After the Initial Ear Protection: How Far Should I Go?

Ok, so currently I am protecting my ears from anything above 70 dB. This is getting quite old in the daily live.

My question to the more "experienced" guys, how much do I need to keep protecting in the near future?

Festivals, bars and other constantly loud situations are pretty easy: yes.

But for instance a situation where the dB peaks from 60 to 90 from time to time.
A car-drive that is around 70 dB.
etc..

My T ranges from 0,5 on the very best days (mostly in the morning) to 3 at the worst.

 

No insights here? I am tired of focussing on "is this too loud, is that too loud".

 

No one really knows.. just don't go to LOUD events without protection. Concerts, clubs using power tools ect.

 

Yeah, I've learned my lesson about those things.

 

I guess it all depends on how much it bothers you to protect your ears, and on how much it might bother you if your T were to go up to 5 or 10.

Everybody's original injury that led to the development of T is different (i.e., different noise level, different drug dosage, etc). So what works for one will not in general work for another.

At this point this is about your ability to handle risk. Some people don't mind taking actions that might results in their T getting louder. Others will do everything they possibly can to avoid such an outcome.

 

Don't over protect, you will make your problem worse and make the tinnitus more obvious.

As other have said, bars, clubs, power tools and anything logically loud you should use protection. Not for daily living.

 

I also protect for anything sustained over 70/75db, but there are very few things in my daily life which meet that bar so I don't think about it very much...

 

I would agree with the comments above--I bring earplugs when I go to concerts, or sporting events, or band practice, etc., but that's about it.

 

Do you think it is possible that you would not have T now if your threshold for protecting your ears were to be more conservative?

 

On the flipside you could live a totally boring quiet life and it may still never go away, its an individual call as to how you deal with it

 

I don't want my T to increase, don't think I could handle it as it has been quite bad with mild T.
But I also don't want to live like a hermit, guess time will help.

 

If the chance is 50-50 (we have no idea what the true probabilities are, and so this is why 50-50 makes the most sense), I would choose the latter (i.e., a boring quiet life).

If living like a hermit is preferable to having mild T again, then I would choose living like a hermit.

 

If thats how you want to approach it then thats fine. Good luck to you Bill

 

I would prefer suicide to living with T that is even louder than my T now. I would prefer to live like a hermit to suicide. This tells me that I prefer living like a hermit to living with loud T. If my estimate of the chance of getting my T louder if I don't live like a hermit is 50% or higher, then it is logical for me to choose to live like a hermit.

 

Each case is individual and if someone wants to live like a hermit, why not? Just a remark: T is unpredictable and it can worsen without any specific reason.

 

@Bill Bauer you don't need to justify it to anyone, if thats how you feel then thats all good.

 

I am not justifying it, I am helping the original poster to make a choice that is consistent with his preferences and beliefs.

 

I think a big part of this boils down to personality and our own individual coping mechanisms. What can feel like the end of the world to one person can feel like a bump in the road to another. This is largely out of our hands as we are almost hard wired to react a certain way. Various things can influence this, such as our upbringing and our genetics. We can modify our behaviour by becoming more self aware, which is what mindfulness and CBT try to exploit.

@JurgenG, what you ask is very much personal to you, and how you feel your current behaviour affects your life. If you feel your thoughts, or concerns, are making your life worse, then make some changes. You have to enjoy your life and your over protective regime may be pushing you too far. You need to gradually relearn that you're not constantly in danger of causing damage. Simply getting old will do that for you anyway; even if you never go out again! It's about compromise. Avoid or protect against the obvious things, but realise that everyday life is not worth worrying about. I think your worry (constant perceived threats) is what's holding you back. You've got yourself into a monitor everything frame of mind, from checking your ears to constantly worrying about your surroundings. This is putting a strain on your emotional wellbeing. Just readdress the balance somewhat so it doesn't intrude on your life so much. Once you stop believing everything is detroying your ears you'll make some solid progress in my opinion.


I wanna look back when I'm older and know I gave life my best shot. No regrets, or feelings, that tinnitus robbed a significant part of me.

Whatever you decide to do, good luck.

