Going to Bars/Clubs/Concerts with Hearing Protection — Wise or Not?

[Yas]

@Yas Don't worry, some of the people on here can get a bit buttmad sometimes, pay no heed.

Your desire to go is totally understandable and trust me I sympathise, I was looking forward to seeing Alestorm shortly before I got my own tinnitus.

Ultimately the decision is yours, but if I were you I'd give it a miss just for now. You're still early in the acute stage and there are plenty of people that recover from that point. Try and give your ears the best chance at getting better and keep optimistic, things can absolutely get better.

Thank you for being so kind. I'm feeling pretty helpless and the nasty comments do not help!
I would have loved to experience one of my favourite artists live! But my ears come first.

 

[Matty1996]

I would have loved to experience one of my favourite artists live! But my ears come first.

Basically my opinion too.

I was pretty wrecked once I first got it and thought I'd never be able to listen to music ever again and stuff like that. Fastforward a few months to now, my tinnitus isn't as bad, honestly doesn't even bother me anymore 90% of the time, and I'm listening to all the metal I used to and more.. just not on headphones

 

[Bill Bauer]

I'm so upset that my social life basically dies with tinnitus.

First of all, it is possible that you will be able to experiment with some limited noise exposure in several years. The risk will probably be lower at that time. Second of all, if that stuff is that important to you, perhaps you Should take that risk. Everything depends on the value you place on that stuff and the disutility of tinnitus to you.

 

[AfroSnowman]

thank you this is so helpful! I'm dying to see the new Star Wars so maybe I should see it in the cinema with some earplugs and see how things go!

Personally I wouldn't get too freaked out. Just be sensible, take it step by step. It is better to miss one show than find out you shouldn't have gone, but don't assume you'll never get to go to a show again. Just take your time is all.

 

[Digital Doc]

For now, it is reasonable to skip the concert.

Certainly see the ENT, but as you are noise induced, they rarely add much to the picture, and are generally not full of great advice.

You could try cinema with earplugs, but start with a quieter film. An action flick like Star Wars is sure to be quite loud. I atch plenty of movies at home where I can control the volume for that reason.

 

[MichaelP]

thank you! This is the response I've been looking for really. Very informative.
I've been using gel earplugs for when I shower because I have to protect my perforation. However those are the only ones I'm comfortable using because they don't go too far into the ear canal. I've got foam earplugs but I'm scared to put them into my "bad" ear with the perforation because I'm not supposed to put anything in there.
I tried it in my "good" ear and felt that when I accidentally brushed or tapped the foam ear plugs it was incredibly loud in my ear, isnt that really bad? Maybe I bought rubbish earplugs I don't know.

thank you anyway, I'll definitely be experimenting with them

no problem.

Yeah, definitely consult with a doctor or better yet ENT before putting anything into your damaged ear.

The loud sound when you tap against an earplug in your ear is normal (it is unlikely to be dangerous but obviously don't do it too much!). It's caused by the occlusion effect. Basically sound is being trapped from escaping your ear, so it sounds much louder as the sound is being reflected and echoing inside your eardrum. In the same way you might hear your footsteps if you were walking, or your voice if you were speaking (although these might be more if you were using both earplugs?).

I have read that if the foam earplug is inserted deep enough it is meant to minimise the occlusion effect by leaving less space between the eardrum and earplug to bounce around. If you haven't seen a video on inserting foam earplugs watch this one:



I never realised they were meant to go so deep either!

I think some of the musicians earplugs and the custom moulded ones are meant to reduce the occlusion effect a bit by having minute holes in them to allow sound to escape, and in the case of the custom moulded ones I'm being fitted for tomorrow (ACS Pros) they also insert quite deep into the ear canal to minimise the occlusion effect.

