Flying & Tinnitus

I'm going overseas in a few weeks on holiday. This is actually my first flight, and I never thought the reason I would be afraid is because of a sound. Is anyone with experience and knowledge willing to give me advices? Thanks in advance

 

Is Earbuds help also?
mine like this, beat audio... Sometimes it works muffle noise when I'm outsite (without hearing any music)

 

Very interesting thread, which I probably should've read before flying. I flew about 11 hours yesterday, from Germany to the US and my T is spiking right now. I sat at the window pretty much right beside the engines. I thought it was pretty loud. Take off and landing were fine, but the noise during cruising started to annoy me, so I put in my Elacin ER25's (custom molded ear plugs) for a few hours. So my question is, is it a good idea to use custom molded plugs on a plane? Did they possibly cause my T to spike?

 

Hi @thorrior, your plugs should have been fine as long as you did not wear them while taking off or descending (especially descending). But if things went wrong with plugs, you probably would have intense ear pain, not a tinnitus spike.

My guess is your T is spiking due to a very long plane flight; your body is stressed out and exhausted. I would just rest, take some NAC (a supplement, you can search the TT forums for more info) -- 1800 mg at one time now, then 1200 mg in one dose for next two days. And be patient. You should be ok.
Happy holidays!

 

Thanks! I actually did wear them when the plane started descending but did not have any pain at all. I also never had problem, equalising pressure when flying anyway. So I guess if my eardrums got damaged, I would notice it right?

 

@thorrior I also just went on a flight a few hours ago, but mine was only a 2 hour flight. I would like to tell you though, that wearing earplugs when descending or ascending isn't good for your ears. It's even worse if you have Eustachian Tube Dysfunction. I would also like to say that a change in the weather, since you went on a long distance flight, might also cause the spike in your T. It shouldn't last for a long time. You should just relax and not feel stressed or afraid.

 

@LadyDi I had my flight a few hours ago, and it went without any problems. I wanna say thanks for your advices on what I should do during the flight. My ear is fine, hopefully it'll stay the same for my flight home too.

 

@Hariz Nonis Good to hear since you were worried, now enjoy the vacation with your family to the fullest

 

Awesome @Hariz Nonis, glad to hear it! Isn't it great to know we can do these things without fear? Hope you have a great vacation.

@thorrior: If you ruptured your ear drum, you would know it.,Gawdawful pain, so I hear. Mine didn't even get that far and it still hurt like hell.
As Hariz said, it's not a good idea to wear in-ear plugs when descending, even if you aren't having sinus problems. Either use vented Earplanes, which give you some noise protection, or use noise cancelling headphones or over-the-ear muffs.

 

Good to know. I won't use them again.

 

4 weeks ago I had a 11.5 hour flight. Didnt used earplugs but did used noise cancelling headphone to cancel somewhat noise. Guess what, no spike at all.

Flying is perfectly safe with Tinnitus if you would ask me.

 

My T has always been very tolerable (caused my military), until about 6 months ago when I started flying for work (twice per month), and I started to experience a rapid and sharp increase in the volume and pitches (even more so pronounced in my right ear - where I'm am now nearly completely deaf in my right ear). It's not temporary and worsening with each flight. In the effort to stop the trend, I purchased noice cancellation earphones and also tried that app that matches the sound. Nothing is working. Now I can't sleep, until the point of exhaustion. I need help. I've never reached out for help, but this is getting bad. Anyone know how to get rid of this curse.

 

I would get high NRR shooting earmuffs - I use the Titus rated at 32db , or peltor large ones, those cost like $20 on ebay - far less money than fancy noise canceling headphones !
and keep them on all the time as soon as you set foot inside the aircraft until you are at the gate.

Announcements are super loud.

Muffs are better at keeping those low frequencies down which are very loud on planes and you don't have pressure issues unlike ear plugs.

Planes are just too noisy if you have noise-damaged ears. Its constant noise for hours on which is bad as you don’t give any break to your ears.

I would also keep wearing those muffs all the time in cars, public transport, noisy streets and restaurants in order to allow you ears to heal as much as they can for at least a few months.

I think that's the best think you can do now to improve your situation.
Some ENT say you should not overprotect your ears but for already noise damaged ears this is actually very bad advice unless you have full control of the noise - in your home.

