A List of Places Where You Could Be Exposed to Loud Noises. Places to Watch Out for.

There’s a line between being scared and being paranoid. We dive into paranoia when we take extreme precautions against things that have an incredibly rare chance of happening, and then look for other rare possibilities to fear.

 

Is it paranoid to purchase life insurance? Rhetorical question. If the chance of something happening is low, then it still makes sense to worry about it if the payoff to you, should it occur, is bad enough.

 

No because everyone dies, your risk of death in life is high. Editing to add: in fact, I can guarantee that at some point you will die.

 

By the way, the chance of a door slamming if you open a window when it is windy outside is high, as is your chance of getting a temporary spike when it happens, as is your chance of eventually getting a permanent spike if you don't learn from your mistakes and keep getting exposed to a door slamming and other noises.

 

People buy life insurance not because they think it is a good investment (it is not), but because they want to do something for their dependents should they die in their thirties, forties, or fifties, when their chance of dying is minuscule.

 

@Bill Bauer I understand the purpose of this thread, and I think as a goal it's reasonable. My own answer would include stuff like:
* hammering, especially hammering into metal or rock
* steaming espresso

That said, from your own responses here it seems like your answer is basically "literally everything that's not sitting in a quiet room", and while that may be true for you, it's not likely to be applicable to most people with tinnitus - even people with moderate to severe chronic tinnitus over years/decades.

Again, this might be true for you but I don't think it's generally applicable to the overall tinnitus population; doors slam around me all the time, I can think of a few times it's caused me a temporary threshold shift, and I can't think of any times it's caused me a day/week spike. So, if that's your situation, that's really rough and I'm sorry to hear that, but I think the reason you're getting pushback here is that even among the self-selected group of "people with tinnitus bad enough to post about it online", your situation is abnormal. Further, the precautions you take may be completely reasonable and even rational for you in your situation, but it's also true that there's a large group of people who get into a feedback loop with escalating phonophobia and hyperacusis, and for that group, this kind of advice is directly counterproductive.

Term life insurance isn't an investment at all; it's a fee paid for peace of mind about one's dependents. Whole life insurance is much more expensive, but it's a very solid long-term investment/estate-planning vehicle for people in the upper echelons of income: https://www.nerdwallet.com/blog/insurance/whole-life-insurance-good-investment-strategy/

 

Not true. I mentioned about 6 things. Everything else I can think of is either safe or obviously dangerous.

This thread is for people who want to protect their ears from unexpected sources of noise. If you are not one of those people, why are you posting here? There is a thread about religion on this forum. I have a lot of negative things to say, but I am not posting there, as this is not what the people clicking on that thread want to read.

I know how life insurance works. @Tinker Bell said that buying life insurance had a guaranteed payoff (as everyone dies), and it made life insurance sound like a great investment.

 

I am one of those people; additionally, your first posts here encouraged people to disconnect useful, life-saving devices. I don't really care if you want to wear Peltors all the time or encourage other people to do so because the downsides don't impact the broader world; stuff like disconnecting fire alarms or airbags is fundamentally irresponsible because it can have lethal consequences for people who aren't you.

edit: I also absolutely don't dispute that it's your right to suggest these things, but when I see advice here that I think is literally antisocial and I have time, I'm going to put a rebuttal in text so it's part of the record. You're free to put me on ignore; I talk a lot and god knows most of the people I know in meatspace tend to filter me out after a certain point.

 

@Bill Bauer

With respect to you Bill I realize that you mean well but you haven't had tinnitus and hypercusis that long, although it's obvious your sensitivity to sound is quite acute. The solution to this is to seek medical treatment with a Hearing Therapist or Audiologist that is trained in the management and treatment of tinnitus and hyperacusis, and not to be scared of sound.

Over protecting the ears using earplugs and earmuffs at every opportunity, will inevitably lower the loudness threshold of your auditory system and make it more sensitive to sound and reinforce negative thinking. If you are not careful you might start to develop if not already phonophobia: a fear of sound. Keeping away from normal everyday sounds isn't the answer. @fishbone has 30 years experience with tinnitus and is correct in everything he has said. I am a little behind at 21 years and my hyperacusis has been completely cured now for 18 years. I rarely use earplugs although I do carry them on my person. Touch wood I haven't had occasion to use them out on the street no matter how loud environmental sounds have been.

I disagree with you about some of sounds that you believe are dangerous to the auditory system that you have mentioned on this thread. They may be loud but certainly not dangerous. It is the fear, anxiety and negative thinking that will become dangerous to you or anyone else that follows your train of thoughts on this particular issue, of over protecting and hiding away from normal everyday sounds. Please seek help and save yourself a lot of heartache misery. The road you are traveling on I don't think it's going to be healthy for you in the long run.

I wish you well.
Michael

 

In my case, protecting my ears ended up in tinnitus fading and hyperacusis resolving. I know for a fact that NOT protecting my ears resulted in a permanent spike. As both of us know, there are countless horror stories on this forum of people being reckless, not protecting their ears, and ending up with spikes.

