It's Impossible to Avoid All Random Loud Noises

Car horns, diesel engines, loud talkers, slamming doors, fire alarms, and the list goes on and on and on.

I've spent too much energy trying to avoid all these things, and its just making me neurotic. And I honestly don't think many of these sudden loud noises have any impact on my T. It's really the anxiety that hits after a sudden loud noise that is the real problem... "Oh no, did that make it worse...(ear check)" You know the drill.

I think we just have to accept the fact that our years will get blasted with some unexpected noise every now and then and move on. Thought?

 

I'm not saying to wear ear plugs 24/7 but you got fingers. You will know when to use them.

 

I think it is impossible to avoid loud noises all the time, unless you want to stay in your room all day. And unfortunately for those who have severe hyperacusis, it's very difficult. Earplugs are a good solution, but you risk developing/making H worse.

I would suggest that if your T proves not to increase/react to noise, not to worry about it too much. Obviously if you are going into a bar that is loud, wear earplugs. I think there is a difference between a quick burst of noise and prolonged loud noise. Of course that will damage your ears. Hopefully quick loud noises shouldn't bother you.

 

Bear in mind that most of these unpredictable loud noises will not damage your hearing, even after repeated exposure. E.g. A door slamming is 90Db, which is well within the safe zone for a 1-time event, in fact you could safely be exposed to 90Db for like 2 hours a day.

VERY few loud noises in everyday life run the risk of immediate damage. If it's a one-time, unexpected thing, the best thing to do is ignore it. I still get caught off guard every now and then - it's not nice to be half a metre away from a slamming boot or a shouting person - but I know that, reasonably, there's no way on earth they could damage my hearing in the short time I'm exposed to them.

If a loud noise persists for some reason, I plug my ears (generally with my fingers, I don't carry plugs) and get out of there.

 

The thing I find so hard about it is the fact that there seems to be no way of knowing whether these sounds effect your t or not. Yes I agree with the experts about noise exposure and that very short duration loud sounds are safe for "normal" ears etc, however, I am skeptical as to whether I believe the same goes for ears that already have auditory hair cell or nerve damage. I am a realist and in my mind if you have a a weakness..let's say brittle bone disease...then sure yes you can fall 1 meter on a "normal" body and not break a thing but if you already have brittle bones then surely the same standard can't be applied - why wouldn't the same apply for permissible noise exposures for t ears??...just thinking out loud here.

Also there is the problem that noise exposure might not effect t immediately but that it can be cumulative and/or delayed...so that boot slam/car horn etc might not have made my t worse right now..but it could contribute to my t eventually getting worse with cumulative exposure. Also I have had exposures with no immediate increase...but then had an increase maybe 4 or 5 days later....now was it a delayed increase from the noise exposure or not???...there really is no way at all of knowing.

I don't want to freak anyone out here and these are just my thoughts and I could well be completely wrong on every level..but it's just what I feel after having t 11 long years.

Finally...whether or not these "mini exposures" are worsening our t or not...apart from staying indoors forever or using plugs 24/7 there really isn't much at all we can do about it. Best thing is accepting when a noise has happened that there is nothing you can do to change it. Wear plugs when need be - cinema, concerts. power tools etc and utilize your fingers and walk away when you haven't got time to put plugs in and there is a noise!

This subject is something of a massive issue for me and I cannot tell you the amount of hours/days I have spent obsessing over noise - a dropped plate, a child screaming unexpectedly etc etc..I have analysed, used my db reader, read scientific papers and spent countless hours pondering whether such exposures can cause damage...the conclusion...there is absolutely no way to tell....you just have to let it go and accept whatever happened happened and carry on as you were, so save your brains as I have done enough analyzing and obsessing for all of us !

 

In the beginning i was terrified about every noise but your right we cant prevent every sudden loud noise its just ridiculous.. I still drive with my windows down when its hor with the radio on and traffic is loud but what can you do.. If it gets to crazy i put the window up but i only wear earplugs for few things such as Drying my hair, vaccuming, and if im out in a real loud envirement

 

Unfortunately we told age may cause tinnitus. I have T for 24 years(noise induced) I hope I have been correctly protecting myself from loud noise. I am in a relapse that I believe was caused by a virus. The ENT is treating it like a virus. Steroids and diuretics. This time my T increased and I have Vertigo. I've always habituates(6+months) after a relapse. I will habituate this episode too. Has anybody had their Tinnitus increase by a virus.

