Some observations on tinnitis

Jay Barracato

Jay Barracato

Graduate Student
Jan 11, 2011
1,528
5
38
Solomons MD
Road whine and distortion seems to be two huge triggers for mine.

Over the last year I really cut back on the amount of travel associated with my shows. And the number of bad tinnitus episodes also went way down. Each of the worse episodes were coupled with a longer drive that night or the next day.

I have also noticed that on a clean system with plenty of headroom getting as loud as I like causes no problems but as an audience member I have been triggered by lower volumes with greater distortion.

I can't always pick what my ears are subjected to but I think I can better guess when the plugs are needed.
 
Re: Some observations on tinnitis

Since your tinnitus is being triggered by certain loud sounds, I recommend custom molded musicians' earplugs with the lowest level of attenuation, 9 dB. Wear them when you are likely to be exposed to loud sounds that will trigger your tinnitus and get used to having them in. With the 9 dB filters, your ears adjust and you can probably hear just about everything you normally hear, just a little softer. I carry mine whenever I am going to any musical event, especially if DJs are involved.
 
Re: Some observations on tinnitis

Jay Barracato said:
Road whine and distortion seems to be two huge triggers for mine.

Over the last year I really cut back on the amount of travel associated with my shows. And the number of bad tinnitus episodes also went way down. Each of the worse episodes were coupled with a longer drive that night or the next day.

I have also noticed that on a clean system with plenty of headroom getting as loud as I like causes no problems but as an audience member I have been triggered by lower volumes with greater distortion.

I can't always pick what my ears are subjected to but I think I can better guess when the plugs are needed.
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Anytime I drive farther than 30 mins or so, I always have my musicians plugs in... its amazing how loud the inside of a truck/bus can get with just road noise!
 
Re: Some observations on tinnitis

Mike Brown said:
Anytime I drive farther than 30 mins or so, I always have my musicians plugs in... its amazing how loud the inside of a truck/bus can get with just road noise!
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I started listening to podcasts over iems while driving. Keeps me occupied, and the noise level is waaaay down. I used to have pretty bad tinnitus too. Mine was mostly due to traveling in a loud truck with the radio cranked up over the road noise.
 
Re: Some observations on tinnitis

Tim Weaver said:
I started listening to podcasts over iems while driving. Keeps me occupied, and the noise level is waaaay down. I used to have pretty bad tinnitus too. Mine was mostly due to traveling in a loud truck with the radio cranked up over the road noise.
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If you travel abroad, be aware that it may be illegal to drive while using ear plugs or headphones.
 
Re: Some observations on tinnitis

Per Søvik said:
Actually, I think it is only some states in the US that have prohibited it so far.
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The priority here is safety, ie being able to hear an important warning honk or sound while driving. For most people, foam earplugs and even the generic ER-20 musicians' earplugs probably cut the sound down too much for safety while driving. Whether or not the 9 dB filters (available only in the custom molded musicians' earplugs) will allow you to hear all important sounds while driving may vary, depending on how much hearing loss you have already, other loud sounds (like a radio turned up) inside your vehicle, whether windows are open or not, etc. A 9 dB filter probably masks less outside sound than listening to the radio while driving or keeping the windows closed, but bottom line, in areas where it is legal, you will have to use your judgement as to whether it is safe enough or not. If it is not legal, obviously it should not be done.
 
Re: Some observations on tinnitis

So we all agree that it would be better for everyone's hearing to wear earplugs nearly all the time, the band while on stage, the audience, the sound man, the staff. That just leaves the neighbours of the venue when we crank it up another notch so everyone can hear :razz:

My work can be quite noisy sometimes, and I try to be carefull and wear my plugs all day and also avoid the loudest noises the day before a show. The thing is, protecting your ears all day and then whipping the plugs out for soundcheck seems to be even worse in many ways because your hearing then is super-fresh and sensitive for the first few minutes and then the sound starts to change and you are chasing a hearing that is constantly changing. My tinnitus seems to be quite high up compared to most people though, mainly european video h-sync for some reason, so other people might react differently. However, I find that going from a reasonably noisy environment straight into a live sound situation to give me a more consistent hearing throughout the show, so I'm tempted to just go with that.
 
Re: Some observations on tinnitis

I noticed several comments on car/road noise effecting their tinnitus. I undercoated the cab of my truck heavily ($4.00 a can/5 cans for the underside of cab) and that actually helped a little, Then I also dynomatted my doors, floor and the back wall of the cab etc over time. There was still noise but it did seem to make a noticeable difference. For larger cars it would get very costly.
 
Re: Some observations on tinnitis

Evan F. Hunter said:
I noticed several comments on car/road noise effecting their tinnitus. I undercoated the cab of my truck heavily ($4.00 a can/5 cans for the underside of cab) and that actually helped a little, Then I also dynomatted my doors, floor and the back wall of the cab etc over time. There was still noise but it did seem to make a noticeable difference. For larger cars it would get very costly.
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The constrained layer damping material material (dynamat) isn't that expensive if you don't buy it at the car audio shops.
I've used the stuff from B-Quiet sound deadening material in the past, and it works reasonably well at about half the price of Dynamat.
 
Re: Some observations on tinnitis

Rob Timmerman said:
The constrained layer damping material material (dynamat) isn't that expensive if you don't buy it at the car audio shops.
I've used the stuff from B-Quiet sound deadening material in the past, and it works reasonably well at about half the price of Dynamat.
Click to expand...

I find that some extra jackets, souvenier T-shirts, spare socks, some tarps and moving blankets combined with various bags of drive-thru fast food trash soak up a lot of the sound in the cab of the truck.
 
I made a four hour drive home yesterday wearing plugs. They definitely cut down the noise but I could still hear the other cars close by.

I also did a few random glances at the sound meter on my phone. Depending on the road surface it was 70-75 db with the windows up, 75-80 with the windows partly down, and 85-90 with the stereo at a comfortable listening level.

That suggests that it is not just the level but the type of the noise that is my trigger.

This morning my tinnitus was at a far lower level than usual after a drive like that. The plugs seem to help.
 
The biggest thing for me has been wearing plugs during load in (case pushing) on long pushes and un/loading trucks. Most of our cases have hard solid plastic wheels (they won't shatter in the winters), on anything but slick floors (Most floors here are textured and harder than epoxied cement in larger venues and freight elevators).

Not that it is horribly loud, but after pushing a 5t worth of gear down a hallway, my low-mid range is messed up by soundceck , and who knows how my hearing is by show time without precautions.

It's not only tinnitus you need to watch out for, but tired ears in general.

I put in plugs while driving truck out of city limits, flying, and long car drives. Preferably my IEM in on flights as thier seal is better than my plugs (just have to remeber to wear a hoodie).

BRad
 
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