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22 years ago I permanently damaged my left ear at a beach concert on Tortola, British Virgin Islands. I was young, drinking in the sun, and standing far too clo

22 years ago I permanently damaged my left ear at a beach concert on Tortola, British Virgin Islands. I was young, drinking in the sun, and standing far too close to a concert speaker stack that was turned up way too loud. The damage started off as pain - felt like water was stuck in my ear for weeks. It's still noticeable 22 years later. I'll always regret that moment, but have come to accept it. Your ears are so fragile.

Traubenfuchs 2y ago
How did you even manage standing there? Disco music causes me SEVERE 11/10 shaking-twitching-must-run-away pain and anguish. With ear plugs it‘s totally fine and I enjoy the vibrations from big speakers up close. What‘s different from me (neurodivergent?) feeling pain from loud noise and others (neurotypicals?) not?
- joseda-hg 2y ago
  +1 on regular Disco/Party music volume being overwhelming, also neurodivergent As an additional data point, my neurotypical sister normally usually has volume at about 40% more than what I would comfortably use
icepat 2y ago
Same story for me. Water in the ear feeling for several days, except it was a punk concert and I was just young and didn't realize. Persistent low ringing in my ears ever since. Now I wear earplugs any time I'm at a concert. I do, to an extent, blame the venues for concerts for not indicating that hearing damage is possible. At 16, it's not something you would even consider. At the bare minimum, offer earplugs when you're checking tickets. A lot of smaller, grassroots festivals do.
- drones 2y ago
  I don't understand why these major concerts don't have disposable earplug booths. These things probably cost <1 cent to make. You could 50x markup your supply, they'd still be cheap, and attendees would still have their hearing.
pacomerh 2y ago
For me it was a labyrinthitis. The extreme vertigo lasted about 10 days, after than it gradually faded away but I couldn't hear anything through my left ear. After the first month I was hearing what it seemed like an internal rubber band stretching for a few days, and then I got some hearing back. But that was it. I can only hear frequencies bellow 980hz

Traubenfuchs 2y ago

How did you even manage standing there? Disco music causes me SEVERE 11/10 shaking-twitching-must-run-away pain and anguish. With ear plugs it‘s totally fine and I enjoy the vibrations from big speakers up close. What‘s different from me (neurodivergent?) feeling pain from loud noise and others (neurotypicals?) not?

joseda-hg 2y ago
+1 on regular Disco/Party music volume being overwhelming, also neurodivergent As an additional data point, my neurotypical sister normally usually has volume at about 40% more than what I would comfortably use

icepat 2y ago

Same story for me. Water in the ear feeling for several days, except it was a punk concert and I was just young and didn't realize. Persistent low ringing in my ears ever since. Now I wear earplugs any time I'm at a concert. I do, to an extent, blame the venues for concerts for not indicating that hearing damage is possible. At 16, it's not something you would even consider. At the bare minimum, offer earplugs when you're checking tickets. A lot of smaller, grassroots festivals do.

drones 2y ago
I don't understand why these major concerts don't have disposable earplug booths. These things probably cost <1 cent to make. You could 50x markup your supply, they'd still be cheap, and attendees would still have their hearing.

pacomerh 2y ago

For me it was a labyrinthitis. The extreme vertigo lasted about 10 days, after than it gradually faded away but I couldn't hear anything through my left ear. After the first month I was hearing what it seemed like an internal rubber band stretching for a few days, and then I got some hearing back. But that was it. I can only hear frequencies bellow 980hz