Driving Car with Earplugs — Is This Necessary or Am I Being Overprotective?

When I'm driving in my car I always wear earplugs. Do you think this is necessary or am I being overprotective?

 

Wearing earplugs whilst driving isn't a good idea in my opinion, because you're setting yourself up for nothing but problems. If you're sensitive to sound then seek treatment as you are treating the symptom not the cause, and the problem will only get worse. Click on the link below to see what I mean.
Michael
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/hyperacusis-as-i-see-it.19174/

 

It's not that I am sensitive to the sound of my car, it's just that I'm afraid I could damage my ears some more. Anybody has a rough estimate of the decibel level inside a car driving about 50mph?

 

I used to have very severe hyperacusis which has been cured for 20 years now. Recently I went to a venue where the sound level was 100 decibels and I had no problems. This was a test and don't advise anyone else to try. Follow some of the advice in the link that I have given you and you'll soon have no fear of normal everyday sounds, and only use earplugs when around "loud noise" Over protecting the ears is not a good idea as you risk making your auditory system more sensitive to sound.

Michael

 

Everyone here has different tolerance levels. What's safe for me might not be safe for you and vice versa. For me, anything over 85 db without earplugs gives me big spikes for a couple of days. Going into an environment that's 100 db like the previous poster said would make my T go totally haywire. Car interior I've found is around 80 db which I doubt would cause any harm. I'm usually fine in a car even for extended periods without earplugs.

 

Hi sven1987. Does it actually "spike" your tinnitus to drive a car?

 

Agreed. And also if one measures decibel levels with an app, it should be considered as an estimation, not always an accurate fact. That makes it even more important to recognize one's individual noise tolerance. For me it's as low as ~75 decibels, according to the app I use - not sure if it just gives a bit low readings or if my T really spikes from 75 dB exposure. I start to get uncomfortable at >70 dB and often use noice-cancelling headphones when taking a bus or such, which I suppose is similar to riding in a car. I don't always use them and usually use earplugs only for "special occassions" (like going to a crowded outdoors event or visiting a friend's house with loud barking dog). Otherwise I just currently mainly avoid loud situations.

All in all, I just try to use my own judgement considering I've now got 8 months of experience dealing with reactive (=spikes easily) T. For example, if I take a short bus ride to a grocery store and otherwise the day is quiet, I prolly don't need any protection. But when there's more stress on the ears: longer bus rides, being in crowded places, being on the move whole day with different noisier environments etc., then I try to give my ears a break by using noice-cancelling headphones when I can (while while on the bus etc.). So for me it's all about the "totality of strain" so to speak and am also careful about the loudest experienced decibels - if I suspect anything louder than 80 dB occuring at all, I try to prepare for it and protect my ears in advance.

A side note: since it's summer now, it seems like roads are full of noisy surprises. And by them I mean those really loud motorbikes. When I was walking beside a seaside scenic route the other day, I needed to constantly plug my ears with fingers - you can hear those machines coming from far distance... One begins to feel like there's locomotive noise traps everywhere, lol.

 

My car is around 70db at 70mph with the radio on. All cars are different though and it depends on how good the insulation and dampening is. Also, engine noise, tyre noise and the road surface you're driving on make a difference.

I would never recommend wearing earplugs in a car, but again each to their own. This has been discussed on here many times before and it only ever ends up with people going round in circles.

If you were driving 8 hours a day, everyday, doing 70mph or more in a noisy car, then I could see a reason. This is highly unusual though, even if you were a professional driver it's unlikely you'd meet those terms.

Personally, I don't think driving noise is worth worrying about at all, but that's just my opinion. I think the more we start looking for sounds to worry about, the more phonophobic and withdrawn we can become. It's a fine line, but the main risks are the more obvious things like heavy machinery, power tools (nail guns etc), guns, amplified instruments, personal MP3 players, night clubs, concerts etc.

Disclaimer: if you have severe H then it may benefit you in the short term to use earplugs. I don't think this should be a long term solution, however, because you need to start exposing yourself to more everyday sounds in order to improve. It is a tricky one though and is often fiercely debated on here.

 

Very true @Ed209 We keep going round in circles on this one and it's a shame people just don't realize using earplugs to suppress normal everyday sounds risks making the auditory system more sensitive. If a person is sensitive to sound (hyperacusis) a good way to treat it is to slowly introduce yourself to normal everyday sounds. In more severe cases treatment such as TRT might be required.

