Tinnitus & Plane Safety

[Jason Davids]

Hello everyone as of right now I've been having some trip problems and it looks like I'm gonna have to take a plane.

As if that's not stressing me out enough I have to worry about my eustachian tube blockup causing my tinnitus.

I've got some good ear plugs but im worried that won't do! I'm definitely willing to wear an extra layer of protection on my ears to prevent any issues at all.

Anyone had this problem and has any advice I'll take it thanks!

 

[Jamie m]

Chew gum!!

 

[Steffi]

Hi. Just this week I have flown for the first time since my T worsened at Christmas due to ETD. My ears were quite full & crackling beforehand and I was struggling with pressures. I used the EarPlanes ear plugs. I found sucking menthol sweets more effective than chewing but basically anything that makes you swallow and therefore open your tubes. I used a nasal spray just before take off and sipped water throughout the flight. Some people recommend taking a Sudafed pre flight but I once had a terrible spike from Sudafed. I was very nervous but have suffered no adverse effects. Hope this helps.

 

[JurgenG]

Hello everyone as of right now I've been having some trip problems and it looks like I'm gonna have to take a plane.

As if that's not stressing me out enough I have to worry about my eustachian tube blockup causing my tinnitus.

I've got some good ear plugs but im worried that won't do! I'm definitely willing to wear an extra layer of protection on my ears to prevent any issues at all.

Anyone had this problem and has any advice I'll take it thanks!

Noise-wise, why wouldn't earplugs be enough?
A plane is something like 80 +- dB. Sometimes even less. You probably don't even need earplugs there? If it's a short flight. But better be safe ofcourse.

 

[fishbone]

When ever I fly, ear plugs are a must. The DB on a plane is at 95db and sometimes louder. That level of DB is high and its a great idea to protect your ears...

 

[maltese]

Noise-wise, why wouldn't earplugs be enough?
A plane is something like 80 +- dB. Sometimes even less. You probably don't even need earplugs there? If it's a short flight. But better be safe ofcourse.

When ever I fly, ear plugs are a must. The DB on a plane is at 95db and sometimes louder. That level of DB is high and its a great idea to protect your ears...

That is simply not true. If that was the case, crew would be obligated by law to wear earplugs during the whole flight and they would have to give ear protection to passengers as well. Or limit flight length to 30 mins haha. let's be careful but not paranoid! (no offence intended)

737s are around 75dB Iin front rows, 85dB in the row closest to the engine.

More during take off (85dB front rows) and landing

Bigger planes like 777 are much more quiet.

Everything measured using a calibrated meter.

 

[fishbone]

That is simply not true. If that was the case, crew would be obligated by law to wear earplugs during the whole flight and they would have to give ear protection to passengers as well. Or limit flight length to 30 mins haha. let's be careful but not paranoid! (no offence intended)

737s are around 75dB Iin front rows, 85dB in the row closest to the engine.

More during take off (85dB front rows) and landing

Bigger planes like 777 are much more quiet.

Everything measured using a calibrated meter.

I usually sit in row 5-7 by the window and i have my db iphone meter and it says between 93-95 db when the plane is in the air. Planes are very loud.......

 

[JurgenG]

I usually sit in row 5-7 by the window and i have my db iphone meter and it says between 93-95 db when the plane is in the air. Planes are very loud.......

Tell the pilot to close the windows than.
Your dB metre is off or the plane must be ancient.

 

[fishbone]

yes, spirit airlines are ancient and the best rated iphone db meter in the apple store is way off...I careless what clueless people say..LOL

have a nice day, cuz i sure as hell will....

 

[Rubenslash]

http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20140226-tricks-for-a-peaceful-flight

The noise during a typical plane journey can vary significantly. Take-off and landing are the loudest moments, when noise levels inside the cabin can reach 105 decibels (dB). At cruising altitudes, noise drops to around 85 dB, says Pamela Mason of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA).

 

[JurgenG]

yes, spirit airlines are ancient and the best rated iphone db meter in the apple store is way off...I careless what clueless people say..LOL

have a nice day, cuz i sure as hell will....

I measured less than 80 with Ryanair (cruising..) so guess "spirit airlines" must be ancient.

 

[NimQ]

I am kind of struggling with this as well. My plan was to go on a travel in May, but cancelled it because of being afraid it would be too loud in the cabin during take-offs and landing.:/ Really disappointed though, since traveling is one of the rare things I enjoy planning for the future. Now I think I might just regret it later and suffer the consequences of increased T...

It's really hard to find information on the decibels inside the cabin, since they range just as much as the numbers posted here do. Really confused on the facts and even when I have been on a plane before, that was before I went sensitive to noise. It's almost impossible to memorize whether it was loud or not, when back then I wasn't paying any attention to it.

