Working in a Bar With Tinnitus

[Beckman]

Hey guys. I'm new to this, so if I am posting in the wrong area let me know Long story short, I went to deaf in one ear randomly about 2 years ago and ever since then I have had mild hearing loss as well as tinnitus (which is my main concern). I am currently studying at university full time and the only work I am able to get is a bar job due to internship committments and so forth. My question is, will my ears be ok if I wear ear plugs?? I wear ear plugs religiously whenever I go out or go to a concert. But those are only every so often this job will be on a regular basis. Any advice?? Thanks in advance

 

[Ricky81]

Well.. make sure you check the decibel level at your bar. If it's less than 75 or 80.. it should be OK. . But wear ear plugs all the time. Try to find another job in a quiter place if the decibel levels at this bar are higher than 85.

There are a few sound meter apps on Android and iPhone that will help you measure decibel levels.

Best job would be at your university library.. nice and quite.. plus if it's too quite, you can mask your T with headphones with white noise app.

 

[Beckman]

Yeah, I live in Australia and haven't been able to find a job that I can do during the day time that will provide the kind of money/hours I need for rent/food etc. But I am looking at alternatives for jobs to take some risk out of making my tinnitus worse. Thanks for the reply, really appreciate it

 

[Matt01]

I wouldn't risk it to be honest. Just my view though.

 

[Pilot]

Not doing any damage to your hearing is a must, I think the book answer is no more than 8 hours at 85db, but I would go with the 75-80 like ricky81 said. This is with ear plugs, so if it is 100db then 25 db ear plugs would do the trick. The other issue is what will the tinnitus do, and that is an individual question. The tinnitus will probably get louder with the ear plugs in, it's normal and will return to normal after removing them, but it might be annoying.

I'm a pilot and have worked in a very noisy environment for the past 20 years and continue to fly with tinnitus. I have normal hearing since I always used hearing protection. My tinnitus is fine with it, but I find the continuous sounds of the environmental control system to be annoying after a while. Loud restaurants makes a couple of my T sounds wind up after about an hour, with no protection. I've never had a problem (knock on wood) with ear plugs.