So... Is It Okay for Me to Listen to My Music a Little Louder?

Just to start by saying my tinnitus is noise induced, about 8 months in. And I will never wear headphones again, I am generally cautious of sound too.

My question is, obviously I got this affliction by listening to music, and have been keeping volumes very low since then. Is it okay for me to listen to my music a little louder? I want to listen to some rock at a reasonable sound level, but the instruments seem to echo through me when I turn it up.

Sorry for the long post... miss listening to bass and just that twinkle that is music.

 

I would continue to keep volume low, and don't listen through headphones or earbuds.

 

Even though your tinnitus might stable and you have habituated to some degree, this doesn't mean you are out of the woods. I advise you to tread very carefully and keep the volume low when listening to your music. It takes about 2 years to fully recover from noise induced tinnitus, but this doesn't mean you can start cranking up the volume and listening to loud sounds. If you do then you risk the tinnitus increasing to a higher permanent level and I'm sure you don't want that? Give your ears more time to heal and always keep the volume at a comfortable listening level that causes you no discomfort or irritation.

My advice is to never use headphones again even at low volume.
Please click on the links below and read my posts that you might find helpful.

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/

 

I would keep it well under 80 dB.

 

If yours was noise induced, by doing so it would be equivalent to dancing on a minefield.

A very dense minefield.

I would advise against it, since you have already been compromised and your damage threshold may have shifted much lower as a result.

 

70 dB can be enough to cause fleeting tinnitus for me. I always worry when that happens. Severe hyperacusis since last May. Roll on May 2021.

 

Thanks all. I keep volumes consistently under 80 dB (maybe even 70 dB). Plug up if it gets louder than this.

I am only 24 and have a long journey ahead with my tinnitus. One thing's for sure, I'll never use headphones ever again, however, I might wanna listen to some music a little louder and I will then use my speakers to do so.

Thank you for the advice. I will continue to protect my ears.

 

Do you think it's okay to listen to music around 50 decibels (as measured by a decibel meter, not a phone)? This is volume level 20/100 on my laptop. I usually keep this on in the background most of the day as I work, but am curious if duration is dangerous here.

 

@GBB

Thank you for your question which is a good one. Please do not put trust in any form of decibel meters especially in the early stages of Noise induced tinnitus. This often causes more harm than good by reinforcing negative thinking and you don't need that. Trust your ears and whatever feels comfortable to you. When I first got tinnitus 24 years ago with severe hyperacusis, listening to my HI-FI at 40 decibels and lower caused pain and irritation in my ears.

Give yourself time as I've mentioned on this thread and listen to music at comfortable levels, trusting what feels right instead of relying on a decibel meter.

All the best
Michael

 

I've had noise induced tinnitus for 4 years now and I can tell you that I have never used a decibel meter before and I'm pretty much fine, I get random spikes but I don't think it is because of sound (just stress related maybe?).