Is your hearing getting worse?

Discussion in 'Science & Society' started by S.A.M., Jan 24, 2008.

?

Do you have hearing loss?

  1. Yes

    31.8%
  2. No

    45.5%
  3. Maybe, Don't Know

    18.2%
  4. Some other opinion

    4.5%
  1. Fraggle Rocker Staff Member

    Messages:
    24,690
    I have a 20dB dropoff in the midrange. I've always loved headphones but I never turned them up loud. I went to a lot of concerts in the 1960s, when they'd bring 200-watt guitar amps and mike the drums, just to play club gigs. Then in the 1970s they kept upping the volume in arena concerts until it was that loud all the way in the back row. We thought just sticking wadded-up napkins in our ears would help, but it didn't.

    Somewhere along the way I learned to use real earplugs. It's too late to reverse what's already happened, but concerts are still that loud (and some club gigs are insane) so at least it won't get any worse.

    A good rule of thumb: If you feel slightly deaf after a concert or your ears are ringing, it was much too loud. Wear earplugs next time. Many bar bands play way too loud. Sit in the back and put in earplugs when you're dancing. (Many of the performers do!) And if somebody else can hear YOUR headphones, it is WAY too loud.

    They're your ears, so do what you want. But if you like music you'll be really pissed off if you lose your hearing, or if you've got tinnitis so loud that it interferes with everything else.

    They say that tinnitis acts as your own personal blood pressure gauge. If your pressure goes up, the ringing gets louder and/or changes tone.
     
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  3. draqon Banned Banned

    Messages:
    35,006
    * dont go to concerts
    * make sure to not turn on volume high on headphones
    * listen to music in moderation...allow your ears to rest just like eyes rest...
    * practice good ear hygiene, wash your ears everyday...and make sure to put some oil like eucalyptus oil for disinfection
     
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  5. Repo Man Valued Senior Member

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    4,955
    At 42, with some loud experiences, I'm sure I've lost a little high frequency hearing. But I've known about high decibels leading to permanent hearing loss since I was in my early teens. My friends used to give me a hard time when I would insist they turn the car stereo down. Within the next ten years they managed to figure out I wasn't full of it. Having a hearing test that reveals your loss tends to make you much more cautious about causing any further damage.

    One that probably did the most damage was one I didn't really expect. Riding a motorcycle, even when wearing a full face helmet will lead to permanent hearing loss if hearing protection isn't worn. I used to wonder about it back in the late '80s when I would go for long rides, and I would sometimes make an ear plug out of tissue paper for my right ear (the side the pipe is on) for very long rides. I post this on motorcycle forums regularly, but the young guys just ignore it. Some people have to learn things the hard way. I never ride without ear plugs now.
     
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  7. crazyfreespirit "Custom User Title" Registered Senior Member

    Messages:
    419
    Yay, I can hear!..in fact, a little too well...

    I used to keep my mp3 down really low, and berate others for not doing the same. Then I stopped. I don't know why, but now my music is always loud, mp3 or on the streo. Bothers my parents. So I'm probably doing damage.
     
  8. draqon Banned Banned

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    35,006
    Repo...motorcycle is nothing compared to how deaf the helicopter pilots become...

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  9. Repo Man Valued Senior Member

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    4,955
    Hearing is no doubt a casualty of military service. I'm sure that most of the returning Iraq vets will have varying degrees of lost hearing on returning. But that is the least of their worries. Just as it is probably hard to work up too much concern over the possible long term consequences of tobacco use when you are in combat. Being a deaf old man with emphysema isn't foremost on your mind when people are trying to blow you up with IEDs I'm sure.
     
    Last edited: Jan 27, 2008
  10. draqon Banned Banned

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    35,006
    lol...(i feel ashamed for laughing about this thou...)
     
  11. kmguru Staff Member

    Messages:
    11,757
    I think you can give your ear rest too, if you sleep with ear plugs. Make sure you clean them with alcohol every time.
     
  12. draqon Banned Banned

    Messages:
    35,006
    well I will do that...but I dont have alcohol...I just use eucalyptus cream...smells nice and disinfects.

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  13. Myles Registered Senior Member

    Messages:
    5,553
     
  14. Star-gazer Registered Member

    Messages:
    51
    I have better hearing in my left ear than in my right.
     
  15. Orleander OH JOY!!!! Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    25,817
    about tinnitus (high pitched whine sound) is that the ear or the brain?
     
  16. cosmictraveler Be kind to yourself always. Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    33,264
    WIKI...

    Tinnitus is not itself a disease but a symptom resulting from a range of underlying causes, including ear infections, foreign objects or wax in the ear, and injury from loud noises. Tinnitus is also a side-effect of some oral medications, such as aspirin, and may also result from an abnormally low level of serotonin activity.
     
  17. Orleander OH JOY!!!! Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    25,817
    isn't serotonin a happy thing? so sad people get it more than happy people?
     
  18. cosmictraveler Be kind to yourself always. Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    33,264
    WIKI....

    In the central nervous system, serotonin is believed to play an important role as a neurotransmitter, in the inhibition of anger, aggression, body temperature, mood, sleep, vomiting, sexuality, and appetite.

    In addition, serotonin is also a peripheral signal mediator. For instance, serotonin is found extensively in the human gastrointestinal tract (about 90%),[1] and the major storage place is platelets in the blood stream.


    Neurotransmission
    As with all neurotransmitters, the effects of 5-HT on the human mood and state of mind and its role in consciousness are very difficult to ascertain.
     
  19. shichimenshyo Caught in the machine Registered Senior Member

    Messages:
    5,110
    Why is there no What?!!?!? Option?
     
  20. Fraggle Rocker Staff Member

    Messages:
    24,690
    You can go to concerts if you use the serious (30dB) earplugs.
    It often correlates with death of the little hairs that are the sound sensors. The nerves that end in those hairs don't receive their usual stimulus. Somehow the brain or the nerves themselves replace it with a constant signal that the brain interprets as sound. It's not well understood but from what I've been told (I know a lot of rock musicians) I'm voting for the nerves.

    It is not always a whine. Some people experience a sound like waves crashing, others like the insects in the woods on a summer evening. They prefer environments that are not terribly quiet, so their tinnitus blends with the background sound. A common effect is for the pitch to be low and indistinct like the above examples when blood pressure is low, and rise to a whine or whistle with a more distinct (and louder) pitch when blood pressure rises. Some people say it's a pretty reliable internal blood pressure meter.

    Whatever it is, even at its most benign it's something you don't want. Take care of your hearing, starting now.
     
  21. phlogistician Banned Banned

    Messages:
    10,342
    Despite having been a fan of heavy metal for a long time, and attending hundreds of gigs, my hearing is still pretty good. I can still hear high tones, and some very faint stuff, that my partner misses.

    I've never used loud headphones though, I think that is far more of a danger than concerts, because it's a habit, and people expose themselves to loud music repeatedly.
     
  22. Fraggle Rocker Staff Member

    Messages:
    24,690
    People use headphones to drown out ambient sounds. I can't blame them. However, they make very good noise-canceling headphones now. Mine are ProTech NoiseBusters and they do a fine job of letting me listen to my music at a normal level--unless I'm at a construction site or an airport runway and I just stay away from places like that. There's no reason any more to blow your ears out just to block out the sounds around you.
     
  23. Orleander OH JOY!!!! Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    25,817
    so its like a phantom pain them? Just like what amputees have?
     

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