Protecting? Overprotecting? Not Protecting?

@Jiri My wonderful caring wife didn't know that I was in the garage earlier today and she pushed the garage remote control from inside the house before leaving for work. I was exposed to 115-120 decibels of sound for 5 seconds before I placed my hands over my ears. I didn't get a spike, but I have fluctuations like an airport all the time.

 

Maybe it was a sign to move on to a smart phone.

 

Cheah, maybe. I heard you can download a CBT app from the app store and work on your T & H.

 

@dpdx - “T” started about 1990 until 2014.
Probably started subject to an attack of Sarcoidosis, which was treated by 6 months of Prednisolone at 30 mg daily.
Noticeable but not traumatic.

 

I had this for about seven months and its not tolerable.

 

@dpdx - Well it bothered me to start with.
I went to the doc but of course there was no treatment.
I tried acupuncture - well what a complete waste of time and money that was.
But quite soon I coped with it with not much problem.
I remember almost joking about it.
So I obviously habituated.
Perhaps your level of cochlea damage is greater than mine was at that time.
I do hope things go well for you - keep in touch.

 

I can hear my T over everything just not the shower.

 

Yes - I can hear mine over Everything....
There are many people like us on here of course.
We wake up to ‘our noise’ every morning.
If I walk around hating it - then I have a terrible day.
If I can accept it, and move on, I am much better.
We don’t have to like it - I mean, that’s impossible.
The posts on here that I find the most interesting and helpful, are those by the sufferers who acknowledge ‘what they’ve got,’ yet are determined to move forward and make something of their lives.
Ultimately, it is a decision.
I absorb the posts of people like @fishbone and @Ed209, who show the way ahead.
This condition is so tough, no question,
but I believe we can all ‘do it.’
Best wishes xx

 

I can see such a difference in your mentality and strength, since you joined the forum. Be proud of yourself and keep moving forward. The rewards of positive thinking, outshines the wrath of this horrible menace.

 

You have an awesome attitude jazzer. I wish you nothing but the best.

 

@Greg Sacramento That is super loud. I hope you're ok? Bill told me that the time span of a t. spike striking is usually within 24 - 48 hours. I initially thought that your t. was due to a degenerative c. spine condition. I had no idea you also have a noice-induced t. I'll keep my fingers crossed for you that that accident isn't going to cause you any problems.

 

Sorry, but your garage door opener is not 115-120 decibels. That's the level of a chainsaw or rock concert. It might sound very loud if you have been overprotecting, but not that loud in an objective sense.

 

@Aaron123 Most garage door noise is around 85-90 decibels. We have a chain drive opener where we are getting fierce vibrations. It needs to be fixed as it was tested.

 

I agree. I’ve said this on many many occasions on this forum. People generally have no idea how loud 100+dB is in real world situations. I think people generally forget that it’s a logarithmic scale and that the energy involved rises exponentially. For example: 100db is a 1000 times more powerful than 70db, and 120db is 100,000 times more powerful.

10*10*10 for the first calculation, and 10*10*10*10*10 for the second. We perceptibly notice a doubling in volume somewhere between every 6-10db.

Once you hit 100db it’s seriously loud. 120db has a 100 times more energy. It’s in another league and so much more louder than 100db. This is what makes me laugh when I see reports of cinemas being 130db. It’s outrageous.

 

For the audio, hearing and ear guys, it was tested by a neighbor who is an engineer. He could hear my garage door inside his house and he stated that my garage door is much louder than normal which would be 85 decibels. We have a chain drive opener and there's fierce vibrations. He explained why and he will fix it. Some of what he said appears to be mentioned in this link.
https://msu.edu/~murph250/topics/Waves1.htm

 

You may be right, but generally speaking anyone who guesses what they have been exposed usually overestimate and sometimes overwhelmingly so.

 

@Jiri

I guess you and @Bill Bauer are right. A massive spike is setting in. It started at post 36 hours and now very loud in weak ear at post 41 hours which was faced to garage door.

