Poll: Is Your Tinnitus Louder When Wearing Earplugs?

[newbieT]

Hi everyone. I am puzzled as to why wearing ear plugs seem to increase the sound of tinnitus substantially. I understand if I am in quiet place and the silence makes the tinnitus more noticeable.

But in my case, I normally cannot hear my tinnitus walking outside or driving, but as soon as I put them on the tinnitus increases so much that I can hear it above the traffic.

I guess I'm curious if other people have the same experience or thoughts to why this is.

Could ear plugs be making tinnitus louder through air pressure or physical pressure in the ears?

Cheers.

 

[Kibakiru]

Earplugs block out most of the noises that your brain uses to mask your tinnitus, so it becomes louder / much more amplified to you because your brain is clinging to whatever noise it can make sense of.

Some of us even experience a spike of louder tinnitus after we take our earplugs out.

 

[newbieT]

Hi Kibakiru

I did notice my tinnitus was louder when I came home even after I took off the ear plugs. I try to wear ear plugs to protect my ears from worse tinnitus, but wearing them causes my tinnitus to be appear worse. It's like a cruel joke..

 

[Kibakiru]

I did notice my tinnitus was louder when I came home even after I took off the ear plugs. I try to wear ear plugs to protect my ears from worse tinnitus, but wearing them causes my tinnitus to be appear worse. It's like a cruel joke..

It's fairly common. I experience that as well if I wear foam earplugs. Silicone ones don't seem to affect me as bad afterwards. Either way, they are just temporary spikes in most cases.
Have you got custom made earplugs? They may work better.

 

[Michelle G]

I only hear my tinnitus in a quiet room, but when I put ear plugs in, I cannot hear anything but the ringing. That's why I only wear them when I am exposed to loud noises so that I won't hear my tinnitus. For example, I just went to a theme park with my friends and popped my 32 dB ear plugs in. I couldn't hear very well, but I didn't hear my tinnitus at all because the background noise was still loud enough for my brain to mask out. I got into the car and took my ear plugs out and I was perfectly fine. No spike and my tinnitus level was the same.

But, when I put ear plugs in in a less noisy situation like a restaurant or when using a hair dryer, I can hear tinnitus much louder as no background noise can mask it. Make sure you only use ear plugs when necessary and not too much as your auditory system can become hyper sensitive(there are many forums discussing this). If you want to use ear plugs when it is loud, but not very loud but don't want to hear your tinnitus, you should wear musicians ear plugs such as Alpine Music Pro. It offers hearing protection while still being able to hear background noises which will allow your tinnitus to be masked.

Although, I believe it blocks out up to 18 dB so make sure your environment is not too loud. Good luck to you and my prayers are with you all.

 

[RudyL90]

Regarding your poll question: you mean louder while wearing the plugs? Then yes. Or do you mean that the tinnitus stays louder after having worn the plug? Then no. If I read your post, it seems you mean the latter question while the poll question seems to be more like first question to me.

Having louder tinnitus while wearing the earplugs is like a seemingly increased intensity of a candle after you switch off the lights in the room...

 

[vermillion]

Hello @newbieT
Just search for the term 'occlusion effect' in regard with tinnitus.

 

[linearb]

My tinnitus bothers me less with earplugs in.

 

[PaulBe]

My tinnitus bothers me less with earplugs in.

Strangely, I feel the same. I fear in my case the earplugs have become a kind of security blanket.

 

[Jake007]

My tinnitus goes over ten fold when I wear earplugs.

 

[RudyL90]

My tinnitus bothers me less with earplugs in.

It's the same for me, strangely.

 

[Tinniger]

My tinnitus goes over ten fold when I wear earplugs.

As with me...

I can't understand why so many tinnitus patients protect their hearing with earplugs, because it makes the tinnitus loud and loud...

 

[threefirefour]

Interestingly enough all my tones except for the buzzing get quieter when I wear earplugs.

 

[Rafroki]

Interestingly enough all my tones except for the buzzing get quieter when I wear earplugs.

Mine as well. I wear silicone ear plugs at night when I go to bed. It is really interesting if my air conditioning is on my tinnitus tries to compete with the sound of air conditioning and it gets louder, but when I wear my ear plug my tinnitus gets lower.

 

[Tinniger]

Mine as well. I wear silicone ear plugs at night when I go to bed. It is really interesting if my air conditioning is on my tinnitus tries to compete with the sound of air conditioning and it gets louder, but when I wear my ear plug my tinnitus gets lower.

I presume your tinnitus is at both ears, isn't it?

 

[Contrast]

Yes, mine is louder when I wear earplugs.

 

[Alex Prime]

Yes and it can cause a spike, although with earplugs the sound is somehow not as unpleasant

 

[ringinghours]

When I wear earplugs my tinnitus is immediately louder after placing them in my ear. I understand the reason for this is because the contrast between the environment which is about 10db in a silent room and the tinnitus is reduced. However, this explanation I was given doesn't make sense because when I wear earplugs and then use my headphones and listen to music or constant noise such as the sound of a waterfall the tinnitus is still just as loud. However if I take the earplugs out and listen to the waterfall with my headphones the tinnitus is not as loud. This happens regardless of the volume of the background sound I am listening to (which has no effect on the loudness of my tinnitus). Is this normal? I am wondering why this occurs.

Similiarly when I cover my ears with my fingers my tinnitus is louder.

 

[Michael Leigh]

when I wear earplugs and then use my headphones and listen to music or constant noise such as the sound of a waterfall the tinnitus is still just as loud. However

HI @ringinghours

If your tinnitus was caused by loud noise then using headphones even at low volume carries the risk of making the tinnitus worse. Even if your tinnitus wasn't cause by exposure to loud noise still advise not to use headphones.

Using earplugs too often can louder the loudness threshold of your auditory system, making your ears more sensitive to sound. Please click on the links below and read my posts that you might find helpful.

All the best
Michael

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/new-to-tinnitus-what-to-do.12558/

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/tinnitus-a-personal-view.18668/


https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/hyperacusis-as-i-see-it.19174/

 

[another sean]

Yes, it make mines louder. It will go back down after about 30 minutes of taking the ear plugs outs. It happens because when you insert ear plugs, you brain thinks you've lost more hearing and turns up the gain to compensate. silly brain.

 

[dellwas]

My tinnitus is caused by concussion or ETD. Some nights my tinnitus is pretty loud and quiets right down when I put plugs in. However, I have been using foam earplugs for some odd 20 years as I'm a light sleeper. That may have something to do with it.

 

[PDodge]

My tinnitus bothers me less with earplugs in.

Same 'ere brudda. When there's nothing to compare my tinnitus to, it's not too bad.

 

[PeteJ]

Yes, it make mines louder. It will go back down after about 30 minutes of taking the ear plugs outs. It happens because when you insert ear plugs, you brain thinks you've lost more hearing and turns up the gain to compensate. silly brain.

Sounds like an interesting theory.

Mine sounds louder too.

Does anyone have a theory why ear plugs would suddenly cause pain in one ear?

 

[Marshall]

My tinnitus bothers me less with earplugs in.

Same.

 

[GuitarMan]

Yes, sort of. When I wear earplugs I perceive my tinnitus to be louder most likely because the normal ambient noise is removed so there is nothing to naturally mask the tinnitus. Hence I perceive it to be louder although it's most likely not.

That said, because what I have is subjective tinnitus and its volume is determined solely by my perception of it, then yes, my tinnitus is louder when I wear earplugs.