 

@Grace @Rhea @citigirl13 @Ken219 @Snake Plissken

Thanks all for the thoughtful responses. I have no interest in becoming a hermit, so I'll take comfort in knowing that exposure to short duration loud noises isn't likely to cause any damage. Even if it did, there's nothing I can do to prevent such noises.

Hope you all have a nice day.

 

When I think of cumulative noise exposure and T, I would like to think it comes on gradually and then one day you notice the ring versus waking up one day with loud ringing in your ears (me). It baffles me that more people lose hearing or go deaf from noise exposure and still not have T. What do you think?

 

Diuretics for T or Vertigo or both?

 

@washashore We must live like. There are times

Vertigo. The guest is there is fluid in the ear?

 

Almost everyone experiences fleeting T.. Everyone i know anyways but no one knows why everyone doesnt experience it permanently after noise exposures.. But i guess the same goes for otoxic drugs.. Some take them around the clock and will never develop T. Affects diff people maybe. But like older people like my gmom she says when shes in bed at night she hears buzzing and i was like oh well its probably related to hearing loss and aging and she said no shes had it for years but she never paid attention to it.. Then again she deff has hearing loss and still goes to loud ass places so who knows but she said she doesnt give a damn. I think more people in the world have a real mild version of T that may even stay mild T for years until one day when it gets louder cause they didnt even know they had it to begin with and expose themselves to loud things.

 

I have thought about it and, to me, it seems very unlikely that this is the case. My reasoning could be totally wrong, but here's how I see it.

Noise-induced damage to inner ear hair cells is actual, physical damage. You can't see it with the naked eye, like you would see a bruise or a cut finger, but in principle it is the same. It's not some mystical phenomenon that we know nothing about; it's as simple as that. The only difference is that, unlike physical damage inflicted on other parts of your body, physical damage to your inner ear hair cells can never repair naturally.

In this case (and I could be totally wrong but here's how I see it), saying that having NIHL or tinnitus makes your more susceptible than a "normal" person to further NIHL makes about as much sense as saying cutting your hand off puts you at a greater risk than a "normal" person to going on to cut your whole arm off! Clearly the latter example is nonsense, so why not the former?

I don't know if I've articulated that as well as I could, but do you see what I mean?

 

I agree about unexpected noise but I do believe it may be more harmful than what we think,after the nightclub incident at the end of 2011 when my T had disappeared and resurfaced I basically lived like a hermit for a year (2012).At the start of 2013 I was so tired of not socialising and attending car shows so I began going out a bit more with my friends always planning ahead i.e would it be noisey and so on as ear plugs were a no go as it was nearly impossible to have a normal conversation with my friends without saying what a thousand times.I attended 3 house parties although music was playing it wasnt overly loud and I was always miles from the speakers and would spend most of the night outside with my mates chatting.I attended 3 car shows two werent loud and 1 was so I wore hearing protection just to be careful,I went go karting once but wore hearing protection,I attended a wedding and left halfway during the day before the disco started,I attende a christening and when they began to play quite loud music I left after half an hour just to be careful,would never play loud music in the car or at home and never used an i pod,I attended my two best mates birthday parties and had to spent most of the night outside chatting as the music was quite loud even though I was told there was no music,I used ear protection anytime I felt necessary i.e vacuuming,if I had to use a powertool heck I even had to cross the country one day with a friend of mine with a stupid loud exhaust and just after we left I got him to pull into a hardware store and bought earplugs and wore them for the trip across the country,I wouldnt even clean my ears for fear of damage so I would attend a ear cleansing clincic every 3,4 months to have a professional do it.Everything was perfect and normal and then bam,one unexpected high frequency noise changed all that in an instant.I keep playing the year back wondering should I have been more careful and cautious with my hearing but how,if I had done that I may as well live in a cave,I basically only socialised 12-14 in an entire year and I was always careful about noisey places and would leave if it was loud so it couldnt be cumalative as my hearing and T was the same in 2012 as it was at the begining of 2014 it hadnt changed in two years.Then bam just like that without warning one sound changed that and why??It wasnt even a gunshot or something crazy loud just a really high pitch noise,I guess Ill never really know,two years of hard work and effort wiped out in an instant

 

@bill 112 What kind of high frequency sound?

