Hello everyone. I found this community while looking up info on tinnitus. Please, stop turning the volume all the way up and avoid standing right by the speakers at shows. It’s terrible for your ears.
Many people get away with going to concerts unprotected, but I wasn’t so lucky. Even though I wore earplugs and wasn’t even close to the stage, I ended up with permanent ringing after my very first concert. It’s awful. I’ve lost weight, my career, my peace, and my ability to concentrate. The insomnia is brutal.
I used to get temporary ringing after clubs, not realizing that even short-term buzzing indicates permanent harm. I wish I’d understood that sooner. I wasn’t even a “loud” person—only a handful of club visits and one show, yet here I am in a nightmare of tinnitus and hyperacusis.
I’m posting this to warn others. Noise can destroy your quality of life. Use protection, keep the earbuds low, and realize that at extreme volumes (110-130 dB), even plugs might not save you.
As a former med student, it’s shocking how little people know about this compared to general hearing loss. Tinnitus is forever. It’s frustrating to see friends continue to risk their hearing despite seeing what I’m going through. It feels like total recklessness. You only get one set of ears; protect them if you value sleep and a normal life. Silence is a gift you shouldn’t take for granted.
Also, learn about NRR and SNR ratings. An 18 dB rating often only provides about 7 dB of real-world reduction, which is a massive difference on a log scale.
Stay safe.
TLDR: One concert can change everything, even with protection. Keep the volume down. I also struggled with hyperacusis and noxacusis; while they’ve improved, I’ll likely never step foot in a loud venue or restaurant again.
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Honestly, tinnitus is more frustrating than my early-onset RA. I’d trade a lot of physical pain just to have silence again. Being 25 and constantly asking people to repeat themselves or talk into my “good” ear is embarrassing. I really blame my dad for putting speakers in my car seat and making me work around loud machinery without protection. Now I even wear custom plugs on my bike. It’s miserable not being able to just enjoy music.
My tinnitus started in 2009 after a Dinosaur Jr. show in Tempe. J. Mascis absolutely wrecked my ears, and I’ve regretted it every day since. It keeps me awake—actually, it’s 2:45 AM right now and I can’t sleep because of it. It feels claustrophobic. The noise is so intense I have to leave the television on just to drown it out. I still go to shows occasionally, but I always wear protection now, regardless of how it looks. I can’t risk making it worse. I really appreciate you sharing this; it’s a terrible thing to live with, and I totally agree with your warnings.
I saw these earplugs called Loop that look pretty cool, but I’m not sure how effective they actually are. I don’t know much about the technical side of hearing protection, so if anyone could look at their specs and let me know if they’re legit, I’d appreciate it.
I always need some kind of ambient noise because the ringing drives me crazy, especially since it’s louder in one ear. I’ve been using EarProMax lately when I go out to make sure it doesn’t get any worse.
I was born deaf in one ear and developed bad tinnitus at 16. It’s so discouraging having to ask people to say things again and again. It makes me feel slow, even though I know I’m not.
Do you consume caffeine? You mentioned hyperacusis, which often goes hand-in-hand with Visual Snow Syndrome, something I deal with. They’re both sensory processing issues. When my VSS was at its peak, the tinnitus was loud enough to keep me up at night. Cutting out caffeine entirely made my VSS much better and the ringing actually stopped.
I’ve dealt with this since my teenage years, and I’m 38 now. I will say that after a while, you eventually stop noticing it most of the time.
I’ve had it for years. It’s not great, but honestly, I only notice the sound if I’m thinking about it. Most of the time I just tune it out. Of course, now that I’m reading this, I can hear it perfectly. Thanks for that!
My tinnitus started when I was five. I remember the night it began; I was crying because the noise was so loud I couldn’t sleep. My dad had a lot of anger issues back then and would scream at me constantly—his voice was incredibly loud, which I suspect caused the damage. I’m 34 now and still have it, but I usually ignore it. As a kid it caused insomnia, but now my anxiety handles that. It still flares up whenever I see the word “tinnitus,” though.
I had tinnitus for about a year before it finally stopped. No doctors could explain why it started or why it left, but I think it was linked to high stress levels. It’s definitely no joke having to live with that constant ringing.