Scared of making tinnitus worse

Hello, I am 18 years old and have had tinnitus for about 3 years due to an ear infection. At first it troubled me a lot but eventually I learnt to accept it and habituate to it. However, now I am 18 I have starting going out with friends more to pubs, clubs, gigs and festivals. Naturally these places can be very loud and I am terrified that I will make my tinnitus worse. When I have been to these places my tinnitus spikes and then goes back down again but my main worry is that if it spikes but never returns to its original volume!

I now have some discreet ear plugs which I use which seem to help a little but I am living in fear of making my tinnitus worse through lifestyle choices but I don't want to miss out on being young and having fun because of the T, as people say you should not let T decide your life for you.

How do I enjoy going to these places without worrying and damaging my ears making my tinnitus worse?

Thank you.

 

hi how r u doing

others correct me if im wrong, but I think you are doing the right thing wearing the ear plugs. As a DJ i regret not having used them and going to many insane dance parties. Nowadays I see a lot of boys n girls in the spanish clubs with earplugs, dont worry if they discreet or not, theres no shame in looking after your health !

hope it helps!

pd- and avoid by all means staying just by the speakers.

 

Callum

That is a tough choice. Having T you have to make some choices. Fun is temporary but hearing damage and T are for life (at least for now). There is a strong possibility that it will get worse if you continue to expose yourself to loud events. Maybe not now or even for years but hearing damage accumulates over time slowly so it is not noticeable for a while. I think wearing ear protection is a smart choice even if you might feel embarrassed by it.

I won't tell you that you shouldn't go. What I will tell you is that I have done my fair share of clubbing (prob for years) and though I probably wouldn't have stopped at the time, I do wish I knew about using ear plugs, because I would have worn them.

You might want to look into specific for your ear, custom molded ear plugs. They are expensive but will give you the best protection in these situations because they are molded to fit your ear exactly. The tend to be less noticable too.

You shouldn't have to miss out on youth and fun, just be smart about it.

-Limit your exposure. Don't club or to loud events every night. Limit yourself to give your ears some time between events.
-Always wear a set of good ear plugs. If you are embarrased by them, get some molded ones that are not as noticable
-Don't stand or dance near speakers, stay as far from them as possible. Locate the DJ and stand/sit on the opposite side.
-Take regular breaks away from noise like go outside the club or bar every 1/2 hour, hour or so
-Limit Alcohol intake. Alcohol is actually ototoxic.
-Eat healthy to give your body (and ears) plenty of nutrients/antioxidants to repair damage etc
-Have fun just be smart about it.

 

Try Ohropax classic earplugs, nobody will notice them, trust me! I may forget my lipstick home, but never my earplugs!

 

Thank you for your replies! I have these ear plugs:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B002Z89SRG/?tag=tinntalk-21

and also these:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0033XVJKG/?tag=tinntalk-21

Are what you are saying is if I don't spend too long in clubs, take a break outside every now and again and don't stand next to the speakers I should be okay to enjoy going out with my friends without making my tinnitus worse?

Thank you so much!

 

I have some ER plugs, they are decent. Well, there are no guarantees that it won't get worse. Any time you expose yourself to loud noises, there is a potential for it getting worse. Then again, I know people who have had T for 30 years and they say it has always stayed about the same all that time.

If you do it smart like the tips above you can help to minimize the risks.

 

Is traffic noise harmful....should I be protecting my ears. It does hurt a bit or is it my hyperacuosis

 

Yes Dhaval, traffic noise in big cities used to aggravate my T, now that I'm in a small town,it's better.

 

But I don't feel it aggrevate in general. Just keeps shifting. Did this happen to you too

 

No Dhaval. The traffic noise just aggravated my T a lot and made it worse, I don't hv hyperacousis though.

 

Hello, I have just come back from a holiday to crete which I spent there for 9 days. About 7 of these days at night time I was at loud bars and clubs for at least a couple of hours where I measured the decibel levels to be approximately between 85-100 DB.

I used ear plugs every single night I went out and only experienced slightly increased ringing for one of the nights. This was the night wear I stopped wearing these earplugs and wore these ones instead. When I woke up my ears were perfectly fine however. All I did was made sure I always wore ear plugs and never stood near speakers and also took regular breaks outside where it was a bit quieter.

Hopefully this means that I can continue going to gigs, festivals and clubs without damaging my hearing and hopefully this provides a bit of help to any of those in a similar situation.

 

When I've worn plugs at events, I've had no issues, however please never forget them! I've made that mistake, and it does make things worse . Personally I like the ER20s, they suit me. They've served me well at many events.

 

Are you trying to say that your tinnitus has become permanently worse due to not wearing ear plugs Shuffle?

 

I think it's at least partly responsible. It's a three way thing I think, a mild increase due to a Wedding Disco (but a week later I'd forgotten it), a mild increase due to a sinus infection and I think I've also had an increase due to a TMJ/Neck issue, and the three in combination is driving me mad. I've had no luck sorting the last two, but I keep trying!

 

I'm sorry to hear that, may I ask when can you actually hear your tinnitus? Is it only in quiet places or can you hear it over louder sounds such as a car running?

 

I used to only notice it at bedtime. Now I hear it when I use the computer or when I drive.

 

hearing protection is mandatory. if you are getting occasional ringing, this is your body talking: it doesn't like it. gradually more and more hair cells will die, and they do not re-grow or heal. then you will be in bad shape like the rest of us. Either don't go there or you must always protect your ears.

 

I completely agree with you, almost anywhere I go now I take ear plugs just in case. I have several cheap pairs that I keep. For example I keep a set in my car, a set in my wallet, a set in my room, a set in my pocket sometimes. That way if I do need ear plugs I wall almost always have access to some.

 

The hair cell concept is just theory, nothing has been proved to link it with T. All people loose inner hair cells during their lifetime. Also, people have T for all sorts of reasons. Could have a perfect inner ear and raging mad loud T levels. Just saying.

 

I agree entirely, plugs everywhere.