So What Can We Do to Prevent Tinnitus from Getting Worse?

[Alue]

my .02 is that the muffs are ridiculous unless you're ACTUALLY dealing with mortars. Good molded earplugs with 15db filters, which come in clear and are discreet are well documented to drop sound 10+ decibels at 90db. Wearing higher filters will do even more. You're highly unlikely to damage your hearing with them in. Below 80db you're safe to be around sound for over eight hours. Unless you're going to a 3 day festival, you'll be fine.

This site is helpful but it's also a bastion of paranoia. Carry plugs with you. Always. They weigh nothing. Wear them when necessary. Nobody will notice. If they do - they don't give a shit. I have worn mine for months in loud bars, and even in a rehearsal studio with my guitar running through a 50W amp and a live drummer (measured at 95 db). I'm constantly exposed to sound living in one of the loudest places on Earth and being reliant on the train.

In this time my H symptoms have all but disappeared and my T has faded to 10% of what it was. Over protection won't make you worse - that's nonsense - but over protection WILL make you crazy.

see graphs below.
http://www.audiologyonline.com/articles/making-the-case-for-custom-12959

The whole 80db for 8 hours or TWA of sound exposure is based on very old data showing permanent threshold shifts seen on an audiogram. Suffice to say you can have a lot of hearing damage (hidden hearing loss) without it being reflected on a standard audiogram.

 

[bill 112]

When I had mild H and T I wore earplugs in louder places Tom,just like you.

I wore them for most things that were deemed noisy but didn't overly rely on them either or overprotect and become insane about blocking out noise.
Like a noisy restaurant or a trip around London I would always wear earplugs,honestly I never left my house without them just in case I needed them.Admittedly there were times I probably should have worn them but didn't like when on a train or in shopping malls but the noise didn't bother me and talking to whoever I was with would become horrible as I couldn't hear a word they were saying.
Then sometimes I question if my earplugs were good enough,were they even protecting me?They were decent quality 22db musicians plugs so I imagine they were up to the task.

The only time I wore earmuffs back then was when using tools or powerwashers,things like that but regardless I still suddenly got way worse even with this protection.

Nowadays I need these earmuffs just to have a conversation,amazing how things can go from great to horrendous in a matter of a month with this beast.

 

[Tom Cnyc]

@bill 112 I feel for you. Your story is heartbreaking and is a great example of why people should be careful, because anything can happen. I wish you the absolute best.

Not to sound as if I lack empathy - but your story is also exceptionally rare. I'm talking more to the original poster, who is 39 years old, and has mild, unilateral T, yet is being advised to treat his life as if it's a gun range. Chances are much higher that the muffs are overkill.

Keep us posted on your story. We're all rooting for you.

 

[Bobby B]

View attachment 11975 Mate of mine whose in the army here robbed me a pair of these the other day,a pair of military earmuffs that they use for live mortar fire training.

Sound reduction is just unbelieveable but the downside is they're extremely uncomfortable,they weigh two tonnes so it feels like a fat dog is sitting on your skull.

These look like the older model of Peltor gun shooter foldable - those only do 21db NRR and are quite lightweight
If you use these for 150db explosions you will have some damage over time but again it's the military there was a time not so long ago where they didn't give you any hearing protection at all.
I'm pretty sure your friend must be doubling up with foam earplugs. In the military you don't have space to carry large earmuffs so these foldable muffs can be put in and out pockets when needed.
Obviousely I'm not in the military anymore so space is not the issue and the x5a don't require the double up with foam that's the main advantage

 

[bill 112]

@bill 112 I feel for you. Your story is heartbreaking and is a great example of why people should be careful, because anything can happen. I wish you the absolute best.

Not to sound as if I lack empathy - but your story is also exceptionally rare. I'm talking more to the original poster, who is 39 years old, and has mild, unilateral T, yet is being advised to treat his life as if it's a gun range. Chances are much higher that the muffs are overkill.

Keep us posted on your story. We're all rooting for you.

This is why I don't really like telling my story,sometimes I feel people want to use me as an example to scare others which makes me feel pretty shitty if I'm honest,almost like"you don't want to end up like that guy over there"which just makes you feel hopeless and alone,like a freak.

I actually had some woman randomly contact me awhile ago,she teaches students about H and wanted to tell my story,it was like she wanted to tell them that they didn't want to end up like me and I just felt horrible,like its somehow my fault but at least they can use me to warn others?Like I'm some sort of rare beast when I'm sadly not that rare in reality.I'm just unlucky,have been my entire life so I shouldn't have expected any different.I was a freak about protecting my ears but for some reason everyday I wake up and just blame my self for everything,I know it's not my fault,I thought about my ears constantly whether it be making sure my meds were safe or checking decibel levels when going to a restaurant or carrying hearing protection with me everywhere I went,I even kept two pairs of earmuffs in the boot of my car as back up incase I ever needed them,I just have that kind of personality.If things go wrong for me I don't blame whose responsible,I just blame myself for everything that goes wrong in my life,maybe it is all my fault.

Either way my H and T have improved over the last few weeks a little,I just sat up in my kitchen chatting with my family for over two hours about all sorts of things,laughing and joking away without earplugs and I'm fine so that's a huge bonus for me right now,any improvement I can get I'll take!Two weeks ago I couldn't even handle the sound of wind blowing outside but tonight it's stormy outside and it's not really bothering me,so that's also a huge bonus to me right now.

 

[Bobby B]

@bill 112
well it seems that these lasers session did improve your H eventually..no more trips to Wilden or stem cells needed then

 

[bill 112]

@bill 112
well it seems that these lasers session did improve your H eventually..no more trips to Wilden or stem cells needed then

I haven't done any laser as of yet Bobby,I'm still waiting on my LuckyLaser to get here so any minuscule improvement I have seen isn't attributed to LLLT,hopefully LLLT can improve me much further.

 

[Bobby B]

@bill 112
weren't you using the konfec laser ？

 

[bill 112]

@bill 112
weren't you using the konfec laser ？

Not really,Zazzio told me to wait for my LuckyLaser to arrive before beginning treatment.

 

[Tom Cnyc]

@bill 112 you should teach the kids about it. If she has colleagues stateside you can refer me.

I wish someone was doing that when I was a kid.

 

[bill 112]

@bill 112 you should teach the kids about it. If she has colleagues stateside you can refer me.

I wish someone was doing that when I was a kid.

She was from Japan Tom,maybe @Bobby B can call down and give them a lecture

She has H herself but wanted to use my story so I of course accepted,but at the same time I don't want to be used as some form of victim to scare children if you get me,I like knowing that it might help children avoid this fate but at the same time it just kinda kills my moral,I don't like being painted as a victim but more so just another sufferer like everyone else.

I too wish someone taught this stuff here when I was a kid,to think I was always overly proud of my hearing growing up,if I was half blind I wouldn't of cared but I was always proud of just how good my hearing was.
It's well wanked now sadly