Protect Ears from Regular Sounds?

Ever since I developed tinnitus and hyperacusis a half year ago I tried to use as little hearing protection as I could. For everyday noises I mean, I read that on the internet.... and I slowly started to notice my hyperacusis becoming better, or more cope-able.

I really had to work hard, and it wasn’t always easy (I have 2 kids) but I really am happy with everything I can do again.

My tinnitus became worse during the past months, and now I read in a couple of different threads it’s better to protect your ears even to not so very loud sounds... is there a connection you think? Do I have to wear earplugs more often??

 

It all depends. If it is acoustic trauma related then you need to protect your ears in loud noise environment.

 

I always use hearing protection with loud noises of course.... but I mean for example vacuum cleaning, or at school.
I don’t think loud noises caused my t and h, It began during a period when I was very ill.

 

Stress will also make T worse.

 

I stayed away from moderately loud noises (e.g., blender, vacuum cleaner, lawn mower, power tools, hair dryer), and it worked well for me. I suggest that you listen to the signals given to you by your own body. If a certain sound (e.g., the loud traffic) causes your T to temporarily spike, wear earplugs the next time you are likely to be exposed to that sound.

 

I wear earplugs on occasion and cover my ears when when I'm experiencing a temporary loud sound but I don't wear earplugs any more often than necessary.

 

To have to be plug-ready at any given moment in anticipation of even moderately loud sounds like street traffic or household appliances sounds like a fastlane to a nervous breakdown waiting to happen. Especially if it's expected that your ears' new vulnerability is now a lifetime guarantee.

 

How is this different from being ready to use the breaks when you drive? Why not advise the new drivers to relax and to not be ready to use the breaks when they see obstacles when they drive, in order to reduce the stress in their lives?

 

@anna_xx @Bill Bauer @robHing

I have muffs with me in case I need them, and there have been times when having them with me has been the difference between an anxiety spike, and not giving it another thought after the fact. Some are obvious --siren going by in traffic while I'm driving, train horn blasting as I was driving the road alongside the tracks --the train that goes through here multiple times a day is so loud that I sometimes have to block my ears even when I'm in the house! -- shopping at the market (incredibly loud, that place!), power equipment staring nearby, and the like. Once the noise has passed, I take them off.

(As an aside: I'm still trying to decide on a good reusable ear plug for restaurants and such [I have some foam plugs and always have them in the car, but ultimately I find them too difficult to work with] but haven't found one -- any suggestions there?)

Where I find myself waffling is on sounds like dishes and stainless steel utensils rattling when I'm washing dishes, locks engaging and disengaging, keys, etc. Those things can be bothersome to me. I try not to protect around them because I know I have to get used to them, but there are times when I feel I need to do so, so I do it. I guess the trick is finding the 'happy medium' -- protecting prudently without overdoing it. I'm not sure I've found that yet, but I'm trying to use common sense as my guide, and not fear. I just try to gauge where things are that day, and go from there.

This might not be applicable to your situation, though.

Mystery Reader

 

There's driving, which is one thing, and then there's living your life with the threat of normal sounds, which are everywhere, shattering your skull. That thought alone is enough to provoke one into asking deep questions about their quality of life, if not being driven to insanity.

 

Actually, it becomes automatic, something you don't think about. You know, like braking. I am not the only one who feels this way:

My plugs of choice are 3M 1100
https://www.amazon.com/3M-1100-Foam-Plugs-200-Pair/dp/B008MVYL7C/

I used to protect against all of those sounds, as it Felt like they were harming my ears. Eventually, I stopped feeling this way (despite being diligent about protecting), and now I no longer do it.

Consider using the signals from your body as your guide. If a sound feels fine to you, do not protect yourself. If the sound bothers you, and especially if you get spikes, then it makes sense to use protection.

 

@Bill Bauer
Thanks for your responses, particularly the last two. The sounds mentioned really can get to me at times, and I guess I just have to weigh them against anything else that might have happened that day.

If I might ask two more questions: You say you eventually stopped protecting against those sounds -- was this because they ceased to bother you, or because you realized that, even though they were still bothersome they weren't actually doing any harm? The other question -- how long did it take your sound sensitivity to resolve?

Thanks again, and hopefully some of this will be useful to @anna_xx as well!

Mystery Reader

 

My experience seems to indicate that they were likely doing harm (as evidenced by the spikes I would often get when I would fail to protect myself). I stopped protecting against many sounds, because those sounds stopped being bothersome (and stopped causing spikes).

I am still careful, and I still try to minimize my exposure to loud sounds. If I have a choice, I always choose to stay away from the noises (I don't use the blender and ask a relative to do my vacuuming for me). I might relax even more in the coming years, but I don't feel like I am ready for that just yet.

It is a gradual process. I haven't been keeping a diary, so it is difficult for me to list all of the stages and the timing of all of the stages. A conservative estimate is 12-15 months after onset... Having said this, I had experienced at least one secondary acoustic traumas since the onset, and this trauma had likely slowed things down for me.

 

A lifestyle change of that magnitude would be utterly depressing and catastrophic to me.

 

That might be the case, but the alternative is much, much worse...

 

@Bill Bauer

Thanks for your input, here. It really is one day at a time with this thing, isn't it? So many different approaches, and different for everyone.

