Do you guys wear earplugs when walking down the street?

Hello everyone,

Do you wear earplugs walking down the street?

I have had a noise induced spike for 7 weeks now, since then every time i step outside the house i wear earplugs just in case of any sudden loud sirens, car horns go off etc.

I asked this question on another forum and a lady suggested i should stop wearing them on the street because you get sensitivity to noise, made sense.

Today i walked my dog to see my dad at his allotment (area where he grows vegetables) there was a large steel gate at the entrance of the allotment and some old guy opened it sliding a steel opener across and it made a massive shrill noise, now i am waiting to see if it has increased my tinnitus like last time with the car bonnet closing.

I`m going to have to wear earplugs everytime i leave the house it is so frustrating!

 

Don't wear them everytime you leave the house, because the lady was right. It will make you more and more sensitive and you won't be able to tolerate any noise in the future. You were already feeding your Hyperacusis with weeks of wearing protection everytime you step out the door, that's why a simple metal door makes you feel uncomfortable and anxious. Start reducing the protection now, only try to use it in restaurants, pubs, cinemas, busy malls,... but not when only walking down the street or regular noises. Just keep the ear plugs always in your pocket so you can use them when you feel that it's getting too loud for you. Just take your time to get used to normal sounds again and it will get better.

 

Very interesting, as i wear ear plugs when i go out just in case i come across any loud noises that might spike my T... i thought i was doing the sensible thing? i didn´t think about sensitivity to noise... oh so much to learn, thanks guys.

 

Thanks for your replies, I am only worried because slamming shut a car bonnet/hood caused temporary threshold shift with an increase in my tinnitus the for the past 7 weeks now, I wouldn't have thought it was loud enough to increase tinnitus, but I was wrong. I get the sensitive ears thing but I don't want my tinnitus increasing again.

That's why I am going OTT with earplugs at the minute.

 

carol and mick, the problem is that your ears get used to the low volumes and the muffled hearing. after a few months when you try to not use the ear plugs, it will probably be a huge struggle and you'll have spikes from everyday noises. just think of the ears as a broken leg. it's ok to not walk on a broken leg until it heals or gets better but if you don't use that leg for years, the muscles are crippled and you'll never be able to walk on this leg again. we already have enough problems with our ears don't make it worse by feeding the Hyperacusis and isolate yourself from normal noises.

 

i also find normal street noises like truck back fire or Harley Davidson will make my tinnitus way worse, so i always use the Bose 15 noise cancelling headset outside. to make sure my hearing does not get sensitized i play Enya music for the entire night plus have Restful Rain CD going on top of that - i use a small mixing board. i believe this is the best way to go, and i am a medical doctor. I feed my ears with healthy sounds through the entire day and night. in the daytime i am always playing Enya music through the Bose headset. there is a lot on the line for me, such as my career, so i put a huge amount of thought into this.

 

Seal, before the spike from the car bonnet incident 7 weeks ago i never wore earplugs, didn't need to, never thought sudden loud everyday noises would change my tinnitus, only loud bars, clubs general noisy places I avoided.

After getting this increase I started to think maybe brief loud noises you experience everyday is enough to cause increased tinnitus. 7 weeks ago I never had sensitive hearing, never wore earplugs but slamming shut a car bonnet was enough to permanently increase my tinnitus, not only causing this increase but it gave my temporary threshold shift for 5 days after!

 

i keep two pairs of earplugs in my pockets in case i had to go somewhere noisy(bars, party) but i don't wear earplugs in everyday"s life, nothing will create a trauma in my everyday environnement.

 

Valentin, in my case everyday noise did increase my tinnitus, slamming shut a car bonnet gave me temporary threshold shift for 5 days, followed by what I believe is a permanent increase, even the pitch is different. This was after 14 months of mild tinnitus with no changes.

I wouldn't have believed everyday noises could increase tinnitus 2 months ago.

 

Thanks for that Seal, makes sense, i´m going out shortly just for an hour... ear plug free!!

 

don't worry you will be fine, but of course always keep a pair of foamies in your pocket, in case something really is too loud for you like a street festival or something you didn't expect

 

Mick: My opinion is different from every one else here. Even with ear plugs your ear will get enough sounds, so i dont think you will develop sensitivity to noise. Our ears were never meant to listen to these loud noises of car honks, music etc. There are millions in other countries who dont get exposed to these noises and live in very quite areas, they dont develop sensitivity to noise.
Since our ears are already damaged it just make sense to protect our ears as much as we can. Again, i dont have any scientific background in sound/ear etc, its just my opinion.
I wear ear plus when driving..i had huge truck with loud exaust which passed near me and i felt safe because i was wearing ear plugs..again i could be wrong, and this is just my opinion.
Are you getting used to your T some what?

