I’m a musician who wears hearing aids. I play at low volumes on stage <85dba so I keep my hearing aids in. That way, I can interact with audience members.
I pulled a muscle in my back moving the almost 40 lb speakers so I was taking Tylenol.
After a few days, I noticed a stuffiness in my ears, as if there was internal pressure against my eardrums. I made it very difficult to hear the music on my small 5" monitor speaker.
I’m very attuned to my hearing, and I noticed this is something very different. It seems to affect all frequencies, instead of the usual high ones, and made the music blur (the best description I can think of). It was even difficult to stay on the beat.
So I thought about what has been different in the past week, and I thought “Tylenol”. Googling, I couldn’t find much about it, other than long term use might damage the cochlea in men more than women. But this has only been a week or two. That’s hardly long term.
To either eliminate or confirm it, I discontinued the Tylenol, and the hearing immediately got clearer.
Has anyone else had this experience or even heard of this?
Thanks,
Bob