5 ms·
As someone with tinnitus and hyperacusis I think about this often. A bus or truck dumping its air brakes right next to you, incredibly loud sirens, squeaky brea
by runeb 3y ago
As someone with tinnitus and hyperacusis I think about this often. A bus or truck dumping its air brakes right next to you, incredibly loud sirens, squeaky breaks that pierce the soul. I feel fairly certain you could make the case that many sounds we have grown to just accept in society are in fact at dangerous decibel levels.
- tornato7 3y agoThere are ordinary household activities that reach dangerous decibel levels too. Stacking ceramic dishes, slamming the toilet seat, vacuuming in a tight space, etc. You will actually find that doing every day chores is much more pleasurable with hearing protection.
- tomxor 3y agoI now often put the dishes away with my noise cancelling headphones on, after accidentally doing it one day with them on and finding out how much less jarring it is. I wonder what the affect of this on age related hearing loss is - i.e how much of age related hearing loss is actually cumulative minor environmental toll. Only problem with applying this strategy outside of domestic environments is safety.
- blueridge 3y agoWe have no glass, ceramic, steel, or marble-topped tables or furniture for this reason. Putting things down on them is super noisy, people tend to drop things on accident and the sound of a metal water bottle hitting a thick glass table is the worst. Even simple things: keys, phone, coffee mugs, your laptop. I feel silly typing this out, but the general noise level of day-to-day living went way down when we swapped the glass furniture for wood furniture throughout the whole house. +1 to earplugs when vacuuming the car.
- runeb 3y agoAgreed, dish stacking physically hurts! There is a fine balance though, as with hyperacusis wearing hearing protection can make the problem worse as your sensitivity to sound can increase. Also makes the tinnitus seem worse. I will admit to putting in my custom earplugs when I unload the dish washer, however.
- brewdad 3y agoI live about 2 miles from a regional airport. Normal flight patterns mean I rarely hear planes flying in or out. Occasionally, when the winds require a different pattern I’ll hear a 20 seater jet. Air shows. Ugh. Nothing but the loudest, most obnoxious airplanes ever made circling over my house for 4 days straight. At least we’re done for 2023. Time to figure out when next year’s show is so I can be out of town.