But yeah, definitely check with a doctor before inserting one in that ear and I would stay away from any volume of cinema, bars etc. until you can use them. Also, take it easy with the places you go to!! You will most likely need many months to recover. I have a festival next March and I'm probably not going to go even with foam earplugs or the custom moulded ones I'm getting. I'm basically too shook up and have been affected too much by that bar I went to the other week (although I now suspect that I massively misjudged the volume that would affect me, even when wearing earplugs and I imagine it would be a lot quieter than a festival as well!).

Take care!

 

[Yas]

Basically my opinion too.

I was pretty wrecked once I first got it and thought I'd never be able to listen to music ever again and stuff like that. Fastforward a few months to now, my tinnitus isn't as bad, honestly doesn't even bother me anymore 90% of the time, and I'm listening to all the metal I used to and more.. just not on headphones

That gives me hope. I'm too sad to listen to music at the moment. I hope my ear gets - better I miss my music!

 

[Yas]

First of all, it is possible that you will be able to experiment with some limited noise exposure in several years. The risk will probably be lower at that time. Second of all, if that stuff is that important to you, perhaps you Should take that risk. Everything depends on the value you place on that stuff and the disutility of tinnitus to you.

Yeah you're right! I just need to take it slow, maybe after some time I'll be ok being in that environment again.
It's definitely not worth the risk, I can't have it getting any louder than it is.

 

[Yas]

Personally I wouldn't get too freaked out. Just be sensible, take it step by step. It is better to miss one show than find out you shouldn't have gone, but don't assume you'll never get to go to a show again. Just take your time is all.

This is true, thank you. Maybe one day I'll be able to live a slightly normal life again, I have hope.

 

[Yas]

For now, it is reasonable to skip the concert.

Certainly see the ENT, but as you are noise induced, they rarely add much to the picture, and are generally not full of great advice.

You could try cinema with earplugs, but start with a quieter film. An action flick like Star Wars is sure to be quite loud. I atch plenty of movies at home where I can control the volume for that reason.

I'm not noise induced, mine was caused by a perforation - I'm so damn unlucky. I'm hoping the ent can help it heal.

I think I'll make the final decision to see Star Wars after seeing my ent!

 

[AfroSnowman]

This is true, thank you. Maybe one day I'll be able to live a slightly normal life again, I have hope.

You will almost certainly live a normal life again, even if a touch different than it was before, but life always changes no matter what. Give it time. Life with Tinnitus gets much much better for the majority of people.

 

[Ed209]

Hi @Yas, my post yesterday was something along the lines of this:

I would avoid the concert because your tinnitus is new and the last thing you want to do is put yourself in a loud environment where there's every chance you'll be stressed out at the same time.

If I were you I'd get yourself a pack of foam earplugs and a set of custom moulded ones with the maximum filter available (usually 26/27 dB) and an intermediate filter (a 17 dB or 20 dB). First of all, make sure you tell your friends what you're experiencing so that they can better understand what you're going through. There is no rush to go out and socialise, so make sure you prioritise yourself and try to destress as much as possible.

Once you find your feet again, there's no need to avoid socialising in bars if that's what you want to do. You could find the places that have a more suitable atmosphere - in terms of noise - and if it gets loud, either use your filtered plugs or your foam ones. Your friends will understand. Socially isolating yourself will only make you feel miserable and depressed (if you're a social person). This in itself won't help your tinnitus.

Your filtered plugs will be useful in a variety of situations, such as the cinema and other modestly raised sound environments. They will allow you to hear everything just as clearly but at a reduced volume. The foam plugs are best suited to places that get a bit noisier but are still relatively safe to be in with protection. If you find yourself somewhere that's simply too loud, leave! Also, remember that it's not just the decibel level of the noise that you're exposed to but the duration you are exposed to it for. Stay away from loudspeakers and take regular breaks by going outside if you feel you need to.

Tinnitus should not be the death of your social life at the age of 24. I have severe multi-sound tinnitus and I socialise all the time. This includes drinking in bars, attending parties, weddings, going to the cinema, etc. The only thing I haven't done since 2015 is go to a mainstream live concert, although, I have seen a few live bands at charity balls, a friends pub, and another friends mansion.

