Tinnitus Rants / Discussion

Note I made this post before but it was a bit over the top and I called some people out and that’s probably not productive so I removed certain names and parts because I feel this could still be a quality discussion. I also apologize for that.

Rants about tinnitus - feel free to disagree with some of the things I’m saying / open up discussion. No need to thank me for the entertainment value this will bring to your day. I thank some of you for doing the same thing for me as I read this board probably more than I should. Sorry if the post gets long, I like to rant.


A) I’m not sold tinnitus is straight up caused by hearing loss at all, it may be a factor at the beginning but not the reason tinnitus sticks around.

Everyone I know is constantly around loud music, sporting events, cinema etc.. and nobody has a problem, occasionally they’ll get ringing in their ears after a party but it always goes away. Why are you and I the chosen one? Nobody knows. Nobody can explain it, and the medical community doesn’t care to figure it out. They are a**holes that must hate money. Most doctors actually celebrate T and think it’s a joke. Maybe it is and I’m a baby.

On a side note, I'm a country music fan and do I ever see Garth Brooks or Blake Shelton wearing ear protection at their concerts? Never. Tinnitus? Not that I’m aware of. They have to have some degree of hearing loss, it’d be impossible not to. From my estimation / experience. The majority of people with hearing loss have no tinnitus at all. I’ll also note that my audiogram shows normal hearing but I’ve still got tinnitus. To me this almost says tinnitus is completely random.


B) They might not know it or want to admit it, but certain people on this website are completely toxic. Not naming any names. They probably don’t know it, but their presence here is causing more problems than anything. These guys think that they need to put Peltor ear muffs on to take a dump because the sound of their crap hitting the water might cause permanent damage. Reading stuff from people like this has caused an endless loop of horrible anxiety, sometimes I think this website caused my tinnitus and contributes to it worsening. I started out with pulsatile tinnitus which is gone now, but it developed into ringing after reading here when I was trying to research that.

I think what is worsening tinnitus / making me more aware of it is anxiety. For example, I go to an event that isn’t even loud - probably avg 73-76 dB, peaking at 84 dB and I can’t enjoy myself - even though common sense and information provided by doctors says there should be no issue. the whole time, I worry that this event will make my tinnitus worse and then after the event I come home and I’m worried and listening for any possible change.. and guess what it gets worse- maybe temporarily - maybe permanently, I don’t know, it’s all subjective, but constant worry instead of just living my life is for sure causing problems. My tinnitus has gotten progressively worse (again subjective) but I haven’t done anything too crazy, I’ve given up concerts, I wear ear plugs anywhere the sound is over 81-82 dB.


A doctor ( who also has tinnitus) said something to me last week that made me think. He said he and his wife have tinnitus (hers is quite severe) and they don’t let it stop them from living life. He said it is a degenerative condition and its worsening is mostly random and not really based on noise. He says my tinnitus was probably going to worsen with or without noise I am subjected to. He said to go enjoy myself like he does.. easier said than done after reading posts here basically saying I’m going to be permanently disabled if I go out for supper. Now he’s not saying to go to concerts, bars , etc without proper hearing protection but live within reason.


C) I want to live my life, I want to get out and do things, I’ve been scared to travel/ in planes, or buses or go out to eat etc. Some suggest on here that basically I will die if I don’t stay at home alone in silence. Friends are for the weak. I don’t know if this is positive for tinnitus, I feel if I just let myself go live and got out of this anxiety loop somehow, tinnitus might even go away. I think about it every day, but I’m too scared to go and actually do that. I’m young, I’ve got lots of cash, I’m newly engaged. I wanna go out and experience new things. I wanna go golfing in Phoenix, snorkelling in Mexico, I wanna go watch an MLB game (go Blue Jays, or as I like to call them, the Blow Jays) and then get a hamburger and a Lap dance after the game. Can’t I do that? I’m only here for a short time. How do musicians like Will.i.am who have tinnitus still go on tour and still f*** b****es but I can’t even go out for supper?

D) I ragged on some people here and I apologize for that but I thank others that they are nice, reasonable, calming and helpful. So I say thanks to some posters like Ed, Glynis etc for your contribution.

 

The question of whether a tinnitus sufferer needs more noise protection than someone without tinnitus is a divisive issue.

Usually tinnitus worsening with already existing tinnitus is not discussed in scientific literature. Tinnitus doctors are often concerned that too much protection could cause hyperacusis problems.

If the tinnitus followed noise damage directly, it is obvious to pay attention to noise protection.

On the other hand, the need for causality often plays a trick on people with (transient) tinnitus aggravations.

A further advance in high-resolution CT scanning to detect cochlear damage would be helpful in any case.

 

Wow - my reply got deleted. I really wish I were to be informed about exactly what rule my reply had violated.

I pointed out that the way I see it, people who endanger others by encouraging them to be reckless are the ones who are being toxic.

