Can Tinnitus Sufferers Do Noisy-ish Things with Earplugs?

I'm currently in a spike. I'm wondering about the possible causes - something I really enjoy doing is going out on my boat with my dad. I always wear strong earplugs (I know how to fit them), it's not crazy loud, but I still wonder - what if that's it?

A doctor, years ago, who was allegedly a tinnitus specialist, said I could even go to concerts if I had earplugs in. A guy at the gym has tinnitus and he plays bass in a band (with earplugs, but says "I may need to add earmuffs.") And I can never tell - are my spikes an actual change in volume, or change in stress/noticing it? I know how psychological tinnitus is.

Now I'm not risking a concert, but I'm wondering about things like planes, restaurants, movies, with earplugs of course. Thoughts?

 

Bone conductance is a pathway to increased tinnitus even with double protection and you may or may not be ok with earplugs in a noisy environment. Only you can gauge the risk vs. reward, but I'd suggest using earplugs and expose yourself to a small outing and see how your tinnitus reacts.

I wear earplugs whenever I go out and my tinnitus always seems to fluctuate and spike no matter how careful I try to protect my ears.

 

Hi,

I protect my ears always when I‘m in a loud environment. Last week I was at a concert fitted with very good earplugs.

But I got a spike which has lasted until now.

I guess bass or other instruments which resonate with your body might also cause stress for your hearing.

So please, be careful and protect your ears always when you are at loud places.

 

Sitting at the back of a plane does spike mine. I don't know. It depends on how much you're willing to risk it.

 

Some people can't listen to normal voices without getting pain.

It's pure trial and error. Most loud noise in earplugs + earmuffs spikes me temporarily.

I'm lucky enough I "can" do stuff that's almost normal in earplugs.

I get permanently worse (new tones, more seashells that do not go away or it takes literally 6 months+) if it's REALLY loud, 90 dB+, with only earplugs and for longer than a few minutes. I would never gamble at 90 dB naked ears now.

Air on caution. I'd do noise-cancelling ear defenders/helmets with earplugs always for anything beyond 90 dB constant noise, except for things that are loud with large pressure changes, which avoiding is likely the only option. Even the wind in a normal full helmet gets insanely loud. Earplugs were a must for me to do simple town trips.

 

I think it does depend on the severity of tinnitus and whether hyperacusis is involved.

You hear many stories of friends and relatives having tinnitus but who can still play in bands, go to concerts, get on airplanes etc... and I personally was one such person for 45 years. I went everywhere, I did everything, I went to many concerts with zero protection and I was absolutely fine.

Now I have severe tinnitus and hyperacusis (due to microsuction) but now I am much more limited and more prone to spiking.

I did go to a bar 3 weeks ago with custom earplugs, and they did have loud music (70 dB - 80 dB). I may have had a minor spike but it wasn't too bad.

I have considered flying and going to an outdoors festival but am still deliberating.

The problem is that tinnitus has so many levels, so although friend x can do it, that doesn't mean everyone can.

It is a symptom that we have to judge and trial ourselves to see what we can and can not do. One size doesn't fit all I'm afraid - it would be much easier if it did.

 

Can you tell me more about this? How does it work?

 

Same way bone conducting headphones work.

 

This is the conduction of sound to the inner ear primarily through the bones of the skull, allowing the hearer to perceive audio.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bone_conduction

 

Flying is a non-issue - I strongly believe. Just try to get a seat in front of the engines and keep earplugs handy if you need them.

Unless it's a very old plane, it's not so loud in there. I did not fly for about 2 years after my onset (I have low-humming tinnitus, so I was especially scared about planes because they have the exact sound/frequency of my tinnitus), but my fear was baseless. I'm flying again now and it does absolutely nothing to my tinnitus.

 

So does this mean earplugs are basically useless?

 

Not useless, but limited. They generally reduce sound by about 30 dB if inserted correctly.

 

Flying is a very real issue. I cancelled my plans to fly to another city recently and will take the train instead. It's not necessarily the noise, although sitting by the engines would be just asking for it. It's the rapid change in air pressure. I couldn't believe how much my ears hurt from ascending and descending the last time I flew. To make it worse, we were in bad weather, the pilot was having difficulty getting the landing done, and we had to make multiple tries before he finally got it on the ground. All the while my ears were going crazy from the pressure.

Due to tinnitus, I can't even think about wearing earplugs. It prevents any masking effects from ambient sound. All I hear is the tinnitus, only it is very much louder than w/o the earplugs.

Anything and everything can cause a spike in tinnitus. Mine has been very loud, but got back down to base a few days ago. I got out on my eBike today for about 1 1/2 hours, and made an effort to use the motor only when necessary. I really busted a gut getting up some very steep hills, but I got up them. Now of course my tinnitus is back to screaming again, obviously from the rise in blood pressure due to all the exertion.

 

I understand everybody is different and the same experience might not apply to everybody but at least for me, looks like a 6-hour drive will temporarily raise my baseline level of tinnitus along with the reactivity more than a 6-hour flight.

In fact, last time I flied, I didn’t have any spikes at all, probably because I spent the whole flight with noise-cancelling headphones (w/ music at around ~60 dB) which knocks out by a significant degree the engine noise. I don’t do that on a 6-hour drive because I prefer listening to music via the car speakers.