Poll: Clarifying the Characteristics of Spikes: In Search of the Mechanism

[MattS]

I'm trying to take a really scientific approach to characterizing spikes, to separate fear mongering and worry from actual facts about the nature of spikes. Help further our knowledge base by completing the poll, which may get us closer to understanding what spikes are all about, and how dangerous they are.

-Matt

 

[Digital Doc]

I think the answer is more complex. My tinnitus spike depends on the noise exposure. When the alarm clock went off in my ear, or the air horn blew on the semi truck, those spikes were loud, and lasted for over 2 weeks.

On the other hand, if I go into a deep sleep in front of the TV set, even at a lower volume, I wake up with ear fullness, and a tinnitus spike, although it only lasts a day or so, and goes back to baseline quickly. These irritate my ears, but would surmise do not cause further real damage. I have learned that when I want to nap in front of the TV to wear my musician earplugs to avoid this.

 

[MattS]

Agreed Doc - there's no exact one size fits all here, some spikes are more serious than others, and *some* spikes aren't actually spikes, they're new baselines.

But I think that many of us live in a certain amount of fear that were going to make our tinnitus worse by exposing ourselves to even normal every day noises. And those fears gain further credence when the every day sounds lead to spikes, or ear fullness, or whatever other symptom people experience. I know I feel the anxiety myself when I go to a coffee shop, or get in the car, or consider mowing the lawn - I worry that exposure to these 80ish db sounds are going to cause some irrevocable damage.

But are they? If they are, then I'll want to live in that fear, to keep wearing my plugs everywhere, to do everything in my power to ensure I don't aggravate the system.

But if they're not indication of actual damage, if they're simply indication that I suffer from irritable aural syndrome (IAS), then I'll want to drop this extreme protection and get back to actually living my life. Not that I'm not living it now, but you know what I mean.

Anyway, I know I'm not the only one with these concerns, because half of the posts in this forum are some form of "Big spike from going to a movie - have I done more damage?". So let's see if we can't figure it out. Are these everyday spikes anything to worry about? Or just something to tolerate?

 

[John Mahan]

I think the answer is more complex. My tinnitus spike depends on the noise exposure. When the alarm clock went off in my ear, or the air horn blew on the semi truck, those spikes were loud, and lasted for over 2 weeks.

On the other hand, if I go into a deep sleep in front of the TV set, even at a lower volume, I wake up with ear fullness, and a tinnitus spike, although it only lasts a day or so, and goes back to baseline quickly. These irritate my ears, but would surmise do not cause further real damage. I have learned that when I want to nap in front of the TV to wear my musician earplugs to avoid this.

How do you magically insert your musician earplugs to block out the TV at the onset of sleep for a brief nap?
You must have some level of freakish mind control to do that. Most people fall asleep involuntarily.
Btw, mine does the exact same thing. It can spike if I fall asleep watching TV.

Would love to understand the mechanism why this is so common. The brain processing the sound as we sleep maybe one reason....which differs of course from brain waves of processing sound when we are awake.

If you abate your spikes with ear blockers, this would speak to this 'theory'. And as a corollary….many use sound masking to fall asleep....but there is little data to suggest this helps tinnitus level when waking up. I believe one of Matt's poll's suggests this to be the case.

 

[MattS]

And as a corollary….many use sound masking to fall asleep....but there is little data to suggest this helps tinnitus level when waking up. I believe one of Matt's poll's suggests this to be the case.

Yes - though it suggests no harm either, which sort of goes against the "brain processes sound while we sleep differently, and it can aggravate tinnitus" theory. So I'm not sure. Maybe has to do with the type of sound? Or the stage of sleep one ends up in during naps? Something more complex is going on.

 

[MattS]

So far this poll is pretty informative (though would be nice to get more than 8 respondents).

 

[Shera]

I did answer
99% of the time my spikes last 2 days or less, and always return to the same baseline.

Though last year in October train breaks entered my life and didn't taper out until June of this year. That's been my only anomaly.

 

[Digital Doc]

@John Mahan

No magic to inserting the earplugs. When I work overnight, I take a nap in the afternoon in front of the TV to help me sleep.

 

[MattS]

So far 93% of people say their spikes always come back down to baseline.

93%. Always.

That's pretty telling. Strongly suggests that spikes are a mere annoyance, and not an indication that you've done any further damage to your system.

Does that mean that one should traipse all around the world, through bars and concerts and raves, without a care? Obviously not.

But it also means that one should not lock themselves in their house, avoid social situations, and wear double protection in 75 dB environments.

Do we have sensitive ears? Yes.
Is it a disability of sorts? Yes.
Should we let that disability dictate our lives? Hell no.

Be smart people.
But go live your life.

-Matt

 

[Mal58]

How do you define a spike?

At the moment, four hours after awakening, my Tinnitus is a bit louder than it has been over the last few weeks. (Though, as I said in my last post, I didn't notice the Tinnitus on awakening like I usually do... calm before storm?) It was also loud last night, after a day of more than average noise stress... though not high noise trauma... kid's screaming in the street and a hearing test were the worst... but I managed to sleep, so is that a spike, or a bump?

 

[Pax]

Thank you for setting up the poll @MattS! I agree 100% with your thought on the importance of understanding spikes. I got tinnitus 15 years ago and somehow managed to get 99% symptom free within 5 years. I don't remember that I had any spikes during that time but it's very possible that I'm just forgetting that horrible period.

About 4 months ago I attended a dinner party with my new work and regretfully did not protect myself as I usually do. That mistake throw me back 15 years and now it's as worse, or even worse (I can't remember) than when I got tinnitus the first time. If this is a spike I'd be so grateful but I don't dare to hope for that miracle. Instead I fear this is my new baseline. As far as I know, no one else at the dinner got tinnitus from it so it's definitely a scenario where my 15 year old damage still made me vulnerable to sounds that healthy people wasn't hurt by. Before the new damage I could visit any normal environment but I usually wore earplugs on concerts, clubs and the cinema. Now I ware plugs whenever I'm not alone or outside the apartment.

I took a 5h flight two days ago and wore both ~35 dB custom made ear plugs as well as ~37 dB ear muffs the entire flight. I track my noice exposure with my watch and the average exposure during the flight was < 75 dB with some short periods of at max 94 dB (child crying or flight information). Since the flight I've felt that it gotten worse. I really hope that this is a spike as I should theoretically have been safe exposure-wise (right?). I tend to get very scared from situations like these and what I'm hoping for is that the spike is due to the anxiety and not the sound exposure.

I will come back and take the poll once I know.