Drive in Car on Freeway — Tinnitus Spike

[Coyotesheaven]

I'm guessing this will go away, but has anyone had a tinnitus spike from driving a car down the freeway?
I was wearing earplugs, but they did not reduce the low frequencies too much, unfortunately. I would say I was exposed to 65 db of noise for a half hour or so. Now I have this strange feeling in the back of my neck...hmm.

 

[Foncky]

I have severe H and regularly have to drive for 2 hours. My car is not very quiet. I wear foam earplugs + earmuffs. My ears are tired after that but there's no damage.

 

[MrBonk]

In the first 4 months, just driving my car at all would cause my T to activate and spike.
If I didn't wear an earplug in my right ear when driving to and fro, i'd pay for it later.

There were several times where I would be driving, fine and then I could feel my ear swell up inside or something and then followed by a little bit of pain and then T.

Sometimes my T still gets louder when driving. But not often anymore.

In the cabin of my HHR while going 40 MPH or so it's in the 60 dBa/80 dBc range.

Those low frequencies(500hz and <) make a big difference in that reading.

Though a more accurate rating would be using a Leq meter I need to get one.

 

[gotyoubynuts]

I'm guessing this will go away, but has anyone had a tinnitus spike from driving a car down the freeway?
I was wearing earplugs, but they did not reduce the low frequencies too much, unfortunately. I would say I was exposed to 65 db of noise for a half hour or so. Now I have this strange feeling in the back of my neck...hmm.

Did the spike go away? I bet it did

 

[william adams]

Driving on a busy highway could induce stress and make T spike. Noise from my car never bothered me unless you were in a loud performance car or riding a Harley....

 

[Coyotesheaven]

@MrBonk
I am a little confused over what you are trying to say. I understand that your ears have experienced T when driving. Do you mean to say that wearing earplugs didn't necessarily help you when you were driving in a car? And was this due to the loud low frequencies?

I am asking because the only thing that could have gotten to me were the low frequencies. I used a cheap decibel meter to take a reading of 73 db in the lower frequencies at the max speed of the car. This does not include the bumpy road we went over which could have made things worse. Earplugs are not the great for the really low frequencies, but I still should have only been exposed to around 65-67 db if my earplugs were at least partially fitted.

Should not have caused any damage, but in my left ear, where the earplug did not fit so well, I felt a low frequency hearing loss and pulsatile T (really low pitched) upon returning home.

 

[Gosia]

My car is loud on a highway and since it's only very low humming and general low frequencies, earplugs don't really block them and they'll get to the inner ear by bone conduction . Globally, I avoid long drives as much as I can. Nothing longer than an hour a few times per ear. Driving in town is fine, the car is much quieter.

 

[MrBonk]

@MrBonk
I am a little confused over what you are trying to say. I understand that your ears have experienced T when driving. Do you mean to say that wearing earplugs didn't necessarily help you when you were driving in a car? And was this due to the loud low frequencies?

I am asking because the only thing that could have gotten to me were the low frequencies. I used a cheap decibel meter to take a reading of 73 db in the lower frequencies at the max speed of the car. This does not include the bumpy road we went over which could have made things worse. Earplugs are not the great for the really low frequencies, but I still should have only been exposed to around 65-67 db if my earplugs were at least partially fitted.

Should not have caused any damage, but in my left ear, where the earplug did not fit so well, I felt a low frequency hearing loss and pulsatile T (really low pitched) upon returning home.

Because of Bone Conduction, there's not much you can do about low frequency sounds.

What I was trying to say is that, when not driving. My T would be stable, and somewhat ok. But a lot of times, if I would drive my car without using an earplug in my right ear. My T would get worse, and my right ear in particular would activate the worst T sound i've experienced. Which is a high pitched, un maskable oscilating flicker that I could physically feel in my ear.

If I would drive with the earplug in, it wouldn't activate but the rest of my T would still be present. So I could drive to different places and still be fine after getting out of the car.

Other times, my T in general would just get worse/louder when driving when the worst T sound wasn't present. Driving with plugs made these times more comfortable.

The last few months or so, more than not. I am able to drive without any issues, T stays the same. No discomfort or anything.

 

[whatdidyousay]

How about driving on the freeway with the radio on?

