Has Anyone Experienced Serious Setbacks and Then Rehabituated?

Sooooo tempting to crank it up...feels soooo soooo good at the time!!!!

 

Do you use musicians earplugs while playing and still get spikes?

 

Hi karianne - I am sure you will tinnitus will go back to base level soon .My T had spiked two times after a loud movie and concert.
It will go back down soon ..just give some time .ita weird even with noise which is not too loud Tinnitus spikes !!!its not doing damage so I don't knkw why we all have to suffer after just mild noise exposure .

 

Musiclovee- it's weird that T spikes even thought noise exposure is not loud enough to cause further damage .
I think our ears are weakened now we have to take extra care ..no concerts ..even no movies !!no wedding receptions !how much can we really avoid ??

 

Don't be fooled by the word 'Musician's'
Here is a quote from features. Note the words 'reduces risk' No guarantee!
'Reduces risk of hearing damage for many noisy occupations and noisy venues, such as airshows, parades, athletic events and motor sports'

 

I'm looking for discrete mild to moderate noise protection. I sometimes work around 80dBs that fluctuates in and out of the 90's, only about 2 hours once or twice a week. I need to be able to have conversation but give me enough protection, -15 to -25dB range. I feel like the 30+dBs noise reduction is to much and causes mild H. I know this might sound crazy but it feels like my ears want to hear when I have 30+dB plugs in. My T spikes while they're in and then calm down about 15 minutes after taking them out. Any suggestions?

 

I would suggest getting siliconeearplugs molded for you with interchangeable filters. They are quite expensive but can be used again and again. I have those and they work for me in moderately loud environments such as restaurants and subwaystations. You can even hook up your Ipod and they work better than noise-canselling headphones while jogging or at the gym.

 

@Karianne @Jay M I believe Karianne has a good solution. If you keep them clean over their lifetime it is inexpensive insurance policy. Jay have you had custom plugs before? I purchased a pair 20 years ago. At the time they just filled your ears and molded huge plugs. I try to stay away from loud noises or wear foam plugs. Good Luck.

 

The only minor drawback is that your ears are sealed shut for a good ten minutes or so. I have done it twice and the first time was really stressful since it was so short after the onset of my tinnitus, The second time was years after my habituation so I wasn't bothered by it.

 

Never had custom plugs. Its funny when something like this happens. You see ppl and wonder why we ever exposed ourselves to such loud and noisy places and just shrugged it off even though we knew better. TT will be like facebook in about 10 years or less with all these kids blaring ipods and clubbing.

 

Is there any suction on the eardrum when they remove the mold?

 

Not that I recall. And I would have remembered.

 

Not if Autifony have there way! Fingers crossed anyway!

 

From your mouth to god's ears. No pun intended.

 

When you're playing insanely loud music, earplugs are of little help. The music just pounds its way through your skull. Here is a post I made a while back:

I mentioned my "Mega T" in a response in a post and feel that member "Mark" got some good preventative info. I want everyone to know there is T beyond T. It's big, it's horrible and scary and you don't want it.
I'm talking about folks like me who diddle with loud music and should know better.

After about an hour of loud music a few years ago, I had to walk out and leave my musician friends on their own. I was sitting at the organ and just couldn't take it anymore. Marshall stacks, miked drums and LOTS of monitors were eating through my plugs and protective headset. I thought I was doubly protected. I tried to lie to myself that night and thought I could get away with it. I should have known better. One thing I've learned for sure, if my T settles down, It can come right back where it left off, even years later. I KNEW this, but playing music at this place sounded like too much fun. I'd been living with T already for a couple decades, trying to be careful.

It was just too damn loud. I waved goodbye, and took off with my headgear still on.
When I left, I stood outside hearing my ears ringing like never before. It was way worse than any after-concert damage I ever had. I knew I was in trouble. I drove home, quiet and spooky and my wife knew something was wrong. I could hardly hear her talk. I woke up to the worst morning of my life. I was half dizzy, my usual high pitched T had sunk down in frequencies to an annoying whistle or trumpet like sound and LOUD as hell in each ear, BUT the two separate sounds were NOT in tune. It was maddening and LOUD. So loud. I wanted to run or scream or cry... a 35 year old man. Then the worst part, my girl and wife were talking, and I started talking and all sounds were distorted as if I'd truly blown my eardrums out. Now I'm thinking, "Was it worth it, for a few loud songs?"

