A week ago I went to church as my girlfriend wanted me to go. I ended up being a very large, contemporary church with a band. The music ended up being incredibly loud, but I didn't want to upset her and leave because it is a big deal for her and I toughed it out. She honestly knows enough about brain injuries to know that I should not have gone, but as I said it's a big thing and she let that cloud her judgement. There were four guitars alone (I don't know why, Led Zeppelin did just fine with one) and loud bass drums that were unbelievably loud for a church! Afterwards I had an extremely difficult time working at my desk that afternoon, and in the week after I have had tinnitus that seems to come and go. It seems to get worse with exertion and other times it is just there. I am just hoping this will go away as it is quite loud? Does anyone have a similar experience?

Thanks in advance for any help/consolation.

You need to keep a pair of foam ear plugs for such situations. I stopped going to church music services because it would take all day to recover, even with ear plugs.

Your girlfriend needs to accept the fact that that volume of noise is not healthy for you or for anybody in the auditorium. The tinnitus may reduce. Nobody can say.

btw, At my church, they have an alternative room with a video screen and sound volume at a reasonable level. Many seniors and others sit there because the sound volume is so intolerable in the main auditorium.

Well... I have tinnitus. But mine is permanent. I have Meniere's Disease. There's no coming-&-going as far as my tinnitus goes, although it is worse sometimes than it is others. My right ear also periodically feels stuffed up. And I feel dizzy quite a bit. (Today seems especially bad for some reason.) I'm an older person & a pretty solitary individual. So I don't go anywhere there are crowds or loud noises of any sort.

As "Mark in Idaho" wrote, there's no way to know if your tinnitus will clear or not. There is a medical treatment for tinnitus that is referred to as intratympanic perfusion. I've had it done once. I can't really say if it helped though. It was a complicated situation. But something helped & the perfusion was one of the things that were done. Anyway, it might be something to talk with an ENT about if you continue to have tinnitus-related problems. I would imagine you'd have to find an ENT who is experienced in the treatment of tinnitus. I was fortunate to be referred to an ENT who has tinnitus himself & who has made something of a specialty of treating tinnitus patients.

Here is a review of ITP at the National Institute of Health. It is a questionable treatment at best.

Issues, indications, and controversies regarding intratympanic steroid perfusion

From what I have read, there are no consistent treatments for tinnitus. I've lived with tinnitus for decades. I do best by avoiding loud sounds that can make it worse and learning to ignore my tinnitus.

Thanks both for the advice. I see you aren't that far from me Skeezyks, so if this persists I may have to try that ENT.


It seems that it is going away, or at least changing, so hopefully it was nothing more than a setback and not permanent.