I went on a small roadtrip with my mom driving and it was about 3 hours of freeway. She had the radio on and was keeping it louder than I would have liked. She also has a habit of cranking old songs that are her favorites. At times I'd turn it down a little bit and then she'd crank it back up when a new song came on.

It was a Lexus RX350 for around three hours of 70mph or so driving with her stock volume dial set around 20-22; at times she'd crank it to around 27. I liked it on around 14 but she'd always raise it.

My phone meter seems pretty unreliable. Just driving with no music playing it was showing around 73-75dB and with music playing it was still showing around 73-79dB.

Think it was 90dB+ or higher much of the trip? It seems like radio plus freeway would be a lot louder than only the 80dB or so my phone was displaying (old Samsung 7).

 

[Juan]

How about driving on the freeway with the radio on?

I went on a small roadtrip with my mom driving and it was about 3 hours of freeway. She had the radio on and was keeping it louder than I would have liked. She also has a habit of cranking old songs that are her favorites. At times I'd turn it down a little bit and then she'd crank it back up when a new song came on.

It was a Lexus RX350 for around three hours of 70mph or so driving with her stock volume dial set around 20-22; at times she'd crank it to around 27. I liked it on around 14 but she'd always raise it.

My phone meter seems pretty unreliable. Just driving with no music playing it was showing around 73-75dB and with music playing it was still showing around 73-79dB.

Think it was 90dB+ or higher much of the trip? It seems like radio plus freeway would be a lot louder than only the 80dB or so my phone was displaying (old Samsung 7).

The most dangerous sounds for hearing are impulse sounds, like car horns, and also loud motorbikes passing by, loud trucks... this you can reduce masking the sound, for instance having the radio on, or dampening the sound, by protecting your ears with earplugs. The worst would be driving in "silence" (no radio, no earplugs) and suddenly being hit by a very loud and unexpected sound. That's an ear killer.

 

[Steve0]

Driving spikes my tinnitus too, some days more than others... it often only takes a few minutes of driving and yes I think it's from the low frequency vibrations because earplugs don't seem to help a lot.

 

[DaveFromChicago]

To Steve0:

It's the damnedest thing - I loathe driving fast for long distances because my tinnitus
is guaranteed to increase unbearably. Could it be because the high pitched sounds emitted from the engine, tires, contact with wind, noise of other cars, etc. reach the exact point of my hearing loss that tinnitus fills? Do you therefore have a perfect coalescence of factors that aggravate reactivity?

Yesterday, we drove to the Chicago Botanical Gardens, which on the highway is about an hour away. My consciousness was nearly drowned in a state of nebulous vertigo by the overwhelmingly increased tinnitus loudness.

I had difficulty in responding to my wife's comments, and plodded through the Garden like a zombie with a complete lack of energy or even awareness of my surroundings.
When I got home it took two hours for this to abate.

I found myself actually glad that Covid-19 has shut down so many venues, so that I have a legitimate excuse not to go anywhere and replicate this ordeal. If I were compelled to undergo this every day, I would have to be placed in a Mental Health Ward.

I get so weary when I hear so-called experts underestimate the degree to which this is a disability.

 

[aot]

The most dangerous sounds for hearing are impulse sounds, like car horns, and also loud motorbikes passing by, loud trucks... this you can reduce masking the sound, for instance having the radio on, or dampening the sound, by protecting your ears with earplugs. The worst would be driving in "silence" (no radio, no earplugs) and suddenly being hit by a very loud and unexpected sound. That's an ear killer.

How does that work? I thought more noise = more noise induced damage.

 

[Steve0]

="DaveFromChicago,
It's the damnedest thing - I loathe driving fast for long distances .

I know what you are saying. I've been through 3 days of hell with my tinnitus, but today it's back in its box... being a Saturday my partner would like me to drive into the garden shop with her... but I'm not risking another flare up, so I won't be going anywhere.

These are the kinds of impacts tinnitus has on your life.

 

[GBB]

I just drove for maybe 30 min today, about 7 weeks after tinnitus onset. My ears were sort of aching when I was driving On a bumpy road, but I thought nothing of it. Fast forward a few hours later and I can't even be inside because the tinnitus is so deafening. The past few days my tinnitus was more well behaved - today after driving it is truly terrifying. I can tell you for a fact that driving can exacerbate tinnitus.