 

My T is not noise induced but I have HF hearing loss so I've told to protect my ears.
I already do by avoiding loud noises as much as possible. But I don't use any earplugs or headphones because they really bother me and make the T seem louder. I also avoid repetitive noises too - that often make my ears hurt as if the sound is like a hammer hitting harder and harder.

When something is getting old then it may be time to reconsider your priorities. I started playing disc golf in Jan and know the sound of the disc hitting the chains is a good thing. I don't notice any difference in T or H and to me the fun playing outweighs it.

 

It is interesting how different people can have a completely different perception of the same reality. What I think, is the opposite of the quote above. I think that we need to gradually learn that we are constantly in danger of causing damage.

I think that once one really believes that anything that is louder than a normal conversation is bad for one's ears, one will take steps to give one's ears the protection they deserve from now on. This will improve one's chance of making progress (lower volume as opposed to habituation).

I would like to be able to look back at my life and be able to say that I didn't trade X days/months of carefree living for a lifetime of louder tinnitus.

I could be totally wrong and it could really be the case that protecting one's ears does not promote recovery and exposes one to only temporary spikes. Or I could be right.

Only one way to find out

 

I'm sorry Bill, but in my opinion there's a fine line, and I believe your way of thinking can lead to a life of misery. You seem to have a very negative mindset, (last week you wanted a suicide section?). Who's right or wrong at the end of the day? It's all just opinion. We need to make our own path and live by the decisions we make, rightly or wrongly.

I just don't think it's good advice to worry incessantly, personally. Fearing this and that, f**k that. Just be sensible.

 

Protecting your ears is not a wrong thing to do. Especially in the initial phase. But protecting them too much could lead to H which lowers your threshold and then even not so loud sound can worsen your T. At least that's what I read here on the site.

Maybe the best thing to look at are the success stories. I can't remember that I've read that they removed all sound in life because that is impossible. But "protecting your ears" seems more that you avoid really loud noises (jackhammers) and being a long time in loud environments (loud music like in bars etc).

 

Yes, my T got louder, and I was considering suicide. So now I am trying to do what little I can to reduce the chance of it getting louder.

The alternative way of thinking could lead to the volume getting permanently higher - now THAT is a life of misery.

 

T and H are so individual and nobody knows exactly how to handle things.
In my opinion it's good to read every opinion, being negative or positive.
To me, you can get T and H if you don't protect your ears.

 

You are obsessed bill, maybe its time for a visit to the psychologist.

 

Bill, I get that and I understand your suffering. However, you thought it was a good idea to have a sub forum to discuss the best suicide methods. This shows how catastrophic your thinking is right now. It's not the best time to give out advice when you are depressed and anxious like this. I really think you need to seek help rather than spend your days looking for a solution on here; and I really mean that in a friendly way.

I don't like to see anyone suffering, and the majority of your posts suggest you need more support.

 

@Bill Bauer
You might consider Counseling.
And I agree with you on the earprotection

 

Personally btw, I do "avoid" loud noises for a while since I'm in my acute phase. But I'm also looking at not getting to sensitive to H. And if I don't feel comfortable then I don't enjoy it. I went to my gym once and I didn't feel comfortable around the speakers so I quit my gym and started walking in the nature and I do enjoy this a lot.

Edit:
Also seeing the OP's first post, driving in the car should be fine imo. But I don't turn on the radio myself and I don't mind because I don't like radio anyways.

 

Some people commit suicide in a frenzy of madness and despair. You must be confusing me with one of those people.

I am a very logical and thorough person. I spend months weighing the costs and benefits of all of the options available to me, before making my choice about anything of the slightest significance to the way I will be spending my future. I spent a lot of time investigating the options available to a tinnitus sufferer, and that makes me qualified to be giving advice on this forum.

Having a sub-forum to discuss painless and reliable suicide methods would have expanded the set of people's options (and replaced options that involve the risk of brain or liver damage, with safer options). I believe that people are rational and this means that giving a person more options can't make the person worse off (as the person is free not to choose the new option).

 

After a crisis it is normal to retreat, regroup and then reassess. Its a process. Just keep trying to work out what is going to be most helpful to you. Right now lessoning the T seems most important to you (top priority). That may change when you feel more confident so leave yourself open to other possibilities.