Michael

 

No, it doesn't. Perhaps I'm just scared of worsening my T.

 

I totally understand. There are some cars and trucks that do reach higher decibel levels. Most cars are considered to be in a safe range. Its also not only a matter of decibels but duration of exposure. Listen to what your body is telling you.

 

Thank you. I need to accept that certain noise levels, even though moderately loud, can not cause damage to my ears if the exposure time is within acceptable levels. It's difficult, because I feel like my T is subsiding so I want this development to continue.

 

If your T had been subsiding, than do yourself a favour and continue doing what you have been doing. Why take a risk with your recovery? Your car might not be too loud, but a truck/motocycle accelerating next to you, an ambulance siren, or having to wait at a traffic light next to a loud construction site can all do the trick and cause a setback in your recovery process.

I have also been protecting my ears. I have been wearing earplugs/Peltor muffs inside of my car. It was working - I was seeing gradual/painfully slow improvement. Then one loud noise next to my ear had undone a lot of this progress. All it takes is one shock, and you could be back to square one...

The only reason I don't wear earplugs 24/7 is that it can lead to an ear infection.

 

That's awesome that things are improving. Sounds good, so to speak. I do feel it is prudent to be more cautious regarding exposure in the beginning. My view is that the ears are still healing and becoming more resistant with rest and time. This doesn't require wearing protection all the time. Let go of the fear surrounding these issues and just be aware of your health and your environment.

 

I wear earplugs on drives that are multiple hours long.... usually only one at a time and I switch them out.

to drive 15 mins for groceries its not necessary

 

This is all very typical behaviour in the early onset of T, but it's not a healthy path to be on. You will just end up being obsessed with your ears and tinnitus. The idea is to break the pattern of fear associated with it; not to re-enforce it.

If your first thought is grab hold of ear defenders as you leave the house then you have a bigger problem than just tinnitus. It's a common pattern of behaviour though, and I'll admit I was the same. Not quite at the level of using ear muffs, but I did use ear plugs in the car and outside occasionally. All I can say from my experience is that it's a really bad idea. I definitely found myself stuck inside my own thoughts, and severely restricted by my tinnitus in everything I did. I've had tinnitus since I was around 19 ish and I'm now 35. I had a major incident two years ago which lead to my situation getting a lot worse, but this was entirely my own fault. For years I was gigging and rehearsing as a pro musician, and I was attending gigs without any ear protection whatsoever. I went to a gig one night that was insanely loud, and that was the straw that broke the camels back.

Nowadays, I've got a set of custom molded plugs with various filters, and I've got some over ear (ear muff style) defenders. However, I only use them when I need to (when sound is genuinely a danger). The risk early on is that you can become obsessed with your ears and tinnitus, and it can easily get out of control. When this happens you are likely to get stuck in a rut, constantly causing yourself spikes, and constantly monitoring the volume of your T from one day to the next. Kind of like assessing if it's getting better or worse. Once you start thinking like this, things can easily spiral out of control; I've been there and lived this type of behaviour. It's not a good place to be. To truly beat this affliction we need to eat well, exercise, maintain or start new hobbies (distraction based methods), and generally continue our lives. The ringing will be as loud as ever, but as time goes on you'll learn to care less and less, and the cycle (obsession) gets broken. At this point your life will start to get back on track and tinnitus will start to fade as a priority, until one day you may wake up and realise you haven't thought about it for a few days. Those days can turn into weeks, and at some point you'll realise it's no longer a huge deal.

This is the essence of habituation.

 

MILD hearing protection is appropriate. What is damaging in an auto, is the low frequency thumps when going over bumps, and some roads can be quite bad for that. i just always use my Bose qc15, because i really have no choice. it is true, that my hearing hyperaccusis is possibly worse, but i counter that with constant sound at night, such as restful rain, dali lama or healing mantra.
I have spoken to audiologist who knows his stuff, and according to him, noise protection must be APPROPRIATE for the spl level, which also needs to take into account the frequency distribution. low frequency carries very high energy, and the ear is very prone to damage from impulsive low frequency, such as the thump thump sound you get when going over poorly repaired roads, which are everywhere.

