Katy Perry Concert and Earplugs

[Stina]

Exactly.

Its all pretty simple:

With high volume in sound, there is a high risk of increasing tinnitus.

Concerts have extremely high volume, so concerts are high risk. We know earplugs protect somewhat, but we also hear enough stories of people who protected their ears and still the t increased because they did not protect enough.

So even with earplugs there is a high risk. This is al people can tell you, maybe it will get worse, maybe not. But these are the facts. And you need to make a decision based on that.

So like someone else said: are you willing to go to something so risky for the reward that its going to give you? If your T does increase, can you live with that?

If not, don't go to high risk places. If you can and want to take the risk, enjoy.

I think its really a larger philossophical concept of whether one is willing to accept that life can demand us to change ourselves and/or our lifestyle and whether one is able to do that. Being creative is of great help here, in the means of finding new ways of having fun,
However I dont mean to be judgemental here, and if one is willing to accept to risk then yes, enjoy

 

[Cassidy]

Etymotic/Elacin and ACS are well regarded.

Hey yonkapin,
Thanks for your reply. Is there any model in particular that you could recommend from your experience? Did some research and Sensaphonics MAX3 look alright? Or Soundear Pro2 or 3? Slightly annoying that all of these have only 1 year warranty for their price...not sure whyits so little? Anyways, any tips or suggestions would be great

 

[I who love music]

No concert, nothing.. is worth T. If I had a million dollars I'd give it away to be free of this.

 

[Ryan W]

This is just my personnel opinion, am 25 had tinnitus 3 years and for me if I didn't have my nights out and enjoyments in life I don't think i could manage with the t because although I suffer for going to concerts etc i still think it was worth it because I want to try and live my life as close as I can as if I didn't have t, yea my t goes crazy for a few days after it but I have happy memories and things to keep me smiling about and helps me not get as depressed, yea I don't go out near as much as I would like to anymore but for me a night out clubbing or watever trying to be normal again helps me deal with it, even if it only is a few hours, yea I no this sounds stupid, but we are all different and deal with things in different ways, yea u don't want to risk making it permanently worse but for me it's worth the risk at this stage in my life. Might make later life harder but am just holding out hope that they find something good for reducing it no matter what the case. Don't get me wrong I would give or do anything to get rid of this bad t,and am maybe doing the wrong things but it's my way with dealing with it ATM.

 

[Grace]

This is just my personnel opinion, am 25 had tinnitus 3 years and for me if I didn't have my nights out and enjoyments in life I don't think i could manage with the t because although I suffer for going to concerts etc i still think it was worth it because I want to try and live my life as close as I can as if I didn't have t, yea my t goes crazy for a few days after it but I have happy memories and things to keep me smiling about and helps me not get as depressed, yea I don't go out near as much as I would like to anymore but for me a night out clubbing or watever trying to be normal again helps me deal with it, even if it only is a few hours, yea I no this sounds stupid, but we are all different and deal with things in different ways, yea u don't want to risk making it permanently worse but for me it's worth the risk at this stage in my life. Might make later life harder but am just holding out hope that they find something good for reducing it no matter what the case. Don't get me wrong I would give or do anything to get rid of this bad t,and am maybe doing the wrong things but it's my way with dealing with it ATM.

Yeah lets hope im prettt confident the tome were in our 40s early 50s somethin good will be out to reduce thats so many years away and were still young

 

[Tenna]

No concert, nothing.. is worth T. If I had a million dollars I'd give it away to be free of this.

Do you consider yourself habituated?

 

[Sean]

Exactly.

Its all pretty simple:

With high volume in sound, there is a high risk of increasing tinnitus.

Concerts have extremely high volume, so concerts are high risk. We know earplugs protect somewhat, but we also hear enough stories of people who protected their ears and still the t increased because they did not protect enough.

So even with earplugs there is a high risk. This is al people can tell you, maybe it will get worse, maybe not. But these are the facts. And you need to make a decision based on that.

So like someone else said: are you willing to go to something so risky for the reward that its going to give you? If your T does increase, can you live with that?

