me (43 /male/musician/dj/construction) well I saw 15 minutes of an insanely loud metal band and now I have fullness that comes and goes in my ears, my voice and others voices sound loud most times, just a bit. I have some ringing but it is the H I am more confused about.
I don't know if :
1`. I should give up music completely ?
2. If I should be wearing ear plugs all day when doing construction work, like I always wear ear muffs when I use tools, but I mean durning the quiet bits where you can of course drop a tool or something. I see the warnings for overprotection but my instinct is to keep ear plugs in all day. At the end of the day I am not sure if I am better or worse from this. I am now wearing plugs and muffs when I use a loud tool. I still wonder some days at the end if I have aggravated my symptoms.
3. Should I even bother seeing someone for treatment ? I already had hearing test showing good hearing but a notch at 6000hz of -25.
4. what about at the gym. the music there peaks at 75 DB, it is annoying, should I wear ear plugs in there ?
5. what a bout driving, it seems to get to 80db in there, it's loud, should I wear the ear plugs then ?
6. I see lots of people on the tinnitus talk or reddit putting down the doctors advice or any of the books about H. They seem to say they got worse from underprotectigng and trying to live a normal life. Is this just rare that this happens or is the state of the science changing now ? I am trying to navigate this as my main question.
Written by
letshealthis
To view profiles and participate in discussions please or .
I don't feel that you should give up music. You might have to make some adjustments to how you play and rehearse, and use good quality ear plugs or in-ear monitors when playing live, but the idea of removing music from your life is a bit daunting in the abstract.
I always ask - 'what are you going to replace it with?', which seems like a glib question, but it does bear considering. You don't want to damage your hearing, of course, but taking the step of no longer participating in music is a big choice if there are ways to let you still enjoy playing and performing.
These are some difficult questions to give an answer to, as the answer may be different for someone with hyperacusis - I've not experienced this, so it's tough to give you any meaningful response. I would come down personally on using ear defenders when I'm at work - there is a rationale to doing so and you're not being over-cautious when you're in surroundings which by definition may have unpredictable levels of noise.
If you were asking about using ear defenders to go out and about for a walk, or when you're at home, we'd be having a different discussion - in that environment, it seems like a sensible level of precaution.
75 db is roughly equivalent to the volume level of a radio or the ambient sound heard when out driving in a car - it isn't likely to be harmful. Again, with hyperacusis, the perception of that sound could be different. I wouldn't classify it as dangerous, based on that noise level alone.
Other forums and sub-Reddits for tinnitus are a whole discussion unto themselves. I'm not even going to broach that potentially controversial topic - suffice is to say that whenever we read a forum post, we're reading a snapshot of what the poster felt at that moment in time, so we should probably consider them in that way. It may not be representative of the entirety of their experience with hyperacusis or tinnitus.
Hello Letshealthis. I’ll just add a bit to what Pat has said.
The website of the British tinnitus association is the best resource of information for you, is well researched and doesn’t rely on advertising income so you can trust it. Any information you get from this site, Health Unlocked, is (from my experience) given by contributors who suffer from T and are willing to help others by describing what did or didn’t work for them. There’s no one answer.
I don’t know what books you’re referring to that have been criticised elsewhere so can’t comment, other than to say that there are some very helpful books around.
As far as your final point goes, research does get doe worldwide and the BTA do take that research into account.
Hello letshealththis, sorry to hear you are troubled, I had a similar experience to you 4 months ago with exposure to a sudden loud noise which has left me with tinnitus and hyperacusis, I am still trying different ways to cope ,at first I was wearing ear plugs all the time ,but now I am trying bit by bit without them for a short while . I am still nervous when without them even round the home especially in the kitchen, as that is where the noise came from, but I find it so difficult travelling in the car as the road noise is quite intolerable, so only go out when necessary, ear plugs seem to make it worse. I think you are doing right to wear the plugs if in a noisy situation as I feel that is the best, I always wear them when in a supermarket as I find that an uncomfortable situation, I really hope you manage to find some relief I think it is just trial and error in finding out what is best for you,but always wear the plugs if you know you are going to encounter noise.
Content on HealthUnlocked does not replace the relationship between you and doctors or other healthcare professionals nor the advice you receive from them.
Never delay seeking advice or dialling emergency services because of something that you have read on HealthUnlocked.
Moved to the other side.
My brief Tinnitus story
6 months in and no improvement 
Help identifying symptom
