At a party You might also want to move outside or to a quieter room if you can. If the party is very noisy with loud music, wearing ear plugs can help to protect your ears.
Tinnitus can be treated by listening to music that has been specially filtered to remove certain frequencies. The music is filtered to remove the specific frequency that causes the patient's tinnitus. This creates an audible notch in the sound spectrum of your music.
For context, the equivalent of 85bd is the sound of a food processor, but for sounds of 110–120dB, like in nightclubs, even a short exposure time of 15 minutes can cause hearing damage. If you do experience symptoms of tinnitus for longer than a 24-hour period, the charity recommends people visit their local GP.
The following factors can all contribute to making your tinnitus worse. Loud sounds can make your tinnitus even more bothersome. Traffic, loud music, construction – all of these can worsen tinnitus. Be sure to wear earplugs or another type of ear protection in order to prevent noise from making your tinnitus worse.
Concerts are usually well over this 85 dB level. While the average concert-goer may experience symptoms that only last a couple of hours, anyone listening to live music regularly may start to experience tinnitus for more extended periods of time if they do not take steps to treat or prevent the damage.
Tinnitus does not have to dramatically affect your quality of life. Try to avoid focusing too much attention on your tinnitus and take steps to manage the condition. Avoid excessive noise, and find relaxation and stress management techniques that work for you.
Research suggests sound therapy can effectively suppress tinnitus in some people. Two common types of sound therapy are masking and habituation. Masking. This exposes a person to background noise, like white noise, nature sounds, or ambient sounds, to mask tinnitus noise or distract attention away from it.
Fans, humidifiers, dehumidifiers and air conditioners in the bedroom also produce white noise and may help make tinnitus less noticeable at night. Masking devices. Worn in the ear and similar to hearing aids, these devices produce a continuous, low-level white noise that suppresses tinnitus symptoms.
This is why after a night of intense music in a club or at a gig you can hear that ringing for a day or two as the hair cells in your cochlea grow back. Eventually, with enough instances of trampling, like grass, at some point they don't grow back and the ringing is permanent.
Earbuds alone cannot make it worse but if you will use them in high volumes then it can make tinnitus worse if you already have it. If you are listening to music, podcasts, etc., using earbuds, it will be better if the volume is at the 60% range which is the “safe” level.
Can headphones make my tinnitus worse? Yes, using headphones for too many hours per day or at unsafe volumes can worsen your tinnitus. Moon Audio recommends that people who suffer from tinnitus avoid earbuds that sit directly in the ear canal because “the pressure and nearfield of the drivers can aggravate tinnitus.”
Musicians who have spoken out about their hearing loss and tinnitus include (clockwise from top left) Eric Clapton, Huey Lewis, Phil Collins, Sting, Ozzy Osbourne, Anthony Kiedis, Pete Townshend, and Neil Young.
Sleep and stress
And, when stress levels go up tinnitus can seem louder. If you have not slept properly one night you might experience higher stress levels, and your tinnitus might seem louder than on a normal day. Not only that but sleeping properly also helps with our ability to handle stress.
For some people, tinnitus may be temporary. A person may experience tinnitus as a symptom of noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL). NIHL occurs due to long-term exposure to a noisy environment. A person's NIHL symptoms can go away after leaving the noisy environment.
Playing background noise—such as nature sounds, a fan, ambient music, or white noise—may help mask the perception of tinnitus and help you fall asleep. Practice good sleep habits.
A single good night sleep can really make life with tinnitus a whole lot less difficult and improve your mental health.
Most of the time, tinnitus will improve when the underlying condition is addressed or with treatments that reduce the perception of the noise. For some people, tinnitus can be exceedingly bothersome and may even cause negative effects on their quality of life. Some say it makes their lives miserable.
But tinnitus isn't a condition on its own, rather a symptom of something else. This, however, means that there's no easy answer to how long your tinnitus may last, or whether it's temporary or permanent. This ultimately depends on the cause of your hearing change, and any other symptoms that you may be experiencing.
Generally, permanent cases of tinnitus will be far louder because it gradually grows in volume over time. This is something that is worth keeping in mind.
Permanent tinnitus occurs through consistent exposure to loud sounds. It is more likely to experience temporary tinnitus after being at a concert for the night or being in a loud environment for an extended period of time.
Chronic tinnitus, which is tinnitus that lasts for more than six months, can last for years or even a lifetime. However, with proper treatment, the symptoms of tinnitus can be managed and the individual's quality of life can be improved.