Bill would probably tell you to wear hearing protection around the sounds that make you uncomfortable (Peltor X5A Ear Muffs, I usually wouldn't wear ear plugs all the time because of the possibility of Wax Impaction and Ear Infection that can cause worsening for T and hyperacusis, I'd avoid those.
Roll the plugs before putting them in with clean hands and with clean ears free of wax buildup, you should avoid microsuction and automated tools as they can cause worsening of Tinnitus and possibly Hyperacusis, get a doctor to use manual tools to clear up the canal of wax and avoid ear drops just in case, I've heard they can cause worsening in some people too.
When wearing ear muffs, if your head is large and the clamp can't push down further and the muffs and band are super tight to the head, you don't need to try to close the band down further, they'll just unhinge themselves because of the shape of your skull and possibly make a "pop" sound.
Just make sure the band is facing towards the ceiling while your head is in a near perfect straight posture and that the cups are tightly sealed to the skin around your ears. I will link possibly useful tutorial videos.
Make sure to open your jaw while inserting ear plugs if you choose to wear them, it'll make them insert deeper. Hold the top tip of of your earlobe with the other hand while doing this as well to help with a deeper insert to avoid the occlusion effect.) Ear Muffs can help reduce the amplitude of external sounds and the perception of auditory gain when sounds from outside your body try and interact with your ears.
If you choose to sleep with your muff. Do not put your head to the side or lay it on the muff cups, it will create a pressure in the ear canal that can result in a quite audible pop in the ear once the pressure from the muff cup pressing on the bed is released. Always sleep on your back on a stable pillow that doesn't sway your head to any specific side. Only let's the head stay in the middle.
I'd recommend sleeping on the right side with the pillow elevated on the front right side of the face to relieve pressure on the jaw if sleeping with muffs to avoid snoring in them because of the occlusion effect as well. It can be very bad for people with T and H to snore for hours in them.
Do everything you can to avoid hitting the ear muff cups and ear muff band on things. That can be very loud and unpleasant and can cause spikes. Avoid yelling or talking loud in them as well because of the occlusion effect. I'd recommend whispering instead if you absolutely have to talk.
It cuts out some of that occlusion feeling when you whisper because the frequencies of your voice are much higher and there is no tonal fundamental. I have no idea if it makes things better though regarding the problems and spikes the occlusion effect can cause.
Never eat while wearing ear muffs or ear plugs as well. Way too loud in my opinion. When the ear muffs start falling apart and start leaking a bit more sound. It's time to get a new pair. Especially if you hear some of the higher frequencies of sound leak more into them too much after wearing them a lot and the plastic on the cup starts falling away from the cup.
It's also good to keep the insides clean, so replacing the ear muffs completely once in awhile 3-6 months depending on the wear and tear is a good idea.
Basically, you could try wearing some protection around the house and staying away from loud sounds overall and sounds that make you feel bad/uncomfortable or spike your T or H.
Sadly, only time and proper protection seems to help when it comes to those things according to @Bill Bauer. Bill hasn't posted at all this year. I think it might be due to his condition. I thought I'd chime in. I feel your pain. Try to eat softer foods if eating is painful as well. You can just eat stuff like chewy steak if it's not painful like chips. You could try blending your food.
Asking someone else to use the blender with hearing protection while you're not around or you can be in another room with an extension cord connected to the blender's cord with hearing protection and the door closed then plug it in an outlet outside that room and far away to blend your food into a liquid substance while being in a safe spot.
If you get a DB meter to find out how loud certain things are and which things to stay away from. Make sure it can Calculate DBz from 10hz to 20khz. DBa does not calculate low sounds properly and will not show you true values.
However, I'm not sure if Bill talked too much about DB Meters he usually said to stay away from sounds that made you spike mainly and everything above normal conversation volume. 60db. A good way to know what those are is getting a DB meter however.
That is for extended periods of time though. Split second impulse bursts of sounds above 60db should be okay and are basically improbable to avoid no matter what you'd try it's insane how many sounds we make that peak above 70db in the low millisecond time window.
Even clipping your nails can be a 100db impulse noise. I'd probably wear protection for that or use nail scissors for quieter usage because that can be a spike-inducing thing I imagine. You can also cut the side of your nails first then pull the nail off. It should come off easily if the side is cut slightly. That is most likely one of the quietest ways to do it.
Things to avoid that you probably already know to:
Toilet Flushing, You can attach a string to the toilet handle and get out of the room then pull the string while wearing hearing protection to flush the toilet remotely.
Microwave you can put a finger bot on the start button after setting up the time and start it remotely to avoid the sound or just use a big oven without the annoying " Ting" sound some make. Big ovens preferably that make no sound.
Thunder, stay indoors in the basement with hearing protection if possible extremely loud outside 120DB and near windows, people will calculate thunder in DBa, but it should be calculated in DBz weighting, it can easily be 83 DB indoors or more especially near windows maybe even louder depending on where in the house you are. The basement is usually the safest space from thunder if you have access to it.
Microwave that works with the remote fingerbot: "Panasonic NN-SD681S" is the one, As long as the buttons can be pushed by a little force it'll be fine. Just put the fingerbot on the Start button.
@TheIncident what you've written here is much appreciated, but what's left of a life if we have to live in a cave? How do we work? We need money... It's not just like we do this temporarily and then we get better. This is basically not living.
@Nadia231 I understand what you mean. This is something that is extremely hard to do for some people and for lots of people it wouldn't be worth the effort of doing. It's just that it seems that @Mal25 is a very severe sufferer and asked for Bill's take on it in a thread. I'm only relaying what @Bill Bauer would most likely tell him to answer his call for help.
I appreciate your comments and help. I think I've went down a road of occlusion and now my H is extreme and my T is catastrophic most sounds .and my ears ache and ear muffs spike me as soon as I get em on for some reason. I've been wearing earplugs for months now and I have nox also. My sound tolerance reduces as the days go by.
Idk whether to put the earplugs all the way in and rest from all noise or partially and try to recover some tolerance. I have a bunch of cofactors like ETD or PET and ear popping when I swallow or move my head. I feel tingly in my throat when I swallow
Also I have tingling in my whole body from heat or cold adjustment. Also my autophony or loudness is very bad. I get slightly dizzy from sounds and when I breathe I feel the wind in my ears and soreness
It's been 6 months for me. I can't drive without worsening and ridiculous spikes can't go outside currently. Hopefully God doesn't condemn me to hell. Previously I owned a clothing line, sold cars, played chess, boxing trained, was a workout junky, and pescatarian for almost 10 years, I'm 43 and my life is done. I sit in bathrooms majority of the day avoiding road traffic noise and planes God bless
I'd say to put them all the way in for the earplugs because that lowers occlusion and the opposite makes occlusion worse, but ear muffs are miles better to wear. Like the X5A's by example, no need to worry about wax build up or ear infections with those.
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