Driving Car with Earplugs — Is This Necessary or Am I Being Overprotective?

[TuneOut]

I've said many times on here that the protection we use, ideally, needs to be appropriate to the noise we're likely to encounter. However, unless your car sounds like a jackhammer, I believe it's unnecessary.

Ultimately it's up to you though; if it works for you, then good luck to you. I just don't think it's good advice for the public en mass who are dealing with T. There's always going to be a certain amount of noise in our lives: dogs barking, babies crying, cars going by etc. We just can't resort to filtering out the world every time we set foot outside our houses. Most experts would agree this is a really bad idea, but when you have a lot of sufferers in one place, these ideas always seem to manifest themselves. Overprotection in my eyes is the best way to let tinnitus run your life, and it can make your ears more sensitive in the long run if you're doing it regularly. Please don't confuse this with me saying that we should never protect our ears. There are times, when there is no doubt, that we should be using earplugs. Sometimes, it's better to just walk away if it's too loud.

It's ultimately up to each of us to decide, so if you believe a car is damaging you, then I'm unlikely to convince you otherwise. We can only try and do what's best for ourselves.

Ed, many of the things you have said make sense to me and I appreciate your honest and balanced approach to this issue. However, I cannot reconcile the noise exposure/ear protection ideas with my experiences as of late. I had a very bad first few years with my tinnitus - not because it was really loud but because I was very concerned of it becoming worse. Every spike send me into panic and regret. I was a teenager at the time and had social anxiety and depression issues as well. But I gradually went back to "normal", minus loud events including movie theatres, and things were fine. I rarely thought about it and almost never wore earplugs.

That lasted for almost 20 years. Then, about a year ago, I drove an old, loud truck with poor weather sealing on the freeways for a few days. After that, things changed and my tinnitus has been getting repeatedly worse from more moderate exposures like the going to the gym, driving, running, watching tv, etc. Now I'm ... afraid. And the whole ear protection and fear of sound thing has started again, particularly in the more recent months. I don't know what to believe. All I can do is try to look at my experience as objectively as I can. I do, however, take into consideration all the things that you and Michael, and all the others say. I try to be open and receptive. I just don't know anymore. Hopefully things will stabilize with my tinnitus and I'll certainly let everyone know about it. Right now ... idk.

 

[Bill Bauer]

My consultant said I had suffered very severe noise trauma to my auditory system.

What caused the trauma?

[My own acoustic trauma was caused by a sonic toothbrush momentarily coming in contact with the opening of my ear canal... I immediately felt ear fullness. T followed on day 11.]

 

[Michael Leigh]

What caused the trauma?

I am an Audiophile and have been since the age of 16 many moons ago. I used to listen to music through high quality headphones a lot. One day when I took off my headphones I heard the ringing.

 

[Bill Bauer]

It is horrible that the manufacturer made the headphones in such a way that you ended up with such severe symptoms afterwards. One of the bad things about T is our inability to sue. I am not even sure it is possible to prove that I have T (but perhaps it would show on an MRI)...

 

[Michael Leigh]

It is horrible that the manufacturer made the headphones in such a way that you ended up with such severe symptoms afterwards. One of the bad things about T is our inability to sue. I am not even sure it is possible to prove that I have T (but perhaps it would show on an MRI)...

Just today I was walking on the street and a teenager was listening to his music through headphones at high volume. I wanted to say something but decided not to as people are too ill mannered these days and have no respect.

 

[Sam Bridge]

"Recently, leading German concert promoter, Marek Lieberberg Konzertagentur (MLK), was ordered to pay 4,000 Euros to a woman who claimed her hearing was damaged at a Bon Jovi concert, back in 2000. The company also has to pay medical expenses, and loss of future income costs, which have not as yet been quantified The Court said that MLK had failed to take sufficient precautions to limit the volume of the outdoor concert. The injured woman said she was standing 2.5 metres from a speaker, and now suffered from tinnitus."

Interesting that the woman successfully sued a promoter. I have been to many concerts and i am sure it made t become permanent, i am sure many others have got permanent t from them also. Potentially hugely damaging for music promoters if this sort of thing becomes more common.

 

[Michael Leigh]

@Sam Bridge
Interesting post Sam, and a good turn out for the woman. I'm wondering if her legal costs were reimbursed?

