Things I Didn't Know About Tinnitus and Hearing Loss I Wished I Had...

I have been active all my life, which means being exposed to lots of noise and music. Here are some things I am just finding out now that I am fully immersed in the tinnitus hearing experience.

- When you get your hearing checked at the doctors, they don't check over 8 kHz, even though human hearing can extend up to 22 kHz. So while they told me my hearing was great, I was loosing my high end without anyone telling me about it. They actually gave me a false sense that I was looking after my hearing as an electric guitar player and owner of a noisy manufacturing company.

- Hearing protection ratings such as 30 dB NNR is false. It doesn't drop the dB down 30 dB when you put them on. Instead it only drops it about 11.5 dB with 30 dB NNR. If you put 30 dB foam earplugs in as well, it only adds another -5dB. The formula is (30-7) x .5 = 11.5 dB. The second pair you can only subtract -5. The 20 dB musicians earplugs I used were only giving me a 6.5 dB reduction.

- The acceptable amounts of exposure are probably not correct. The chart that says you can go 84 dB for 8 hours without damage is probably wrong. Same with all the other noise / exposure time charts. Loud is loud. Anyone can get hearing loss and tinnitus from what would be considered safe exposure times.

- Hearing loss comes with more than just a reduction in volume. It comes with tinnitus, sensitivity and pain to noise, and reactive tinnitus.

- Tinnitus is not just a bit of ringing. It is a never ending ringing or other sounds that can be so loud it drives people crazy and suicidal. Earplugs make the tinnitus louder.

- You may not get a warning. It can come on one day doing what you have been doing before. You wake up feeling badly, with this ringing that is loud and disorienting. There may not be a second chance. And if you get a second chance, you probably won't realize the danger you are in.

There are more things but I will stop here for now.

Thank you.

 

It seems to me that earplugs make it easier to hear tinnitus, they don't actually make tinnitus to be louder.

Everything else you said right...

 

I can't stand hearing protection, unless my ears need protecting. I like noise all the time, just a very low level.

 

It's just semantics. The end result is it is louder with earplugs. I understand what you are saying, but if I play guitar without plugs at 65 dB and my tinnitus is at say 35 dB, then I put in 10 dB reduction earplugs, the guitar is at 55 dB and the tinnitus is still at 35 dB so the tinnitus is essentially louder. There is no turning it down.

 

I use a sleep apnea pressure machine APAP. These machines can put pressure through the eustachian tubes and negatively affect the ear. It can also stop the tubes from draining, and there is a build up of fluid. They have been know to cause tinnitus, or at least exasperate it.