Who's Been to a Concert Since Having Tinnitus?

Thanks for your help, much appreciated.

They seem to be even better!

 

They seem better in the lower frequencies. Imagine doubling up with those two, you wouldn't hear a thing lol.

 

@bill 112 sorry to hear that I hope you get well again. I understand that you domt want to scare anyone and I think it is very important and right to share your experience. I too have noise induced T. May I ask what kind of ear plugs you wore on St.Patricks day?
But did I get that right, after 2 years when you got exposed to high pitch noise you T was reduced but then again there was noise and you got T again?

 

It was the 1975 in this venue. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3Arena I was in the tiered seating section!

 

I wore a pair of my fathers security ear plugs,ear plugs that basically resemble normal ear plugs but are designed for security guards working in noisy environments,they're nothing special but was told I would be fine with these.
The next morning I woke up with my hiss and a new tonal noise to deal with,after a few months the tone disappeared and the hiss was inaudible,unless in a completely silent room.Then I was cruelly exposed to an ultra high pitch sound when things were going so well for meTwo years of hard work and I was 90% better,T had returned to baseline and now for reasons I can't really work out it just got worse,a lot worse.

 

My sound level meter arrived today "HT-80A" as linked above. I compared it to my iphone app.

The iphone app said 78db for my music, the sound level meter only said 60db, could anyone advise? I'm worried as to what to trust tomorrow!!

Thanks for any help.

 

The iPhone app I previously used also ran very high. The Meter I bought is calibrated for one purpose and meets the ANSI spec, so I trust that over any app.

I found from my personal experience that the apps were all different but all ran high compared to the meter. Makes sense, because you get a lot of people using their phones and reporting cinemas, theatres and similar places at decibels which seem inaccurate. I get the impression that people believe a continuous average SPL at 90db is quite common based on iPhone measurements, when in fact it's actually much louder than what some seem to realise. Sure, short peaks at 90 are easier to find, but even a truck driving by usually only registers around 85db.

An average rock concert is going to be around 105db. A stupidly loud one could hit 115db; some are known to go louder but it's extremely rare and depends on the room dynamics and the band (Motörhead spring to mind here). Stand well back from the speakers and you're much more likely to be in the 90db range; even the 80db range is possible right at the back.

If the protection is good in theory you should be fine, but as linearb pointed out its a tricky business and tinnitus is just hard to pin down. If you are a bit OCD and start panicking and monitoring yourself then A, you're not gonna have a good time and B, you will likely cause a spike through obsession. There are no guarantees but I'd say the chance is slim if the protection is good.

 

So how was the show ? I had a look at their blog and they wrote they arrived at we
Wembley arena yesterday

 

Hi guys

So I went to the gig last night, and fingers crossed - I appear to be completely fine. Yesterday was a very loud day too as a 2 hour drive to London and back, tubes, went to the West Ham football match too which was noisy and the concert!

I wore both ear plugs and ear defenders, luckily I was at the back of the row, about 15-20 metres from the speakers, so it wasn't too embarrassing having them on! I had a fantastic time. Sat through the whole hour and a half.

It shocked me how loud it was, the bass was so strong that it made my vision vibrate, hard to explain! There's no need for concerts to be that loud / bassy. Also I noticed the bass didn't seem to get stopped much by the defenders and plugs, it was still VERY loud, although it could have been because it was vibrating my entire body which gave the effect?

I took my decibel meter and 90% of the gig was 97-102db. There were a few explosions and thugs which took it to about 115db. It sounded very loud but those figures suggest not as loud as some metal concerts!

Thanks for all the help guys, so glad I went. I would recommend that if it's a dance / drum and bass / dub step rave or such like, then don't go, as ear plugs and defenders are useless against bass. Especially as this band used constant double bass peddle which was very boomy!

 

Good to hear Geg.

It's within the average range I've experienced as well. This is what marvels me when people say cinemas hit 130db; if a cinema ever hit 130db round here the room would empty immediately. I think some fail to realise how loud 105db is, let alone anything louder.

One of the problems is the use of phone apps, which have all been inaccurate from my experience. The main issue is that they are not calibrated to the hardware they are using, and the mics are just not capable of being accurate above 90db-100db.

 

How are you feeling now? Any change in T?
My bf was looking at some footage from the concert, seemed bummed he couldn't go. It seemed really good, glad you went!

 

@Fangen he started a thread for that. Check it out here. At the bottom he says how it went. https://www.tinnitustalk.com/thread...-to-noise-induced-damage-when-infected.14511/

 

If the bass could make your vision vibrate I'd hate to think what it was doing to your inner ear.No amount of ear protection will protect you from bone conductionGlad you had a good time though and that your T wasn't affected

 

I don't think the concert changed it at all I have noticed it a bit more the last couple of days but that's probably only as I've been monitoring it. It was the best concert I've ever been to but I'm sure there will be many opportunities in the future. Thank you! Hope you're okay!

 

Yeah I can't see how any cinema could possibly be 130db. I've never known a cinema to be close to how loud the gig was.

I agree regarding the phone apps. For the last year I've been thinking that 85db isn't very loud, when in reality it is! I was reading 90-95db in my car (although it is a sports car) but in reality its about 70db haha.