I been around noise within the last year at high decibels and mostly no spikes. Only a close loud firecracker from next door and several repeated car locking beats from another neighbor where I was also very close. Those spikes ended being very minor.

 

Oh damn. I'm sorry to hear that Look, if you think you were really exposed to such high intensity noise and now your T is spiking, it'd be wise to seek medical attention.

 

Wouldn't this make things EVEN WORSE?! The quieter is the sound that ends up causing a spike, the more vulnerable one is...

 

Was on a bus on my way home last night when all of a sudden I hear a loud bang, initially I thought it was someone slamming a window. When I got down stairs to get off I saw bits of broken balloon, who the hell brings balloons on buses?!?!

I feel bad for the people sitting downstairs when it popped as it sounded very loud from upstairs. I must admit I felt really angry for a few hours after that, I am ok with a lot of noises but balloons and fireworks still scare me a lot.

 

Brilliant thank you

 

Guys, @Ed209 @Bill Bauer @Greg Sacramento @Jazzer @fishbone @Aaron123 @Gman @Tinniger

to sum this thread up, as the more experienced users, could please every one of you give a tip &/or a personal opinion on the sufficient level of protecting our hearing in everyday life situations (commuting, city life, work environment...)?

Whoever views this thread in the future will very likely find this very helpful. People with tinnitus and/or hyperacusis.

Thank you.

 

@Jiri My judgement with this subject is only in the area of sound-induced ear pain or discomfort (aural fullness) due to temporomandibular and cervical disorders. This includes head, neck or jaw injury. This is medical related and not just limited to the usual discussions of hyperacusis and direct hearing associations. With this, otalgia (ear ache) and aural fullness should be examined per medical problems so a T & H condition doesn't get worse.

I do think that long term use of constant headphone protection can lower auditory threshold so I believe that it's necessary to limit situations were there's loud noise. At the same time, it's necessary not to be exposed to loud noise. It's not just about hair cells, it's about nerve fibers when there's other medical conditions involved.

If one has medical problems relating to the lower back spine, neck, jaw or head then careful use of heavy weighted headphones is needed especially when bending or turning head.

Avoiding loud noise is warranted, but none of us are qualified to completely judge what particular tinnitus related or NOT conditions someone may have as they could be involved. For example it's often wise to use cold on a new neck injury and later to start using heat, but that also depends on what's going on with any possible physical atomic nerve related factors within a larger system. Another example is not all tinnitus friendly vitamins and drugs are safe for some who have other medical conditions.

 

Off the top of my head, I know 7 people with Tinnitus in the real world. Only one of them think about protecting their ears when going to a loud place.

I have an uncle who says he "Had" Tinnitus years ago, that he used to wear earplugs everywhere and now he "almost never" hears it. I have a friend who did TRT and says he's ok now.

There are a lot of professional musician who consider Tinnitus as occupational hazard. I think Neil Young did his entire "Harvest Moon" album do deal with his.

As time passes, Tinnitus gets better. Even if the sounds don't go away, we keep living, and we get better at it. In my own personal experience, in the first 6 months my Hyperacusis would freak me out even with elevator music. The pain is very real.

But then, gradually, you learn that the subjective and objective world are different, that even if it feels like harm, it's not real harm, and you start to get your life together.

One thing that helped me was to get a good app on my Iphone, so I could objectively measure the noise around me. For instance: I avoided a local restaurant when my Tinnitus started because it seemed to loud for me. When I measured the sound, it was only around 60-70 db (that's how bad my hyperacusis was). So I would go in for a coffee, than for a sandwich, than for a full meal. You gradually create the courage to face the world.

Nowadays, I protect when I'm going into loud environments: Parties, Shows, etc. I have molded earplugs, so they're easy to carry and put on, and draw little attention.

You don't want to get paranoid.