 

I don't recall anyone on this site arguing for hearing protection during the times when it is unreasonable to wear hearing protection. Any noise like that of a vacuum cleaner, hair dryer, lawn mower, or a blender is clearly violent enough to possibly cause problems. In addition, if one gets a spike from some noise that seems to not be too loud, then this is a signal that noises like that are not ok. In that case you would just listen to your body. So what part of this is unreasonable or is enough to give you anxiety? And if you GET anxiety and end up protecting yourself then it would seem to me that that is an outcome that will promote your well being.

 

@Bill Bauer if the lawn mower tops at 83 dB this do I need ear plugs? I’m curious.

I’ve seen people on this site advocate for wearing plugs as soon as they step out their door.

 

If you will be walking alongside a busy road where trucks and motorcycles might accelerate, it might be a good idea to wear hearing protection. Likewise, if your co-workers are in the habit of slamming the doors of their offices, you might consider wearing earplugs.

I don't think earplugs would provide enough protection. It might provide enough protection if your neighbour is the one using it, and you will be far from teh mower (with your windows closed). I will never get anywhere near a lawnmower.

It is true that 80dB might not be enough to cause any problems for a healthy person. But this forum is full of evidence that noises that can't hurt healthy people can give T spikes to people like us. Our ears have been compromised.

If you are not convinced whether to stay away from, say, lawnmowers, you might want to be around one for 5 minutes. If you don't experience any side effects like full ears or a T spike, you could then try to gradually increase the exposure time. If you get ear fullness or a T spike then you might consider staying away from that activity for 6-12 months and trying it again at that time.

 

There's people on here that put on plugs just to go to the store because the beeping of the scanner is "too loud", obviously this is way past the line of "overprotection". Although I do believe that certain noise levels require shielding. Loud, continuous sounds like a lawn mower or a powerful, noisy blender should be protected against. Whereas I believe most impulse noises don't actually cause damage unless they're extremely loud. I think most of them time spikes caused by these sorts of things is more of a mental issue as a result of stress. Protect yourself within reason, don't be reckless, but don't overdo it either.

 

I don't know about that, it could be caused by anxiety... I go to a loud place, in my head I think it's going to get worse, I come home and I'm in a state of red alert... this causes my tinnitus to get louder or at least my awareness of it increases.

 

Go ahead and do it. Live your life.

Since I got Tinnitus I got married, took more than one long plane trips, 2 road trips, rode roller coasters, went to live music events and so on. We all have the eventual bad day, but you learn to live with it.

If I know I'm going to be around prolonged loud sounds I'll wear molded earplugs. This is good for parties, live events, action movies and so on. You shouldn't protect yourself all the time nor become paranoid. You don't stop having sex because you can get a disease (or a baby), you just use protection. Same thing.

When I come to this site I always try to encourage people to look for knowledgeable professional for advice. This forum is a good thing but you always need to remember that this is the Internet: you're talking to strangers, and opinions and facts are different things.

Best,
Zug

 

Grocery store scanners may be "overprotecting" to some but in the end I'm going to do what's right for me. Every case of T is different and every persons attitude on how to handle a situation is different. Just because it works for some members doesn't mean it works for all. I appreciate this forum as a place to share ideas and opinions. In the end everyone's ideas and opinions will be different and it's up to the reader to decide where they want to draw that line.

 

Even a conversation with a friend or family member will subject your ears to more sound energy than a grocery store scanner ever could. I've got moderate (sometimes severe) T, many different tones, and quite extensive hearing damage, yet these types of noises don't cause issues. Don't let fear take over rational, noises like grocery store scanners absolutely cannot cause damage.

 

I can see how anxiety can cause a spike that lasts until the end of the day, or two days. But we are talking about new tones, we are talking about permanent spikes, or spikes that last months...

 

How loud is your home? Why are you in this state?

http://www.contraceptivetechnology.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/CTFailureTable.pdf

According to the source above, the annual "typical use" condom failure rate is 18% (not very different from the withdrawal method, for which it is 22%). Perfect use failure rate is 2%. This means that for a "typical couple", the probability of at least one pregnancy during, say, 20 years of use is 1 - Probability(no pregnancy) = 1 - (1-0.18)^20 = 98%

For the hypothetical pie-in-the-sky couple who is able to pull out a perfect use for 20 years, the probability of at least one pregnancy during those 20 years = 1 - (1-0.02)^20 = 33%

Now remember, with both a pregnancy and louder tinnitus, we are talking about a risk of your life never being the same. So because so much is at stake, a 33% chance of losing it all is an Insanely high risk to ignore. Of course, for a typical couple the risk is actually 98%. So your example is not very convincing.

 

My home is quiet but I’m in a state of red alert because I’m worried what I just did will cause a problem, my worrying causes stress and awareness of tinnitus, making me believe it’s louder... I may be so messed up in the head that this lasts months

 

It is Natural for it to last for months. So if that happens, you shouldn't blame yourself for it.