 

Snake,

Thanks for your post and I 100% hope you are indeed right! My brain won't have it though as much as I try and convince it lol

Ok so we agree that is a physical damage obviously - so thinking of the hair cells if they are physically damaged (like when you see the pictures of them close up under a microscope and they are all bent over and damaged) then surely they will be more susceptible to a loud sound wave passing over them then a healthy strong hair cell without any breaks ??? Kinda like a stick with a partial break in it would snap with less force then a strong flexible stick with no bent weak parts??? - to me that just makes sense in the laws of physics.

Again I think we will just come back to the conclusion that actually...no one knows for sure.

It is so annoying, I am sure these scientists must be able to perform some test to check if damaged hair cells are more susceptible to damage from lower levels of noise - after all they have tested how normal ears respond to sound hence they know they can take up to 85db without suffering damage etc.....

This question haunts me and controls very much how I live my life - eg right now with almost constant ear plug use which makes things very unpleasant at times and also has given me a touch of h for sure ...sigh..can't win either way really!

 

Rhea,
Have you been over using earplugs as well? Has that been since you got T or more recently?

 

Hey,

Well I have had t 11 years and from day one I used plugs for things like hoovering, cinema, drying my hair, loud bars etc etc but over the years I have used them more and more - the last year I have worn them every singlew time I leave the house....I tried to wean off them recently but my fear of noise is so extreme it is very very difficult! My t has worsened year on year and is now much much louder than at onset...I convinced myself that noise is the culprit for the worsening but who knows?...I mean I haven't been exposed to anything loud for a duration of more than a few seconds....so maybe my t is in fact getting worse due to over plugging lol...it's all a bit of a mess to be honest and since overusing plugs I have given myself H and issues with my eustachian tube which is probably due to constant pressure on the ears by wearing plugs so damn much...sigh...life goes on

 

@Rhea
Do you have custom plugs? I wonder if that would help you ween off your overuse of plugs. It would allow you to slowly change out the filters for lower attenuation filters, but you'd still feel secure having some protection until you get to the point where you don't need them for every day noises. Obviously I'm no doctor, but it seems like that might help you get over your fears and transition away from everyday use. Hang in there.

 

What you just wrote mirrors my life with T as well, the only difference is that I have done exactly what you have been doing this past year, for 22 years and my T has gotten worse like you, but my hearing has stayed the same!
I, like you, am shit scared of noise, and I have been trying to ween myself off earplugs as well, things were going well but I think because I have been sinking into depression for the past 2 or 3 years, it's all gone peer shaped since my run in with an ear clinic wax removal amateur.

The thing is our T has probably intensified and it's our brain that's done it, I truly believe and it is the opinion of my doctor at the Tinnitus clinic, that because of my fear of noise I,(we), have basically talked our T into intensifying and getting worse and the only way to break the cycle and return our T to it's regular volume is to retrain our brains and desensitize our ears.

This is more easily said than done , for me at least because I have what can be a noisy job on occasions so not wearing ear plugs at work for me is not an option! and I work 10 to 12 hour days.

But depending on what job you have Rhea you might find it easier.
My specialist has told me to start listening to music at just below my T level with an MP3 player and do it every day for as long as I can, virtually home made Neuromodulation therapy!
You must force yourself to not use earplugs at home and if you do the hoovering just start cutting them down if you use foam ones.
Another thing you might want to investigate is getting some custom made earplugs that washashore suggested, you can get ones that keep the loud noises out but lets the quieter noises in, hopefully you are in a better position than I am in were you can do something now.

Hope this helps you somewhat Rhea.

Check this site as well to see if this might relate to you as it did for me. http://hearinglosshelp.com/weblog/do-i-have-tonic-tensor-tympani-syndrome-ttts.php#comment-40134

Regards Rich

 

@Rhea I am not a doctor so I dont know. However research indicates that tinnitus is not only sn ear issue, but also a brain issue. So the loudening could have to do with other factors such as hormonal changes, stress etc. Sometimes we dont even notice that we are stressed but our body can speak of it. Anyway as you stated yourself, there isnt much you can do apart from reasonable protection which you already use anyway. I can only console that there are probably billions of people who suffer from progressive health issues and some of them manage just fine. Maybe we should all try to focus on the things we have, such as hands and legs and the ability to work.

 

Many thanks for the reply washashore - no I don't have custom made plugs...like I mentioned I have extreme noise phobia - you seriously think I am going to let some stranger pour stuff in my ear and be that up close to my ears??? no way lol !