Seeing live bands in certain situations is my personal choice though and it's not a recommendation. I'm not here to preach one way or the other but to give you some facts about my experiences. That's all any of us can do.

The best advice I can possibly offer you is to try not to become obsessed with it and to protect your ears around sustained levels of damaging noise and always leave a place that's too loud.

And don't forget, your tinnitus could still fade away as you're so new to it.

Take good care of yourself whatever you decide to do.

 

[Yas]

no problem.

Yeah, definitely consult with a doctor or better yet ENT before putting anything into your damaged ear.

The loud sound when you tap against an earplug in your ear is normal (it is unlikely to be dangerous but obviously don't do it too much!). It's caused by the occlusion effect. Basically sound is being trapped from escaping your ear, so it sounds much louder as the sound is being reflected and echoing inside your eardrum. In the same way you might hear your footsteps if you were walking, or your voice if you were speaking (although these might be more if you were using both earplugs?).

I have read that if the foam earplug is inserted deep enough it is meant to minimise the occlusion effect by leaving less space between the eardrum and earplug to bounce around. If you haven't seen a video on inserting foam earplugs watch this one:



I never realised they were meant to go so deep either!

I think some of the musicians earplugs and the custom moulded ones are meant to reduce the occlusion effect a bit by having minute holes in them to allow sound to escape, and in the case of the custom moulded ones I'm being fitted for tomorrow (ACS Pros) they also insert quite deep into the ear canal to minimise the occlusion effect.

But yeah, definitely check with a doctor before inserting one in that ear and I would stay away from any volume of cinema, bars etc. until you can use them. Also, take it easy with the places you go to!! You will most likely need many months to recover. I have a festival next March and I'm probably not going to go even with foam earplugs or the custom moulded ones I'm getting. I'm basically too shook up and have been affected too much by that bar I went to the other week (although I now suspect that I massively misjudged the volume that would affect me, even when wearing earplugs and I imagine it would be a lot quieter than a festival as well!).

Take care!

Thank you for the guidance and the video! It's scary how deep it goes isn't it haha! It's definitely a conversation I'll be having with my ent as soon as I see them!

Foam earplugs seem like a good idea until I can get a custom earplugs fitted for myself. Obviously after the go ahead of my ent

 

[Yas]

Hi @Yas, my post yesterday was something along the lines of this:

I would avoid the concert because your tinnitus is new and the last thing you want to do is put yourself in a loud environment where there's every chance you'll be stressed out at the same time.

If I were you I'd get yourself a pack of foam earplugs and a set of custom moulded ones with the maximum filter available (usually 26/27 dB) and an intermediate filter (a 17 dB or 20 dB). First of all, make sure you tell your friends what you're experiencing so that they can better understand what you're going through. There is no rush to go out and socialise, so make sure you prioritise yourself and try to destress as much as possible.

Once you find your feet again, there's no need to avoid socialising in bars if that's what you want to do. You could find the places that have a more suitable atmosphere - in terms of noise - and if it gets loud, either use your filtered plugs or your foam ones. Your friends will understand. Socially isolating yourself will only make you feel miserable and depressed (if you're a social person). This in itself won't help your tinnitus.

Your filtered plugs will be useful in a variety of situations, such as the cinema and other modestly raised sound environments. They will allow you to hear everything just as clearly but at a reduced volume. The foam plugs are best suited to places that get a bit noisier but are still relatively safe to be in with protection. If you find yourself somewhere that's simply too loud, leave! Also, remember that it's not just the decibel level of the noise that you're exposed to but the duration you are exposed to it for. Stay away from loudspeakers and take regular breaks by going outside if you feel you need to.

Tinnitus should not be the death of your social life at the age of 24. I have severe multi-sound tinnitus and I socialise all the time. This includes drinking in bars, attending parties, weddings, going to the cinema, etc. The only thing I haven't done since 2015 is go to a mainstream live concert, although, I have seen a few live bands at charity balls, a friends pub, and another friends mansion.