Your words of caution might be applicable to someone wearing ear plugs 24-7, but they are not applicable to someone who protects his or her ears when being outside, and doing things like watching TV at a moderate volume when at home.

There is nothing to disagree about. All of the sounds I mentioned had actually resulted in a spike for me. This forum is full of testimonies of people who got spikes as a result of sounds that are known to be harmless to people with healthy ears.

 

We all live different lives and different surroundings and sounds we come across and have adapted too!
It's not worth forward thinking about sounds and just be sensible around exta loud sounds that need the use of hearing protection or keeping away from it.
My view.
Love glynis

 

I respectfully disagree. I believe it is important to be forward thinking about everything, especially about dangers in general, and especially about noises that could eventually lead to a permanent tinnitus spike or to tinnitus not fading.

 

You Have been on my ignore list. I saw your comments because I saw a "show ignored content" text link, and I clicked it because this is my thread. In any case, it is all good.

 

@Bill Bauer

How old are you? How much exposure have you had to noise in your life?

At your stage in the game (8 months) I was very cautious and wore plugs nearly always when outside my house. I also had week long "spikes". What I came to realize was that i wasn't having "spikes" - I was getting breaks.

You may be mixing correlation and causation. Continue to protect your ears - but dont be so sure that you're destroying yourself. A year ago today I had hyperacusis. 2 weekends ago I saw Umprheys McGee play four sets in one weekend. My ears? They actually feel better than they did a month ago.

OF COURSE I wore plugs by the way. and 2 people I was with have dealt with T. One had it totally go away after a year or so - the other is liek me - it faded a lot.

Tinnitus doesn't just go away. But almost everyone I know who has dealt with it (and I'm amazed at how common it is) that got it from an acoustic trauma had it calm down a LOT after a year or so of fluctuation and paranoia.

 

Early forties. I spent about 30 hours during my life using headphones in cars and airplanes. I tried to keep the volume low, but it is possible that it was loud. I can't recall any other noise exposure.

I can appreciate the positivity. Personally, I am a "glass is half empty" kind of a person. Quoting Karl Pilkington, if you order a glass of wine, and the waiter brings a glass that is not full, you will certainly not think of it as half full, right?!

In this case, my breaks seem to last for months until I get an acoustic trauma...

Like I said, I can't be sure what the reason is for the improvement I had experienced after I began protecting my ears. However, I know for a fact that moderate noises cause spikes for me. For the past five months, my T has been more high pitched (and harder to ignore) following my second acoustic trauma due to a loud phone.

You might be right. Another possibility is that those people's T might have faded more had they protected their ears more.

I am sure you have seen horror stories of people who had their T go away completely, only to have it return as a result of being exposed to moderate noise that healthy people might not even notice. So one might survive many acoustic shocks, but eventually it Might catch up with one...

 

Hey, Michael.

I just want to say that I appreciate your positivity and love reading your posts. I'm one of the unfortunate people that developed phonophobia and hyperacusis after first getting tinnitus, which I mostly attribute to posts that made me fear anything remotely loud. It got so bad, that a sneeze next to me cause an acoustic shock in my right ear that I'm still suffering from 6 weeks later.

My question is, do you have any advice for getting over phonophobia? I hate going through my life worried about someone clapping their hands or sneezing. I'm seeing a therapist, but haven't been able to find one that specializes in phonophobia.

 

HI @Theater Ringing

Thank you for your kind compliments. I am sorry to hear about your phonophobia and know how difficult this can be for you because I once counselled someone with it. This person wouldn't leave her home because of outside environmental sounds. The dishwasher, washing machine, fridge and microwave became uncomfortable sounds for her to hear. She even complained of the sound of falling rain on her conservatory glass roof, so I know how it is. Fortunately she did improve.

You have said that you're seeing a therapist? Is this person a Hearing Therapist or Audiologist that is trained in the management and treatment of tinnitus and hyperacusis? If not I think you should try and get referred to one of these health professionals. They might be better suited as they will have an understanding of tinnitus and hyperacusis. An ordinary therapist might not know anything about hyperacusis and how it can affect a person. It is just a suggestion.

Best of luck
Michael

 

Try and go out everyday even if it's just for 10, 15 or 30 minutes to get used to environmental sounds. Use a sound machine at night by your bedside. This will supply sound enrichment to your auditory system throughout the night. If you live in the UK and want to, you can give me a call.

Michael

 

The above seems to imply that your ears are vulnerable and that you SHOULD be fearful of noises. If it were all in your head, you would not have symptoms for 6 weeks following a sneeze. You should be happy about reading posts here and learning to stay away from loud noises. If not for that, you would have been exposed to noises that would have injured your ears, teaching you the hard way that your ears have been compromised.

