Able to Go to Loud Pubs/Bars?

Hi Guys,
I am in a dilemma right now. Two of my cousins (from munich and USA) are visiting me in my city.
They want to do sightseeing and also party at night. I want them to have a good and fun time in my city and enjoy it.

So tomorrow night we are going to a very popular street where they have only pubs and bars. One bar is next to another one. A LOT of people will be there and the music will be insanely loud. I would guess around 95 db from previous visits back in the days when I didnt have T. Also the bass will be strong.
I convinced them to go there instead of a club, so I really must go. They love dancing so they'll want to go to a place with good and loud music.

I dont know what I should do. I have to go because they come from very far away just to spend a day with me and they dont know the place. I am VERY worried that my T will get worse and also sure that it will.

They want to party from 9 till 2 atleast...I am scared and worried but I really need to go. They are not very understanding concerning my Tinnitus. Actually they dont really care...probably bc they dont understand. One of my cousins compared T to sun allergy, and then said that her friend who has sun allergy is still going into the sun.
I am scared and worried and scared. I am so sick of this fucking Tinnitus and that I will always have to be scared. Fear fear fear is all I am feeling
There is so much fear and anxiety in my chest..I need help.

There are so many people on here that say that their T got much worse after a night out . i wil wear foam plugs of cours but that might still not be enough.

 

Wear ear plugs and enjoy your life. The fear of going in itself will make it worse. You just need to be calm. Take breaks here and there. You will be fine.

 

Agree with this 100%. I really beleive the fear/anxiety makes things worse.

 

"I haveto go because they come from very far away just to spend a day with me"

Could u sit outside away from the noise?

 

there are no places to sit, but yes, I could stand outside, by myself for at least 4 hours. thats no fun but It will probably be like that. not sure.

I will go tonight and will tell you how it goes. I wont be drinking bc I will still have to drive.
wish me luck

 

95db seems unlikely unless it's live music.

 

Just wear ear plugs, and you won't cause any possible damage

I have some earaser musician plugs that filter out up to 19DB higher frequency's which are the most damaging, and great as you can hear people speak completely fine I use for all pubs or noisy areas. I also use a set of 3m ear plugs if its going to be a really really loud environment which filter out a bit more, but not as clear for vocals. Both sets of ear plugs are 100% invisible, and I've not once had anybody notice them.

Enjoy life mate, just wear ear protection. And truth is, even if we didn't have T we should all be wearing protection in noisy environments anyway!

 

If you dont have time to get some good ear plugs, err on the side of caution. If it's too loud, just excuse yourself. Yes, you need to enjoy life, but very loud noise is bad for everyone, tinnitus or not, and you shouldnt have to be exposed to it if you dont want.

 

This is the worst advice I've ever read here, sorry.

Someone with already damaged ears never knows what will happen in such places, ear plugs in or not. All we know is that loud noise/music is never a good thing for our ears.

 

so basically, you are putting your health on the line for people who don't seem to give two shits about your wellbeing?

 

Are you suggesting earplugs are not effective at reducing the sound for our ears? As that is simply not true. Given some common sense is used, effective ear plugs will assist in reduction of noise damage common in such places. Don't go and sit near the speakers, and don't be silly.

 

You seemed to imply that no permanent damage is possible in a pub thanks to ear plugs. Which is not true, even if you use common sense in addition to ear plugs.

 

Then how did i get T even after wearing ear plugs...please dont say that i did not wear them right..

 

Dont go, ear plugs dont protect as much as think...my advice is plain and simple...T is not something you would want to mess with.

 

Dont put your health on the line for people who wouldn't do the same for you. It is just not worth it! If you feel uncomfortable just don't go. Tinnitus has a huge psychological component. If you feel bad it is more likely to have impact on your tinnitus.

 

okay guys

So I went. and I am happy that I went. In quieter bars I wore my 20 db reduction plugs. My estimated 95 db was probably too much but For sure around 88 db in one pub (my db measure app isnt too accurate).
We stayed away from those loud bars. we went to one bar which was that loud, I stayed outside 90% of the time. those 10 minutes inside the bar didnt change my T.