If not, don't go to high risk places. If you can and want to take the risk, enjoy.

I totally agree with you !
4-5 hours of going to concerns 2-3 times a year is not living life. yes you are missing fun ,but if you have T ..4-5 hours of fun can become a life time curse !
Btw , did your T came back to normal level after the bar incident ?

 

[jraulc_11]

Does anyone have musician ear plugs? I would like to know if its worth buying so I can wear them to a bar or something?

 

[MikeA]

I see what your saying but for me it's not so easy a decision. I think, those important life events are what makes life worth living. It's something I think about from time to time and honestly don't know which would suck more.

I'm old friends with a few musicians that were in one of the most popular bands in a large east coast city back in the 1980s. Videos on MTV, played Letterman. I was always on the guest list (come right on in sir). Some of the my most fondest memories. Of course, all of those show, plus many others, and playing in a band myself did the damage. I've had a very low hiss T (1 or 2 on a 1-10 scale, ~10kHz) for twenty years. A Joan Jett concert was the kicker! I've been to the occasional club in summer and a few concerts over the years, always ALWAYS wearing plugs. No change in T that I could discern.

Lately the guys are doing reunion shows. I've been to two in the past year. Talk about memories. After the shows we hang out and reminisce about all of the great times. Following the last show 6 weeks ago, my T spiked. ENT said, "nah, your ear plugs + wax (he extracted two wax 'plugs') was about 30 dB protection". Hearing test pretty good up to 8 kHz, but who knows about higher frequencies. Now over the past few weeks, the hiss seems to be almost back to it's previous level; I can mask it with a trickle of water from the facet. So the spike/increase could very well be emotional. Sleep went south around that time. But there's now a noticeable somatic component when I turn my head (neck issue? teeth grinding?), and T goes up when I jog, which I never noticed before. Maybe I'm just thinking about it more recently. This morning for the first time in 6 weeks I turned off the bedside fan and thought "gee it ain't all that bad."

Another reunion show coming up several weeks from now. I think I'll pass... maybe go to one in the future if all is well. Suppose I could arrive late, listen from outside, go in and say hi after the show is over. Or perhaps use plugs plus ear muffs under a wig and stay to side of the stage. But that's a bit much. These decisions aren't easy.

 

[Boxdra]

I totally agree with you !
4-5 hours of going to concerns 2-3 times a year is not living life. yes you are missing fun ,but if you have T ..4-5 hours of fun can become a life time curse !
Btw , did your T came back to normal level after the bar incident ?

No it did not. So I have learned a lot from this, i'm not going to take these risks again. I will just accept I will never go to a concert again. It sucks, but this is life. Just have to enjoy the other things more then

How are you? Did you stop using the earasers earplugs?

 

[Sean]

I had ordered medium siZe ,but they were too big, so got the small size . small size is way too small !.
I just sue hearos ear plugs when I go out .My T has increased after two incidents ..one time has gone for a concert and second time a loud movie without any ear plugs.
I knkw you were wearing ear plugs at the bar and I am really curious to know how T behaves with you .
I am trying my best to avoid all loud events ..I hope I can avoid ,but it seems almost impossible to loud places ..like bars or wedding receptions.
concert is out of question no matter what !

No it did not. So I have learned a lot from this, i'm not going to take these risks again. I will just accept I will never go to a concert again. It sucks, but this is life. Just have to enjoy the other things more then

How are you? Did you stop using the earasers earplugs?

orde

 

[Andrew_89]

Man I wish I got to watch Stevie Ray I was going to go to blues fest this year in Byron bay but my T started 3 weeks back so bummed I'm missing out of John Mayer !!!!'

 

[Zimichael]

Mike... Sounds (sic) like something new is happening with the potential "somatic" aspects. They could be linked I guess, where > sound exposure > some sensitivity threshold that > the effects of some minor shifts in bone/jaw/ear structure, or whatever???