I do avoid loud venues (was never much of a fan of them, anyway) and wear Peltor 5x when vacuuming, but pretty much use Walker's muffs the rest of the time (w/ 22 dB reduction rating) when I need to protect -- the Peltor's feel like overkill in other situations (except the night the train came up alongside me -- was glad to have the Peltor's on the seat, then!)

I do get the importance of not overdoing it, though -- it's hard to know sometimes when to push through and when to protect. I'm three months into a benzo taper, and that may be playing a role in all this. In the meantime, I need to find the middle ground without developing bad habits. Input like this helps a lot.

Again, Bill, thanks for your time and your thoughts on this -- and I hope I haven't completely de-railed Anna's thread!

Mystery Reader

 

Well, with that in mind, is it even possible for someone who's experienced an acoustic trauma leading to tinnitus to ever return to the normal life they knew prior?

Sure, the tinnitus may fade and even disappear, but I read a lot of warnings on this forum to continue to "protect your ears", but I now wonder what that even means. Does it mean for the rest of your entire lifetime or just for the foreseeable future? Yes it's common sense to protect yourself from loud sounds, but the definition of "loud" on this forum might be different to how the rest of the world defines "loud". To people here, simply opening a plastic bag could be agonising, and the thought of now having to be vigilant and on your guard against even the most seemingly benign of sounds... god, the human mind could only cope with that for only so long. Let alone a lifetime!

 

This is just my experience (I know T is different for everyone). I wear light head phones when I use blender or vacuum, i used to hate it...but now it is the norm for me. I wear plugs when in restaurant, grocery store (during busy hours), when i am at a house party or family gathering. Personally the more people are talking the more unpredictable the situation becomes so i just pop them in regardless. I have super long hair so i just cover it =]

My worst nightmare would be that I am somewhere and I forgot my plugs (yikes!), so i just secretly plant ear plugs in random places in town lol. It seems like over-caution...but think about it...would you really want to risk getting worst tinnitus for the next 10 years....or be inconvenienced for a few minutes?

It's like wearing a seat belt...after a while it becomes 2nd nature and you don't even think about it.

 

Here is how I plan to approach it. When I feel like it is time to begin using the vacuum cleaner again, I will vacuum for 1 minute and then wait for a week to see how my body reacts. If there is no reaction, I will repeat this process with 5 and 10 minutes. If I yearn to relax on a motorboat, I will repeat the above with a motorboat. Once I know that I am ok with a motorboat and the vacuum cleaner, I will be less careful around similar noises. Having said all of that, I plan to stay away from all noises, unless there is no way around it.

 

I used to think like this too! lol, it definitely seems like your life will never go back to normal after T, but frankly it is all in your way of thinking...sure things are different now but with a little adjustment I don't see how you can't still live that same life.

Life is a mixed bag, it's all very exciting for me, I never know what kind of crazy adventure I will get into next...the very idea is scary and also a little wonderful too...I'll admit I was on a cargo ship once and woke up at night due to the hallway bells ringing like crazy. I ran out to the balcony and saw for miles and miles all around, the sight of bio luminescence jelly fish in the millions all floating to the surface of the ocean. It is a sight i will never forget, I got to share that sight with my T and I thought how special it was that this T was able to witness this moment with me (lucky for it). But then I thought wow if I was blind I would miss out on this, then I was grateful for my sight...i still have that...along with my sense of smell. The only thing broken is my hearing, so far this has taught me to be more vigilant in protecting all my other senses so they won't go either. =]

 

Sounds to me like a new existence of learned avoidance behaviour. If that's what "habituation" means, then it's not exactly what I had in mind.

 

For me it is part of habituation , but it's not bad at all, my T used to be super loud...now it is down to nothing at all...I can't hear it in any situation unless A. I am super stressed out or B. I am in an air tight room with no other sound.

Habituation helps you overcome the daily nuances that plague this condition, the less stress you are about it the more likely you will get better. The more you protect your ears the less damage your body has to fix and the more likely it will rebuild and protect against future assault. I technically don't have to wear plugs for blenders or vacuums...but i want to just because, i think of it like little quests i have to do each day...it's fun for me at least =P

 

For many people the answer is apparently yes. If it involves clubbing heavy metal concerts and firing guns though, they will likely end up paying for it. Possibly very severely. For me, I will never be able to return to the life I knew. Some ears are just not as strong and resilient as others.

One must also define the word 'normal.' A significant percentage of the population has tinnitus due to the normal things in today's society. Just like it is pretty normal and common to have adult-onset diabetes, high blood pressure, cancer, strokes, etc. Normal doesn't necessarily mean healthy.

 

Do you hear it when you have earplugs on?

 

Yes, I do.

 

Okay, just say I'm a guy who used to love cranking up the hi-fi system a bit just to feel the music a bit, not to ridiculous levels, but enough to jam with it. But since my initial acoustic trauma in June (the garage door incident), I'm too scared to go near the thing. So will I ever be able to listen to music on it the same way again? I only had the system for a few months but I'm worried I might have to sell it off if I can no longer use it for what it was intended for, lest it resurrects my T/H, even at moderate volume levels.

See, that's the enjoyment in life I'm afraid I might never get back because I may have to develop a new paranoid OCD behaviour that means going to huge lengths to avoiding regular, everyday sounds that are now a possible threat. Guys and girls, you may claim you're used to that, but it sounds like a huge burden to carry, and will take its toll on a person very quickly.

 

Let it go. This is a situation where losing is better than gaining.

 

Not sure I know what that means.