 

@Paul N. I really hope you're fine. I think it might be a bad spike, just take full care of your ears

 

Hi...I've had my tinnitus for about 5-6 months now. Over the last few weeks it had gotten worse. I also could feel my pulse and had a weird spaced out feeling in my head. I went to two different GPs.They both said it is caused by stress and anxiety. Anyways since then I joined the gym and the feeling of my pulse in my head is almost gone. That spaced out feeling has gone completely. My main question is: is it ok to fly with my tinnitus or should I not? ( The flight is only an hour long). Also,has anyone had the other two symptoms and know why stress causes them?
Thanking you
Jack

 

Everybody is different. If your ears are very unstable, that any slightest sound or noise will hike the T, then you need to be careful to protect yourself or avoid travel for a little while until the ears are more stable. However, not everyone has problem travelling with T. I have been travelling often, sometimes flying 14 hours non-stop, and there are many members who travel even more than me. Doesn't seem this will make people's T permanently worse. Best is to bring some earplugs (earplanes) or noise-cancelling headphones just in case. The earplanes will help balance the change of barometric pressure during takeoffs and descends. Also bring along some nasal spray just in case you have a cold with plugged nose. That can cause problem in balancing change of air pressure. A one hour trip should be no concern, but you are the best judge. Here is Aaron's success story and it is full of pictures from his trips around the world after T.

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/who-said-our-life-is-all-about-tinnitus-i-share-with-you-some-pictures-i-took-after.3268/

 

@billie48 thanks for your reply, will any noise cancelling headphones do?

 

You can bring that along if loudness is an issue with your T. If you have issue balancing air pressure, then get some earplanes. Also, you can search TT on the subject of flying after T and you will find many threads discussing this.

 

Go buy some really good noise cancelling headphones. In this case, unfortunately price makes a difference. I personally swear by Bose QuietComfort line. The good thing is, you can watch video or listen to audio without putting the volume on 11 just to hear it, which wrecks havoc on your hearing. All plane noises pretty much disappear when I put mine on.

 

You don't need noise canceling headphones. Just earmuffs. Unless you are worried about how they look. I fly a lot and use earmuffs. Earplugs can prevent your ears from equalizing (unless they are earplanes), but earplanes don't reduce the sound that much.

 

First time I went on a plane with tinnitus I was 3 weeks in. It was honestly nice because the sound of the plane masked my tinnitus. My ears did pop but no change in the sound.

 

I've had tinnitus for about a year now. I believe it started because I didn't wear hearing protection while sanding my deck. It honestly didn't sound that loud at the time. A few days later, I had ringing. I still go back and forth as to the cause because the sander really wasn't that loud - perhaps 85 decibels. Since then, I've come to realize that fan or motor noise will cause the severity of the tinnitus to increase dramatically. This happens even at low volume and even for short exposures! It is summer now and there are lots of air conditioners running. They drive my tinnitus through the roof!

It is also possible that it is the result of a tooth infection (which I have been dealing with for about 3 years). I've had several root canals on the same tooth and next week it will finally get pulled (so I am hopeful).

I am an Engineer and Programmer, so I am at my desk for a great deal of time. Over the winter, I got rid of all the noisy fans on my computer systems. I would go for days where I thought my tinnitus was gone. But even a few minutes of a fan would set it off for several days.

I've recently purchased noise cancelling head phones. They have done much to dramatically reduce my tinnitus. I've also tried wearing musicians ear plugs (high fidelity ear plugs). They've also helped but I find myself annoying people around me because my voice gets louder and cause me to hear internal noises that make it difficult to understand others. Most of the high fidelity earplugs reduce sound too much.

They are fine for sitting at a computer but not so good wearing all the time. I want to take the edge off not make it difficult to hear normal conversation. I am seriously considering developing my own head phone technology that will allow voice conversation to come through but not trigger sounds.

Anyway, try noise cancelling headphones on your plane. They work best to reduce sound levels of motor noise. You may find that your tinnitus improves quite a bit and allow you to fly.

I've also noticed that increasing my B12 helps a great deal. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find a single B12 supplement that works (I've tried dozens). To get B12, I eat mussels. It takes about at least 1-2 days before it will do the trick but it always works for me and will reduce my tinnitus substantially (By at least 75%). No supplement has done this for me. Mussels, liver, raw salmon work and mussels are the most effective.

Good luck.

 

I love liver w sweet potatoes. Hey fans ruined it for me too. I started sleeping w noise cancel earmuffs all last month, should have started that a Lot sooner. I took some advice from this board, on which ones are the softest.

 

I have traveled twice this summer. Once to Vegas without ear plugs on the plane. What a mistake. The second time I used good quality foam ear plugs and felt much better! I believe I got mine at Target. I also sat in the middle of the plane on my first flight and it was so much more loud to me than sitting in the way back for my second.

 

i fly with foam plugs all the time.

 

Do you have any issues with your ears equalizing with the foam plugs?

 

Nothing to worry about. As others have said, wear ear plugs or headphones. Your anxiety will lessen and make for a more enjoyable trip.

 

No, but I also am not prone to any kind of decompression issues. I usually pop the plugs in and out a couple times on the way down.

 

A short flight often means it's in a small plane. Small planes are often very noisy. I can fly for hours in an Airbus A340, I would never fly one minute in an ATR42, for instance.

 

Yeah...the plane small, I'm flying in an Airbus 747 or something like that...although from what I remember their not that loud. I'm gonna buy ear plugs just in case