Personally, I think you are being smart to pay attention to that. My gut feeling is that it is a shift that warrants caution, not gay abandon. I have had such "warning signs" and failed to realize what they were until after the fact...then it was too late. (As you can see, I have had a number of 'jumps up' in volume). Of course I wanted to kick myself 100 times afterwards for not realizing what was happening, but they didn't register as a potential tinnitus increase threat as were "new"...so I just went "Mmmmm, that's odd" and carried on with situation normal. Until a short while later (few weeks) when it wasn't!

Take care, Zimichael

 

[I who love music]

Do you consider yourself habituated?

No. And I never will be. I'm an artist / musician and I see and hear everything. It's my job.

 

[cullenbohannon]

Does your t cause you any anxiety or distress?

No. And I never will be. I'm an artist / musician and I see and hear everything. It's my job.

 

[Tenna]

No. And I never will be. I'm an artist / musician and I see and hear everything. It's my job.

Other musicians dont see no habituation as inevitable just because its their life and job, why do you think some t musicians habituate and others dont?
Im curious to know where youre coming from, what the goal of your advice is based on your experience

 

[Boxdra]

Neenie, when is the concert? I'm curious if your going and what your experience will be.

@Sean, I think my level is still higher, but i'm used to it already. It may went down a little bit. To bad the earasers suck

 

[Zimichael]

Two things...

Yeah, Neenie, I had also wanted to know when the concert was and the "outcome", after this lively thread. Hopefully great, and no damage to your hearing. Please let us know!

On this 'cost-benefit' thing about living life, versus letting tinnitus rule and squash it to various degrees.

In the end of course it's a personal decision and experience will teach the lesson of if it was "OK" after all to be exposed to the sound/whatever, involved. Generally I would say, the 'self answer' is pretty simple...
If your tinnitus spiked and did not go down, or settled at a higher level, it will register as a "bad experience" and choice (at least for the time it takes to habituate again); or if it did not go up the result will be: "Hey, that was great! Phew! Glad I went."

I suspect this internal debate will be a lot more "debatable" depending on age. If you are young, have a lot of potential years ahead, and never pictured yourself as "handicapped" in your world view growing up...then hell yes, you are going to want to LIVE life! So you should.
If on the other hand, you are older, done a lot of life, and learned that it can often be a somewhat random and cruel process (just look in the newspaper), then more caution tends to be du jour. "Mistakes" are often pretty heavy to rectify, not only because bodily healing is slower, but mental adjustment can become harder. (Zen monks and Spiritual Masters aside). In short, we wise up. Longer term pain or suffering possibilities have to have a much bigger reward trade-off to take them on.

So for me...No concert, even by 'Big G' in the sky (unless it was my "departing anthem", leaving all T behind in this earth-bound body....Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!) would be worth it. Maybe, just maybe, a nice acoustic scene in the open, around a campfire or something. But this absolutely insane infatuation with electricity and amplifiers is beyond me. I just plain do not think our hearing evolution has caught up to this decibel level, and one is risking a million years of physiological development for something a lot louder than attunement to the soft pad of a Sabre-Toothed Tiger creeping up on you with an eye to lunch.

Whatever you decide Neenie...Hope it's good...for you!

best, Zimichael

 

[I who love music]

Other musicians dont see no habituation as inevitable just because its their life and job, why do you think some t musicians habituate and others dont?
Im curious to know where youre coming from, what the goal of your advice is based on your experience

Some people habituate and some don't. When I talk to people I know who have T, they describe it, and seem uncomfortable talking about it. They ALWAYS say, "I didn't hear it until you mentioned it." I guess they're habituated. Mine is loud and a different frequency in each ear. I hear it when there's no outside sounds. I have since '74. This is from lots and lots of loud music in my teen years. It's a wonder I can hear at all. I have only a mild upper loss. Probably typical for 55 years old. I know musicians who've played louder and longer than me, and not even a hiss!! There are so many other factors such as bruxism, ear & sinus, heredity, that play into it. That's my guess.

 

[I who love music]

Does your t cause you any anxiety or distress?

The noise I experience daily does not bother me. But a few years ago I got stupid and played some loud electric music which left me with a 2 year spike that was worse that blaring horns, and a case of H that still bugs me from time to time. That particular spike had me scared to peices. I stuffed cotton in my ears for months because I was trying to protect what I had left and the H was out of control. Those were scary times.

