Can Sounds Around 50 dB Damage (Already Injured) Ears?

Hello everyone,

I have had tinnitus and hyperacusis since 2009, when I had an acoustic shock.

It got better over time when I realized that I had been over-protecting in the first years following that trauma. My tinnitus is permanent but it doesn't annoy me much. The hyperacusis is more problematic. But it helped me a lot when I came to the realization that not every spike is permanent, and that many of my reactions to sound were due to anxiety. I basically learned to avoid overly loud environments, wear earplugs in theaters etc., and otherwise ignore the setbacks caused by e.g., car horns. So habituation worked for me.

Recently I got into music production (for classical music). I am keeping the volume at low levels, around 40-45 dB on average with peaks at 55 dB (for a few seconds). Unfortunately a few hours of this increase my symptoms, especially the ear fullness and pain. I am surprised by this because these sound levels are far below the 70-80 dB region.

Do we know whether these sound levels sustained for a long time can damage (already injured) ears? Or is it just some auditory fatigue from concentrating on the music, or maybe something related to the Tensor Tympani syndrome?

Thanks a lot.

 

I don't think sound around 50 dB can damage your ears permanently, even with hyperacusis.

 

Audiologists and ENTs would say no. But I'm not so sure about that. Can cochlear hair cells be damaged by this level of sound? Not for healthy ears. But what about previously damaged ears where some hair cells have been perhaps destroyed. Can the ones left then be more fragile and susceptible to damage at lower sound levels? I haven't read anything one way or the other. This just isn't a question that is asked. But I think there is a possibility that hair cells previously subjected to a noise trauma can be damaged but not destroyed, and that further lower-level exposure could indeed push them over the edge. So, I would say there is a definite possibility that 50 dB sounds could cause further problems for some people.

Can exposure to 50 dB sounds (or less) lead to more severe tinnitus or hyperacusis? Absolutely. This could occur even if hair cells aren't damaged. So maybe the auditory system doesn't suffer physical damage but the neurons in the hearing system could become permanently more active just the same. In the end it depends on the person, but definitely a possibility.

 

50 dB is so low... that’s a soft fan in my room lol.

 

50ish dB of music for twenty minutes is the last straw that drove me into 24/7 protection. My ears were already agitated from a setback, but the setback was also caused by sound in the 65-70 dB range for about 15 minutes in a record store. So all within “safe” limits. I had no further “acoustic trauma” as they are generally recognized.

Music covers a much broader frequency range than a fan. Listen to your body before you end up in a position you can’t get out of like me. The duration of listening could be what’s causing the problem. Who knows.

Artificial audio seems to be one of the biggest triggers of noxacusis.

 

@VaniaTheManatee, keep in mind that 50 dB is not that low considering that it's artificial audio, which makes a huge difference, compared to natural sounds, like voices, fans, etc.

Many of us cannot tolerate artificial audio at minimum levels (35-40 dB), but can have a discussion with another person (60 dB).

That's why the source of the noise is also quite important, besides the decibels.

 

I think you have to discriminate between hearing damage and what you could call an aggravation of your hearing. I don't think that hair cells are necessarily damaged at those dB levels, however, as you did also notice, it is perfectly possible to aggravate your hyperacusis condition around these levels. When you experience pain as a result of exposure to sound, certain pain receptors in the outer ear are activated that are not involved with how sound is processed in the brain. These pain receptors are different from the hair cells in the inner ear that are involved with the perception of sound. You can read more about it here:

https://hyperacusisresearch.org/2016-aro-symposium-pain-hyperacusis/

I see you are a new member on here. Given your situation, the first thing I would advice you to do is to stop with music production for at least a month and see how it goes from there. For some reason, digital sounds are much more aggravating to one's hearing than analog sounds are.

 

Thank link is great, thanks. The conference was 6 years ago and we have not made any progress for this terrible disease...

 

Yeah, the platform also hasn't updated their mission & milestones page since 2018, see this. A couple of months ago I've sent them an email about their thoughts on the current tinnitus and hearing loss treatments in the pipeline. Zero response. In 2022, they have awarded a research grant to a single Ph.D student.

Overall, I think Hyperacusis Research is seriously lacking right now.