Flying and Early Tinnitus?

[aarontypesstuff]

Hey again guys,

So I posted on the introductory thread last week that I've had tinnitus for the last 9 days which was caused by acoustic trauma by not wearing earplugs at rehearsals. Since then, I've been following advice given on the forum; I went to my GP and was prescribed fluticasone spray (I think it's a corticosteroid) and have started taking NAC tablets, I (reluctantly) cancelled the gigs I had lined up over the last week and I went out and got myself some 15db resistant earplugs. So far my T hasn't improved, I've had the same ringing in my ear since, but I'm doing all I can to try get myself into as safe a place as I can to help myself recover. I'm also starting to get a bit used to it by leaving it in my head as background noise.

I'm here again asking for a bit of advice though - I've had a holiday booked for the last while for my girlfriend's birthday, which is scheduled for next Friday. It involved a 2 hour flight, which I'm a bit nervous about. At that stage, it will have been 19 days since the onset of my T, which I know is still very early to be doing anything extravagant. I can't exactly cancel, so I'm asking for your guys opinions - are there any precautions I should take? Might it affect my T more adversely?

 

[NimQ]

Planes can be quite loud when lifting off and landing and I decided to cancel my upcoming vacation because of it (I got reactive T last September so it's been a while, but it still doesn't do well with loud sounds). Furthermore, it's not recommended to use regular earplugs while flying though, since that can make stabilizing the pressure harder for your ears. What I would do if I were you is to get a good pair of earmuffs and use them at least during the worst noise. Peltor's X models have been recommended here by many, so I guess that would be a safe bet - it might look silly of course, but safety and health are more important. There are also specially designed "earplanes" plugs that are designed for helping ears depressurize, but they don't really offer much protection and I would look into having as much as possible (30-40 dB reduction). So either earmuffs or earmuffs paired with earplanes would be my best bet, but haven't tried it yet myself.

Since you have very fresh T it is quite crucial to protect your ears and give them chance to heal. I would avoid all sorts of night clubs and concerts, since no earplugs can hold back those decibels. NAC is prolly a very good supplement right now and I'd definitely add magnesium in the mix, it's a must for many of us. Also vitamin B complex and strong vitamin C can help, plus some have benefited from ginkgo biloba. I guess I would be trying it all as there is a chance for you to actually get rid of this condition. Did you suffer any hearing loss and how loud is your T, is it in both ears?

 

[maltese]

it might look silly of course,

They don't

My (quite techy actually!) friend held my ear muffs for a few moments and later still thought they are Bluetooth headphones.

People who know what they are will understand you wear them.

90% of people don't. And they just assume these are fancy headphones.

 

[NimQ]

They don't

My (quite techy actually!) friend held my ear muffs for a few moments and later still thought they are Bluetooth headphones.

People who know what they are will understand you wear them.

90% of people don't. And they just assume these are fancy headphones.

Yeah, sounds quite reasonable. People really aren't paying that much attention to other individuals and their style choices (whatever they are), but sometimes one can still feel self-conscious about these things. But yes - there is a high chance no one will even notice and even if someone would happen to wonder, it doesn't matter as long as it minimizes risks coming from loudness.

 

[aarontypesstuff]

Did you suffer any hearing loss and how loud is your T, is it in both ears?

I only have it in my left ear, I'd say on a scale of 1-10 it's probably a 5/6, maybe 7 when I'm on my own in quiet (it's the only thing I can focus on in those circumstances). I don't think I've suffered hearing loss in the ear with T, but the other ear (which had T for a day then went away) feels like the volume is turned down to 70%.

 

[Jason C]

Ear muffs for the flight would be a good idea. I didn't have a clue what too do when I suffered acoustic trauma from an alarm I did t even know what acoustic trauma was, I just thought the ringing would go away and 10 month on it's still there.
One month after the acoustic trauma things seemed too have improved and I flew 14 hours too Thailand, the plane seemed very loud, I didn't realise at that time I was also suffering hyperacusis.
If you look after your hearing for the next 6 months or so you could be lucky and it might go away.

 

[mikeinOz]

I've used the Bose noise cancelling headphones and they work very well but are quite pricey. My wife has borrowed them and she commented that she normally gets tinnitus after flying > 3 hours (she gets occasional tinnitus but not constant), but when wearing them she had no issues at all after a long flight.

 

[sleepy]

I recently went on a 4 hour flight. I used both foam ear plugs and ear muffs at the same time. The forum warns of barotrauma (Google it). The ear plugs got a bit annoying because it felt abrasive in my ears so I switched to my ear muffs only.

I had a slight increase in my T, but it went back down to baseline after we touched down. Not sure if it was because I was anxious or that I was really focusing on it. I got my T in the end of February (noise induced). Keep some chewing gum handy to reduce the pressure build up. Avoid sitting near the engines if you can. Enjoy yourself if you do go on your vacation. Cheers!