Could Protecting Ears During the Day Ease Tinnitus at Night?

In another thread, I read @Mike TerMaaten write:

Could it be that Mike had stumbled on a way to ease T?

Mike, does driving a car with earplugs in cause you to hear T at night? Is it the case that no matter how quiet your TV is, it can have a negative impact on your T at night? What are some of the other things you do to keep it quiet? Perhaps several of us could try it too, and see whether this is something that could help many of us...

 

In general wearing earplugs calms my tinnitus down, but I can't imagine using them constantly. I wear them when I sleep for reasons unrelated to tinnitus, and I wear them when I'm doing loud things. That's about it.

 

yeah this too. Seems to bring it down to a constant whine rather than a searing hiss/sizzle. Occasionally I'll wear it (I only use one) all day and the next day seems the better for it.

 

That's huge. I didn't know there was anything one could do to calm it down...

I know you can get an ear infection if you wear earplugs 24/7. I wonder what could be done to prevent that...

I am also not sure how the sound from electronics is different from the sound of someone talking to me in person. Is it the case that human voice does not have an impact on your T, Mike?

@Mike TerMaaten , have you ever used masking sounds at night? Do you avoid that too?

 

In the first year I found electronic sounds (TV, computer etc ) to be excruciating.

 

Even when the volume was low = as loud as another person talking to you?

 

Yep. The problem wasn't in the total volume, it was in the aberrant frequencies which unbalanced the total spectrum of the sound so that the highs drowned out the lows.

 

Yeah, I agree. Lots of electronics make really piercing high-pitched noises that just aren't found in nature -- waterfalls, crickets, etc all have a lot of very high frequency noise in them, but it's not a constant square wave at 18,500hz (which is what the flyback oscillators in old CRT displays push out).

I'm not a fan of high pitched electronic noises by a long shot, but completely avoiding them is not something I can even consider because I make money to buy food and pay bills by being on a computer 40 hours a week.

I don't know if earplugs, in general, are helpful to people. I could barely tolerate them at all the first couple years. The thing is, I went through a period where I was wearing them to meditate and really trying to cultivate a different relationship with the sound... one thing I've considered, is that if my hearing deteriorates with age, the way the world might eventually sound could be pretty similar to the way it sounds to me now with ~20db filters in. So, I think it's to my benefit to basically accept that possibility and have some idea what it might be like, and be okay with it.

That was a ramble, but what I am trying to say is that I think the way earplugs are calming to me, has as much to do with various consciousness explorations I've done, as it does with the underlaying wetware. So, earplugs are peaceful and calming to me, but my brain is not your brain. It may be that some people are similar in this regard, on the other hand, some people find the same sort of calm in synthetic white noise (which drives me right up the wall).

 

earplugs to run the sink is a bit beyond the pale IMHO.

 

You could use wireless keyboard/mouse/monitor, and have your computer in the adjacent room...

It sounds like you don't mind earplugs. Earplugs calm your T. How come you would prefer not to wear them more often? Are you concerned about getting an ear infection?

 

Ear infections don't scare me because it's never happened so far, I keep my ears and plugs pretty clean, and in the rare event of an external ear infection there's not much to be worried about as long as you take care of it and don't use FQ ear drops. But, wearing plugs interferes with ability to have conversations, listen to music while I work or play the guitar; I'm also strongly of the opinion that the best way for me to deal with my problems is to basically ignore them, beyond taking reasonable precautions about protecting from loud sounds. It may be that if I wore earplugs 24/7 I would have an overall lower volume of tinnitus, but I'd be hyper-focused on it 24/7 so that seems like a zero sum game. I don't think that going to really extreme lengths to avoid not-harmful noises in the interests of maybe having 15% less ringing short term benefits me.

Note that I'm 2 decades into this; at the beginning I did all sorts of ridiculous things. Now I basically see it all as a lifestyle management puzzle.

 

Then you should thank your lucky stars. I was there for the best part of a year before it began to dial down. It really can be that bad. Try to imagine the trickle of water running down the sink sounding so intense like its burrowing through your skull, even knocking you off balance. It was like having one auditory system managing one set of frequencies and another to do another set that was stuck on 11 all the time.

 

all I'm saying is 99% of us use the shower as our go to masking device.

I have to say - me last year would say that what I have now is "mild". I'm back to music (just below 90db). That said - nothing about this inspires me to "count my lucky stars".

 

I learned the hard way that my T spikes after a shower...

 

It seems as though everyone has a different take on ear plugs and T volume. Personally the only time I wear ear plugs or head phones is when im in a loud invironment 75 dbs or more. Cutting grass, running anykind of loud equipment or shooting fire arms. My T stays fairly constant where I here the high pitch over everything but the shower. At night I do play sounds of nature with frogs, crickets and cicada type sounds to blend with my T and makes me sleep well....

 

Have you considered not doing these things anymore?

 

I'm back to it most days now.

 

I wear headphones when I'm in the car and always on a busy highway. I limit the use to 20 - 30 minutes at a time. What I found out is when I take them off in a silent environment I have no problem from the compression sounds after removal - 100 out of 100 (different times). If I take them off, still being on the highway, then my tinnitus spikes, 50 out of 50 (different times). Of course everyone is different, but this works for me.

