. I wore them all day except when we went out to eat. Sometimes, I took them out for a second to check the volume difference, which was huge.

When the festival was over, I went home. When I got home, I noticed my ears ringing extremely loud. I thought it would go away after the night... It didn't. The next few days, the tinnitus was very severe, and I had aural fullness as well as hyperacusis. I was so depressed, and my anxiety was through the roof. I could not believe this was happening to me, even though I wore hearing protection.

I went to an ENT two days after the incident. I had no hearing loss. The ENT said to wait. Five days later, I was there again, and he gave me Prednisone, which I took for eight days.

I am now two and a half weeks in. My tinnitus has subsided a bit, as have the aural fulness and hypercausis. However, I still notice that my ears get full or feel weird when I am exposed to sounds for long periods.

I have to say that I already have a background with depression and anxiety (DPDR). So, right now, I am trying so hard not to panic and destroy my healing process.

I don't know what else to say. I am just tired. I want to enjoy my life, but I guess some people are just not meant to be that lucky. I am trying hard to stay strong. I hope I can recover or get to a point of acceptance as soon as possible.

Good luck to all of you out there.

 

Welcome to Tinnitus Talk. Your ears have been affected by acoustic trauma. It usually takes months for the ears to get more stable, often quoted here by others as 6 to 18 months. Try to relax and wait patiently for the ears to heal. Take care. God Bless.