Theatres/Performances/Laughing and Clapping People

Hey guys. Since the onset I excluded any loud events from my life. Concerts are a bye-gone and I don't regret it much, I've seen enough and the fear of doing more damage would just kill me, so I'm not going. Haven't even tries a cinema yet. However, there are some other types of performances and I want to go to see one tomorrow. It's a kind of a theatre performance ( I mean a theatre in its classical meaning, not a cinema ) which is a bit interactive. The actors won't use microphones, but..there will be audience. The performance is funny and I'm suspecting they will burst out with laughter after each sentence. Can't find any info about the decibels level of such a noise - are you afraid of mass human laughter ? I'm afraid if I put the earplugs I won't hear the actors and if I don't , I will damage more my ears. I know I can always get out if needed, but well..that's not the point of going. What are your experiences with this kind of performance ? the venue won't be big..but I expect around 150 people in the audience though.

 

Musician's ear-plugs will allow you to hear the mid-range frequencies of voices, which will make the words of the performers discernable to you. At the same time they will protect you from the damaging higher frequencies of the voices, especially the voices of the audience. There are transparent one-size-fits-all ones you can buy on amazon, or you can get them custom fit by an ear doctor.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B013H8FUVA?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00
However do not take this as a blanket approval of any course of action. You know your own tinnitus; Asses the risk and make a judgement call. When in doubt, protect yourself.

 

Hi Gosia,

A few weeks ago, I went with a friend to Birmingham (UK) to listen to an American performer called Henry Rollins who tours with a one man spoken word show. I took my earplugs anyway and I'm glad I did because we were four rows from the front and there were some amplifiers stacked up at our end of the stage playing music while we waited for the show to start. It was LOUD and there was some terrible feedback on one track. When the show started, I heard every word perfectly with my plugs in the whole time.

Always take your earplugs anyway Gosia. I've read too many posts on here from people who forgot theirs and regretted it afterwords. It's the same with bars. It's so difficult to find somewhere quiet to have a drink and talk without shouting. People are afraid of the quiet for some reason so there is usually loud music or a DJ even in many bars.

My T was caused by stress but I still wouldn't take chances with a loud bar or theatre or cinema. Imagine firing a gun at a range. You would take plugs for that. And I still see so many people with earphones in listening to music. They're everywhere.

My earplugs are 3M Clear Ear UF-01-021.

Regards

Jonathan

 

As per this link: https://www.endpcnoise.com/cgi-bin/e/decibels.html

A very loud clap at 1m distance can reach 130dB, most people will clap much quieter than this, but it's possible to have this volume around you, and mulitple people doing it at the same time. At this SPL level there's no safe permissible duration to be around it and hearing damage can occur in under 1 second of exposure. As others have said you should use earplugs, there seem to be some sensible suggestions from @AnxiousJon and @UKJon .

 

Really??


"The voiced speech of a typical adult male will have a fundamental frequency from 85 to 180 Hz, and that of a typical adult female from 165 to 255 Hz." That is, the frequency ranges (of the fundamental frequency) are about an octave apart, for males and females.

I used to be an Actor and was exposed to A LOT of the spoken word and lots of clapping. What about Opera singers?!! Do they all have T??

 

I already have my alpine plugs for musicians. And plenty of different types and of course I was planning on taking them cause anyway I don't move outside without them in my bag 'just in case'. Jon, I know Henry, am a big fan, have seen long hours of his performances on tv..but Henry fills huge venues and uses microphones. It's not case in theatres. What I was asking about was theatre ( Br Eng ) performances..you know, like in Shakespearean times Where actors use their voices only and I don't expect any danger from them. For the clapping I was of course planning to cover my ears anyway, but clapping is at the end. ( can hardly believe a clap can reach 130 db ?? What source is that ? You mean almost as much as a gun shot ? )
What I was asking about was the laughter of the audience...the troop of actors is funny, I've seen them plenty of times before T in small theatres..you're cute to answer my thread but I'm under the impression you haven't read my post carefully

 

Good question about opera singers, I'm always wondering cause these guys surely produce a lot of decibels BUT they are protected by the inner mechanism..there's sth like that. If we yell, sth protects our inner ear inside from the damage. ( I read articles about it, I can't be more precise . )That having said any person working in venues is at high risk and yes, plenty of them have t..not all..cause after all it's genetics that decides..I hope that laughing of the audience is not as loud as the clapping..I've been so many times in theatres, only I never thought about comparing such things. I don't even remmeber if it's loud cause I didn't care about it at all in my previous life..I can give up concerts and cinemas, but I hope I won't have to give up theatre..