 

I still notice that the music competes (and loses) with the road noise more than it ever used to.

 

This is a Great Thread.


I don't do showers. Just Baths. learned that a couple years ago.

Yes, the kitchen sink at my aunt's house is NOT GOOD.


I spend several hours a day laying outside.

I don't drive long distances. The road noise will do it too.

The best thing.. Is.. after dinner.. spend the rest of the night, outside, in quiet, until bed. YOUR EARS WILL LOVE YOU FOR THAT.


Yes.. Running ANY KIND of loud equipment will do it too. ( Make your ears make noise all night long, or for several hours while you try to go to sleep.


Your Ears give back to you AT NIGHT WHEN YOU'RE TRYING TO GO TO SLEEP ..what you've given them ..during the day


If i have a quiet day, I get a HUGE blessing at night.

Yes, i almost get depressed and bored outta my mind.. But not as bad, as listening to my ears ..all night long.


No, i don't do any Masking at night. I listen for about 30 minutes to my favorite old albums, on a New ipod with Sennheiser Momentum headphones. The expensive Momentum headphones. Low volume. It calms the nerve.


I have a complete ritual / ruitine at night.. My Ears get a couple tracks (songs ) of Mannheim Steamroller FRESH AIRE VI ( 1986 ) Every night. An album from my childhood, that i loved. And that is relaxing..

 

Thank you for providing more information. I will try this! Figuring out a way to increase the odds that T will decrease in the evening and at night, would be huge for me.

Is two hours too long, or not long enough?

Makes sense.

Thank you!

 

Hi
Ha! I just finished cleaning up dinner, and literally out the door heading for my favorite big, nice park..

two hours is real real good. ..when you finally go inside. ..just a Quiet house. absolutely no tv, anything like that going.. to say the least.

After 4 years now, i'm glad to say i got my T. and my own body.. almost down to a science.

It's almost like.. My Ears have Forgotten how to Ring ..because i Expose them to Nothing! no electronic noise or speakers ..that makes them ring.

THE HARDEST WAS 95% GIVING UP MY CELL PHONE. I don't talk on my cell phone anymore.. If i have to make a call, i wait to do it from a land line. ( called into my Voicemail a few days ago ..had 20 voicemails



But still extremely afraid to go anywhere, with any signifant noise, ..or anything like that.


Mr. Bill Bauer..

Is your Tinnitus bad ? is it Loud ?

If you had some bad event.. It's going to take a long time for your Ear Nerve to heal ..possibly years

 

Also, this video helped me a lot

All 3 of his Top 3 Tips i found to be VERY true..

tinnitus relief and ringing in the ears help...

 

I can't see how abstaining from everything, even watching TV can lead to a better life.

The rule of thumb is, if you need to scream to be heard by another person, you should wear plugs. if not, well, that's life.

I noticed that we, the "Tinnitus people" seem to kick ourselves for stuff that people do everyday. We will all eventually die, not only our hearing, but our vision will also deteriorate, our backs will hurt, and so on...

Living with Tinnitus is a process. Mine started with a lot of hyperacusis and sound sensitivity. I couldn't stand women voices over the phone. It gets better. Patience is the key. Do not hide from life.

Best,
Zug

 

Mike: I can't take a shower either, after my second time exposure to noise. I have my wife wash my hair in the sink, after brushing my teeth, shaving and washing my face. Then I take a bath. After my hyperacusis settled down after my first exposure I was then able to shower. That was 1.5 years later.

 

No T = better life. I hope I won't have to completely give up watching TV. Perhaps I ought to see whether I can find subtitles for my shows...

Our ears have been compromised. We are trying to act accordingly...

Thank you for the information and for the YouTube clip, Mike! Now I feel more motivated to use my treadmill. I am fortunate - I haven't been drinking coffee even before the onset of T. I have also never owned a cell phone.

I am able to handle my T during the day. T interferes with my sleep. I always had trouble falling asleep, and now it is even harder. When I wake up in the middle of the night, I have trouble falling back asleep.

Mike, it is possible that you had discovered a way to minimize the impact of T. I can see how few people try implementing your advice, so no wonder everyone thinks that there is nothing that can be done about T.

I wonder if it would be possible to manipulate the sound of your computer (and possibly other electronics) - to filter certain frequencies and to force the frequency profile of electronics to be close to that of live sound.

Have you tried driving with earplugs and Peltor muffs?

I don't understand having any other attitude...

I am starting to get an idea of how long it takes ears to heal...

 

My rule of thumb - if there is even a slight ear discomfort, protect the ears. I wear muffs when I close my car door, garage door, door of the microwave oven, when I rummage through noisy plastic packaging of items in the freezer, etc.

 

So what is the best thing to do if you are still in the acute phase like me and Bill? What is too loud for our ears and what should we avoid?

I get the no headphones, but also no tv? Or tv on low volume? Or what about talking? My roommate has a loud voice for my ears as they always contract while she is talking. But still, it's a human voice and there is no shouting.

So on one hand I want to protect my ears, on the other hand people say that day-to-day sounds aren't harmful at all.

Can someone give me/us advice?

 

So you don't shower?

 

Maybe your T got better on its own without isolating yourself? I'm sure your mental health can't be too great having no connections, job, social life or hobbies?