Got a tinnitus - wearing ear plugs?

balu

I went to Bar 903 on sunday. The music was great but also pretty loud. Actually I didn't really care as I was pretty drunk.

Maybe you notice sometimes some noises or buzzing in the ears right after coming from the club. But this time it didn't go away! And it was more intense than usual. I had a high pitched noise in my ears till today but, thank to god, it seems to become better now.

Having a tinnitus is terrible and I don't want to suffer from it for the rest of my life like Sting or James Hetfield from Metallica are (thanks to loud music).

Take care guys. Stay away from the boxes in clubs.

Now I consider wearing ear plugs in clubs. Looks a bit stupid, though. What do you think?

LK1

Try this

http://www.restoredhearing.ie/

Chris_533976

I have a pair similar to these -



cost me €230 as they're custom made. Best purchase ever (seriously). I go clubbing in Galway often enough and these have meant that I have never ever had ringing ears after a session. I get some funny comments but you'll learn quickly to ignore them after you've come out of the club and can hear perfectly.

Edit: And I've had tinnatus as long as I can remember and I dont want it getting worse..

Edit2: The 99c earplugs you buy are uncomfortable, as they exert pressure outwards on the ear as they try to expand. They also dont reduce frequencies uniformly, meaning stuff sounds weird. These custom made ones dont. They uniformly reduce noise by 25db in my case.

happyoutscan

Couldn't hear for 5 days after the Faith no More in the Olympia (cheers Ronan/Raven for the ticket!). Was close to convinced that the hearing was gone.

It was worth it, awesome gig.

LadyMayBelle

Went to Combichrist gig in the academy last year with the bro. I wouldn't be a fan but he wanted some videos and pics and there was room in the front row near the speaker so I took it. I acknowledged it was well loud, and after the gig he turned to me and said 'damn that was loud' and pulled out earplugs...I had worn nothing and had ringing in my ears for the week. Really scared me and feel my hearing is a bit off since..yes I was silly but genuinely didn't think it would bother me that much..

tonyhiggins

My favorites:

www.etymotic.com


I've used em for about 2 yrs, just picked up a new pair on ebay for a tenner. I wish I'd started using em even earlier too as I have constant tinnitus. I went to a few things lately without em and for the last 3 weeks it's been worse than ever

_Whimsical_

Chris_533976 wrote: »

.

Can you still hear music and carry on conversations with those in or are you in a little world of your own when you are wearing them? Where did you get them ?

I can fully understand taking any precautions if you already have Tinnitus

tonyhiggins

Well-designed ones just attenuate the sound, you should still be able to hear and have conversations etc. Even with the etymotic cheap ones (they do high-end ones too), there have been times I've gone looking for them only to realise I had them in

Shanley

In relation to Sunday night the music was by DJ Flip (was an awesome set) and due to the weekend that was in it Bar 903 was powered by Funktion 1

So I wouldnt worry about the music being this loud all the time!

AnchormanSL

I hear ya Balu,(excuse the pun),I had it for 2 days after a night in CP's.Never suffered anything like it.It didn't affect my hearing much anytime there was total silence,it got really annoying!!!

padraig71

It's irresponsible of venues to have the music that loud really, though of course the nearer a speaker you're standing, the worse the damage. Bottom line is, you only get one set of ears, and if you get permanent tinnitus it's irreversible and you just have to live with it. The theoretical human hearing range extends up to 20 kilohertz, but by adulthood most people have lost quite a lot of upper-frequency sensitivity through using ipods etc and going to noisy clubs. It's definitely a good idea to wear earplugs in such environments, even the cheap ones will help.

Mr. Presentable

I always use plugs. I got some weird looks at Buzzcocks last weekend, but normally people don't even seem to notice. Naturally, I only began wearing them after my hearing was damaged.

biko

Once at a concert I had to rip the filters of 2 fags to stick in my ears, the noise was so loud. These days I tend to hang back from the speakers.

Galway -> Clubbing (to warn the kids ) hope that's ok.

padi89

Chris_533976 wrote: »

Edit2: The 99c earplugs you buy are uncomfortable, as they exert pressure outwards on the ear as they try to expand.

