Tinnitus Increase from Normal Outside Noises?

Hello and thank you for your help on this community.

I'm hoping you have some insight on T spiking. Since my T has increased from unknown reasons (high freq. that cuts through everything these days) I notice if I'm in a busy store or out and about, and while lots of noises are occurring ect.. it's not 95db level sounds. Yet when i get back into the car or finally home, I notice the T is higher.

Any insight on why this is the case?

 

Hello back ... and you are welcome.

Well, in order to have actual auditory damage from a 95dB sound, you pretty much need to be exposed to it daily for four hours a day. From what you describe in your posts, the sound levels that seem to exacerbate your tinnitus are less than 95dB, and it does not take four hours to do it. So I feel safe in stating that your temporary tinnitus exacerbation upon exposure to that level of noise is not the result of auditory damage. In fact at that noise level, it isn't even the effect of "shocking" your hair cells or "disco tinnitus."

So given that you are not harming your auditory system or shocking your hair cells, and given that the exacerbations you experience are temporary (I presume), then the precise neurophysiological reason for the exacerbations (whatever that reason might be) is largely irrelevant. I mean, my own tinnitus is sensitive to the spices in Thai food, but that doesn't stop me from eating it. So your tinnitus is sensitive to noise that is not loud enough to cause auditory damage. Same deal, as I see it. My suggestion would be to simply carry on and not worry about it unless your tinnitus is significantly affecting your life.

On the other hand, if your tinnitus is indeed significantly affecting your life, then the problem is your reaction to your tinnitus rather than the tinnitus itself. And that is a problem you can do something about!

Dr. Stephen Nagler