Consistent Low Level Noise, Opinions?

[GeorgiaRose1812]

For anyone who doesn't want to to read all this which would be totally fair enough because it's boring, my question is: has anyone found that while no noticeably loud noises have occurred, that they've experienced an increase in volume/pain/head buzzing (whichever is most applicable to you) after consistent (i.e. a few days in a row) exposure to entirely everyday noise?

So the past couple of days, I've tried to be as normal as possible, nothing excessive, just because I can't spend the rest of my life or really any more time shit scared to leave the house.

So I spent a day on campus last Friday, sat outside reading a book mostly and it was fairly quiet, then watched a little tv in the evening but not much. T seemed kinda better actually.

Then I went Christmas shopping on Saturday with two friends, it was quite stressful because you know, Saturday, near Christmas, shops were absolutely packed. But I left anywhere that was too loud as soon as I could and my ears didn't feel uncomfortable at any point although I did find the TV a bit loud in the evening. But again the T seemed alright.

Went to town again on Sunday, had some lunch, but didn't go in any shops just walked around. It was loudish I guess but just sort of the hum of people, really wasn't making me uncomfortable. The T was a bit weird that night, bit more changeable but was fine by morning.

Yesterday I didn't go out because I just figured my ears needed a break so I stayed in all day studying, had Netflix very much in the background (like I would have had to strain to hear what the characters were really saying, I just like the distraction) literally all I did was watch a couple of episodes of friends with my housemates.

The only things I considered loud were that we were all messing around and got the giggles for about ten minutes and our laughter was pretty loud, and one of my housemates sneezed pretty loud (she also has T and joked that she made her own ears worse for a sec, so that worried me).

Today was basically the same, the only consistent noise I had today was when I had the kitchen extractor fan on while I cooked sausages in a pan, and my housemate was watching TV in the same room. Right now my ears are pretty painful and tired, and louder than they have been over the past week.

My point is can just completely average, even below average, amounts of entirely normal noises, make you worse if you listen to them consistently?

P.S. Still been plugging my ears when motorbikes/ambulances/unnecessarily loud buskers etc go anywhere near me

 

[Red]

Are you overprotecting your ears? Just sounds like you have an even lower tolerance to sound.

 

[Bobby B]

@GeorgiaRose1812
Your are asking questions but no one can give you answers unless you explain what caused your T in the first place

I see this a lot here - T is just a symptom but there can be a lot of causes and reasons for it - of which many have nothing to do with sound levels or hearing loss

 

[GeorgiaRose1812]

@GeorgiaRose1812
Your are asking questions but no one can give you answers unless you explain what caused your T in the first place

I see this a lot here - T is just a symptom but there can be a lot of causes and reasons for it - of which many have nothing to do with sound levels or hearing loss

you're right sorry - wasn't acoustic trauma, just came on with a bout of tonsillitis about 3 months ago, running diagnosis is etd

 

[Bill Bauer]

It was loudish I guess but just sort of the hum of people, really wasn't making me uncomfortable. ...
My point is can just completely average, even below average, amounts of entirely normal noises, make you worse if you listen to them consistently?

What you describe sounds like "above average" to me. To me, average is sitting in a quiet room, walking in a quiet park, and spending several hours a day watching some show/movies with volume set to a level that is clearly harmless. Based on my personal experiences, I would expect to get a spike after having a day like one of the days you had described. If I were to have an hour like one of the hours you described above, I might get away with it (and not get a spike), but I would want to wait at least a week or a month before having another hour like that.

 

[Bill Bauer]

I don't think you will need to stay away from noise for the rest of your life, but it seems to me that your experiences imply that you might benefit from giving your body a chance to recover, and stay away from noise for at least a year.

 

[emily813]

What you describe sounds like "above average" to me. To me, average is sitting in a quiet room, walking in a quiet park, and spending several hours a day watching some show/movies with volume set to a level that is clearly harmless. Based on my personal experiences, I would expect to get a spike after having a day like one of the days you had described. If I were to have an hour like one of the hours you described above, I might get away with it (and not get a spike), but I would want to wait at least a week or a month before having another hour like that.

This seems like a very extreme definition of average, and I don't know how people are supposed to avoid above-average noise for days or months at a time without turning into a hermit - people eventually will need to go to the grocery store, for example.

 

[Bill Bauer]

people eventually will need to go to the grocery store, for example.

They could wear ear plugs. A half an hour visit to the grocery store is not comparable to a day full of noisy activities. If their place of work is loud - they could wear hearing protection there too. @GeorgiaRose1812 is a student, so She could easily do this.

 

[david c]

Hi - it sounds like you are probably suffering from hyperacusis at the moment - increased sensitivity to sound - it often goes together with tinnitus at first onset.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperacusis

You are doing the right thing by protecting your hearing when exposed to loud noise and avoiding situations where you might experience very loud noise - eg cinemas, clubs. The thing about hyperacusis is that even normal sounds can be painful and aggravate tinnitus - there's not much you can do about this as you can't go about constantly with earplugs in (though always have them with you as protection). Hyperacusis should gradually ease over time providing you avoid prolonged exposure to very loud noise.