Suggestions Appendix 1: Quick Tips

Suggestions for Appendix 1: Quick Tips

Put all of your suggestions, comments and ideas in here and we'll update the guide as we go.

The guide can be found here Tinnitus Help: The Guide

The content that goes in the guide will be for everyone. Please consider that this is for people from many different cultures and belief systems - don't be offended if there are certain things that don't make it in

 

Be aware that the ratings and noise reduction ratings given by earplugs producers are lab made results. For use in real life settings, where people move around, not all ears are the same, and you can't count on optimal situations, it's advised to do something called "derating", a calculation to get a better idea about the protection you're most likely getting.

For those off the shelve earplugs that most people get, I found that you should subtract 7 and then divide the result by 2. So if you have a 29 foam earplug, the real life number should be 11.

This doesn't mean you should overprotect. 85 Db is the level you should start considering protection (and you should be safe if you stay bellow 8 hours in such an environment). For each 3 Db in volume, divide the exposure time by two. So most of the time 11 db protection or even lower is all you need. If you're considering to go on the first row in a AC/DC concert, maybe you need something better.

http://multimedia.3m.com/mws/media/...how-to-use-the-noise-reduction-rating-nrr.pdf

 

You've taught me something new there. Very good tip, something that I'll probably also put in the main guide in a longer form with a very brief note in the tips.

It seems to err on the side of caution but I suppose you do have to think about the lowest standard, especially when producing guidance like this.

 

I found this out while searching if it was worth to get a custom earplug. somewhere in the NIOSH website they say you should use 25% for earmuffs and up to 70% on those silicon low quality ones. 3M seems to use 50% so I decided to go with that.

I didn't know about that either, but it makes sense that what works in a stationary lab will be different when we're moving around in the real world.

I wear an Alpine nnr 16 to go to the movies, by that calculation it only takes 4.5 Db. out, but thinking about it, it more than doubles the time I can stay at a reasonable loud place. From what I researched the louder it gets the more difficult it is to block, so maybe this (-7/2) thing is more important once you want to go to concerts and louder environments. I have a wedding to go in the end of the year, guess I'm getting those custom plugs.

 

I found a rough method of estimating real NRR with earplugs. I have a difficult time finding ones that fit me well and wanted to know what kind of reduction rating I was getting. So I downloaded a hearing test app on my phone that uses over the head headphones and saves results. I ran the test with no plugs in, then again with earplugs in (having to ramp up the tones some) and compared the results. Gives me a good idea of what kind of attenuation I'm getting and at what frequencies.

Also, the 85 db at 8 hours and divide in half for each 3db is based on OSHA regulations, which too high if you ask me. It's based on hearing threshold shifts over time, but by the time you have a hearing threshold shift you already have significant damage to your auditory system. There can be hidden hearing loss that is not represented in these shifts and thus not considered when this regulation was made. NIOSH standards on hearing protection are a bit better.

 

I'll be very short.
1- I'm practicing Buteyko, a soviet tecnique to improve olistic health. Not easy to begin, but in a short time it could become part of daily life. In buteyko sleep QUALITY (not quantity) and phisical exercises are essentials (and yoga, and meditation..)
2- Daily nasal irrigations (with some pure salt) improve my tinnitus a lot.
3-good diet is important
4-never stay in total silence. Some forms of masking are always possibles.
5- many people find benefit from residual inibition (me too). I created a looped sound file that in few seconds sweep from 20k hertz to 0 hertz. It can be a good way to MUTE your tinnitus temporarily.
6- enjoy life and never loose hope.