Are Earmuffs Useless Because of Bone Conduction?

Got tinnitus in my left ear five years ago due to accidentally standing right next to a speaker that suddenly started blaring out a guitar riff. It is a constant 11 kHz tone that bothers me from time to time, but I have learned to live with it and I sometimes (rarely) even forget that it is there. I suppose there is a bit of sensitivity as well, given that I don't seem to have the same tolerance for loud sounds as other people.

The issue is: I "work" as a volunteer photographer at a sports event when the home team is playing. 5,000-10,000 people. The home and away team fans have until now been sectioned off in opposite corners, which meant that I could just sit in either of the other two corners to get away from the drums.

Starting this season, however, one of those groups have been moved to the middle section behind the goal, making it difficult to sit more than 30-40 feet away from the drums. I tried one game like that with my usual earplugs, but wasn't feeling normal until a day later. Next game, I tried earmuffs, which did help a lot to block out the crowd noise, but it was still extremely uncomfortable because of the drums, which seemed to cut straight through them. Add to that, they made my head feel like it was stuck in a vice. I suppose there are more comfortable models, but I doubt they would reduce the noise more than my cheap ones due to bone conductivity (?)

I am seriously considering quitting my "job" after many years, considering that there is no longer a quiet/safe (?) place for me to sit and thinking that it could make my tinnitus worse if I don't stop. I don't want to be the one who is just waiting for the game to be over while 10,000 people around me are having a party. That being said, I cannot fathom how people can stand so close to the drums, never mind the drummers themselves.

Is the problem really bone conductivity or is there something I can do about it? The noise level is roughly 80-95 dB over the course of two hours, so I should think that a 20-30 dB reduction provided by the earmuffs should bring that within safe levels, but like I said, aside from the physical discomfort of wearing them, the drums still bother me.

 

Stop before it is too late, this should not even be a question.

 

Why not try double protection; earplugs and earmuffs?

Is it Peltor X5A earmuffs you use? They are spoken of highly on Tinnitus Talk with a protection near 40 dB.

Is your hair long, interfering with the seal of the earmuffs?

You can buy hardhats with earmuffs attached. The hat will reflect sound, reducing bone conduction.

 

When I said earplugs, I actually meant Sony noise-reducing earbuds that block the ear canal but do not go as deep as regular foam earplugs. I don't really like using anything that goes too far into my ear.

Besides, the question was mostly about how problematic bone conduction is, as that would bypass double protection as well.

Same goes for better earmuffs. I looked up the ones I have and they are supposed to reduce noise by up to 32 dB. The ones you mentioned look good and should obviate the need for double protection.

No, my hair is not long; more like mostly gone (I'm 55). But my glasses have round temples (arms) which is not perfect in terms of making a perfect seal. Still, they do not seem to make the seal worse than when I'm wearing an older pair of glasses with flat temples.

A hardhat with earmuffs is out of the question for aesthetic reasons (crowded arena with TV coverage). At least with all-black earmuffs I can pretend they are being used for communication, i.e. like the ones worn by the TV camera operators.

But again, the question is: No matter how well my ears are protected, can it be all for nothing if my inner ear is being affected by the drums through my skull anyway?

 

Look @Globulus, nobody will tell you what will happen to you. Many could have same tinnitus like you, go there with or without protection and be just fine. One day, they may not. Maybe because they did not sleep well night before or have some lingering cold, so their body's defense mechanism is weakened. Nobody knows.

It's a risk/reward calculation. Are those events important enough to you that you are okay risking possibly permanent worsening of your tinnitus and/or maybe worsening of "sensitivity" (hyperacusis)? I know you want to find the number, but it does not exist. You have to decide for yourself.

I, sure as hell, would not go there if I were you (much less so where I am, which is way, way worse).

 

Nah, I've been studying this subject for a long time (mostly when I first got it, of course), so I know everyone is different and have their own thresholds and triggers.

Bone conduction aside, one thing that occurred to me was that the dB attenuation claimed by the manufacturers of earmuffs does not apply to the entire frequency range (hence the "up to 32 dB" attenuation claimed for my cheap set) and a quick search tells me that the attenuation at low frequencies (where the drums operate) can be as little as 10 dB, which means that I would be subjecting my ears to - say - 95 dB minus 10 dB = 85 dB for a couple of hours each game. I guess that answers my question about why the drums are particularly bothersome when the earmuffs otherwise do an ok job of reducing the crowd noise, which is a bit higher in frequency, though still at the low end.

No, these events are not more important to me than protecting my ears, but after so many years, I want to make sure I am going to quit because there is nothing to do about it.

 

This seems to mirror my recent experience. In my apartment block, there is a mini-horn alarm in the bedrooms and another type of alarm in the hallways, which is not as high-pitched. In November 2020, exposure to these alarms caused me to develop severe, permanent tinnitus in both ears. Last year, another major incident worsened my condition when I was close to a smoke detector trying to turn it off at my mom’s apartment. This made my left ear tinnitus much worse, and my right ear slightly worse. A hearing test by an audiologist a couple of months ago revealed similar hearing loss in both ears, especially at high frequencies above 8 kHz.

