Hi Everyone,
I'm glad I found this resource. My story is one of carelessness. 20 Days ago I attended a concert of a band I have been a huge fan of for most of my adult life. The first time I saw them was in 1988 when our group opened for this group. I have all their work and couldn't wait to see them. I went with my wife and daughter. There was informal seating in an open area. The stage was a portable one do I walked up to take videos and pics of one of my guitar idols. I knew the songs, Sang along, high fived others around me and had a blast. I was very close to the PA and the Amps. When the show was over I went to drive home and realized I could hear absolutely nothing. MY wife asked if I was OK and I told her to drive about 90 minutes back to our house. For two entire days I could hear only the slightest rumbles. I'm 62 YOA FYI and I have a history of being around loudness BUT I was careful and wore plugs much of the time on and off stage. By the third day I became upset and didn't know if anything would return. I looked on line and realized the is probably permanent AND very little can be done to help this type of sudden rapid loss due to loudness. I couldn't hear my self talk. Fast forward to today. I have loud ringing still AND I've lost noticeably in the middle frequencies. I thought I could still have some hope for more to return but these last few days have all been the same. I can't make out voices/speech if they are facing me. I hear some distortion and my memories of things I know are not what I'm hearing in large part. I absolutely love playing and singing and I just don't know what the future holds. I CAN talk on the phone as this is a large part of my job as a Recruiter. Everything was going great and I had a new record to finish with some great music people in my life. I'm almost afraid to ask for opinions and expectations. I'm embarrassed and regretful. One thing I've learned is that this is so terrible. I wish I could support people somehow at some point in hearing loss because it's unimaginable what one goes through. I have an ENT appointment coming up and that's scary BUT I know people want to help and can help. MY case isn't what many endure and I don't want to seem like I am comparable to others BUT it is nice to get this out to you all. Thank You, Bill