In everyday life I already feel like I need hearing protection when decibels measure at >70. But if it's >90 during take-off and landing, it seems like a certain trigger for worse T. Especially since depressurizing ears is vital to prevent damage and for me it's hard to do that with earmuffs on (tried it during HBOT, had to keep lifting them off slightly, since they made it harder to depressurize). And from what I've read, it is not recommended to use regular earplugs during take-off/landing, since they block the airways. The earplanes plugs do not block sound much at all, so that would mean bearing something like 20 + 20 mins of both the depressurization and 90dB of noise. Or more as the article @Rubenslash posted gives out even scarier number, 105 dB!

There are people who originally got their T because of flying, so is it ever safe... Is this something that a person with tinnitus and/or hyperacusia should avoid? Isn't it risky? I don't know, right now it feels like I need either to forget my dream of traveling or risk worse T.

 

[JurgenG]

I am kind of struggling with this as well. My plan was to go on a travel in May, but cancelled it because of being afraid it would be too loud in the cabin during take-offs and landing.:/ Really disappointed though, since traveling is one of the rare things I enjoy planning for the future. Now I think I might just regret it later and suffer the consequences of increased T...

It's really hard to find information on the decibels inside the cabin, since they range just as much as the numbers posted here do. Really confused on the facts and even when I have been on a plane before, that was before I went sensitive to noise. It's almost impossible to memorize whether it was loud or not, when back then I wasn't paying any attention to it.

In everyday life I already feel like I need hearing protection when decibels measure at >70. But if it's >90 during take-off and landing, it seems like a certain trigger for worse T. Especially since depressurizing ears is vital to prevent damage and for me it's hard to do that with earmuffs on (tried it during HBOT, had to keep lifting them off slightly, since they made it harder to depressurize). And from what I've read, it is not recommended to use regular earplugs during take-off/landing, since they block the airways. The earplanes plugs do not block sound much at all, so that would mean bearing something like 20 + 20 mins of both the depressurization and 90dB of noise. Or even more as the article @Rubenslash posted gives out even scarier number, 105 dB!

There are people who originally got their T because of flying, so is it ever safe... Is this something that a person with tinnitus and/or hyperacusia should avoid? Isn't it risky? I don't know, right now it feels like I need either to forget my dream of traveling or risk worse T.

I am no veteran or heavy sufferer. But I'd advise good noise cancelling-headphones.

 

[Steffi]

I found that the EarPlanes did cut out some noise. I suppose it depends on whether your main worry is the noise or the pressure. Mine was the latter as I've flown several times a year during the five years I've had T, but never before with ETD. The noise Level during the flight has never had an impact on my T apart from a slight spike lasting an hour or so after landing.

 

[maltese]

I am kind of struggling with this as well. My plan was to go on a travel in May, but cancelled it because of being afraid it would be too loud in the cabin during take-offs and landing.:/ Really disappointed though, since traveling is one of the rare things I enjoy planning for the future. Now I think I might just regret it later and suffer the consequences of increased T...

It's really hard to find information on the decibels inside the cabin, since they range just as much as the numbers posted here do. Really confused on the facts and even when I have been on a plane before, that was before I went sensitive to noise. It's almost impossible to memorize whether it was loud or not, when back then I wasn't paying any attention to it.

In everyday life I already feel like I need hearing protection when decibels measure at >70. But if it's >90 during take-off and landing, it seems like a certain trigger for worse T. Especially since depressurizing ears is vital to prevent damage and for me it's hard to do that with earmuffs on (tried it during HBOT, had to keep lifting them off slightly, since they made it harder to depressurize). And from what I've read, it is not recommended to use regular earplugs during take-off/landing, since they block the airways. The earplanes plugs do not block sound much at all, so that would mean bearing something like 20 + 20 mins of both the depressurization and 90dB of noise. Or more as the article @Rubenslash posted gives out even scarier number, 105 dB!

There are people who originally got their T because of flying, so is it ever safe... Is this something that a person with tinnitus and/or hyperacusia should avoid? Isn't it risky? I don't know, right now it feels like I need either to forget my dream of traveling or risk worse T.

I was really scared too!

At the time I couldn't tolerate cars passing by so my LDLs were around 75-80dB.

The flight was OK, I pretty much had no protection at all as I only wore normal headphones (no music) - I didn't manage to but ear defenders yet.

Takeoff and landing were not fun. But that's just a few minutes total mate, pilots reduce thrust very early because fuel saving again, I had zero protection.

Frankly speaking, voices of cabin crew were more problematic than cabin noise.

I think that most people with T from flying had pressure issues. The noise is something that definitely can't give a 'healthy' individual T. Barotrauma can screw up your ears, yeah.

 

[racerfish]

I just did a lot of flying the past month and used 29 db earplugs and was fine. I also had a decibel meter app on me and will post the results in a separate thread because I think people would be interested in seeing them. There's a more than 10 db difference between the front of the plane and the back of the plane on some aircraft. Window vs aisle also makes a bigger difference than I had anticipated.