 

[Sean]

No it did not. So I have learned a lot from this, i'm not going to take these risks again. I will just accept I will never go to a concert again. It sucks, but this is life. Just have to enjoy the other things more then

How are you? Did you stop using the earasers earplugs?

What ever little experience I have says your t will settle down .pleaae keep me posted .

Yes , I was disappointed with erasers since they are some what invisible. It would be ideal to wear those at a mall or some what louder places . I just find it so embarrassing wearing blue ear plugs !

 

[MikeA]

Mike... Sounds (sic) like something new is happening with the potential "somatic" aspects. They could be linked I guess, where > sound exposure > some sensitivity threshold that > the effects of some minor shifts in bone/jaw/ear structure, or whatever???

Personally, I think you are being smart to pay attention to that.

Agree with this. Although at times I almost feel as though my T level is back down to where it was before, other times it clearly isn't. At my age it just doesn't make sense to gamble. If say a year from now I get on a run and feel the overall 'volume' is clearly back to the old low level, I may reconsider. But as they say it's wise to put aside the things of youth. Loud noise is one of those things.

 

[pactribe]

Honestly I regret going to the concert I did in November that spiked my T and left me with H. I wore protection. I took breaks. I left early.

I would do anything to go back in time and stay home that night. Think really hard about this decision.

Hi, @demi How are you doing these days?

 

[Rina]

@Neenie hi... Did you ever go to the concert? What happened? Any change to your T? How are you doing these days?

 

[Lloyd Carter]

This thread is ridiculous! If you have musicians plugs at 31db (meaning you KNOW you're getting 31db reduction), the chances of your T worsening after a concert are essentially 0. Don't stand by the speakers, go to concerts. Young, Clapton, Bono, Chris Martin all these guys have T and they play away WITH protection. If you protect your ears properly, you can still go to concerts. All the ear plug horror stories on TT are from people that did not use custom plugs. I wouldn't go with the foam plugs because I wouldn't KNOW I was getting 31db reduction, but with custom plugs, you are extremely safe.

 

[pef]

My wife ending up going to a Katy Perry concert. Long story.

She said it was extremely loud, and she also said that Katy Perry lip synced most of the two songs that my wife stayed for before leaving. Apparently Katy Perry does not really sing as much as she puts on a show.

My wife left after the second song. Just FYI.

 

[marqualler]

FWIW--

I recently attended a Vikings game (vs Seahawks & they got destroyed at home but that is a story for another day

I wore musicians earplugs and felt no T after effects.

So I agree that while some might have issues, it is certainly not a hard and fast rule that folks with tinnitus can no longer do anything involving music
Be sensible and protect when necessary.

 

[Blujay]

No one can tell you whether you'll be safe at a concert, because no one knows all the factors involved.

 

[Telis]

This thread is ridiculous! If you have musicians plugs at 31db (meaning you KNOW you're getting 31db reduction), the chances of your T worsening after a concert are essentially 0. Don't stand by the speakers, go to concerts. Young, Clapton, Bono, Chris Martin all these guys have T and they play away WITH protection. If you protect your ears properly, you can still go to concerts. All the ear plug horror stories on TT are from people that did not use custom plugs. I wouldn't go with the foam plugs because I wouldn't KNOW I was getting 31db reduction, but with custom plugs, you are extremely safe.

Low frequency sounds penetrate plugs with ease. You might be safer, but not safe.

 

[Lloyd Carter]

Low frequency sounds penetrate plugs with ease. You might be safer, but not safe.

I'm sorry but if you were unsafe with earplugs I think the entire young music industry would be getting T. They aren't because we now have awareness about how important protection is. And moreover, the elder music industry, who has T, is all still playing, just with the plugs. In fact, I've never heard of a single person that got T or had it worsened at a concert WHILE WEARING custom made musician plugs at 31db. Can you be 100% sure you are 100% safe? Well, no, but you also aren't safe getting in a car, as at anytime an accident could worsen your T.