 

That's a very sad picture Gosia. I hope that's not you.

 

Dont you have really bad tinnitus? Why would you take the gamble without plugs?

 

I went to his show in Dublin last Sunday. Brought my earplugs just in case, didn't use them in the end. Everything was totally fine. To the original poster, I'd go out and have some of these experiences, you'll be understandably nervous at first but I'm sure you'll have a positive experience.

 

Nope, it's not me : ) sometimes it corresponds to my mood, but globally I'm rather positive. I wouldn't dare to go to see Henry live. @Greg Clarke , I'm going for usure. If people laugh too loud, I will put ear plugs instantly. If they don't, voices of actors surely can't do any harm. I'll let you know tonight how it was

 

Do! It's important to come back and report any positive experience.

 

I wish I could write sth positive but unfortunately I can't. Finally the actors used micros, so I had the earplugs in throughout the whole performance. I stayed at the end of the hall, as far as I could from any speaker ( there were two in front and two in the middle ). It lasted two hours. I also measured the decibels on my tablette. I know it's only a crappy application but since I always measure all with the same one, I can have a comparison and also, when I check the decibel levels data on the net, very often it corresponds to what thios app shopws, so I guess it's not that unreliable. It showed from 67 to 90 plus, most of the time being around 85. The source of the noise were human voices through the microphone and applause every two minutes or so. I felt comfty with the noise level with the earplugs in. Except at the end.. so I left before it finished. After that I spent some time among some people having a smoke outside and a chat.. when I left I didn't see any difference in T level, neither at home, but when I laid in bad I did.. my right ear was louder, didn't want to calm down as it usually does when I lay, I couldn't sleep most of the night..then in the morning there was a steady whistle which is also unsual.. now during the day I can hear my head buzzing more than usually. Globally I'm a wreck and I guess for now I regret I did go... even if normally the sound was not enough to cause any damage and even if my app is crap, I don't think it could be more than 88 db. Globally not more than in the cinema, maybe less, and there was no music or explosions like in the movies . ( thta having said, I haven't been to the cinema yet since the onset,I'm afraid. I wasn't afraid yesterday, but unfortunately, I should have maybe..) I took two NAC at night, as usually my life is hung up on a hookuntill it settles down, if... In the beginning of the show I couldn't help crying. All the repressed sorrow that this things are forbidden for me since march 2015..I believed I'd be just fine.. each first vexperience scares me;;first flight with t, first dentist with t and so on.. the relief when you discover you actually still can do these things is priceless. This time there's no releief but fear of getting back to square one and losing my life again. Maybe two hours was much too much even with the earplugs, maybe earplugs didn't protect me well enough..

 

I wish I could write sth positive but unfortunately I can't. Finally the actors used micros, so I had the earplugs in throughout the whole performance. I stayed at the end of the hall, as far as I could from any speaker ( there were two in front and two in the middle ). It lasted two hours. I also measured the decibels on my tablette. I know it's only a crappy application but since I always measure all with the same one, I can have a comparison and also, when I check the decibel levels data on the net, very often it corresponds to what thios app shopws, so I guess it's not that unreliable. It showed from 67 to 90 plus, most of the time being around 85. The source of the noise were human voices through the microphone and applause every two minutes or so. I felt comfty with the noise level with the earplugs in. Except at the end.. so I left before it finished. After that I spent some time among some people having a smoke outside and a chat.. when I left I didn't see any difference in T level, neither at home, but when I laid in bad I did.. my right ear was louder, didn't want to calm down as it usually does when I lay, I couldn't sleep most of the night..then in the morning there was a steady whistle which is also unsual.. now during the day I can hear my head buzzing more than usually. Globally I'm a wreck and I guess for now I regret I did go... even if normally the sound was not enough to cause any damage and even if my app is crap, I don't think it could be more than 88 db. Globally not more than in the cinema, maybe less, and there was no music or explosions like in the movies . ( thta having said, I haven't been to the cinema yet since the onset,I'm afraid. I wasn't afraid yesterday, but unfortunately, I should have maybe..) I took two NAC at night, as usually my life is hung up on a hookuntill it settles down, if... In the beginning of the show I couldn't help crying. All the repressed sorrow that this things are forbidden for me since march 2015..I believed I'd be just fine.. each first vexperience scares me;;first flight with t, first dentist with t and so on.. the relief when you discover you actually still can do these things is priceless. This time there's no releief but fear of getting back to square one and losing my life again. Maybe two hours was much too much even with the earplugs, maybe earplugs didn't protect me well enough..