This past week, the apartment building company installed a new panel alarm system requiring intermittent testing. This meant the mini-horn and hallway alarms would be going off all week. We were only informed through a letter under our door that this would happen throughout the week between 8 am and 5 pm. Each year, the alarm company tests these alarms over 2 to 3 days, usually in October or November. It was on November 4th, 2020, when I was first exposed to this and developed severe tinnitus in both ears.

This time, I thought I was prepared, keeping my earmuffs within arm’s reach beside my bed. As soon as I heard the sound from the mini-horn, I would quickly put on my earmuffs, get up, and touch the device to temporarily shut off the sound for a maximum of 10 minutes. I managed the first couple of days as the alarm went off only 3-5 times throughout the day. However, the third day was particularly bad, with the alarm going on and off every 5-10 seconds for a couple of hours because they were testing in every suite. This meant the alarm was reactivated each time and then temporarily deactivated by the person testing the suites.

I realized my earmuffs weren’t significantly reducing the sound, so I used electrical tape to cover the mini-horn, which helped a bit. I stayed out of my bedroom, but I could still hear the alarms going on and off. I attempted to shut the alarm in my bedroom, but it would turn off before I could reach it, then start again 5-10 seconds later. I used reusable earplugs, but after an hour and a half, I decided to leave the building. I returned about an hour and a half later, and the testing for that day was done, but they were coming back the next day to finish the testing on a couple of floors.

As I was driving, I realized my tinnitus had significantly worsened and become very reactive. That night, I only managed three hours of sleep, and the next night, around five hours. Although both ears worsened, my left ear kept waking me up every time I turned and lay on my right side. On the fourth day, when they returned to complete the suite checks on the remaining two floors, I got out of bed as soon as I heard my mini-alarm, got washed and dressed, and left the building. I called my resident manager and handyman to find out when the testing would be completed that day. I returned about an hour and a half later, and the testing was finished by that Friday.

However, the damage was done. Both my ears are still at a higher level of tinnitus, and my left ear still wakes me up when I turn and lay on my right side in bed. I’ve become an example of a human guinea pig for those wanting to learn more about tinnitus caused by loud noise alarms. I’m in a suicidal phase again, taking it day by day. Even my medications, Mirtazapine and Xanax, aren’t significantly lowering the level of tinnitus I’m now experiencing.

 

I am very sorry to hear about the difficulties you are going through @Marcuso22, and I hope you feel better soon.

Take care,
Michael

 

Back in 2021, I was about to move into a really nice loft apartment. I had paid the deposit and was in the middle of doing the pre-move-in check when I noticed fire alarms in the unit that weren't the typical smoke detectors. It turns out they were connected to every unit, and so would go off in the whole building if any smoke was detected in any unit.

I ended up forfeiting that deposit and never moved in. Luckily, I hadn't yet signed the lease.

 

What do you recommend for people who go to the dentist and need fillings or a root canal? How can you minimize the bone conduction noise so it won't affect one's tinnitus?

 

Try earmuffs + earplugs (yellow 3M). Don't use custom-made earplugs. If you still feel uncomfortable, quit. Intensity and duration of exposure are key.

 

I think air abrasion and laser dentistry are the safest options available right now. Unfortunately, they are pretty expensive.

 

I'm grateful that my tinnitus hasn't been affected by any dental work in the 28 years that I've had it. I've had both root canals and fillings done, and I hope this trend continues. It's important to take care of our teeth, so regular dental check-ups are necessary. If you're worried about any of the issues I've mentioned, I suggest discussing them with your dentist.

 

This is exactly what caused my acoustic trauma and severe tinnitus. I knew nothing about tinnitus or hyperacusis. I didn’t even know they existed when I moved in, so I didn’t know the dangers of having a fire alarm on your living room wall connected to the entire building.

It went off one day, and the noise was absolutely ear-shattering. Brutal. I would have run out of the apartment immediately, but my beloved cat, terrified, hid behind the washer/dryer. I had to get her out as I feared a fire in the building. That’s all I could think about. Subsequently, I was exposed to a noise of around 120 decibels for 5-10 minutes. I remember the piercing pain and the panic. I kept trying to cover my ears from the sound while trying to get a hold of my cat.

The Fire trucks came. It ended up being just some smoke from food overcooked in the oven in one of the apartments. There was no fire. By the time I got my cat, the fire alarm had stopped. It was all over. But it was not for me. It was too late. The life-altering damage had been done. It has forever changed my life.

 

Another fire alarm victim. Those living room alarms are brutal and life-destroying. Why are they even legal?

 

Earmuffs do not seem very useful for protecting ears against rumbling low-frequency sounds, such as locomotive diesel motors, for instance, and most loud motors and machinery in general.

It almost seems like the earmuffs act like an antenna that delivers these sounds directly into your skull.

I only find earmuffs useful for reducing the bothersome short-duration noises around the house when doing chores such as slamming doors and banging pots and pans.

If I cannot avoid a situation requiring protection against potentially damaging noise exposure, I use Mack’s Orange foam earplugs inserted deep, along with silicone puddy-type earplugs to seal over the foam earplugs.

That false sense of security so many get from covering or plugging their ears in hopes of reducing the amount of irreversible destruction is yet another form of widespread foolishness that most will never notice unless the ringing starts but never stops.