 

Thanks Sean, no i still can't believe it sounds so different now, I feel different, like the 14 months before never existed, few days ago I got I super high dentist drill noise that fluctuates which is annoying.
I agree that wearing earplugs for a hour aday isn't going to make your ears more sensitive, if it protects you against sirens, car horns etc.
People seem to be very sure of them selves when their tinnitus stays the same for month to years, they think that brief loud noises you come across everyday isn't going to change their tinnitus, I felt the same 2 months ago, having had tinnitus since last year, if I had been wearing earplugs 7 weeks ago I wouldn't be here now with a horrible change in my tinnitus.
I've sort of answered my own original question here haven't I, ha.

 

lol you sure did.
So you are still equally frustrated? or feel lil better?

 

Well I am no longer anxious or panicking about the new increase, I just feel really sad and depressed thinking this spike has transported me to august 2012 again, but I feel worse now because at least then it was all new with hope it would disappear.

If this doesn't go back down then spikes to me mean permanent increases, that surely means my tinnitus is going to get worse in the future, I feel uncertain about everything now.

 

I´m so sorry that this has happened to you, i wish i could say something to make it better, but don´t give up hope, it could still settle down, i know time is moving on and it´s been 7 weeks since the spike but it could be just taking a bit longer for your ears to heal and get over the pounding that they took. Keep hanging on... so much can change in just 24 little hours.

 

Thanks carol, sorry to bring a downer on everything, I haven't given up hope just yet, Sean said he had a spike for 4 months so he has set the bar for the longest spike, if it wasn't for hearing about his spike I would have given up hope after a month, I'll just keep rolling on and hope it will go back down again. when you have the same noise in your head for 14 months it sort of becomes part of you, the same noise for summer, autumn, winter, spring, summer, autumn, then in changes pitch and volume and you feel different, don't feel like another month has gone by. It has now cruelly made feel like I am a newbie again. If I had any advice for you is stay vigilant around loud noises, alway wear earplugs around loud noises. Thanks for your support.

 

Mick1987: My T disappeared after 4 months in one day! ..it seems for most people it does down and your day will come. You are also very young..even if you some treatment is discovered after 10 years you will have many many good years to enjoy..Giving up is just not an option even if you had not heard about my spike.

 

I made my t worse in the beginning by not wearing ear plugs while walking beside very noisy heavy traffic roads.

 

according to this study : Adding Insult to Injury: Cochlear Nerve Degeneration after “Temporary” Noise-Induced Hearing Loss damages continue month after the onset.

that's maybe what"s happening to some of our members but is unrelated to normal noise exposure?

 

Thanks for the article valentin, with the continuous degeneration of the cochlea after months could explain why my tinnitus is erratic and keeps changing pitch, everyday it sounds different.

Looks like temporary threshold shift does more damage then first thought!

 

Thanks Sean, I worry though because most people get spikes from noise, it lasts a few weeks before lowering again. Because I got temporary threshold shift I can't help but think this is a permanent change, more damage.

 

I think ear plugs are pretty excessive for street wear, but it's always good to be careful and keep a pair of ear plugs handy . You can definitely over-sensitize the ears by being too protective. Key is being sensible.

@mick1987: I've seen a lot of your posts on this site and the yuku site about your situation. Hope things are slowly improving!

I think the best thing for you is to try let go of the whole car bonnet incident, no one is going to know whether or not that single exposure to loud noise has caused a permanent spike, and having a temporary threshold shift does not indicate permanent damage always - and I even doubt most ENTs would know either. I think by obsessing over the incident, it just focuses more attention on the spike, the more you can remove yourself from the incident and try to get on with things, you'll probably notice your situation improve.

 

Thanks yonkapin, I know I should let the indecent go and move on, i am just trying to find out if it is normal the get increases from these noises, for example this thread is about where I should go from here, do I wear earplugs walking down the street etc, should I wear earplugs now when out and about doing normal things. But I guess you have to do what works for you, come to your own conclusions about when to wear earplugs, I now am going to wear earplugs when walking my dog etc because quite a few trucks pass me on the street.

It was me being careless before leaving me with this new tinnitus, getting over tinnitus, letting my guard down, acting like I haven't got tinnitus, never wearing earplugs in normal everyday activities, I've got to remember my ears are damaged and what is safe for non sufferers isn't safe for me.

I never read any stories before about tinnitus permanently increasing from normal noises on these forums, that is why I am confused there isn't more warnings about protecting your existing tinnitus against things that can cause more problems.

 

Hey mIck - is your tinnitus better ?

 

I do, but that is because I am taking the LLLT treatment at the moment and I have been told that I should try to protect my hearing during the time I am taking treatment to allow the ears to heal as much as possible

I am finding that my hyperacusis is getting much better and I am starting to play my classical guitar a little bit again and listen to music sometimes

Perhaps this is habituation, or pehaps the treatment and the earplugs are helping?

 

Hi Sean, no my tinnitus is still the same, louder with a different pitch, i don't think this is a spike anymore, more of a permanent change.

 

oh and a few posts back i meant to say incident, not indecent, dam auto correct lol.

 

my spike happened 3 1/2 months ago, and it is much much better this morning. for the past week i now use constant music at night, like Enya Orinoco Flow and similar, in addition to quiet levels of Restful Rain.