 

@Gosia

In my opinion I think you will be fine after a couple of days, those sound levels for a couple of hours are not damaging at all, especially since you wore earplugs.

What I think happened is that you are consciously or subconsciously monitoring your tinnitus for any changes, and you walked in the theatre busy with your app measuring DB's and anticipating if the sounds are harmless wich in turn gives a signal to the brain that there was possibly a dangerous situation, that in turn gives signals to your brain that it should up the volume , the internal amplifier.

Try to relax and have a couple of nights of good sleep and things should settle back down again.

Cognitive Disorted thinking can play real tricks on us, try instead to think that even if your tinnitus is tempory louder you had a nice evening and enjoyed yourself.

 

The paradox is sleep is impossible with the spike..and that's the worst part of it - if I can sleep fine I can handle spikes preety well. If I can't sleep that means it's really bad.. I had many nights of good night sleep before that because the level of t let me. It's as simple as that : low t , good sleep. spike - no sleep. I agree that it will probably pass..but I can't agree that it's me who provoked it with thinking anyhow - I 'm alaways stressed the same about the possible damage when I'm about to do sth loud - lately it was the dentist. Still, since I didn't notice any spike after the drilling , I was ok..same after the plane. I mean, if sth inluences my t level in a negative way it's surely not my stress about the damage - I stay optimistic and always assume there won't be any rather than the opposite. Of course, I was monitoring , but since when I left the venue I stated no change, I wasn't thinking about it any longer. Then when I laid I simply heard it louder, without looking for it.. My T is quite reactive.. even if it passes soon, I'm afraid I will stay very resiliant to going to a similar event anytime in the future. When my t is like it was lately, I can live a normal life. When it's like today, I can't. The difference is too big..I'll let you know when it settles ..

 

Yesterday was better during the day and I thought I was fine again, but I was wrong..the night was hellish. I guess it has never been so loud. I'm a wreck again like in the beginning. I had to try right ? But I can only regret having gone. Otherwise I'd be fine today..now I don't know how long I won't be well or if I ever will be ? After all, as long as it's not better we can't tell if it will get better at all..I missed the whole day at the university and lost any will to do anything..and I'm smoking again..:/ I took plenty of supplements, nothing seems to calm it down .

 

You're working yourself into a state of pointless anxiety and depression. You have nothing to regret. From what I can tell you are causing the spike by needlessly worrying about an event that doesn't sound aurally traumatic at all. Granted, I don't live in your head so I can't know your exact pain, but it certainly sounds like you are making things worse by allowing the worrying to loop in your brain. Take steps to distract yourself from this negative self-flagellation. It's unhealthy and will only get worse if you keep feeding it.

 

@Gosia

I'd try and relax if I were you. This is the type of experience that seems to keep popping up on the forum. In your case I'd say there's no way you've caused any damage at a theatre with ear plugs in. If it was only mic'ed up actors and applause you were dealing with then I really don't see a problem.

The cause is your fear and anxiety. You have literally worked your central nervous system into a frenzy and by doing so you are hearing your T more acutely. That's what worrying about going out can do. It's the old fear feedback loop.

The other thing I'd state is that all the decibel apps I've used on my iPhone have ran high. Now obviously I don't know what app your using, but the ones I used compared to a proper calibrated meter ran around 10-13db high. If you were getting 90db peaks at the very loudest moments it's far more likely it was around 80db or less.

To be honest my best guess for an average theatre performance where no music is being blasted, and it's just actors and clapping your dealing with, I'd say 60db to 78db is the likely range.

 

I went to a performance last night in a small church. I thought it would be quiet, but the sound level was high, especially the high voices. My daughter is also sensitive to loud noises. She wears the ear protection they use on the flight deck of air craft carriers for fireworks half a mile away. She had her hands over her ears. She's hard if hearing too. We both get fluid in our ears. Hers stays. She has a bone conducting hearing aid to bypass the fluid.

