Katy Perry Concert and Earplugs

So i absolutely love Katy Perry. Like LOVE her and she's coming to Australia. Is going to her concert the dumbest idea I've ever had? Which earplugs attenuate the sound the most. I don't care about money. I just want the best ones in the world. But....is this enough to protect me? I could be a massive nerd and get the big ones that workers on a construction site wear but then again I dont want to let myself go crazy weird with being super paranoid about every single noise. I read that musicians ear plugs only attenuate the same amount as the cheapo ones from the pharmacist. Ideas? Or should I re-sell the tickets to the only concert I ever want to see in my life?

 

I know that you did not get your tinnitus from loud noise so I am not sure about it. I think concerts can be very loud though and if you look around this board you will see that many people had theirs get louder due to concerts even when attended with plugs.
However if you want to go, then musicians earplugs are more comfortable, often sit better in the ear and therefore offer better protection. Also they block out the sound differently, so you hear better with them than with foam plugs. However if you only go once then foam plugs should be ok too, because concerts are so loud that its hard not to hear even with plugs. I would advise wearing plugs (around 30)+ defenders though, because together they will offer protection of around 40 db or so.

 

The tradeoff with the musicians ear plugs is that they block out less noise yes, but they block out noise equally on all frequencies meaning you still hear music non-distorted, only at a lower volume.
The regular ear plugs block far more noise in the higher frequencies than they do in the middle and lower, so the music might not sound the same anymore.

 

I would not do it. My doctor had told me that with earplugs I would be safe going to concerts, and then I wore 33db ones and T got worse and also developed H.

 

@demi mine told me the same thing. maybe we should become doctors too if it means that we can tell patients random things

 

I know it sucks, but I simply would not risk it.

 

Neenie - I knkw you much you were suffering before . IMHO I wouldst take chance at all . 3-4 hours of fun against possibility of T spike for long long time .

 

Demi

- did T came back to normal level after concert ? Or it became permanently worst ?

 

I would go with ear plugs. Katy Perry shouldn't be like watching ACDC or The Who in the 70s and with plugs would the noise be any higher than other things you'll encounter in everyday life?

 

It happened at the end of November, and just had started to settle down this past month - but this weekend I suffered another spike. The level it was starting to settle to was worse than my previous T...so I would say that yes it made it worse.

 

I wonder how many of these who wore plugs in concert and had T get worse inserted them wrong, assuming they're using foam plugs. It's very easy to not have them give full protection.

I mean if youre in a outdoor concert blazing at 124db, 50m away from the speakers should mean around 90db, and you wear 30db of protection its only 60db.

 

No one knows if going to a concert will worsen your ears. Tinnitus is individual and unpredictable. You'll have to weigh the pro's and con's of going. Write out the reasons and list them under a "pro" or "con" heading. Listing reasons in this way may help you decide.

If you do go, I would take supplements before and after the concert. Please look around the site, but I believe NAC is otoprotective. I'm not sure of the dose, but I some people take 500 or 600 mg daily. A, C, E's are also supposedly protective against loud noises. Of course, taking the supplements are in addition to ear plugs and maybe ear muffs too.

It's not easy having tinnitus. But it may help to focus on what you can do safely rather than on what you can't do.

 

shouldnt be a problem. just make sure you wear the earplugs all the time,even before the show start in case it start early. This is the most important, also stay away from earplugs that doesnt "glue to your ear". Foam is no good
The best earplugs are: http://earplugsonline.com/
Bring earmuffs in case it goes above 105db, search low profile earmuffs 31 DB. there are earmuffs that are sold on ebay that are a bit better 33db up to 37db.
Very important: Bring sound level meter. If the concert stays above 110DB for more than a few minutes...well Id say anything above 113-115 is a must leave no matter how long it is. Be strong and stick to your principal

 

Totally turned down a miley cyrus concert this month... Would love to go and i would prob be fine but theres that chance i wont and T will get worse :-/ concerts are usually the only thing i wont do for a while..even though ive been around music reallly loud since the onset of my T and it hasnt changed. Its obviously something you want to go to so i would say wear strong earplugs and try to get the farthest seat possible and also try and go to the bathroom or even short breaks inbetween.. Have some drinks and just try and not worry about it have funn im sure youl be writing the next day saying no spikes!!!!

 

I would not risk it. I know sucks but just being honest

Edit:
Just wanted to add something. Concerts can get reallyy loud. Earplugs only prevent sound trough air, not the sound that is being generated by bone structure. I don't think you can protect yourself enough for this.

 

@Grace the damage is often cumulative, so i would be very careful around really loud noise. Otherwise in some years it might get louder.

 

countless who come back from a concert with worsened t seems to have used the 33db, some of the highest protection, im sorry to see the pattern and to say the foam earplugs who provide this are some of the worst. The 33db sounds great on paper but in ears and reality theyre impossible to wear and id say they lower the protectiom far more than other plugable plugs ith a bit lower protection. I dont know what kind of ear its supposed to fit, but you cant make one plug and expect it to work in everyones ears. Many here regret and wish they were in your shoes, but examples of foam earplugs shouldnt be decisive, my point is to getmolded musicians earplugs. Many musicians have bad t and keeps on going, considering they dont care about the soind theyre habituated, maybe a katy perry concert is a hardcore start for you thats not up to me to judge,but if you avoid everything anxiety prevails. You dont have to stay through the whole thing, you could wear construction side wheadbuds, anyway if done right im sure it will be a huge success. I mean, we all wish to habituate yet we find outselves saying "nah i dont wish for the sound to worsen", for the sake of habituation, isnt beating the anxiety and do exactly what you love is more important than the first thought? And if you dont go, you had the confidence to even ask neenie which i admire considering many threads takes away ones confidence. As said i think going would be a proper kick in t's ass

 

Bone gives more protection than earmuffs...