 

[TuneOut]

"Recently, leading German concert promoter, Marek Lieberberg Konzertagentur (MLK), was ordered to pay 4,000 Euros to a woman who claimed her hearing was damaged at a Bon Jovi concert, back in 2000. The company also has to pay medical expenses, and loss of future income costs, which have not as yet been quantified The Court said that MLK had failed to take sufficient precautions to limit the volume of the outdoor concert. The injured woman said she was standing 2.5 metres from a speaker, and now suffered from tinnitus."

Interesting that the woman successfully sued a promoter. I have been to many concerts and i am sure it made t become permanent, i am sure many others have got permanent t from them also. Potentially hugely damaging for music promoters if this sort of thing becomes more common.

Awesome. We need someone with knowledge and guts to sue the music industry, concert promoters, and government health agency for allowing kids to be exposed to damaging levels of sound. Make them class action. Fight back!

 

[light rain]

Maybe this will be the first chink in the armor much like hold the tobacco industry had. It is a huge industry though - it will most likely be quite a fight but a very worthwhile one.

 

[Sam Bridge]

That Bon Jovi case back in 2000 by the way, not sure if anything else has happened since. It annlys me thinking about it now, you wouldn't think it be legal for a nights entertainment to cause a chronic condition. I always thought the volume had to be at a reasonable level as to avoid damage, that is certainly not the case though!

 

[yonkapin]

Overprotective and dangerous.

I understand the temptation though. I had hyperacusis for a few years and traffic noise was a worry for me, however I was just mindful of putting my windows up, and if I saw something loud coming by like an ambulance I'd avoid it as best I could to avoid it and cover the ear closest to the siren. I've recovered from the hyperacusis since (still have tinnitus) and drive normally with no problems.

 

[erdoha]

I had a similar thought driving home yesterday. For the last week I've been enjoying the drive home because it masked everything I was hearing. But things are changing. Now I'm longing for (relative) silence of my own head, even if that means ringing. I want the outside noises to stop, even if I have to deal with the ringing. Very confusing sensations.
Closing my windows and driving a relatively quiet car helps a lot. It's just strange how quickly my perception changed. I was reading here about hyperacusis, and thinking well I'm glad I don't have that problem! HAA I think I've reached the next chapter.

 

[william adams]

I only wear ear protection when running loud equipment such as a lawn mower, circular saws, shooting guns which we no can cause damage to the ear. Driving a car and everyday noise no I do not wear ear protection and think that we can get obsessed with our T ....

 

[newbieT]

The other alternative is to buy a quieter tire. I recently put my winter tires back on to test the sound level and using a handheld meter the dbA level is 71 compared to 78 of my worn out all seasons driving on the same road. I just bought new all seasons yesterday. Pirelli P7 AS Plus, supposedly highest rated tire for comfort/noise on tirerack. I'll take some noise level reading when i get them put on.

 

[pef]

When I'm driving in my car I always wear earplugs. Do you think this is necessary or am I being overprotective?

Overprotective.

 

[TuneOut]

Overprotective.

I would generally agree but ... my tinnitus spikes when I drive longer than 5 minutes. So I usually wear earplugs or noise-cancelling earphones. This is only the like the last 6 months. Before that I drove and it didn't cause problems.

 

[TuneOut]

Actually, I found that it still definitely spiked, though not as much, when I used earplugs. I couldn't figure it out. It made no sense. Then I discovered that earplugs don't protect as well from the low-frequency sounds. So I bought the Bose noise-cancelling and now I can usually drive without it spiking. I'm hoping this situation goes back to the way it was. In the meantime I'm taking it easy with regards to sound. I don't wear ear protection all day, though.

 

[Bill Bauer]

So I bought the Bose noise-cancelling and now I can usually drive without it spiking.

I would get a spike despite wearing earplugs. I began wearing Peltor muffs. I would still get a spike, but not as big as before. I will now try wearing my Bose noise-cancelling headphones. Thank you for sharing your experience.

 

[TuneOut]

I would get a spike despite wearing earplugs. I began wearing Peltor muffs. I would still get a spike, but not as big as before. I will now try wearing my Bose noise-cancelling headphones. Thank you for sharing your experience.

Sure thing, Bill. Keep in mind that the noise-cancelling works best for continuous lower-frequency sounds. And it won't offer protection from impulse sounds. This is because the mic has to record the sound then the processor has to generate an anti-sound and this takes time.

 

[Marko Nakovski]

Just to ask here if I decide to wear earplugs while Im driving, its the best idea to wear silicone earplugs? Beacuse I think that is not necessary to use some high protection earplugs beacuse you will not have good hearing about other things in the traffic, so I think some low level protect is enough. Anyone here using silicone earplugs ?