Don't Be Fooled

After reading about one of our members here wearing earplugs, going to the movies, and experiencing more T, more new tones ... I feel obligated to give this warning. Earplugs will NOT shield us from the harming low, loud bass frequencies. These sounds go through the skull, especially the hard (non-bone) area behind the ear. No matter what earplug manufacturers say, putting an object in the ear canal is far from total protection.

If you completely sealed the ear canal, you could still have damaging results from super loud music / sounds. I know this is true. My own T is proof.

"We hear sound in two different ways―air conduction and bone conduction. Air conduction hearing is when sound waves travel from the outer ear, through the middle ear to the inner ear. In contrast, bone conduction hearing is when sound vibrations travel directly to the inner ear through the skull bone." - from hearinglosseducation.com

 

Useful for those who have very reactive T.

But be careful to not overeact : not all T are concerned.

My noise induced T let me go to cinema without earplugs for "quiet" movies ( not loud, like movies for children : frozen, how to train your dragon 2...) or with good earplugs for loud movies, like the new transformers.

But this warning is appropriate for concerts : at a certain level of decibels, bone conduction increase.

But be careful to not dramatize all sound exposure.

 

Yeah i totally understand the dangers of loud sound but also we cant scare people to the point where afraid to go see a movie. Every T is different and the best way to do is protect.. And i understand its not fully but its better then nothing and unless you are the 1% disabled by T and have it severely, i think everyone should be able to enjoy a movie once in a while, and say the F with T.

 

Agree, I was able to go to an outdoor concert (AC\DC) and they are loud, body shaking loud! with 35db earplugs and had no increase in T, that was a few years ago, then I have my ears suctioned with no ear plugs and the suction noise gave me an increase in volume to my T!
Go figure!
So me personally I have total faith in my foam classic 35db ear plugs!

Rich

 

Wow dude you got balls for goin to an ac/dc concert!!!! Good for you though!! Ac/dc is like one of my favorites.. I use to love playin to them on drums. I dont think id have the balls to go see them or anyone in concert now... Dammit this shit needs to be tamed so we can all enjoy music again to the fullest!

 

LOL Thanks, don't think I could do it now, this spike has ripped the last 15 odd years of getting over my fear of noise away from me and put me back to square one of thinking every bit of noise has hurt my hearing.
Hopefully I can eventually get back to where I was!.....one day!

Rich

 

Everyone is different, and I definitely understand the bass-problematics going through the earplugs etc. I just want to point out though, that since I got T, more than 13 years ago, that has been loud enough for me to hear it at all times, I've played over 150 hardcore punk shows with my band, seen surely more than a 1000 concerts, and never even had so much as a spike afterwards. Foam plugs all the way!

 

yuppp i hopee you and all of us will be free from it all ( or close to it) in few years when they get some drugs approved

 

Yeah its just so crazy cause ive played drums my whole life and past 3 years wore muffs over cause i liked the way the drums sound muffled for some reason.. And the day i got T it was LOUD but ive played that loud before just didnt realize it cause My ears were protected and only ever got temporary ringin when i didnt have them on.. So ofcorse the one day i didnt wear them i ended up with T.. But i guess duh right lol.----- and damn if i had super ears like you maybe my T will stay the way it is now forever cause im too scared to go to shows or even see a band in general lol

 

I agree.

We need to be very careful not to make sufferers needlessly worry.

We know movies can be loud, and we should always be prepared with appropriate hearing protection. I prefer musicians plugs for such outings because the sound quality is infinitely better than foam plugs, and I also don't know the idea of completely blocking off the ear canal for most purposes, but opinions vary and I understand this.

Everyone is different, I have friends with tinnitus who go to concerts, movies and all that without hearing protection and are absolutely fine. On the other hand, you have sufferers who do the right thing and protect their hearing and still end up getting worse somehow, that's life.

I think that people just need to exercise caution and approach each situation in the smartest way possible by protecting their hearing, but avoiding every situation that you think might harm your ears is also very counter productive to living a meaningful life.

 

Yea me too bro, I rocked through Iron Maiden, AC\DC and The Pink Floyd Experience(which was indoors!) and A Whole Lotta Led(Led Zeppelin cover band) all with my trusty foam ear plugs and never had a problem with T increases!

Hell yea Grace, even to just lower the volume would be a blessing!

I love the drums, used to play when I was a teen, but gave it up for booze, drugs, girls and party's(Stupid teenager I was). I actually had brought some electric drums a year ago and was getting back into it when this happened and unfortunately for the time being at least I lack the motivation to continue.
You have only had T for almost a year Grace, I didn't get the balls to start living a normal life with ear plugs till years after getting my T so give it some time and take it slow and you will get there!

Rich

 

******************************************************
Thanks very much for posting this.
It appears that many do not experience what you describe, but I do agree and currently am suffering the consequences.
I recently attended a concert music event which contained an abundance of the modern, massive low-end droning bass frequencies. My tinnitus (which is continuous and easily audible at all times, and triggered as a beeping sound by piano playing) was constantly beeping from the hammering bass frequencies with high-quality foam earplugs fully seated in place. The overall music tone with earplugs had the highs extremely reduced, the mids moderately reduced, and the bass almost unaffected.
My tinnitus is much louder now, and I pray it is not permanent.
The path of bone conduction definitely makes a lot of sense to me.
Would gun shooter's earmuffs help protect in this area?