 

I thought the bone structure also produces sound, thats one of the reasons why earplugs don't go over 33 db. Because they cant promise more protection.

Making desicions with tinnitus has nothing to do with 'kicking its ass'. You need to calculate what the risk is and what the reward is, but no reward is high enough to compensate a permanent spike. Going to a concert is extremely risky, so based on that I would just not go.

 

I went to a pussy cat dolls concert after I had had T for about 2 years, I wore foam plugs and I didn't have any tinnitus increase..it was loud but I was near the back of the stadium. Having said that, my t has gotten worse year on year, so although I didn't experience any immediate t increase after events such as the pussy cat dolls concert, I can not say 100% that these events haven't cumulatively over time increased my t. Who knows maybe if I had sat in a quiet room for the last ten years maybe the t would have still increased to the level it is now...it's the million dollar question for me.

I think it boils down to this....will you be happier if you don't go and you miss the concert and your t stays at the same level, or will you be happier if you go and have a good time and get a t increase.....or looking at it another way, what will make you more sad...missing a 2 hour concert or having a permanent t increase...I think it is as simple as that.

No one can guarantee you won't get an increase so in my honest opinion I would avoid myself as keeping my t level as low as possible is more important to me than a concert.

 

Boxdra I think you're completely wrong. Evidently nobody's going to fight the fight for you, making desisions with t and to activily fight h/anxieties, has everything to do with kicking its' ass.
Most of the warnings to risks here are given by people emphasizing accidents caused by foam earplugs, and as the gravity of how bad they are have been established across the forum on countless occasions, there's no need to include them in the calculations.
Assuming the goal would be living a life unaffected by t (habituated), the reward would exceed a potential spike, isn't capability of living your life a reward high enough to compensate for a permanent spike? If then, it's freedom

Agree there.

As far as I've understood from t-champs, habituation is reachable despite vol. As mentioned above no t is the same, you could potentially go to concerts for the rest of your life without anything would happen. Sure thing is if one doesnt do what one loves and feeds ones anxiety (on potentially unreasonable grounds as the treshold is unknown), I can't see how habituation is to be reached. Pain is inevitable, suffering is optional.

 

Yeah definally, got to be careful

 

When i say really loud noise i mean 85 to 95 tops with earplugs on... Will this still do damage? I have a wedding coming up in may and idk how loud the dj is gonna be but im thinkin 105 tops but i do know that the organist in the church is REALLY loud so i have to wear plugs but i cant afford the expensive ones... Can anyone recommend any that are comfy and dont poke outta the ear so much? I have those earasers which are comfy and invisible but dont provide much protection

 

Grace - hearos ear plus are really good .they are bit long though .
You like erasers ? I got medium size ..was too large so returned and got smaller siZe ..not small size is too small !

 

I went to concerts for years and just wore ear plugs. I had no issues with my tinnitus increasing. Obviously, if you're in general admission and there is standing room, stay away from the speakers. If you're in a seat, be sure to purchase some seats that aren't right next to the stage. You will be a good distance away from the speakers then.

You'll be better off if it's outdoors, but if it's in an arena, take breaks and get up and walk around the outside of walkways of the arena every 15 minutes or so. I personally don't think you'll have an issue. Load up on those lipoflavanoid pills and some magnesium before you go. Those don't really help tinnitus if you already have it, but there's some evidence that shows lipoflavanoids can have an otoprotective effect.

Finally... I mean this is Katy Perry we're talking about here. Not Korn or AC/DC. I don't think she'll be too loud. I'd wear ear plugs to drown out the shrill screams of all the girls in the audience even if I wasn't worried about my hearing. lol

It would be cool to see her sing "Roar" though... I do like that song.

 

Yeah i do have the hereos maximum protection foam ones there blue and when fitted right they work but i am like deaf with them in! Lol and cant hear anyone talking and they loosen up and fall outta my ear a lil so constantly pushing them in.. Do they make a solid heros one with maximum protection that stays in without constantly having to push them in?!!!

 

Ohh and i love the earasers there perfect comfy and stay in just right but only 5 db protection up to 19 db at certain frequencies that are dangerous which is good but on there website they have extreme protection coming soon on there front page.. Hoping those are like 33 db protection but im gonna guess those are gonna be a 19 db reduction up to like 25 which is better but they should make these really extreme cause there so perfect and comfy!

 

Like I said, factors such as the venue, how close you are, how well the plugs fit, that all factors in. If it is outside, I honestly wouldn't worry about a thing if you have some ear plugs in. If it is inside and you're right next to the speakers, take frequent breaks and get up and walk away from where they are. Forgive the pun, but "Play it by ear".

 

Haven't had a proper look through this thread yet, but I just wanted to quickly add that anyone considering going out to concerts, or any sort of loud event regularly should really invest in custom fitted musician ear plugs. I've made a gang of posts about them already, but I do think they are worth the investment. I wouldn't rely on generic foam or silicone plugs primarily due to issues with fitting the ear canal properly. Plus, musician plugs sound infinitely better and are so much more comfortable.

 

I couldn't agree with you more . I would not even think about going to the concert . Why play with your DAMAGED ears ??
It's not about being brave but it's about being smart. If we have broken foot we wouldn't run marathon ..again just MHO..don't want any of you guys to suffer like I did .