Best,
Zug

 

@Jiri

My opinion on the frequent use and overuse of hearing protection should be discouraged. I believe it to be one of the main things that can make tinnitus and hyperacusis worse, for someone with these conditions on many levels. The overuse of hearing protection can lower the loudness threshold of the auditory system. This is well documented by the medical profession. It can also cause psychological problems leading to: phonophobia and misophonia if one isn't careful. Properly used hearing protection can be very helpful. Please read my posts in the links below.

Michael

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/hyperacusis-as-i-see-it.19174/

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/the-complexities-of-tinnitus-and-hyperacusis.25733/

 

I am most definitely not one of the more experienced users. In addition to H and T, I have chronic ASD/TTTS, even though my H is improving and T can sometimes get to very low levels. I have not found the right balance between not protecting and protecting.

Generally, I try to not use protection unless I know I'm going to be in situations that require it, but I always carry it. I've paid a price for this approach with unlucky incidences which worsened said ASD/TTTS, however over protecting is not a good idea in my opinion either, as it does lead to hyperacusis worsening or at best maintaining.

Having said that I've had my ASD symptoms flare up with or without ear protection and not even being exposed to loud sounds...

 

If someone protect there ears from 85 dB level for 8 hrs. Outside and you occasionally get the 90 to 95 intermittently with earmuffs. That will bring your noise level to approximately 65 dB. Now if you in a quiet room in you house 8 hrs at 50 dB. That should have the same effect on you auditory system. Will that be overprotective?

So as Bill Bauer trying to say to ,make sense to protect your ears, from getting worse hearing loss and prevent getting spikes. Now if someone do that and don’t get sensibility to noise or H . then it make sense to try protect than to try be tuff and take a risk of damages and things getting worse for you. I see ppl here come an d complain things got bad or worse. Maybe they not taking Bill advice.

Just trying to get some clarification here, no harm to anybody opinion.

 

Over protection of the ears does no good. I go to sporting events and concerts and I have ear plugs in. Having something in your ear canal is not always a great feeling. During that duration of 3-5 hours, my ears get a bit uncomfortable because something is in them for 3-5 hours. For this type of situation, ear plugs are a must. The concerts + events can go from 90 Dbs to 100+ dbs.

I would NOT over protect unless, I know and knew the environment was loud and damaging. As we all know, tinnitus is not just because we are exposed to loud noises. People can drop spoons or something that measures at 65-80Dbs for a split second and they will get a spike. That spike can stay around as well, simply because they are SCARED, they have fear of noises. They are stressed and anxious about the sound/event(s) they experienced.

In my opinion, since I been at this for 30 years. The stress/anxiety gets us way more, than the actual sounds. I can honestly say that it was my exposure to CONSTANT (daily, all the time) loud noises that made my tinnitus intrusive. It was not daily noises.

Protection of the ears are a must, but getting carried away and building up stress ,anxiety ,fear ,paranoia ,OCDs and possibly hyperacusis is not worth it...

The one thing that we need to drift far from is fear. In general fear in life can do many things. Stress in life can do many things......

I write this because I use to have constant fear , stress and even anxiety. So being on the other side (no more fear, less stress, less anxiety) is a blessing and it makes me live a better life.

Bless All

PS-The only thing, that can make even normal daily noises dreadful is hyperacusis. I had it for 3-4 years and it was very difficult. So I sympathize with all who have it...

 

Do you consider 85 to 90 dB that ppl with good ears can be in for 8 hrs. Ok . Can you be in that surrounding for the same time also ?

 

I (meaning Me) Follow OSHA standards. I am NOT advising people to do as I do. I follow their DB/safety guidelines and I have never had an issue. 80DB is not loud at all. BUT for those that have FEAR or hyperacusis, it can be a different ball game. I have gone to 90 Db parties and stayed there for 1-2 hours and never had an issue. Again, this is me and my tolerance level is WAY higher than most and I have no fear of sounds either.

YOU and others have to do what makes YOU comfortable. I cannot advise you, on how you will feel in any environment. 80DB again is not loud at all. We as people that suffer from tinnitus, simply don't want to further damage our ears, so we can get VERY protective.

* As I stated before, hyperacusis can change everything and normal sounds can become quite painful*