I thought it would settle down during the day. It didn't. I was scared, real scared. I'd NEVER heard anything like this. For the first time I was also experiencing the throbbing that comes with this kind of damage and found that stuffing cotton in my ears took away some of the throbbing. People at work noticed this change in my personality. I was quiet and scared and anxious. I had hope that it would settle down, though. So for months I wore my cotton and continued to hear the 'evil horns' in my head and everyone's voice sounded like a monster movie. And my ears throbbed. It went on for two years. Very slowly it all went back down to my normal hiss and squeal. Voices sounded clear again, but I still can't sit in an acoustic music setting without my cotton. And sometimes now just pulling masking tape off a spool it too much!!

If you want to experience a taste of Mega T (and I don't think you do), go in a music store, talk into a mike going through a distortion pedal, then have a guy with a trumpet on your left and a bugle on the right and tell them to blow different out of tune notes and not stop, then have a guy poke your eardrums with the tips of drumsticks.
That's MEGA T.

I wish I could avoid more. Today someone slammed two grocery carts together at a store. No big deal - for them. But I'm suffering tonight. Now I have to rethink my whole day for tomorrow. But I've been doing this for decades, and once I experienced the "Mega T," every act of avoidance of noise is well worth it !!!!!!!!

 

IWLM.....I hear you, loud and clear (sic)...Within the incessant screech, of a reactive, life-robbing, 6,000 Hz 'E flat' and it's associated "spike" un-harmonies - when those shopping carts crash together, or someone coughs suddenly, or a car starter motor fires as I walk past, or someone just talks a bit louder than normal, or...and on...and on...and on.

I don't like to scare anyone, and sense that IWLM doesn't either. But what he is saying in the post above is not some make believe story. My T and H were caused by much less abusive behaviour to my ears than he describes (excuse me IWLM ).

It can happen to you, especially I believe if you have T, or had T already.

Sometimes being scared is a good idea...if it helps to be a reminder not to get over sloppy about excess sound volume, and exposure time. The latter is harder to remember, but just as relevant. Maybe more relevant, at sound levels below things like a gunshot or those unbelievable trumpet things they blew at the SA world cup!!! (I wonder how many people got tinnitus from those?!).

Take care all, and sorry if this sounds a bit heavy duty...but it kind of is, if you're living it.

Zimichael

 

So after Mega T your sounds reduced to almost what they used to be but sensitivity was greatly increased? Thanks for sharing that!

 

Im glad you and others with this condition are on this site to help us noobs out with our baby T! Thank you.

 

Personally I don't think I could trust musicians earplugs or any silicon ear plugs, the only ones that have never let me down, even at concerts, are my American made classic foam ear plugs jammed right in, they make even the loudest yelling seem like a whisper.
Unfortunately Classic have stopped making the only ones I have ever trusted which were the bigger size yellow ones and replaced them with a crappy type which are yellow with an orange stripe on it, I would never trust these new ones at a night club or a concert, lucky when I heard they were discontinuing them I bought a box of 200 pairs and keep them only for extra noisy circumstances!

Rich

 

Yes, it tooks about 2 years and the Hyperacusis was terrible and still lingers. If someone snapped their fingers from across the room, it felt like my eardrums were caving in then they started throbbing. All this because on one night I thought I'd "Throw caution to the wind and live a little." I can't. I have a great life, better than I hoped for when I was young. But it's a life without electric music, theaters, sporting events, big crowds, ... loud noises. I bang hammers, run loud power tools, etc... but I always use headphones or cotton. The bass frequencies of loud music penetrate any earplugs or headphones I've tried. As any audiologist or speech therapist will tell you, we hear some of those frequencies through the hard, unprotected area behind the ear.

 

Smart move. I think too many people trust the writing on the box.

 

I agree. I have two pairs of plugs - one claims to be 12 db and the other 33 db. I wouldn't say that there is such a vast difference - the 33 db is most likely no higher than 20. On the other hand they are not custom made so probably that has an effect too. Anyway I think common sense is the smartest - if it seems to loud it probably is.

 

Oh my gosh... I had to giggle a little after reading parts of your posts. I have finally come to the place where people know EXACTLY how I feel. This is how I feel everyday and these are the things I think everyday. And no one can understand me.

@I who love music @Zimichael you have my respects. Hope you both are feeling better.

 

I adapt and re-adapt all the time, mine is pretty dynamic. As a whole it hasn't changed much over the years though.

 

@I who love music

Hi. Something that is never ever mentioned on this board. How to tackle the dentist? Any ideas?

R

 

@Karianne , how are you today?