Is Skateboarding Too Loud? Can It Damage Hearing or Make Tinnitus Worse?

TL;DR - Skateboarding and doing tricks causes quick 98-108 dB bursts in intervals of a few seconds at least (rather than continuous). If you wear proper hearing protection, reducing the sound by about 10 dB on average, is this still dangerous?

Tinnitus doesn't suck as much as the sacrifices that need to be made to keep it manageable, in my honest opinion. On that note, is skateboarding too loud to continue sustainably?

I measured the decibel levels of both the sound of a rolling skateboard and of a skateboard trick. Rolling around on slightly jagged pavement is about 70 dB, and a skateboard trick disgustingly turns out to be about 104 dB, give or take about 5 dB.

With properly inserted ear protection (i.e. foam earplugs), there would be about an 8-10 dB reduction.

The reason I'm asking is because I'm wondering if skateboard tricks at 98-109 dB, separated by intervals of at least a few seconds (rather than a continuous sound, which most decibel-safety charts are referring to), with ear protection, could damage your hearing further?

In my experience, a skate session with proper hearing protection doesn't immediately spike my tinnitus, but I'm worried that it will either eventually result in cumulative damage, or that it might be impeding my progress.

I need to know because skateboarding is one of the last passions I have in my life, and one of the only reasons to go outside anymore other than to take an arbitrary walk. I don't want to give it up, but if it is really dangerous then I think it'd be for the best.

 

I did a kickflip the other day and it didn't hurt me.

 

Try without first and listen (no pun intended) if you T raises in volume or spikes.

I believe you should do as much as you can without hearing protection.

Try it out without plugs first, and if it feels bad etc. Then plug it away and go do those Madonna 1080s! (I played Tony hawks when younger)

 

Should be a more than 8-10db if they are a good fit and properly inserted. Maybe not the advertised 28-33db, but 20db NRR sounds reasonable if they fill up all the way and are deeply inserted. If it doesn't seem to give you a spike and things haven't been getting worse it's probably okay. I use the word probably because a very small percentage of people seem to get spikes and even additional hearing loss from sound levels that are supposedly safe, but I wouldn't assume you are one of those unlucky few.

You could also look into custom molded hearing plugs.

 

@Alue you got too many ifs. Research what 3M ear plugs did to the military. It is criminal!

 

I've come up with rudimentary ways of estimating the NRR that I personally get from earplugs. It's difficult to say for someone else, though, because everyone's ear canal is a different shape and size.

 

I skate and my son skates and it never spiked my tinnitus but only if I skate outside, if you go skating indoor it's definitely too loud when it's a bit crowdy and you definitely need hearing protection since a busy indoor hall is a 90 dB on average. I avoid them and only go skating outside without protection and never had any spikes. I measured the dB's when doing a trick on concrete and when you hold the meter next to your ears in an outdoor environment it peaks to 80 or 85 decibels but only for a second.
Indoor will of course be louder.
Please don't stop skating and doing what you like to do!

 

Old post but I got these 24 dB reducing clear rubber ones. How do you guys deal with everyone looking at you with ear plugs and that? I get embarrassed.

 

You should not be embarrassed. This is like a knee pad, or elbow pad. If people are too "cool" to use necessary protection, it's their problem, not yours. I'm not exactly familiar with skater subculture, but if it annoys you this much, can't you cover them up with a headband or bandana? Are they even more embarrassing than the plugs?