Tinnitus and other hearing issues...

[Radar]

Hmmm reading this thread, I think I will go and get myself some earplugs ASAP ...

In August I went to Rotorua for the Ulysses Remembrance Run and stopped to get a set of custom earplugs made - Plugz for Lugz. Superb. I do not ride without them. I have tried four types of earplugs (from the pharmacy and tradesmen stores) but custom plugs are way better.

Two years ago I painted our house and used a sander on a daily basis, plus I listened to music with earplugs. I did wear earmuffs and sometimes put in squishable plugs from the chemist as well, but the electric sander was still loud. I did not use very high volume when listening to music like a lot of young folk do, but when I went to an audiologist I learned how hearing can be damaged. She said its like putting a tent on your lawn: If you remove the tent after a day or two the grass may be yellow but it grows back, but if you leave the tent for several weeks the grass will die.

This is what happens to the tiny hairs in the inner ear: prolonged exposure to loud noise will permanently damage your hearing.
Now I have tinnitus and less than good hearing.
If I could wind the clock back, I would have used custom plugs and expensive earmuffs while using the sander, and I would have used a portable player/radio instead of listening to music with headphones or ear pieces, and I would not have sanded for so long each day.

If you are a young guy, then you think that you are bulletproof.
That's how I felt many years ago, and I did some stupid things that could have cost me my life or put me in hospital, but I lucked out. I am not so lucky now with my hearing loss.

If you ride your bike without earplugs, you WILL wind up with damaged hearing, tinnitus or worse, and hearing aids will not fix everything.

So be smart and wear plugs. Get Plugz for Lugz and you will not regret it.

[Balding Eagle]

I suffer from tinnitus; some days are worse than others. Most of the time I am not aware of it but I can hear it now as I type. Clench my teeth and it is worse. Probably got it from being around aircraft all my life although always wore ear protection when inside them. Thankfully my hearing has not deteriorated significantly as a result.

I always wear earplugs while riding. You can't hear a bloody thing otherwise and having earplugs in allows you to concentrate a little more on the task in hand and enjoy the environment around you. If you are young and don't wear earplugs, listen to stupidly loud music on earphones and ipods etc and work around loud machinery without earplugs - you are a bloody fool. And don't go along to ACC later in life and try and get some of MY money from them because you could have avoided the problem in the first place.

[vifferman]

Right - the motorway bit on my commute is ~5 minutes long. Is that enough to (further) damage my hearing?

[Radar]

Right - the motorway bit on my commute is ~5 minutes long. Is that enough to (further) damage my hearing?

Probably not but the test is if you hear ringing or a hiss in your ears after you stop (and get to a quiet place so that any hearing aberration is noticed). If your hearing is normal while in a quiet place after your ride, you are OK.

[Neon]

Sorry to thread dredge, but tinnitus is becoming a bit of an issue for me and I'm only 30. I never ride without foam plugs (moldex spark plugs, which do an excellent job of damping out the higher freqs), and I have a NOJ Quietrider cuff around the bottom of my helmet to block the wind. Despite this, and changing to a faired bike (made no difference), my ears still ring after an hour or so of open road riding. On longer trips I still find the wind roar annoying to the point of distraction. On long multi day trips it keeps me awake at night.

Probably there is some damage from earlier interests such as djing, which explains why my left ear is worse than my right (monitoring on headphones). But it becomes much worse at this time of year as my riding hours increase. Weirdly, annual hearing tests have not found any measurable decrease in hearing - yet.

To be honest, I'm at a point now where if I can't find a way to appreciably reduce the wind roar, I may have to consider chucking it in entirely.

Any ideas appreciated...

[jasonzc]

Sorry to thread dredge, but tinnitus is becoming a bit of an issue for me and I'm only 30. I never ride without foam plugs (moldex spark plugs, which do an excellent job of damping out the higher freqs), and I have a NOJ Quietrider cuff around the bottom of my helmet to block the wind. Despite this, and changing to a faired bike (made no difference), my ears still ring after an hour or so of open road riding. On longer trips I still find the wind roar annoying to the point of distraction. On long multi day trips it keeps me awake at night.

Probably there is some damage from earlier interests such as djing, which explains why my left ear is worse than my right (monitoring on headphones). But it becomes much worse at this time of year as my riding hours increase. Weirdly, annual hearing tests have not found any measurable decrease in hearing - yet.

To be honest, I'm at a point now where if I can't find a way to appreciably reduce the wind roar, I may have to consider chucking it in entirely.

Any ideas appreciated...