Anyway... I felt bad plugging my ear and my daughter with her hands on her ears! The only seats we could find were front row. The performers couldn't miss us and the people behind us could see us. I felt bad. We enjoyed the performance, but our ears didn't... I tried to find my earplugs! Couldn't. I have been losing a lot of things lately... I'm afraid next, I might lose my mind!

Always have your earplugs!

Oh! I have also been seated in front of people who love to clap loudly! Ow! Wow! They practiced to be able to clap that loud! No doubt they see my hands over my ears as I shrink away. Why? Why do people like loud? That hurts!

 

Guys..I know that it's the most handy explanation to tell sb he's looking for it , stressing out and so on, but you have T, you should know better that it's not necessarily this? I was not stressed, I was not panicking, I was not looking for it ..I know my T and my head. I had a very good day, I was in a good mood yesterday- then I went to bed and BAH ! I simply noticed the thing which was different than so many nights before - I can tell. It's like telling sb he feels headache because he talked himself into it ? No, you just notice sth hurts at one moment or the other. I'm not stressed , just sad. Also, it's not my first spike. Chances are before I was much more stressed about them and still, they calmed down. Now it doesn't, but of course, I still believe it will, I know that 3 days of spike is too short to really worry, no matter how nasty it is. I too can't believe this performance could do the damage to hearing, but I'm not sure if damage to hearing is necessary to aggravate T .
It was loud. Surely far more than 70. The same app showed me 82 db on a plane. Here it was running from 86 to 90, but only cause the app stops at 90. Sure, only human voices and some videos from the internet and applause every 2 minutes, but it was a theatre and the sound was through large speakers hanging in the room.
@Ed , how can you know it's your db meter is accurate ? I consider buying one, but the prices vary from very low to unaffordable - that made me think it's useless to buy a cheap one if it's not to be accurate and I can't afford the expensive one. After all, it's our personal sensitivity to loudness that matters and not what the apps/meters show..I lately met a woman whose T got seriously higher from working in a library :/ Only because people were moving chairs, clapping doors etc. I don't think she talked herself into it or just focuses more on the sound. She had had t for a long time before so she can tell the difference. Like me. In her case it's permanent and she had to quit the job. I don't think following OSHA guidelines is enough in our case.

 

@Gosia

I know my decibel meter is accurate because it meets the IEC and ANSI regulations and is accurate to +- 1.5 decibels. All I can tell you is there wasn't a single mobile app that was any where near accurate from the ones I tested. They all ran high. A lot of people get their baseline measurements from mobile apps and to be honest the hardware in your phone/tablet just isn't designed to be used in this way.

I used my phone for about 2 months before I bought a proper meter I thought it was great! It was always accurate to itself in its own way and I honestly thought it was good enough and seemed to be right. I bought a proper meter because I wanted to know what the real db was and was surprised how wrong it was. I downloaded a load of other apps and non of them were any good.

When you say you wasn't concerned during or after the performance, on some level you were/are concerned otherwise you wouldn't have posted on here. You would have gone about your business with no care in the world, but you didn't, you had genuine concerns and expressed them all on here. This shows at some level you definitely were not what I'd call in a normal state of mind, even if you consciously think you were, I doubt you was. The CNS is extremely sensitive and goes far beyond what you would imagine.

Again there is a lot of info on this kind of stuff by people like Dirk de Ridder. So IMO, unless they held a rave half way through the performance, your ears aided by the protection of ear plugs were almost certainly safe.

 

One thing I would add that hasn't been mentioned yet is it's also likely that the earplugs themselves could have caused a temporary spike.

 

You're right. This thread is about SB and not about you despite the fact that you created it. You're also right about not being stressed despite the fact that you hyped yourself up before you went to the theater; you carry around a decibel meter app; you have trouble sleeping; you have found yourself crying in public not to mention that every single one of your posts fairly oozes stress and anxiety and neurotic self-flagellation. So, yeah, you're right and every single one of us that has offered you logical advice is wrong.

I'm just curious though, if you didn't want objective feedback on this non-issue of yours why did you create this thread to begin with?

 

If you were anxious before the show (like everyone suggests) and you had caused a spike though anxious thoughts (again like everyone suggests) surely the spike would have happened at that point (before the show), but it didn't, it happened after noise the exposure. Everyone jumps to anxiety as the reason for everything. The drug companies have done a great job of brain washing a lot of people.