Thanks for the advice though. Actually I don't have a fear of everyday noise as such - I mean I can cope with noise up to about 80db....it's the unexpected noise blasts I can't deal with - car horns, loud screaming children, balloons popping etc etc...that is why I plug..not to avoid moderate "general noise" but to avoid those louder unpredictable exposures that my brain believes somehow cumulatively will and have worsened my t :|

Rhea x

 

Many thanks Rich x

Yes I read your story on here before and noticed it shared a lot of similarities. It is so hard isn't it when every bone in your body believes noise is the enemy and is making t worse to be able to let go and just not wear plugs is so hard!

Rich, by the way with you excessive earplug use did you get any issues like H, ETD issues etc....I definitely done some shit to my eardrums with the pressure of the plugs for sure...I put them in quite deep and I kinda mucked my ear pressure up a bit I believe. I had a few episodes of ETD like stuff where my eardrum popped inwards and let me with muffled hearing and mega increased t for a week or so..luckily the three times it has happened it has resolved itself.

sorry to hear about your experience with the ear wax removal..terrible You are braver than me for sure...I won't let anyone near my ears lol

Have you got skype? Be great to chat with you in real time as we have some t things in common! How are you doing now with the reduction in earplugs?

By the way I don't use plugs at home unless I am using something noisy like the hoover or hair dryer..but other that that home is a plug free zone

I'm sure there is a million other things I want to say but having a blank brain moment lol

bye for now x

 

Stina, thanks for the reply and I really hope that you are correct and the loudening is in fact due to some other reason other than noise..that's what keeps me going a lot of the time..the fact there could be a chance it isn't general noise making it worse.

Yes, you are right we should try to be grateful for the things we do have like u said, but believe me when I tell you there have been days I would of gladly chopped off both of my hands myself (not sure how that would work lol) to be rid of the t...luckily everyday isn't like that.

Rhea x

 

What was the noise?

 

Hi Reah, I did get H when I first got my T but it was not that bad, I think my main problem was that I got really paranoid about my T and making it worse.
Even with my excessive ear plug use I never got ETD or any other issues except the obvious one of shifting my normal hearing threshold, I got so used to wearing earplugs that I have sensitized my hearing for good.
I am like you I don't wear plugs at home except if I'm helping with the vacuuming or working in the garage etc.
But my main problem is that I cannot even go to the local shop without some form of ear protection and weaning myself off them is near impossible because of my job.
I do have skype but haven't used it at all but I would love to chat to you and share some of our experiences if you could put up with my horrid kiwi accent! lol

 

To all, @RichL and @Rhea I have T for 24 years. I've had a few relapses. I am currently in one now. I can't quantify the sound. I think it goes to the same place(loud) each relapse. I reacted to the relapse the same as my onset. This 4th relapse I'm trying a different approach. I immediately knew sleep would be a problem so I asked my doctor for all the usual meds. That took care of anxiety and sleep. Believe me I still have anxiety. Now it is a wait it out approach. Usually takes 6 plus months to start the habituation process. If it goes the usual course I should be fully habituated this time next year. God bless and may we all habituate. and lord if one should happen to stumble across a cure.....but habituation is good too.

P.S. I do not over use ear plugs but I have the fastest two index digits, one on each hand. Nearing what I perceive as loud noise in the ears.

 

I drive a diesel turbo pickup--F350--and it doesn't affect my T. It actually masks my T when my T is not as loud as usual.

Of course, I wouldn't stand near it while it was idling for any length of time. I was very afraid of loud noises as at onset even the tv seemed loud--when actually it was at its normal setting. I ignored that and eventually things got normal again. I think I was over protective at first--although I still use earplugs when I use my hair dryer.

 

@Ken219 Thanks for the reply. Ken how did you get Tinnitus?

@Kathi you are wise to wear ear plugs while using the hair dryer..carry on doing so. I was actually the opposite to you in that at onset noise wasn't a major issue at all...that came later on. In the first 4 years of t I never really used plugs accept to dry my hair and go to the cinema..so I haven't always been this much of a noise-phob lol Only last few years as t is worsening rapidly have I become so massively obsessed with using plugs.

 

@Rhea I'd say living life. Enjoying fire crackers Yea! During the military 66-70 I was on the flight line back then no ear protection. Some rock and roll. Events weddings etc. taken antibiotics over my lifetime. I guess the cummutive affect kicked in. I can pinpoint the last event before the T started. It was a wedding. If anybody needs to know how long this couple has been married and they still are married! Ask me.