Ear protection

[Tia4]

HiI am going to the Theatre for the first time since my onset of Tinnutis (18 months ago) & feel I want to wear ear protection. Does anyone have any suggestions please, based on their experience. Not sure if I should be looking at ear plugs or head phones?? Any suggestions or recommendations will be much appreciated

Thanks

[bournville]

Hi yes do wear ear protection and don’t skimp on the cost as it’s something you should now use at any music concert, cinema, theatre, power tool use, mowing the lawn, mri scan the list goes on. Get custom moulded earplugs (2 types outlined below - buy both if you can afford u wil use them )

solid blank pair (max protection about 31db reduction ) this is for extreme noise like power tool use etc

27db reduction filtered pair (allows clarity but at reduced volume) ideal for your theatre etc

See link to ACS they are the leaders of in ear protection. You will use the plugs a lot & not feel them as they are moulded to the exact shape of your ear canal which involves an impression being taken - it’s good to have both types of plugs mentioned above depending on noise situation. Costs about £200 all in but it will stop your T getting worse from noise damage if you use them appropriately.

ACS custom hearing protection

acscustom.com/uk/?gclid=Cjw...

If you don’t want to spend that get 3m Peltor headphone type ear defenders - effective but you will probably feel very self conscious with them on at the theatre as they are big. May be overkill for the theatre as these really deaden the sound making unamplified speech hard to determine - depends what the production is? - if it’s a musical then they may be just the ticket.

The important thing is don’t buy low attenuation hearing protection and hope for the best. Don’t buy anything that does not reduce decibel level by at least 25-27db

Just to add hearing protection won’t protect you from everything. I don’t think there is anything available to 100% protect your ears for several hours at a rock or pop concert. Noise at these events is often unregulated and can regularly peak around 120db which is crazy loud & without hearing protection very likely to induce temp tinnitus at best or permanent at worse.

Get the right gear and enjoy the theatre!

[Tia4 in reply to bournville]

Thank you so much for your very informative & helpful reply, much appreciated

[DR650SE]

The best earplugs are cheap disposables as they have the greatest noise attenuation 3M Earsoft FX

Google 3M video as to how to insert properly

I have bought and wasted money on all sorts of earplugs and they are the best

[Ana20]

I’ve had T for about 16 years. It has got worse in the last few years, but I’ve never used any ear protection.

Try first without and then if necessary, use smth. That’s my advice.

Good health!

[ViolinP]

You can also get off the shelf ear plugs which have changeable filters depending on how loud the event is and come in different sizes to match your ear canal. I have narrow canals and can’t get the regular ones in - size small from Earpeace fit perfectly. I play in an orchestra so I use moulded musicians ear plugs for that but keep a set of Earpeace in my handbag just in case.

[Darren6]

Hi, I always used to carry some silicon buds from Loop which would lower the decibels of places where i felt i needed to. Very comfortable in your ear and highly recommended.

[Hylda2]

I just take my hearing aids out 👍

[PABLR]

Does your tinnitus react to loud sounds or is it pretty stable? Mine is quite loud, but stable and I don't wear any protection for going to the regular theatre or a concert as for me it just makes things harder. I am going to try telecom next time I go to the theatre as I miss a lot even with hearing aids and no ear protection. I do wear hearing protection for going to KU women's basketball games (I'm living in the States now and college basketball is big here) and it really helps but then I'm dealing with pure noise (if that's not an oxymoron), there's nothing I actually need to understand. If your tinnitus is reactive to noise, then yes maybe.

[Tia4 in reply to PABLR]

Thanks, my Tinnutis is stable, However if I am exposed to noisy environments when I go to bed that night it is amplified & very difficult to get to sleep as quite intrusive. I don't have any hearing loss so no need for hearing aids

[Kellythecat-74]

I use the ones called QUIES. They are wax ones which you soften in your hand then push into your ears. Cant hear hardly anything which was good for loud music.. but I would slightly loosen them if it was the talking bits.

[kimmiee]

if i was going to anything like the cinema or a amusement park, i bought some musician sound cancelling earbuds ...you can choose what reduction in sound you want...amazon have a great selection to choose from