So I did go, but I made adjustments and still had a good time

next time I will be more brave and I will stay a little longer inside the loud pub. I'll keep you informed

But yes, my T is noise induced and its vulnerable to noise. So I will be careful. But I am only 20 years old and I want to go out from time to time.
. I hope you Guys are ok and doing good

 

@Zora,
I'm so glad you had fun going out with your friends! It's nice that they understood and were willing to make some adjustments on your behalf. I try to avoid bars with live music but I understand where you are coming from.

 

I am not here to make enemies or offend anyone here, but want to understand the reasoning behind your actions.

If you drive at 150mph and survive, that does not mean it is safe to do so.

I also see you telling others to live life by going to music events they love. Drugs make you feel good short term, and cause damage long term just like Lound music. As per this logic should we all live life by taking drugs?

 

What do you say to people that go to concerts and report no problems?

 

Same thing i told before...if someone drives at 150mph and survives it...it does not mean it is safe, is it?

 

The fact they report no problems does not mean there are no problems. Damage is cumulative and doesn't always show right away. I know that too well, believe me. Once you have a mild noise-induced T, what you want is to keep it mild.

We should never tell people with T and/or H : "It's ok, just wear ear plugs and go to the concerts, you'll be fine !". We don't know that ! People make their choices, but we don't know what will happen to them if they go. Each case is different. We have a responsibility on this board. We have to be extra careful with what we say.

 

yes, thats right. damage is cumulative.
But I will go longer inside the pub. Because I want to. Thats it. simple.

Im not talking about going crazy and going to a concert to stand in front of speakers no, dont do that.

But a pub with 88db, and -33db plugs I want to try longer. not 10 but maybe 20 minutes.

relax guys, If I am going I am not taking your ears with me

 

I think there is a lot of hysteria in this thread and it's not backed by any sort of evidence. I understand Tinnitus makes us all fearful and scared - I really do! I've had 4 seperate audiologists and an ENT tell me going inside a pub/club with ear plugs is fine, just don't be an idiot and take some tips below.

- Monitor an environments DB using using an app on your phone - don't take as gospel though as its relying on your phones microphone.
- Always wear ear plugs inside clubs or pubs and make sure they are inserted deep
- Don't stand near speakers, and take regular breaks
- If you feel uncomfortable then leave
- Use the numbers below as a guideline - tip: aim for 80-90DB or less! If its hitting 100db, on ya bike!

With some of the logic in here you must live in a bubble of silence, and even wearing ear protection you can't ever mow the lawn, use a vacuum cleaner, and forget about ever going to a restaurant with more than 10 people in it! As an example, most shopping malls are above 80DB.

This is the generally accepted noise tolerance guidelines taught to physicians and audiologists:

Maximum Recommend Noise Level (dBA) Exposure Time per 24 Hours
85DB - 8 hours
88DB - 4 hours
91DB - 2 hours
94DB - 1 hour
97DB - 30 minutes
100DB - 15 minutes
103DB - 7.5 minutes
106DB - 3.7 minutes
109DB - 112 seconds
112DB - 56 seconds
115DB - 28 seconds
118DB - 14 seconds
121DB - 7 seconds
124DB - 3 seconds
127DB - 1 second
130–140DB - less than 1 second
140DB NO EXPOSURE

Tomato Sauce: http://www.noisehelp.com/noise-dose.html

 

The above scale does not take into consideration prior acoustic trauma and inner ear damage
These numbers need to be revised a lot depending on your damage, and age too.

A lot of us learned it the hard way

 

Sigh, I have posted this to the ad nauseum. Those "safe" noise levels were based off old research deeming anything that did not cause a permanent threshold shift detected by a pure tone audiometry to be safe. This is a very flawed measurement and we now know that you can have permanent hearing damage and a normal audiometry. Temporary threshold shifts were deemed unimportant.

The NIOSH levels are a bit more reasonable than the OSHA levels, but for long term exposure I wouldn't bank on them being benign either.

 

Why?
Do you have any link to a study or something proving that the ears of someone having already experienced an acoustic trauma are more likely to be damaged by these dBs? That would sincerely interest me.

 

Can you provide n example of how you learned the hard way?

 

Went to nightclubs with good earplugs
Went shooting with ear muffs

T went up both cases

 

There are no white papers on it. You see to do a study one would have to subject people with already damage ears to loud noises potentially making some worse. Any takers?

Right now we can only build on what we have learned from animal testing, and that is a permanent threshold shift is not a good indicator of safe and unsafe noise levels.

 

I meant, a study or anything scientific explaining why it would be the case, would be great.