 

Hi Hammer,
My last big music fling at a guy's barn really hurt me. It gave me incredibly loud T. It was horrible. But it went back to a high pitch hiss/squeal after a couple years. It was only about 20 minutes of music and I was wearing -picture this- waxy plugs shoved in tight, followed by cotton on top of that, with earmuff headphones on top of that!!! I don't get it. None of those other guys were affected. But I used to play drums with loud headphones, and live at dances, starting at 12 years old. That night at the barn, it felt like the music was going right through my head, and it was apparently.
good luck,
Terry

 

Good info...what about running around...sports etc...I can feel and hear these vibrations upon impact on the tennis court. No idea if this is bad or not. I wear ear plugs while I play which seems to really mess with my game. When the racket hits the ball I have measured up to 75-80 db max! Most shots however are way way lower. Is this too loud? Or is the bone conduction hammering around on the pavement enough to do further damage? I am a big guy 6 1 235, so can really hear the impact, especially with ear plugs in.

What do you think?

 

Telis
I play racquetball (also very loud, but at a much higher frequency) and my tailor-made ear plugs seem to work just fine (T not affected at all).

Mark

 

Yeah I need to have some custom ear plugs done! Any advise on that?

Thanks mark

 

I switched my cardio from jogging to a stationary bike years ago. One winter morning with ear muffs and a hood on, I could really hear the thumping of my feet, which was like being cuffed in the head over and over.

 

At the onset of T I visited an audiologist; she recommended them. It's the kind where they make a mold of your ear (squirt a solution in your ear -- outer ear, of course). It took about a week for them to arrive by mail. I thought they were a little costly ($100) but they have proven worth while.

 

This is a very informative post but very upsetting for me...most the activities I do could create this type of noise. Even driving in the car is a low frequency, fairly loud hum (created by road noise) probably capable ofpenetrating any ear protection. All the sports I like include some jarring and bone conduction energy to the ear. Or going to a pub with ear protection seems useless as well, as the low frequency part of the music vibrates through to the ear. I don't know why I hadn't thought of this, I do understand how sound works.

Now do I give up sports? Or going to the pub? Basically the only things I get anything out of at all? I guess that would be a personal call.

 

Telis
I would think long and hard before I gave up sports; it does so much for you (and your T). The ONLY reason I would discontinue with a sport/activity is if it became abundantly clear it was having a verifiable adverse effect on the auditory system (and T). I cannot speak for your situation but in my situation I've continued with all sports activities (unabated) -- even though they are fraught with jarring and the occasional injury.

As far as the pub is concerned I would give it the same litmus test; I don't frequent pubs but I do socialize and recognize that socialization is a very important (critical) part of life (pub's a great place to socialize).

Withdrawing is not the answer to managing T.

Of course, all this is personal; I would guess/imagine (since you are avidly competitive and extroverted) that you would like to 'keep your foot on the gas' in life and I'd say 'keep it up' -- don't let T be the boss of you and don't let T define you; but maybe throttle back just a little to avoid harm (to your auditory system).

Hope this helps; BTW, my boy is going off to college on a tennis scholarship -- so awesome!

Mark

 

Being careful is one thing. But honestly we'd all be deaf if every one went deaf by doing anything with noise. You are fine playing tennis. 75-80 dB's for an interval of 1 < second is not going to hurt you. OSHA standards and audiologists will confirm you can be exposed to 85 db with out permanent damage. Though it is wise to proceed on the side of caution it is known that time+exposure equals damage.

 

Thank for the advise Mark! Something is making my tinnitus progressively worse, maybe it's not noise. I definitely can't link it to anything. Since the onset I have experienced a gradual worsening, I don't know what I'm doing wrong, definately frustrating. I naturally think noise as so many others on here have had issues related, but who the hell knows! Damn mysteries of Tinnitus!

You are right, withdrawing is not the answer, I might as well not even bother with life if I do that! Custom ear plugs and see what happens is the way I will go for now.

Wow...son with a tennis scholarship!! Very awesome!!

Thanks again

Telis

 

Yeah this is what I don't get!? Are our ears more sensitive? Or do we follow the same guide lines as non tinnitus persons? My ears hurt like hell around noise, does this mean I'm doing damage? Before T, noise never hurt!

Also people here at TT seem to use ear protection all the time. Are they all wrong in doing so? I don't get it!

 

Telis
If your ears hurt, that sounds like hyperacusis; something I have no experience with other than I understand it to be analogous to a strained tendon (strained from over use) wherein it hurts to use it. So, too, it can be with your ears, they can get so strained/inflamed (from whatever) they hurt when demands are placed on them. Unfortunately you can't immobilize your ears like you would a tendon (like for tennis elbow).

I have severe T (even profound) but I have no sense of pain related to noise (that's a lot different).

I would hook up with the H folks and see what they do. The good news (I've heard) is that H can clear up whereas T may not. H is like an inflammation (that can calm down); however, the H folks would have much more helpful info for you.

I use hearing protection because I know I have auditory damage (from loud sounds and age) and it would be foolish to subject myself to further harm; but my ear plugs are over-engineered for my needs (they definitely offer all the protection I need).

Mark

 

What kind of plugs do you use Mark?

 

Yes, I should definitely look into this...it's weird the pain doesn't bother me (other than worrying that I'm doing more damage) however the tinnitus drives me insane! I guess this is the reason I haven't really looked into H (so preoccupied with this damn noise). Although, maybe if I solved the H issue, my T would subside.

I was under the impression that everyone with severe T had noise sensitivity....I'm wrong by the sounds of it.

Thanks again

Telis

 

He posted earlier on this...I asked the same question.

 

Telis
In a strange way, the possibility of H is good news. H can cause T to become worse (as you have noticed) and H is more treatable (so I've heard, but again I have no experience with H). Also, I don't think the pain you are feeling could also be related to causing more hearing damage; I don't think it works that way. It that sense, it's not like continuing to use a strained tendon (wherein you would cause more harm). Then again, check in with H folks, they will know -- I'm just a T bubba.

Mark