And no, measuring noise levels (having a damaged auditory system) is not anxious behavior, it's smart. I'm sure you wore a seatbelt on the way to the show as well without having anxiety about dying in a car crash.

 

@Telis

Without a doubt it's one of 2 things the original poster is experiencing. It's either a spike caused by wearing earplugs or it's the obsessive state T can put you in. Maybe a bit of both.

There's no way you can damage your ears in a theatre where the main source of noise is talking and clapping; it just ain't happening especially when you've got earplugs in.

Wearing Alpines for 2 hours in that environment would definitely zone your mind into the T sound a little more. When you take them out the initial reaction can be scary because the T seems to be through the roof.

 

How do you know how much noise a person with damaged ears can tolerate? Where are you getting your information?

 

@Telis

If that's the case why ever leave your house? Just stay in a padded room because life goes a lot louder on a day to day basis then sitting in a theatre listening to people talk. Some times it gets beyond ridiculous on here, there are genuine situations that need addressing such as concerts, clubs, loud bars, shooting ranges etc. These are situations to cause genuine concern. They are dangerously loud and WILL damage your hearing if you are not careful. Make sure you wear earplugs to protect yourself.

When the decibels barely touch 80 you are safe no matter if your ears are damaged or not. You can stay a long time in an environment around 60-75db, there is no scientific paper out there that proves or suggests otherwise.

The point is she was in a theatre environment (a play) with earplugs in. Totally safe. Anyone suggesting otherwise is talking total nonsense. If you deem that to be dangerous then most people on here would require earplugs most days during their normal routine.

We really need to address this as much as addressing the danger of loud sound, because it becomes a breeding ground for phonophobia and hyperacusis if people go too far with protection.

I have the same Alpine earplugs that the OP used, and if you use them in an environment that's not too loud, they can spike your T. This is because they block a lot of sound out (they don't filter very well and the foam ones don't filter at all) which increases the noise in your head. Same as if you go into a really quiet room/soundproof room. Your T will get louder, guaranteed. When you take them out you instantly notice the amplified T, at least I did in my case when using Alpines and Hearos in the past. The shock of hearing the aggressive T can send you off on another panic attack, which in turn starts off another feedback loop of listening to your T and giving it attention.

When my T first spiked and became intrusive I went protection crazy to the point where I'd say I became unhealthily obsessed. We went out one day with my girlfriends parents (her mom is a senior audiologist) and I had some Hearos on me. We went into a restaurant and I was panicking saying it's dangerous to be in here and she assured me it was fine; told me not to use any earplugs as it wasn't loud. I didn't listen and deeply inserted them (rolled and done properly). After we finished and I took them out I couldn't believe how loud my T was, it really depressed me and I remember having a truly awful week. She basically told me that I shouldn't have used them because it wasn't very loud in there and I was basically amplifying my head noise by having them in. She was right. After that I got myself some custom ACS earplugs with 3 different filters and a blanking cap to totally block them. They are far superior because they don't completely block the sound.

Sorry for the long ramble but that's how I see things. Getting yourself paranoid and obsessed about all sound is just as bad as not protecting yourself when things are loud. It's simply not healthy for your mind and if you do think like that then you will always be thinking about T. Hearing T and thinking about T are two totally different things. You can get to a stage where you hear it but you don't hear it because you don't acknowledge it/zone it out. I'm still not 100% there but for the life of me I'm trying.

 

I just had a spike from working around loud machinery at work a few days ago. I was wearing hearing plugs but it felt like way too much noise for me, only lasted about an hour and a half but it was a similar experience to yours.

For me, I don't think earplugs work as well as they claim, the NRR says 33 db, but I have a hard time finding ones that fit properly, I'd estimate it's probably more like 10 db noise reduction.

I guess all we can do now is try not to worry about it, protect our ears, and hope the spike goes down.

 

The NRR is only valid when they are rolled and deeply inserted. Nothing should stick out of your ear. The foam ones are around 30db because they are like having a pillow over your head. They reduce the sound a lot more than my ACS pro 26 but to the point where you can't hear anything clearly.

Funnily enough I have a 10db filter for my ACS plugs and they are no where near the strength of the foam ones such as Hearos.

10db is a subtle but noticeable reduction.