Tinnitus after 1 concert?? please help!!!

Posted , 5 users are following.

Let me preface this by saying that I'm a 17 yr old girl who until this point, had never been to a live concert. So I had my first live concert 2 weeks ago, and it was awesome, but my ears were ringing afterwards because it was so intensely loud in the venue. I wasn't really close to the stage, but I was close enough that it was almost painful at times. In regards to the ringing, I thought "oh this is normal" because that's what all my friends said, and they said it would go away in a few days. It's been 2 weeks and the ringing has not gone away. All my friends who went are fine and have sort of a "wow sucks to be you" attitude, which doesn't help me because I'm seriously panicking about this. I've stayed away from loud noises, and I've avoided using earbuds as well, but it doesn't seem to be getting better or going away. It's mainly been noticeable when I'm in a silent room or trying to do my homework quietly, and it's incredibly frustrating, and my mind often wanders, I assume the worst, and I begin to panic. I took a nap yesterday after school and woke up and the ringing felt stronger and almost painful if I concentrated on it, which has really freaked me out and I started to have a lot of anxiet about it.

Over the past 2 weeks, I've become progressively more worried and stressed out about this, and I sometimes get to the point of anxiety/panic attacks every few days and my parents always have to talk me down, saying that I just need to be patient and it will go away eventually. I've broken down crying multiple times (I know, I need to get it together) because I'm just so scared that it's never going to go away and I'll never be able to enjoy music that I love the same way. I know I tend to be irrational when I panic, but the thoughts are always in the back of my mind, every single day, no matter how hard I try to push them away. 

I've also been under a lot of stress as a senior in high school because I have APs and dual enrollment courses I need to worry about, so that's probably not helping the situation either. I should also mention that I don't typically get more than about 6 and a half hours sleep at night, and my sleeping habits have been off for the past week or so because I've been staying up later, keeping busy in order to exhaust myself so I'll fall asleep quickly instead of being kept awake by the ringing and panicking each night.

I haven't seen a doctor about this at all yet, mainly because everywhere I read online said that it should go away in 2 weeks, and I wanted to give it time to go away. The problem is that it hasn't. Is it possible to have permanent tinnitus after only one concert? It was around 3 hours long and I know, I know, I should have worn earplugs so please don't lecture me about that because I feel anxious and guilty about the entire situation already. Am I just panicking and stressing, and causing it to get worse by doing so? My parents and family seem to think so, but their often quick to brush off my actual concerns because I tend to panic a lot (now that I think about it's pretty ironic that the band I saw was Panic! at the Disco, considering that's literally what happened....). Did 3 hours at my first concert just end up giving me 60+ years of tinnitus?? Is it possible that it will go away, and how soon??? I'm sorry for the wall of text and all these questions, I'm just incredibly panicked and scared because I thought this would wear off in a few days but hasn't. Thanks to whoever takes the time to read this.

4 likes, 3 replies

3 Replies

  • Posted

    No lecture we have all been there. Give it time ! It's annoying at first and generally it eventually is totally something that usually will calm down after a few weeks.

    hopefully!

  • Posted

    At least one visit to an ENT doctor is needed in this case.  He or she needs to look inside your ear if case there is some minor damage.

    Eleftherios S.Papathanasiou, PhD, FEAN

    Clinical Neurophysiologist

    Fellow of the European Academy of Neurology

  • Posted

    Hey friend, we definitely had the totally same experience! you can check my story. How's everything?

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