Still Go Clubbing or to Bars or Go Rave at Music Festivals?

I find it an interesting debate on whether people with noise induced tinnitus especially should take the risk and expose themselves to further loud sound.

I put myself in the camp of noise induced tinnitus due to an adolescence and early adulthood period where I was constantly attending live gigs, going to clubs and constant mp3 player use. Of course, we can never be certain how we ended up with tinnitus but for me I think it's the most leading candidate.

When the T first arrived I went into the panic mode and insisted i would never ever go into a loud environment again. Once I got out of this high anxiety state and accustomed to my tinnitus I went back to life as it was with a few exceptions - no more music through headphones and staying away from loudspeakers.

This was all very well for over a year until I went to a very VERY loud gig. I knew the second it started it was too loud but under the influence of alcohol and having a good time with friends I stuck it out. The minute the gig ended I knew I was in trouble. Muffled hearing, louder tinnitus than it had ever been. This led to another freak out stage that lasted for months until the tinnitus calmed down/I habituated a second time.

Fast forward to today, and I'm back to attending loud venues. With the caveat of a pair of custom made earplugs that I take with me religiously. Why? I'd rather live life than let tinnitus dictate to me. It's ultimately an individual choice on whether it's worth the risk. I don't think scaremongering along the lines of you can never do a or b again is helpful. Educating people on the risks of high volume and steps they can take to protect themselves from it is a far better way to go.

 

That is your choice...

I wish you well.
Michael

 

Tinnitus, earplugs and nightclubs.

Someone that has tinnitus I believe they should try and live a normal life as they possibly can. This includes going out to clubs, concerts and other venues of entertainment where music is played if they wish to. For some, tinnitus can be difficult to live with without putting further restrictions on their life. I think taking the necessary precautions is absolutely vital, in preventing noise trauma to the inner ear which could make the tinnitus louder and more intrusive.

Unfortunately, in some instances a person can be left in a hit or a miss situation, as there is no way of knowing if they have put themselves in harms way until after enjoying a night out, find their tinnitus has become louder and more intrusive over the coming days. One hopes this will be a temporary spike but there is no guarantee this new level of intensity won’t become permanent and could require a visit to ENT. Sorry to sound so sobering but these are the facts as I see it.

One way of protecting yourself from inner ear damage is to wear noise-reducing earplugs when going to nightclubs or concerts. They will reduce external sounds, in this case music and fortunately won’t impair sound quality, which is so important to most people attending these venues. The earplugs are available in various degrees of attenuation. If money is no object one can aspire to custom moulded earplugs with the full knowledge they are getting the best hearing protection that they can afford.

A word of caution to anyone that might not be in the know. I believe no level of hearing protection is one hundred percent safe; so one still needs to be careful when attending nightclubs and concerts and not get carried away in thinking, wearing earplugs is completely safe so anything goes and you can stand next to the speakers all night or right up near to the stage where the music is blaring out. Some people might not be aware, if music is loud enough it can still be transferred to the inner ear and reach the cochlea via the Mastoid bone. This is a hard piece of bone behind each ear. It is honeycombed and has air pockets within it. Sound can also pass through the skull by bone conduction. Please see the link below. It is not only midrange and high frequencies that can cause harm. Low bass frequencies can do it too.

Go out and enjoy yourself and have fun but at the same time be prudent and respect your hearing.

Michael

https://www.britannica.com/science/ear/Transmission-of-sound-by-bone-conduction

 

If it destroys your ears then probably not worth it.

 

Yes, I do. But contrary to other people here I do not present what I think on this subject as something solid. For there is no evidence that I'm right (and no evidence that I'm wrong either).

 

That is the million dollar "if".

 

No it is not because T makes me suicidal, which it does not at the moment, Im struggling but I am not suicidal. And yes my answer would be the same before T onset. To prove to you i mean it, I can tell you that I went to the music festival in my town yesterday, a loud venue, had my ear plugs in and was fine......I rest my case.

Like Eldudebro says I will not let T dictate what I can and can not do. But of course I will make adjustments but I will not cut something completely from my life.

 

When the balloon that ruined my hearing popped in that car, we were four people inside. I was the only one suffering from hearing loss, loud tinnitus and severe hyperacusis after that. The others barely paid attention to the balloon.

I had mild T and H before.

Not a proof, but one example among many...

 

I also gave personal examples showing the opposite, but that leads to nowhere, in my opinion.

Your "cause" section says genetics are partly a cause of your problems. What says these T and H you have now because of the balloon would have not appeared if you were a non-T sufferer at the time of popping? Maybe your genetics make you more likely to develop these, but NOT NECESSARILY the fact that you were already a T sufferer. Just an assumption, like everything else.

 

Honestly, I respect whatever people choose to live their life. I for once, would not want to do anything that would risk my hearing. Loud parties, night clubs, gigs and such things that I can live without I'd never attend again. I have no interest in these things anyway. I really loathe flying but I still have and will do as I need to travel for work and also to visit my family in Asia. I'd go by train or any other means I had the choice but I still want to visit other countries and explore and flying is not even close to how loud a concert or night club can be. With the new aircraft models coming in, they are improving the cabin noise so it is quieter. Still, we can never say for sure that no one of us here would't get a permanent spike from flying or driving a car or anything. One can only assume that certain places, events or places are too loud and would increase the risk for permanent worsening than others. I'd stay away from any loud places as much as I can, even if that sometimes exclude me from attending smaller events for work or after work social activity. It sucks to be the boring person but I rather have my ears not ringing more than they already do..

