Is My Job Making My Tinnitus Worse?

[DammiSlim]

I work at a poultry processing plant where very loud machines are constantly being used. We are provided with ear plugs for protection but can my hearing be getting damaged even with the ear plugs?

The noise doesn't hurt my ears while wearing the ear plugs but I wouldn't want to be making my tinnitus worse.

Are there different types of ear plugs that can provide more protection or should I quit this job?

 

[Michael Leigh]

I work at a poultry processing plant where very loud machines are constantly being used. We are provided with ear plugs for protection but can my hearing be getting damaged even with the ear plugs?

The noise doesn't hurt my ears while wearing the ear plugs but I wouldn't want to be making my tinnitus worse.

Are there different types of ear plugs that can provide more protection or should I quit this job?

Hi @DammiSlim
When tinnitus is caused by loud noise exposure, a person has to be careful of being around loud sounds. You are doing the correct thing by wearing earplugs. However, if external sound is loud enough it can irritate the inner ear. Behind each ear there is hard piece of bone called the Mastoid bone. It is honeycombed with air pockets. Sound can pass through this and enter the inner ear and could cause irritation. The only way of knowing if the sound levels at your place of work are too loud, is whether you experience spikes in your tinnitus, notice it becoming more intrusive or symptoms of hyperacusis getting worse if you already have it. Proper ear defenders that cover the whole ear might be something to consider trying, but might not stop sound passing through the mastoid bone if it is loud enough.

Click on the link below, to read an article about transmission of sound by bone conduction.
Best of luck
Michael

https://www.britannica.com/science/ear/Transmission-of-sound-by-bone-conduction

 

[Mr-T]

ACS make a complete block out ear plug, custom moulded to exactly fit your ear shape. They block out about 33db. You can only block out around 35db maximum, as mentioned above, any noise above 35db level reaches your ear through bone conduction.

I'd find out what db the machines run at, if they are say 80db then with ear plugs you could bring that down to 50db. You'd then need to work out what your safe exposure time is. There are plenty of charts online which show safe exposure times for different noise exposure.