 

The list is endless. This morning I walked by a groundskeeper person outside my building at work; as I walked past he started up his gas powered leaf blower and cranked it to full blast. Luckily I had earplugs in at the time, but it was still too loud for me.

 

I'm assuming that's on a phone app? I'm willing to bet it's lower than that. Not that you shouldn't protect your ears while on public transport.

 

Today I was wearing my Peltor muffs when I was getting into a car. I hit the cup of my Peltor muff on the side of the car as I was getting in. It sounded loud. As luck would have it, I took out my ear plugs minutes ago.

Now my T is louder, higher pitched, and harder to ignore. I also had been feeling a warm sensation inside of that ear, and some pain. In any case, whatever you do, don't wear Peltor muffs when you get into the car... Put them on after you get in (before closing the car door).

 

Hang in there Bill. I've picked up some ear plugs for when I'm out and about. Around the house when i use power tools, or even hammering i have the volume control ear muffs that some use on the gun range. I find they filter the high frequency and loud sound noise out nicely.
I just ordered the sound oasis s650 off amazon. It was suggested by Michael on here. Has anyone had some familiarity with this?

 

HI @Rob Hammer

I have used the Oasis S-650 for many years and two other Oasis sound machines S-850 travel and S-3000 now improved with S-5000.

The S-650 is a great product and comes with two sound cards. It can be placed by your bedside and set the volume just below your tinnitus and set to play, throughout the night untill morning. It takes time to get used to a sound machine. It can also be connected to a pillow speaker.

During the day use sound enrichment whenever possible. Low level relaxing music playing in the background such as classical is ideal or something of your choice.

Michael

 

Thank you, Rob.

Is it at all an option for you to stay away from power tools for a year or two (even while wearing muffs)?

At first, I wore muffs when using a blender and a vacuum cleaner, but then I noticed that I was getting spikes after that. I got another family member to vacuum. I think that eventually I might feel well enough to begin using those things while wearing hearing protection, but for now I am still not ready for that yet.

 

I see both sides of the debate in this thread.
In the first 6months I never used hearing protection, as my T wasn’t induced by noise, I just assumed it may fade by itself. It didn’t, but it didn’t get noticeably worse as it was very mild, so I went about my life normally. Of course always being aware to not be exposed to loud environments, as much as possible, just in case.

Then due to a series of unfortunate incidences, some I can easily blame medical professionals for, some noise, some anxiety/stress, things became unhinged. Then sound started to impact on my T and I developed H, almost overcame it on my own, now have it again. Either way there’s been a noticeable worsening in the past 1.5years.

Not matter what I do acoustic trauma inducing sound finds me. I don’t want use filtered earplugs and try to as little as possible, but it’s the only way in certain places to lessen the chances of something happening, which for me seems inevitable.

@Michael Leigh I know you often recommend audiologists, but be aware they do not offer the same level of standard of care in every country. TRT in some is just incorrectly notched white noise on an MP3 player with earphones, which I personally wouldn’t trust.

 

@Gman

My posts and the advice that I give in this forum are based on my personal experience with tinnitus and hyperacusis and the treatment that I have received for them. They are intended for guidance only. I do not have in depth knowledge of the treatment people receive for tinnitus and hyperacusis in other countries. However, I have noticed there are similarities in the way ENT doctors perform here in the UK and abroad. By this I mean: ENT doctors are physicians they are not tinnitus experts or tinnitus counsellors. They know about the anatomy of the ear and are able to treat it medically or surgically. I believe the majority of them do this well.

When there is no underlying medical problem causing the tinnitus they will usually recommend a patient be referred to a Hearing Therapist or Audiologist that specialises in the treatment and management of tinnitus. A variety of treatments are usually available with these health professionals including tinnitus counselling. It is not unusual to find some of them were either born with tinnitus or acquired it at some time in their life. They will have a depth of understanding and knowledge about tinnitus that most ENT doctors do not have for it requires a different set of skills.

There is more information in my articles on my started threads, regarding the roles of aHearing Therapist and Audiologist, when practicing treatment for tinnitus and hyperacusis with patients.

Michael

 

Most of your reply is cut and paste from other posts you have made in other threads, but appreciate your advice is from your experience. I have definitely taken note in the past and will continue to do so. By the way I know what both ENTs and audiologists are meant to do. Recommending professional help is one thing, but know finding good quality care is another. Believe me, I’ve tried.

 

Although my post might seem like it was cut and pasted from my other posts, I assure that it was not. I wrote it here, directly on the Tinnitus Talk web-page without first editing it in my word processor and pasting it in the forum as I usually do. Please remember I have a unique writing style just like everyone else; it is like a finger print and cannot easily be changed.

Michael

 

I didn’t mean it literally or intend to offend. Bad day I guess, came out the wrong way. It’s just frustrating trying to do the right thing by getting help and it not being available, trying to avoid acoustic incidences / making my T worse, not using ear protection too much etc.