 

Cheers mate! Yeah true but I think the bone conduction thing is looked into too much, I read that the skull attenuates 40db or something similar.

 

That's true Geg. Bone conduction gets mentioned far too much on here when in reality it's not much of an issue at all. Air conduction is what will get you, as at 105db you're looking at around 65db via bone conduction. If you had double protection then not much would have been above 65db. Bass gets felt more than higher frequencies in all situations, such as being on a roller coaster or riding in a truck. You can only feel sub as its too low for us to even hear.

Any frequency can be damaging if loud enough, but the most damaging and the ones to worry about most, are the high frequencies. Their wavelengths are much tighter and vibrate things at a higher intensity than bass does. This is why sopranos can break glass with just their voice. Most ear protection maxes out at the higher frequencies.

Anxiety is still the undisputed champion when it comes to spikes in my opinion. Be safe and limit exposure; stay away from speakers and wear appropriate protection for the environment you're in. If the environment is ridiculously loud, which is rare, then simply leave. Other than that, daily wear and tear is really no different and is just as damaging as being in a louder environment with good protection. For a lot of people avoiding louder places (gigs and clubs) is a non issue; in which case just don't go.

At the end of the day, we can't live out our remaining days in a padded cell. We are going to come across loud environments all the time, and it's out of our control. I was at my girlfriends MA's graduation meal in Cambridge this weekend and I forgot to take my ear plugs out with me. I left them in the hotel room by accident, but thought it probably wouldn't matter. When I got there the sound of people talking was far louder than I expected. There was no music but just the reverberation of background chatter was very loud. It was hard to hear what was being said. Avoiding events like this would be ridiculous, but I must admit that half way through the night I was getting anxious.

The following day I had absolutely no issues and haven't up til now. My biggest issue was not allowing myself to enjoy the evening because of my phobic relation to sound. It goes against my better judgement but forums have a way of creeping into your subconscious and messing you up. I'm entirely certain I would have had a much better time if I'd never looked online and read all that I have.

 

One thing I noticed when wearing earmuffs in noisy areas is I can hear a shhhhh sound if I open my mouth. I guess opening your mouth breaks that ~40db attenuation. 40db is a lot! I don't get that shhhh sound with earplugs, only earmuffs.

 

I get that too! I have to remember to keep my mouth closed when I use those with my drums.

 

So I'm not the only one! I first noticed after I had my eardrums injected / perforated. I thought it was air blowing past my eardrums because that's what it sounds like.

Sigh I'm fairly certain that's what did me in. Just a few seconds of some very high frequency sounds.

 

Yes, I have been to several concerts.

If you're super anxious about going to a concert then you aren't going to enjoy it. If you have reactive tinnitus then you aren't going to enjoy it. The anxiety could make the tinnitus seem worse and in fact can trigger tinnitus in many people (as was the case for myself)...

Personally I have been to a few shows, with earplugs. I left one which I found overly noisy (a dance music gig). The others I stuck around for. I felt quite anxious about it afterwards - but have not noticed any impact on my tinnitus. Also - my audiologist said that, provided I am cautious and follow guidelines, my ears should be fine.

In addition to wearing earplugs (make sure you insert them correctly), it is recommended not to stand close to the speakers and to take regular breaks from the noise to allow your ears to recover.

I have bought myself a decibel reader and plan to use that to measure sound levels at the next noisy event I go to. I use the Macks earplugs which reduce sound by 32 decibels. With those two things combined, I will ensure that I am not exposing my ears to potentially damaging sound levels.

The only big life change I've made since getting tinnitus is that I no longer listen to headphones. I don't even own headphones. I am looking into noise limiting headphones as an option, but the possibility of listening too loud/too long puts me off (it's so easy to do).

 

What high frequency sounds were you exposed to?The same thing happened to meI was watching YouTube through my TV when a video I was watching ended(Standfords initiative to cure hearing loss)YouTube decided to play a related video,unlucky for me it was a hearing test video and it pumped two really highfrequency noises out through my tv while I was looking at my phone.Completely screwed my hearing

 

I experience exactly the same thing with earmuffs. Would that be of concern in louder environments?

 

High pressure air tank.

 

I doubt it, it's not like you go from 40 to 0 db attenuation. I just thought it was interesting because I had never noticed it before my injury. Maybe if you are shooting a gun you want to keep your mouth shut, but who if us here wants to do that right now?

 

How loud was it?And for how long?Sometimes you just can't avoid them can you

 

I performed at two shows shortly after getting tinnitus and it got better *shrug* I used kinda cheap hearing protection too. It's at least a little quieter on stage than it is off stage (if the show is any decent anyway) though.
T gets worse when I sit at home and better when I'm out doing stuff. I'm all sorts of twisted.

 

Great post!
Hit it smack on there
Couldn't agree more with all of this.

 

I got tinnitus in Feb 2016. I'm a working musician. Took 3 weeks off freaking out, worrying, not sleeping etc. . Then had some pro musician ear plugs made up, then cracked on with it again. Singing in them is weird, but I'm slowly figuring it out.

I'm no way giving my career up. No brainier for me, wear ear plugs/defenders and carry on your hobbies and passion!
What's the alternative giving up everything you enjoy in life?