Resolved question:
Hi, I hope you may be able to shed some light. I am a professional musician and have recently finished a major tour. I played (keyboards) with a major pop band in large venues (to around 18,000 people each show). Unfortunately, in this last tour, the physics of the stage set was uniquely such that truly huge amounts of bass frequencies reached me from the sub woofers, and I experienced great discomfort for two hours each night because of this.
Although I wore moulded in-ear monitors, which do provide a very effective seal against ambient sound, these did not block the VERY low frequencies that were reaching me (around 40 to 80hz) at all.
As the tour progressed I became increasingly worried about the effects on my ears. I would always experience a feeling of pressure, bordering on pain, inside my head the day after a show, as well as a sensitivity to sudden sounds that I did not have before the tour. I went to see an ENT consultant in this time and tests were made which I attach.
The problem NOW (which is some weeks after the tour has finished) is that the feeling of pressure/fullness inside my head remains, along with the aforementioned sensitivity to sudden sounds (basically, it is bordering on painful to hear a sudden sound of even moderate loudness)
In my perception, my hearing threshold or frequency response has not been compromised (and the test confirms that) BUT the described symptoms are unpleasant, to say the least.
My questions are:
Could you speculate what exactly might have happened in my ears to produce this feeling of pressure and sensitivity to sudden sounds?
Is this condition likely to put itself right given time?
Are my ears now more likely to be damaged by further exposure to loud sound (albeit without the extreme bass) than previously?
The audiologist that made the tests remarked that the timpanogram test results were acceptable but not exactly perfect... I wonder if something is showing on this test that might provide any clue?
So any thoughts as to what might be going on in my ears would be much appreciated. I am waiting to see my doctor about this but there is a LONG wait, hence my question to you here. I have to make a decision very soon about whether I accept further (loud!) musical work, so wish to be as well informed as I can be. Thanks!
Submitted:
4 Days
Category:
ENT Specialist
Hello,
Thank you for posting your query at DoctorSpring.com
You are suffering from fullness in ear, pressure and sudden increase in amplitude of sound( recruitment phenomenon), so it become intolerable.
This may be due to noise trauma. But your audiogram is almost normal except very high freqency. This sensation will improve with time.you can continue your shows once you are symptomatically better, with use of ear plugs.
Tab.betahistine 24 mg two to three times daily for 2 weeks will help you.
Hope this helps
Best regards
Dr. Sunil Jalan