Seeing live bands in certain situations is my personal choice though and it's not a recommendation. I'm not here to preach one way or the other but to give you some facts about my experiences. That's all any of us can do.

The best advice I can possibly offer you is to try not to become obsessed with it and to protect your ears around sustained levels of damaging noise and always leave a place that's too loud.

And don't forget, your tinnitus could still fade away as you're so new to it.

Take good care of yourself whatever you decide to do.

Thank you for this post Ed, very helpful! I need to do some good research on earplugs and sounds etc etc! Do you have a source I could look at by any chance?

I will definitely take it slow, give myself time to heal. I've already told most of my friends.
I'll be using gel earplugs for the time being because I don't know if I can insert anything further into my ear canal yet! Annoying! And I'll be avoiding loud places too!
I suppose I am a sociable person and it sucks that the majority of things my friends plan involve being around loud music!

"And don't forget, your tinnitus could still fade away as you're so new to it."
- I hope I am this lucky. I will forever thankful and never take my ears for granted.

 

[Don Tinny]

I don't want to bore the users with my story over and over again. I know that many users will not agree with me, but ...

Tinnitus has changed your life. You better accept it.
Even if your ringing fades in the future, your ears have already been damaged and it can easily return if you don't take care.

It's better to stop going to a loud event than to spend your life with severe tinnitus.

Just my opinion.

 

[Madi]

I've been to a lot of concerts, but I think right now, at least for a little while, my concert days are over. I've kind of come to accept that I need to let my ears figure out what the hell is going on for a little while before I feel safe putting myself in that kind of situation again.

That being said, there is one thing that I haven't seen people talk about on here. My favorite band is doing a short tour in January, and luckily, they have VIP tickets, so you can hang out with the band and take pictures with them before the actual concert. MUCH less strain on the ears. I'll be doing that (and bringing earplugs, of course) and then just dipping out before the actual show. Yeah, it sucks that I can't see them play live, since I love them to death, but at least I can hang out with and talk to them for a little while. For now, that's good enough for me!

 

[Ed209]

Thank you for this post Ed, very helpful! I need to do some good research on earplugs and sounds etc etc! Do you have a source I could look at by any chance?

I will definitely take it slow, give myself time to heal. I've already told most of my friends.
I'll be using gel earplugs for the time being because I don't know if I can insert anything further into my ear canal yet! Annoying! And I'll be avoiding loud places too!
I suppose I am a sociable person and it sucks that the majority of things my friends plan involve being around loud music!

"And don't forget, your tinnitus could still fade away as you're so new to it."
- I hope I am this lucky. I will forever thankful and never take my ears for granted.

You could take a look at this which gives you a spec sheet for each ACS earplug filter:

https://www.hearingprotection.co.uk/products/pro-series

As for information about safe noise exposure, there's plenty you can find on google.

 

[Yas]

I've been to a lot of concerts, but I think right now, at least for a little while, my concert days are over. I've kind of come to accept that I need to let my ears figure out what the hell is going on for a little while before I feel safe putting myself in that kind of situation again.

That being said, there is one thing that I haven't seen people talk about on here. My favorite band is doing a short tour in January, and luckily, they have VIP tickets, so you can hang out with the band and take pictures with them before the actual concert. MUCH less strain on the ears. I'll be doing that (and bringing earplugs, of course) and then just dipping out before the actual show. Yeah, it sucks that I can't see them play live, since I love them to death, but at least I can hang out with and talk to them for a little while. For now, that's good enough for me!

Thank you! This is smart thinking, I like this idea!

 

[Ed209]

That being said, there is one thing that I haven't seen people talk about on here. My favorite band is doing a short tour in January, and luckily, they have VIP tickets, so you can hang out with the band and take pictures with them before the actual concert. MUCH less strain on the ears. I'll be doing that (and bringing earplugs, of course) and then just dipping out before the actual show. Yeah, it sucks that I can't see them play live, since I love them to death, but at least I can hang out with and talk to them for a little while. For now, that's good enough for me!

