Temporary Threshold Shift: What Is It & How to Avoid It
If you’ve ever noticed a change in your hearing after a concert or other loud experiences, you’ve unknowingly experienced temporary threshold shift (TTS). If your hearing threshold is affected, it can make it difficult for you to hear certain sounds and frequencies. Understanding what TTS is and how to prevent it is integral to caring for your hearing and avoiding future hearing loss.
What Causes TTS?
Temporary threshold shift is a side effect of prolonged or continued exposure to excessively loud noises such as:
- Concerts
- Sporting Events
- Construction Sites or Machinery
- Firework Displays
It’s short-term noise-induced hearing loss. You might think it’s only caused by loud environments, but it can also be caused by using headphones too much or too loudly. Even though it’s temporary, protecting your ears in those environments is still important to prevent it from becoming permanent hearing loss which can require the use of hearing aids or other interventions.
How Does Temporary Threshold Shift Affect Your Hearing
Sounds over 85 decibels can lead to this short-term hearing damage. 70 decibels or below is considered safe for our hearing. For reference, a typical conversation is around 60 dB and power tools are usually around 90 dB. When sounds enter the ear, they stimulate the cochlea (inner ear). If sounds are too loud, the hair cells in your ear get bent and remain that way. With TTS, the recovery time for your hearing will return to normal within a few days or weeks.
Symptoms and Signs of TTS
The main symptoms of temporary threshold shift are: tinnitus, muffled sounds, and temporary hearing loss. After a sporting event or concert, ringing in your ears or clogged ears are signs of hearing damage. Experiencing tinnitus after exposure to loud noises is a common side effect. However, repeated exposure to excessive noise can become permanent threshold shift, so it’s important to always protect your ears when in a loud environment.
If you are unsure if your environment is too loud, take note of how loud people are speaking and whether you have to move closer to people to hear them. If you can’t hear them from three feet away, then it’s probably too loud.
Preventing Temporary Threshold Shift
The best way to experience loud volumes is to use hearing protection like ear plugs. There are different types of earplugs with different noise reduction ratings. When choosing earplugs for things like fireworks or machinery, you’ll want ones that cancel out more noise. For loud experiences where you still want to take in the sounds around you, choose earplugs designed for these situations, like ones designed for musicians. These won’t ruin your ability to hear the music at a concert but will lessen the force with which the sounds hit your ear, thus preventing noise-induced hearing damage and temporary threshold shift.
There’s no specific way to treat temporary threshold shift other than avoiding other loud noises after experiencing TTS. Giving your ears a break is vital to avoid further hearing damage.
Other Ways to Protect Your Hearing
There are other methods you can use to protect your hearing. Use these five tips to protect your ears from loud noises:
- Monitor the volume on your headphones
- Turn down the volume of your radio/TV
- Take breaks from noise
- Limit the frequency of noisy activities
- Get regular hearing tests
Part of protecting your hearing health is catching issues before they evolve. Scheduling regular hearing test appointments means you can stay on top of any changes to your hearing and consult with your doctor. They will assess your hearing in the office and address any concerns.
If you’re experiencing temporary threshold shift, you should contact your doctor if the symptoms last more than a few days or if you notice continued changes to your hearing.
