Setback After Plane Ride — Tinnitus Now Louder Than Ever

I've been dealing with tinnitus for over a decade and have had several setbacks and every time I think oh no this is it then I habituate. Well it's happened again after a trip I took. I've been on planes before with no problem but this time I was in the very back and it was extremely loud, it caught me off guard.

I went a few minutes without putting my earplugs in, but it was too late, the damage was done. To be honest it's louder and more intense then ever.

It's been 6 months and I'm still struggling.

I finally learned that you can't mess around with tinnitus. You can never let your guard down and assume things are ok, that's just a lie. Precaution must be taken always.

 

Well I’m in airplanes all the time... so I can’t wait for this to happen.

I’m sorry your tinnitus got worse... what type of plane was it?
Did you have earplugs in for takeoff?

 

That's just how messed up things are. You can travel all around the world without tinnitus and not suffer any hearing damage from air travel, but once you have tinnitus not only can you damage your hearing with formerly safe sounds, you can also cause it to spike for longer. Have you tried taking Clonazepam or Xanax? Both are reputed to temporarily help with tinnitus, anything for a little relief until you habituate again or it returns to baseline.

 

So sorry to hear. I don't know how we can be on guard all the time for decades and never suffer exposure, accidental or letting our guard down. I have traveled on flights many times without issue, but always armed with good hearing protection. I think my hearing gets more susceptible to trauma as I get older and have to be even more vigilant. I hope your tinnitus gets better soon or you get used to the new baseline. Take care of yourself.

 

I am sorry to hear this. I know it's already been quite a while, but I certainly hope things settle down more in the time to come.

I had tinnitus for a decade that I thought I understood, and then in my case it was a concert that turned it into a completely different animal; very unpleasant, but somewhat less scary just because it involved sustained exposure to noise I knew I should be getting away from and did not, so it had less of a feeling of randomness to it and more of a sense that I'm not the sharpest knife in the drawer.

I always get seats forward of wing and I use 22db silicone plugs from jetway to jetway; this has allowed me to so far continue to travel as I need to without problems I am aware of, but I don't take anything for granted. I took a db meter to the back of a very small jet once and noted that it was reading well into the upper 80s, which made me think the crew sitting there with no ear protection might eventually regret it, but it wasn't insanely loud. I think that's the loudest plane I've ever been on; do you happen to know the model of plane?

 

My anxiety ramps up because my tinnitus screams with even 5 dB earplugs... how do you handle the (perceived) loudness increase with earplugs?

 

It was a commercial airliner not sure exact size but it wasn't tiny but small in comparison to other planes I've been in. I don't travel much. Anyway my seat was in the very back of the plane I don't know if that made a difference. But the jets were louder than I've ever heard before. I sort of hesitated thinking I'll be fine once we take off but the volume stayed about the same even after take off. At one point I felt a pain in my right ear and thought ok I'll put in my ear plugs. Hindsight always being 20/20 I shouldn't of hesitated a minute. Like I said I've flown before with no problems, this plane was just loud AF.

 

Yeah, I've used both they help out especially for sleep or just to calm down when anxiety is super high. I'm not dependent on them though, just use on emergencies. Thanks

 

No idea of the model of the plane, but I was in the very back seats and it wasn't a very large plane. I got caught slipping not knowing what I was getting into. I pulled my earplugs out too late. I think you have a good strategy, I wish I had to do over again. I'd be wiser. Thanks

 

How are you now?

 

One thing I'm wondering about is if silicone plugs might interfere with the process of pressurization as the plane ascends and descends. Any concerns with that or is there sufficient airflow with your plugs that it's a non-issue?

 

I think recent one hour flight made it lot worse. In fact when you have Tinnitus sound threshold decreases and decreases and then every sound more than 60-70 decibels becomes a concern

 

Earplanes are designed to equalize the pressure, but they are not high in terms of NRR rating. Some folks have reported using foam earplugs fully throughout a plane ride without any issues.

 

Was it a turboprop plane?

 

Yes. Recently I went to my daughter to the video games (4 or 5 times) and my tinnitus got worse. Now I lost my moderate days. No fluctuations anymore.

 

It got worse even with earplugs eh?

 

Sorry this happened to you. If it makes you feel any better I’m in the same boat as you except I manage a bike shop so there is tire explosions all the time. Most of the time it does not affect my tinnitus much but today I was right next to it and man did it sound like dynamite. I wish I could get away from it because I am pretty terrified of my t getting worse. I’m now gonna wear an earplug in my bad ear with the t from now on . But I hope your t is doing better now . I think your fine unless you have any recorded hearing loss. If it was only a few minutes I don’t think there can be much damage there from that

 

Wearing triple flange silicone earplugs, or foam earplugs will not be an issue on airplanes.
I have used both, especially foam earplugs for 30 years in airplanes.

In a bike shop, I would be wearing earplugs... that’s a minefield! Sorry that happened.

Even though I tell coworkers about my hyperacusis... they forget and do stupid things 2 minutes later... always have earplugs. My earplugs are in all the time at work... it’s a PITA...

 

Yes. Big spike after loud videogames with silicon earplugs. Now it's difficult to have a complete "good" day. Loud tinnitus returns easily.