 

Hyperacusis needs treatment not the wearing of earplugs which makes the problem worse..

 

I thought about this to, my work car is a noisy piece of crap with drafts coming in everywhere.

 

Exactly what I have been doing for 5 months. I gotta work on that.

 

I've said many times on here that the protection we use, ideally, needs to be appropriate to the noise we're likely to encounter. However, unless your car sounds like a jackhammer, I believe it's unnecessary.

Ultimately it's up to you though; if it works for you, then good luck to you. I just don't think it's good advice for the public en mass who are dealing with T. There's always going to be a certain amount of noise in our lives: dogs barking, babies crying, cars going by etc. We just can't resort to filtering out the world every time we set foot outside our houses. Most experts would agree this is a really bad idea, but when you have a lot of sufferers in one place, these ideas always seem to manifest themselves. Overprotection in my eyes is the best way to let tinnitus run your life, and it can make your ears more sensitive in the long run if you're doing it regularly. Please don't confuse this with me saying that we should never protect our ears. There are times, when there is no doubt, that we should be using earplugs. Sometimes, it's better to just walk away if it's too loud.

It's ultimately up to each of us to decide, so if you believe a car is damaging you, then I'm unlikely to convince you otherwise. We can only try and do what's best for ourselves.

 

I think there are two stages of dealing with T. During the first stage (the first 6-24 months), there might still be hope of a partial or a complete recovery. It seems to me that at that stage it makes sense to go out of your way to protect your ears.

Once someone is pretty sure there is not going to be a recovery (the second stage), then it makes sense to try to habituate. At that point, there is no reason to protect your ears, as doing so will likely not improve your T, and will interfere with the process of habituation.

 

It's a bit of a catch 22 though, Bill. That's exactly how I thought for the first 6 months / year, and it made me a lot worse. Once the damage is done, it's done. Dead hair cells just simply don't grow back, and any bent cells are unlikely to change in any meaningful way. It's almost like a state of denial that we all go through, and ultimately people only really start to improve once they completely accept their situation, and stop emotionally reacting to it. The more you protect and stress over your ears in those early days, the more you'll listen and tune into your T. It just becomes a vicious cycle that's hard to break. It's also habit forming to which your amygdala will latch onto.

You're never going to stop everyday noises, so worrying - or fearing - them will only make your situation worse. Your limbic system will grab hold of this behaviour and you'll gradually become a nervous wreck.

I know it ain't easy having T, but in the vast majority of cases it gets easier to deal with over time. You also have to remember that a forum is always going to be biased towards the worst case scenarios, as only sufferers tend to sign up for support. You can never count out the fact that your T may just disappear one day either; no matter how long you've had it.

 

That's a good point...

 

When I first ended up with Tinnitus just over a year ago along with hyperacusis from acoustic trauma. I couldn't use my cars, they were just too loud. As time went on the sensitivity went down and I wanted my life back so I started driving my cars again even the cars with loud exhaust systems and thankfully havnt had a problem. Some can be over 100db in the car when flat out. It takes my mind off tinnitus. Most cars are much quieter so unless things feel very loud to you then I would not use ear plugs when driving

 

@Bill Bauer

If your noise trauma is anything like what I want through 20 years ago then you have my deepest sympathy as my experience was awful. My whole head and ears felt completely numb for around 4 months. When I heard sound it felt like I was listening under water. I thought I had completely destroyed my hearing with those dangerous things called headphones. One night I woke out of my sleep terrified with the high pitched whistle that was coming out of both my ears - it sounded just like those kettles of old that whistled when the water comes to a boil on the gas stove. That was just one of the many different sounds that I heard over 8 months. When people spoke to me my ears hurt and had to ask them to please lower their voice.

Try and take things easy and not worry too much about protecting your ears.

Michael

 

What your body tells you is not necessarily what your mind tells you. Very hard in the early days to know which is giving the best advice.

 

What happened??

 

I would go with the body...

 

As I mentioned above and a lot more you wouldn't believe. One time I remember this vividly. My ears started to ring and I'm not kidding it sounded just like church bells ringing it was so loud. My consultant said I had suffered very severe noise trauma to my auditory system.

I went to a herbalist and he told me the auditory pathways are all made up of nerves. He advised me to help them recover to start taking magnesium tablets which I did for many months and also took Gingko biloba.