 

You're right. I did not have T before I had T...

But as a kid, I believe I have popped many balloons... It's only when T started 13 years ago that I felt that my ears were no longer very solid.

 

If you're clubbing I suspect you're probably relatively young, so I would avoid things that might make it worse.

I'm older and am going to enjoy what time I have left. I have an extensive music collection and really enjoy listening to music so I spend a lot of time doing it. I live in an apartment building, and being a good neighbor, anytime I do it's always through headphones. I keep all my tunes in digital format so if I'm using the computer it's a safe bet I'm listening to music.

At this point in my life I don't see it making much difference. My hearing is good and I can still see so it's all good.

 

It is too early to say that you were fine. My T began 11 days after my acoustic trauma. You don't know whether making these choices had slowed your recovery, or had ensured that recovery won't happen. You will be able to say that visiting that festival had no long term impact on you only if/when you hear silence again.

 

How do you know specifically that whatever happened 11 days before onset was the cause?

 

You read this group. You know it happens.

 

Yes ..every one has to make decision and if they should still go then it's up to them .

 

So if her tinnitus gets worse in a month, she should blame the festival? That is not what you suggested earlier:

If her tinnitus never goes away, it's not because she chose to go to a festival that did not bother her ears. I really do not like the line of thinking you're suggesting.

 

I've seen reports in here saying concerts make it worse and in some cases it doesn't, from experiences of my own i am in the latter. Thats all i meant

 

@Fangen , I agree . It does suck to be a boring person . I really really miss going to live music events !

 

@TheDanishGirl will be just fine I'm sure of that. With positive thinking and determination, she is not allowing tinnitus to rule her life and to be afraid of it. Fear reinforces negative thinking and delays or prevents the habituation process from happening. There is nothing wrong in going out and having a good time at a musical event, providing a person is careful.

Michael

 

All good.

 

I used to counsel someone that was afraid to leave her home because of hypearcusis and sensitivity to sound. Things got so bad she couldn't tolerate the sound of: Dishwasher, fridge, microwave or kettle. Even the sound of falling rain on her glass conservatory roof distressed her. With time she eventually made improvement.

Michael

 

But you go to movie theaters, correct? I think some members think movie theaters are too loud. It's difficult because "loud" is such a subjective term. It's difficult to gauge. It would be easier if we used decibel levels as a guide (i.e. loud is events 85 decibels) but that's difficult because we do not all have decibel meters.

 

It happened to the same ear.

 

I had "a couple of days" in mind.

How would she know that?! The reason I don't take risks like that, is because I don't want to feel guilty for the rest of my life, never knowing whether I could have been better had it not bee for my choices.

 

That's not a nice thing to say. I really don't like it when people encourage others to be reckless, but I keep that to myself.

 

But you also said if she never gets better it could be because she went to an outdoor festival and wore earplugs. How would she even know it was the fault of that one festival versus the many, many other things that can hinder recovery from tinnitus? Honestly, some of those things are even out of our control. Good grief, even hormones can elevate tinnitus.

Or maybe she was simply never going to recover (sorry, Sandra to even suggest that -- I really hope you do get better). Recovery for many people is habituation, and that's not easy if you spend all day afraid to leave your house.

And I didn't think it was nice to essentially say it's her fault if her tinnitus does not get better. She took precautions. She was at an outdoor festival. Did Sandra say the music was blasting at 95 dB? Did she say she stood right next to the speakers? Prior to tinnitus, I've actually been to a couple music festivals that were really not that loud. I could comfortably sit and carry on conversations with friends.

I am not encouraging anyone to take unnecessary risks, but I am encouraging us not to let fear and anxiety control us, to wear ear protection when needed, and be aware of the volume level of our environment.

So much of life and even tinnitus is completely out of our control. You could spend the next two years in ear muffs, catch a cold and find your tinnitus significantly worse despite everything you've done to avoid noise.

 

She wouldn't. However, it would seem that the most loud noise (that one is exposed to for a long time) will be the culprit. Chances are that the loudest noise she will be exposed to for the longest time will happen at that festival.

She didn't take precautions - she went to the festival. Wearing earplugs is like a drunk person drinking coffee to stay awake as he or she drives home. I am saying that drinking and driving is reckless, and you are saying that it is not nice for me to say that it is essentially the drunk driver's fault if he or she becomes disabled as a result of a crash.

95dB is the threshold above which healthy people experience problems. The point is that this threshold appears to be lower for T sufferers.

So if you were to get diabetes you would not let it dictate what you can and cannot eat?

 

With all respect that is just stupid in my opinion because of the simple fact that I can never know that.....just as a person can not know their T got worse because of going to a club or it would have become worse regardless

Btw I would like to ask you not to debate me going to the festival....I dont think this is fair and I dont like it....you have a different opinion then me when it comes to loud events and thats fine but dont talk down to others just cause they dont share your opinion!

 

[QUOTE="Bill Bauer, post: 269767, member: 22665

So if you were to get diabetes you would not let it dictate what you can and cannot eat?[/QUOTE]

Well alot more is known by about the workings of organs that are affected by diabetes and the effects that foods can have on a diabetic that can be measured.