Traumatic Events (Head Injuries/Acoustic Shocks) Main Cause of Tinnitus

I don't believe one bit that going to a restaurant, bar, club or lounge has any long term impact in the formation of T. The decibel reading at the loudest of these establishments is usually mid 80's.

The same might not be said for concerts. Or Head injuries that impact the cochlea. Or individuals working 8 hours of day in construction or a noisy environment.

The only other damage i see is loud concerts where your ears are near the speakers.

This is of course my observation and insight from following Tinnitus. Feel free to share your observations.

 

I'd add ipod listening to your list...

 

Agreed. I believe actress Neve Campbell, well known for the scream movies, attributed her tinnitus to going nightclubbing too often.



She'd make a good role model for the younger generation if she were to enter advocacy on tinnitus prevention; I am not sure how much work she does on that front, I must admit.

 

An Ampeg bass amp and a Fender Vibrolux on 8 plus drums will usually do the trick. Not counting the P.A. That's my experience. Oooo, not to mention those old tall 4 speaker West amps. Ouch. Those hurt. I don't know about the decibels but along with my fellow musicians, I think we toasted everyone's ears within 50 feet. That was a long time ago. My ears were scrambled playing music long before I ever went to a 'big' concert. I wish somebody would have pulled my plug.

 

If we're making a list of the type of events or hazardous situations which can cause T, then I would want to mention exposure to burglar alarms. Maybe 2 or 3 years ago, my burglar alarm went off for no obvious reason and could not be silenced for well over an hour. This did not instantly cause me to develop T but when I now look back on it, I recognise that it may have been a contributing factor. A mild head injury last December was the trigger which started my T.

The condition of our ears and state of our hearing is a result of the cumulative effect of everything that has ever happened to our ears. Some of us can attribute our T to a definite cause and other people don't know how they got it. On the radio here in the UK, I often hear commercials encouraging people to sue their employers for hearing loss or tinnitus resulting from noise exposure sustained in the workplace. However, I imagine that people have a hard time proving that they were forced to endure damaging levels of noise at work, especially if the noise exposure occurred many years ago and the factory or the company responsible no longer exists.