THat really sucks.. might sound stupid as i dont really know what im talking about, but could try better dB rated ear plugs? or try in ear monitors of the custom sort and play music at a very low volume to distract form the wind noise?

the second suggestion is prob stupid.. but u cna prob find better plugs though?

[LBD]

. On longer trips I still find the wind roar annoying to the point of distraction. On long multi day trips it keeps me awake at night....

It is incurable so make sure you have the best protection to, a) start with or b) from now on.

I live with it...too many years engineering and working in noisey machinery spaces did it for me.

If you have serious problems sleeping, turn a radio on, just very low volume, and move it off channel so all you have is static/white noise....helps me sleep.

Only upshot is it helps drown out the voices.

[Radar]

Sorry to thread dredge, but tinnitus is becoming a bit of an issue for me and I'm only 30. I never ride without foam plugs (moldex spark plugs, which do an excellent job of damping out the higher freqs), .

Neon, thanks for dredging up this thread. Damage to hearing is a very important topic and should be routinely discussed. Wind noise while on a bike can cause permanent hearing loss, as can listening to mp3 music, running machinery, etc.

Forget foam ear plugs. Get Plugs4Lugz - see this thread or phone / text them: Sue & Grant - 07 3480 908 or Grant's cell 027 275 6848.

I tried 4 different ear plugs and even tried stuffing a scarf around the base of my helmet, but finally invested in Plugs4Lugz - they make a huge difference compared to ordinary ear plugs. You may want to put a bit of hand cream, vaseline or other greasy lube in the ear before inserting these custom made ear plugs - this ensures a perfect seal.

It is interesting that you do not have any measurable hearing loss... yet. As you no doubt know, ringing in the ears after riding / music / machinery will eventually lead to permanent hearing loss. I am twice your age and have some hearing loss and tinnitus all the time (due to using an electric sander while house painting, music-earphones, and machinery as a miner 40 years ago). I have researched this topic via Google and by talking to audiologists... there are some dietary concerns so be sure you have a balanced diet to get all vitamins and minerals (or go to a health shop and get the best supplements / capsules) but beware of the expensive quick fix supplements for sale on the internet - they *may* help your tinnitus but could also be a rip-off or scam.

[Radar]

If you have serious problems sleeping, turn a radio on, just very low volume, and move it off channel so all you have is static/white noise....helps me sleep.

Good to know someone else has tried this. It works.

Neon. Plugs4Lugz may not be in your area for quite awhile but it is a good excuse for a ride to Rotorua to get them made at their house - it is what I did.

[Mom]

Good to know someone else has tried this. It works.

Neon. Plugs4Lugz may not be in your area for quite awhile but it is a good excuse for a ride to Rotorua to get them made at their house - it is what I did.

When we are camping we leave a fan on all night. It provides really good white noise and stops us from being woken by the seagulls or campers next door. Added advantage is, it keeps us cool. +1 for white noise!

[Neon]

Forget foam ear plugs. Get Plugs4Lugz.

Thanks for the suggestions Radar. The foam plugs I am using right now are supposedly NRR34 which is about the best you can expect from ear plugs. The problem is low frequency noise (rumble/roar), which is transmitted through the helmet and into the bones of your skull. So it is by its very nature basically impossible to eliminate using plugs alone - even the best ones available. There is a thread on KB somewhere citing a University study that confirms this is a major problem for motorcyclists.

In my case the tinnitus is probably not caused by motorcycling, but is certainly being aggravated by it. What I need to understand is whether I can get it to a managable level or whether it will just continue to get worse even with reduced noise levels in my helmet. There is only so much that can be done I guess, motorcycling is an inherently noisy activity...

I might book in with an audiologist and see how I go.

[Radar]

Neon, others on KB have also tried all sorts of over-the-counter ear plugs but have found custom made plugs such as Plugs4Lugz to be the answer. Really - forget foam plugs and get custom ones as they will make a big difference (in spite of bone sound conduction). An audiologist should be able to make you a pair of custom plugs. The last audiologist I spoke with had 4 different custom plugs for herself, each for a specific purpose / range of frequency reduction.

[Neon]

Neon, others on KB have also tried all sorts of over-the-counter ear plugs but have found custom made plugs such as Plugs4Lugz to be the answer. Really - forget foam plugs and get custom ones as they will make a big difference (in spite of bone sound conduction). An audiologist should be able to make you a pair of custom plugs. The last audiologist I spoke with had 4 different custom plugs for herself, each for a specific purpose / range of frequency reduction.

Point taken. I have an appointment for next week with an audiologist so I will be sure to ask about custom plugs.