didn't buy them yet though, but I might when I get paid this month.

once you become acutely aware of the sound, your brain associates a negative psychological connection with it, and so then you listen to it more, which makes you stress more, and hence the noise becomes louder, which is a vicious cycle. for me it also appeared in my OTHER ear after stressing about for a few days. I'm really not sure if that was the result of stress or just a delayed physical thing from the syringing. it's slowly faded into the background for me now and after using the headphones + ambiance - I haven't stopped to pay attention to it for nearly a month now and have been sleeping well.

it seems that once you don't pay attention to it your brain starts to 'habituate'. at least that's in my case where the noise isn't really that bad. I read about people like soldiers who developed it after being exposed to loud gunshots or something like that - I'd imagine in those cases the noise is so loud that it's just beyond being able to deal with it with a little bit of habituation and psychology. I've got true sympathy for people suffering like that.

also i was talking about tinnitus with someone the other day and they were saying how tinnitus can be a symptom of elevated blood pressure, so just plain stress could be linked to one of the causes of tinnitus! i'm pretty sure mine developed after repeated concussions to the head though.   no fun, but instead of getting upset at the sounds and noises i can't control or manipulate myself i try to meditate or make the best out of my tinnitus somehow like trying to let it inspire me that one night i couldn't sleep

I don't use earphones on my ipod now tho, and at work now I just use big headphones instead of earphones at a loud volume (which I used to do).

Honestly tho, I think as long as you keep your earphones at a reasonable volume you'll be fine, don't think that it would make your tinnitus any worse. I'm just paranoid after a month of sleep deprived hell . So I'm not gonna use mine again with the ipod or at work.

edit - btw, it has improved a wee bit in the last few weeks, that's why I said "is/was"

these + this will help you a lot if like me your tinnitus is annoying enough to disturb your sleeping.

you can install that thing on the iPhone and put a timer on it so that it will automatically switch off and not wake you up when you've managed to fall asleep.

I think I'd actually use these even if I didn't have tinnitus as I was always a pretty bad sleeper anyway.

hey! do you really use the headphone thing or are you joking? Would headphones of any sort make your tinnitus worse in the long run? i only ask as ive stopped using headphones altogether as mine has got significantly worse in the last two years and i miss my ipod 

funny story how we met, on a guided walking tour of london

you can install that thing on the iPhone and put a timer on it so that it will automatically switch off and not wake you up when you've managed to fall asleep.

I think I'd actually use these even if I didn't have tinnitus as I was always a pretty bad sleeper anyway.

my tinnitus is there but i'm auto-ignoring. only notice it in bed sometimes or when it's real quiet (windless days on ski slopes after the lifts have closed)

103 db is fucking load.

that would depend on whether the meter was reading Peak or RMS (average) scale.

103dB Peaks wouldn't pose too much threat whereas the same dB RMS would be quite uncomfortable if not painful.

its around 105-109 db - and this is LOUD!

Could be the same as 103 dbA. (the metering is filtered)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A-weighting

on the dj botth in Robert Johnson (FFM) ther eis a db- meter.

its around 105-109 db - and this is LOUD!

Sander wrote:

I don't understand why people still don't use easplugs. And what I really not understand is why clubs are still able to play such loud.

I know! I can understan that you can't damp the volume of a band with drums and stuff in a small bar or that you have to have loud music in a club with a large dancefloor if there cannot be speakers all over the place. But i can't understand why many small clubs or bars have to have the volume so friggin loud that people have to yell to hear what each other are saying.
It just feeds itself.

Some weeks ago I was at a weddingparty in Amsterdam (Studio Desmet) and they had a large display showing how loud the music was in dBA (I thought the law in Holland was maximum 103 dBA). The meter didn't go beyond that and it was loud enough to me. More clubs should do that and if they're metering, make it more clear with a display or something.

I don't understand why people still don't use easplugs. And what I really not understand is why clubs are still able to play such loud.

I know! I can understan that you can't damp the volume of a band with drums and stuff in a small bar or that you have to have loud music in a club with a large dancefloor if there cannot be speakers all over the place. But i can't understand why many small clubs or bars have to have the volume so friggin loud that people have to yell to hear what each other are saying.
It just feeds itself.