The ENT Told Me Not to Protect from Everyday Sounds by Using Earplugs

??? At 20 minute mark, we are being told that T's pitch and the number of tones won't affect the device's effectiveness. This has nothing to do with what we have been talking about in this thread.

Keep listening from 20 minutes onwards and you'll hear him talk about the detrimental effects of over using ear protection. The exact mark is around 20:20 or something like that.
 
Keep listening from 20 minutes onwards and you'll hear him talk about the detrimental effects of over using ear protection. The exact mark is around 20:20 or something like that.
Here is the list of papers published by that author about tinnitus
https://scholar.google.ca/scholar?start=0&q=tinnitus+author:Roland+author:Schaette&hl=en&as_sdt=0,5
I can't see any paper that states what the person in the video is talking about. He is talking about depriving the brain of sound. Of course nobody ever suggested wearing earplugs 24/7 for months at a time. It is also important to be exposed to sounds (provided the sound is guaranteed to not exceed the dangerous level, which is not that loud for people whose ears have been compromised).

As you know, there has been no research on what can cause T spikes.
20. http://hyperacusisfocus.org/research/earplug-use-2/
"While there are over 2200 posts on hyperacusis setbacks in the patient forum on chat-hyperacusis.net, no academic papers could be found using a pubmed search."

The fact that there have been no published studies regarding what causes permanent and temporary T spikes, means there is no scientific reason behind doctor advice to only protect your ears against noises that are known to damage the inner ear. They are basing this advice on studies that talk about what can damage healthy ears, whereas what can hurt us hasn't been studied (and the overwhelming number of testimonies on this site imply that sounds that can hurt us are Way quieter than the sounds that can damage healthy ears).
As a result, the experts don't have access to the research they need to make an educated decision regarding what we are to do.
 
It is also important to be exposed to sounds (provided the sound is guaranteed to not exceed the dangerous level, which is not that loud for people whose ears have been compromised).

Bill, I don't disagree that we should protect our ears. I've got a bumper box of foam earplugs, custom moulded plugs (with various filters), and ear muffs. I use all of them when I need to.

The definition of overuse, for me, is when people can no longer function unless they have earplugs in, no matter what they are doing. This is when it becomes detrimental and there are many members here who fit this description of essentially using earplugs 24/7. If one allows sound to take over their life in this way then it becomes a huge problem that can have devastating consequences.

Just another reminder, I use ear protection, so of course, I'm not against it. One just needs to find the right balance and not let their life be dictated to by sound.
 
The definition of overuse, for me, is when people can no longer function unless they have earplugs in, no matter what they are doing. This is when it becomes detrimental and there are many members here who fit this description of essentially using earplugs 24/7. If one allows sound to take over their life in this way then it becomes a huge problem that can have devastating consequences.
I agree with you.
 
Spikes and sound sensitivity to daily sounds is on a spectrum. Its not either yes you should or no you shouldn't and this is what ENT's fail to understand. Everyone has a different threshold to sounds. You need to find that threshold and protect at that level and over time it will gradually increase and you adjust accordingly.
 
Never listen to an ENT.
yes it's much better to get your advice from people online with no medical training and often unmanaged anxiety conditions and obvious cognitive distortions
another sean said:
this is what ENT's fail to understand. Everyone has a different threshold to sounds.
ENTs always get thrown into one basket on here, or often, which seems really silly to me. I've seen some bad ENTs who had silly ideas about tinnitus, some ENTs who admitted that they didn't know much about tinnitus, and at least two really good ENTs who are very informed, more on top of cutting-edge research and treatments than I am, and generally never said anything that seemed unreasonable to me. For instance, this statement you just made about there not being a one-size-fits-all answer to questions about volume and earplugs, is something which ENTs have said to me almost verbatim.

Are there bad doctors out there? Absolutely. Does this mean that in general you get better medical advice from random people on the internet than you do from doctors? Lol.
 

Log in or register to get the full forum benefits!

Register

Register on Tinnitus Talk for free!

Register Now