I can't say i agree with you. I use both custom and disposable earplugs depending on the situation. The problem with disposable/universal plugs is you have to try plenty of different brands to get a good fit, once you find the right ones they are as comfortable as customs.
A few stores on ebay sell sample packs of various makes, i ended up finding Howard Leight Lazer Lite to be perfect.

whiterob81

I've actually had to cut down on my ipod usage lately because of tinnitus. I moved out to the suburbs a couple of months ago and had been using the ipod all the way to and from work. But lately, it's been affecting me pretty bad. I've been trying to cut down on the number of days that I use it, trying not to use it for more than an hour a day, that sort of thing.
Also, went to3 gigs last week, didn't wear earplugs to any of them, very stupid. By Sunday I was walking around shouting. my hearing's pretty much recovered now but it has scared me a little bit.
another thing that's been affecting me lately is that I got a POD studio audio interface for my guitar. I've found if you mess about with that for a while and use headphones for monitoring, it affects your hearing pretty badly. Of course, I'm probably stating the obvious here

TristanPeter

balu wrote: »

I went to Bar 903 on sunday. The music was great but also pretty loud. Actually I didn't really care as I was pretty drunk.

One of the main reasons why I don't like Bar 903 is because I always found the music to be unnecessarily loud. Can't hear myself think in there and trying to talk to people is pointless. I don't bother going there anymore because of it. Same goes for Bierhaus.

Over&Over

The music has been dangerously loud in Bar 903 for years now - many's a punter has left the place with ringing in their ears. If you're ever out in a loud venue and don't have earplugs with you, stick some toilet paper - anything - into them... every little helps.

balu

I will never go to Bar903 again. Or probably whatever nightclub.

TMoreno

I confirm. You get bad looks with ear plugs.;)

electrogrimey

Most big DJs these days are wearing custom earplugs, saw Crookers wearing them at their gig, and MSTRKRFT had an interview with DJmag about them, I probably wouldn't look twice at someone wearing them in a club, but at the same time I wouldn't spend €200 on a pair, unless I was told by a doctor or whatever that I was damaging my ears every weekend...

tonyhiggins

TristanPeter wrote: »

Same goes for Bierhaus.

Really? They generally have a policy of keeping the music pretty quiet in there relative to other places, even if there's a DJ in..

tonyhiggins

Over&Over wrote: »

stick some toilet paper - anything - into them... every little helps.

As far as I know, toilet paper doesn't. I wish I could find the article I read on it for you, but you'll have to to take my word that research has been done...

TMoreno

A pair of ear plugs cost between 69 cents and 99 cents in a pharmacy, for a 25 Db to 35 Db protection.
In most companies you're supposed to wear earplugs if the noise is so loud that you have to shout to talk to somebody who is standing close to you.
If it's too loud it's too loud. Clubs and bars are responsible for that:mad:.

Over&Over

electrogrimey wrote: »

Most big DJs these days are wearing custom earplugs, saw Crookers wearing them at their gig, and MSTRKRFT had an interview with DJmag about them, I probably wouldn't look twice at someone wearing them in a club, but at the same time I wouldn't spend €200 on a pair, unless I was told by a doctor or whatever that I was damaging my ears every weekend...

I bought a pair some years ago. Spent more then E200 on them. Very sound investment. Hopefully be able to enjoy conversations for many years to come, unlike the poor bloke in the It's All Gone Pete Tong flick.

Over&Over

tonyhiggins wrote: »

As far as I know, toilet paper doesn't. I wish I could find the article I read on it for you, but you'll have to to take my word that research has been done...

I wouldn't doubt you. Plugs are best, custom designed ones even better. But if you're out in a club and do forget to bring them with you, some toilet paper can lessen the impact of the volume hitting your ears. No major protection mind, just a little.

DJing.. I find that my left ear (which I listen to my headphones on) is the one that gets most rattled.

balu

I regret so much that I've been there. It's still in my head and it doesn't go away. I can't sleep at night and I'm depressed during the day. It's driving me insane.

Please turn down the volume... and stay away from the speakers.

DublinWriter

As someone who's been a semi-pro drummer for about 20 years, I'd never play a gig without at least wearing Quies. I'd never use in-ear monitors as they can be very hazardous to one's hearing.

I contracted an inner-ear infection ten years ago that left me with permanent tinnitus in my left ear. I can mentally tune it out most days, on bad days it drives me almost to insanity.

There's no cure and I wouldn't wish this condition on my worst enemy. I lost any interest I ever had in music after getting it - this from someone who still has 1000+ vinyl LPs and tons of CDs that I now never listen to.

Your hearing is precious, look after it.