How Do I Prevent Increases in Tinnitus?

[Michael Barton]

So, I'd still like to go to restaurants, theme parks, parties, etc. and even while wearing music earplugs, I find that at the end of the day, it sounds like I've been to a too loud concert all over again.

What an I doing wrong? Should I be using fully dampening earplugs? Should I just avoid these places? These are sounds well below 50 db (thanks to the earplugs), so is this more permanent damage? Or likely to go away over the course of the next few days again to where it was before? I'm new to this and can't seem to find answers.

Thanks all.

Kind regards,

Michael Barton

 

[fishbone]

So, I'd still like to go to restaurants, theme parks, parties, etc. and even while wearing music earplugs, I find that at the end of the day, it sounds like I've been to a too loud concert all over again.

What an I doing wrong? Should I be using fully dampening earplugs? Should I just avoid these places? These are sounds well below 50 db (thanks to the earplugs), so is this more permanent damage? Or likely to go away over the course of the next few days again to where it was before? I'm new to this and can't seem to find answers.

Thanks all.

Kind regards,

Michael Barton

It's not always the noise that causes the increase. The stress itself, can be more of a culprit than noise at times. Protect your ears and try to enjoy your life!

 

[Red]

Lower than 50db? What kind of musician earplugs are you using? Max you are looking at 28db plugs but most musicians earplugs actually don't go that high. So 75db parties? I have trouble believing this. Also, are you wearing your earplugs correctly? Do they stick out at all?

I'm not going to tell you to avoid these things for all time, but you should at least since your tinnitus is new. You don't want to keep running on a broken foot. In my opinion, tinnitus is pretty fickle in the beginning. It spikes really easily. Maybe wait and see if your tinnitus is acute or chronic (3-6 month range) before rushing back into these.

 

[another sean]

So, I'd still like to go to restaurants, theme parks, parties, etc. and even while wearing music earplugs, I find that at the end of the day, it sounds like I've been to a too loud concert all over again.

What an I doing wrong? Should I be using fully dampening earplugs? Should I just avoid these places? These are sounds well below 50 db (thanks to the earplugs), so is this more permanent damage? Or likely to go away over the course of the next few days again to where it was before? I'm new to this and can't seem to find answers.

Thanks all.

Kind regards,

Michael Barton

Hi Michael, I'm sorry to see you struggle since your first post. You're in early days with your tinnitus and it can be more sensitive right now. If you are getting spikes left and right and especially if you feel your base line is rising, then you need to definitely avoid these places for now. And if there are places you must go to, and you are still spiking, then I'd recommend wearing 3M Peltor X5A ear muffs on top of your ear plugs. You are gonna feel awkward at first wearing them out but you will get over it and they will make a huge difference and you will be less stressed about surrounding noise.

You dont know yet if your tinnitus will disappear in a few months or not. But at least give it that opportunity. So please, cut out all noisy places for a few months and hopefully it will disappear. 3-6 months is average. So as annoying as it is to not go to these places, it may totally be worth it. We're talking life long effects here.