Is this before the actual gig starts though? A lot of the meet and greets happen whilst the support acts are playing.

 

[Madi]

Is this before the actual gig starts though? A lot of the meet and greets happen whilst the support acts are playing.

It's before! It starts like two hours before doors are even open.

 

[Yas]

Successfully saw Star Wars today!

I wore silicone earplugs because I'm still too scared to wear foam ones.

I'd say the T is the tiniest bit louder now that I'm in bed but it's not the worst.
I'm happy I can movies in the cinema again!

 

[Yas]

Successfully saw Star Wars today!

I wore silicone earplugs because I'm still too scared to wear foam ones.

I'd say the T is the tiniest bit louder now that I'm in bed but it's not the worst.
I'm happy I can see movies in the cinema again!

 

[MRItechssuck]

Successfully saw Star Wars today!

I wore silicone earplugs because I'm still too scared to wear foam ones.

I'd say the T is the tiniest bit louder now that I'm in bed but it's not the worst.
I'm happy I can movies in the cinema again!

Could you understand the dialogue with the earplugs in? With earplugs blocking the movie sounds, all I can here is my ringing and barely hear the talking parts... sucks.

 

[Yas]

Could you understand the dialogue with the earplugs in? With earplugs blocking the movie sounds, all I can here is my ringing and barely hear the talking parts... sucks.

I understood everything just fine because I was wearing silicone earplugs, they don't do too much. Next time I will be wearing better earplugs to hopefully avoid the spike!

 

[linearb]

I'm going to say "unwise, but I've done it a lot carefully over the last decade including some concerts and it's been fine"

however, there are concerts and there are concerts. I don't know if I'll ever go see NIN again, and I imagine Slipknot would be even louder.... personally I'm done with metal shows. Anywhere that there's literally a masochistic draw to the decibel level... not somewhere I want to be.

 

[MRItechssuck]

I understood everything just fine because I was wearing silicone earplugs, they don't do too much. Next time I will be wearing better earplugs to hopefully avoid the spike!

Oh maybe your tinnitus is pretty mild... hopefully.

 

[Badger19]

I've gone to tons of parties and clubs with my custom made plugs. Every time I thought it was too loud I left. It was great.

But a few months back I've made the mistake of staying at a party when I knew it was too loud. And unfortunately, one fuck up leaves marks for life. Since then I've developed slight hyperacusis. So probably no more partying for me.

 

[MichaelP]

I've gone to tons of parties and clubs with my custom made plugs. Every time I thought it was too loud I left. It was great.

But a few months back I've made the mistake of staying at a party when I knew it was too loud. And unfortunately, one fuck up leaves marks for life. Since then I've developed slight hyperacusis. So probably no more partying for me.

What NRR are your custom made plugs? I worry that if I ever go to a party/loud bar I won't know whether it's too loud or not!

 

[Lane]

Successfully saw Star Wars today! ...... I'd say the T is the tiniest bit louder now

Hi @Yas, just now seeing this thread. I have some concerns about that seemingly minor spike. You're still early on in your tinnitus journey, and your ears are going through a critical healing period, which will likely last months. Seemingly minor spikes during this time can be more problematic than they may appear. It's similar to any part of the body trying to heal, and it gets exacerbated for some reason. It's likely to cause more damage than if it had happened after we had healed more thoroughly.

I noticed you mentioned in a later post about trying to avoid a spike altogether. I like that mindset. But unexpected things can always happen. You might find it of interest that two separate people "got" tinnitus from the very same scene in a movie. So even though 99.9% of a movie might be safe, only .1% might be all it takes to cause a spike. I would just caution you to be extra careful for a few more months before experimenting too extensively. The overall impression I get is that you're likely to come through this quite well. Being extra careful for a few more months would give you a little insurance on that outcome. -- All the Best!

 

[ajc]

It's a risk that you have to think... is the little time of fun worth the potential permanent worsening of your tinnitus?

With earplugs concerts and clubs are somewhat safe... but still a risk.