Tinnitus from Metallica Concert — Got Worse from Ear Wax Removal

[john2507]

Hi everyone, I'm new here. I'm 20 years old and I first got tinnitus after a Metallica concert 2 years ago. It was pretty quiet back then, I couldn't really hear it during the day, only when going to sleep and I could ignore it quite easily. I kept listening to music on headphones at a medium volume as I didn't think it would make it worse, and I went to a few other (not as loud) concerts since then.

The tinnitus volume was constant until my right ear got clogged and I went to an ENT to get the wax removed by water syringing.

A few days after the tinnitus more than doubled in volume, I think it might have been due to the water because it was really uncomfortable.

I can now hear it pretty much everywhere (although I mostly don't hear it outside, only if paying attention to it) and I need white noise to fall asleep.

It's now been 4 months since it got worse and while I'm not anxious about it 24/7 anymore, I still think about it any time I can hear it and I've been pretty depressed about it. I've only been using headphones on very low volumes (can't really avoid them because of online classes and group work).

The real question is can people really habituate to tinnitus this loud? Because I'm starting to feel like I can't...

 

[Scruffy]

We make it worse, like blasting our ears with the shower head etc. I'm being extra careful from now on

 

[weab00]

Well, at least you fucked your ears up to a great band.

 

[xyz]

Next time let the ENT use a manual tool to remove the ear wax. I cannot believe ENTs still use water syringing and microsuction for this where a 5 minute Google search shows these techniques are dangerous for the ear. Also don't let the ENT perform the tympanometry test on you.

Probably now you want to start wearing more hearing protection and may be take some Magnesium.

 

[john2507]

We make it worse, like blasting our ears with the shower head etc. I'm being extra careful from now on

You mean showering is damaging my ears? People on this forum say up to 80dB is fine, my shower is not that loud.

Well, at least you fucked your ears up to a great band.

Yeah, unfortunately that was the only time I saw them live and probably the last. Not sure if I'm ever gonna risk going to any more concerts, even with hearing protection. I have a ticket to Iron Maiden next year that I'm considering selling...

Next time let the ENT use a manual tool to remove the ear wax. I cannot believe ENTs still use water syringing and microsuction for this where a 5 minute Google search shows these techniques are dangerous for the ear. Also don't let the ENT perform the tympanometry test on you.

Probably now you want to start wearing more hearing protection and may be take some Magnesium.

Yea, I'm thinking of buying some of those musician's earplugs from Amazon just in case. Does Magnesium really help?

 

[Contrast]

Did you get a hearing test? Also, it would be helpful if you could tell us the results.

 

[Scruffy]

You mean showering is damaging my ears? People on this forum say up to 80dB is fine, my shower is not that loud.

More the water blasting into your ear hole, I used to do this all the time.

 

[xyz]

You mean showering is damaging my ears? People on this forum say up to 80dB is fine, my shower is not that loud.

This depends on how compromised your ears already are. The more damaged they are the easier it is to inflict further damage upon them. I think many on here use ear plugs in the shower but if the noise level is fine for you than this may not be necessary.

Yea, I'm thinking of buying some of those musician's earplugs from Amazon just in case. Does Magnesium really help?

There are several studies that show Magnesium is good for ear health, so I am taking it daily.

 

[john2507]

Did you get a hearing test? Also, it would be helpful if you could tell us the results.

I haven't, it's pretty much impossible to get an appointment because of the pandemic and I can't afford to go to a private clinic. As far as I can tell my hearing is fine, but I know there might be some hearing loss I didn't notice.

More the water blasting into your ear hole, I used to do this all the time.

I'm usually pretty careful about that as I hate having water in my ears. I even use those silicon plugs when I go swimming.

This depends on how compromised your ears already are. The more damaged they are the easier it is to inflict further damage upon them. I think many on here use ear plugs in the shower but if the noise level is fine for you than this may not be necessary.

I thought this was for hyperacusis, which I don't have. The sound of the shower doesn't bother me at all and doesn't seem to spike my tinnitus even after long showers.

 

[David Vance]

Oh goodness! If only we knew how delicate our ears actually are.

 

[john2507]

So my tinnitus started being a problem in July 2020 when I got my ears cleaned at the ENT and it more than doubled in volume. After being really anxious and depressed for a couple of months I started getting used to it and while it still bothered me I could live with it.

The thing is it's been getting worse little by little. I notice this because the white noise that I used to play to help me sleep at night when it first got worse masked it almost completely then, and now it helps but I can clearly hear my tinnitus over it. First I switched from rain sounds to white noise, and then after a while I had to increase the volume a little, and now I can hear it again but I don't want to increase the volume anymore because I feel it's making things worse.

I've been avoiding headphones as much as I can (had to use them for online classes and exams but I always kept the volume under 10% and took some breaks), I barely go out as we are on lockdown again in my country (so it's not the subway or anything), when I listen to music or play the guitar I never use headphones and always keep it under 70 dB to be safe. So my question is whether playing white noise through my phone speakers can cause my tinnitus to get worse, even if at a low level (about half volume on my tiny phone speaker, and on a 2h timer so that it doesn't play all night), if it's something else that I'm doing, or if it can just randomly get worse for no apparent reason.

Anyway, what I really don't want is for it to get worse, because at the volume it is now I can probably habituate even if it takes a long time, but if it gets worse to the point where I can always hear it outside it's going to ruin my life even more than it already has. It's bad enough that I hear it over my TV already...

Sorry for the long post.

 

[john2507]

Just when I was starting to live a normal life again, 6 months after my tinnitus got worse, I woke up this morning feeling some pressure in my left ear and really really bad tinnitus in that ear. It's like double the volume of my right ear, which was previously the worse one.

I can hear just fine though, so no sudden hearing loss. It's been like this for a couple hours already and it's not getting better.

Is this something that happens and will probably go away? What should I do? I would go to the ER but they'll just send me to my GP (just like they did last time) because hospitals are full due to COVID-19 and they don't really have doctors available for non-emergencies.