Open headers, air tools, hammering, ringing in the ears head count, young gun warning

I'm a wimp - I can't stand the sound of grinders, hack saws, drills, or hammers on metal without ear muffs. Been that way since I was a little kid. Suppose it's a good thing, though; pops has hearing problems in both ears from working in the garage.

 

I'm 39 and have had the ringing in my left ear for a couple of years now. I never like the way earplugs felt and the earmuffs are too hot. Now I wear plugs at work all the time.I probably should buy a box for the shop and start teaching my kids to wear them!

 

Where I work if you have to talk loud to be heard you have to use ear protection. I have a set from the music store that cuts the volume down but you can still hear, pricey but nice and comfortable. I just thought, I need to wear them every time I'm in the Comet!

 

"Twat did you say? I cunt hear you I have an ear infucktion"....................seriuosly try growing up in the seventies and about 100 heavy metal concerts..I am still ringing thanks to Scorpions.

 

well after 20+ years of being an auto mechanic,drag racing,3 years in the field artillery,6 years combat engineer..i would have to say huh?? just wear your hearing protection...rooster

 

That is EXACTLY how I describe it to people. Funny, I'm sitting here typing this thinking the Cicadas are out in force.

 

38, and have issues with hearing. went and got tested, said i was ok, told them, ah, no, i have an issue, they said, well, if nothing else, we have a baseline to go with!?!?. background noise kills me in a conversation, always saying 'what?', 'sorry, didn't get that', etc. i always wear muffs when doing loud shit at work, and wear them while mowing lawn and the like. used to hate them doing yard work, but once i learned the sound of 'normal' operation thru the muffs, i can still tell if something is amiss with my machines, even though 'muffled'.

ALWAYS protect the eyes, ears and back, never know when you'll need them!

 

Re "things came back to almost normal for me"

This is part of the problem - people see this, and begin to believe that hearing repairs itself ("good, I'll start being more careful next year - I have plenty of time").

It does not, except in the most minor and superficial way.
Exposure to a very loud noise (140 dB(A)), no matter how briefly, causes instant and permanent hearing loss. Every gunshot, every time you stand next to open exhaust causes cumulative and irreversible damage. Even loud music (90 dB(A)) causes permanent damage if sustained over several hours.

Why does it seem to come back?
1. you want to think so
2. you're getting used to it

 

Almost 50 years in a screw machine shop has taken it's toll. When I started working, there wasn't any such thing as hearing protection. Now my ears ring 24/7. Have been for about 5 years. Can't hear the phone bell in the shop anymore. Might be some hereditary thing. My sister has it, and has always worked in a quiet office. It's driving her nuts, but I seem to be able to live with it. Interesting, that part about the hearing aids helping the ringing some. Next time I find an extra $2500 laying around, I'll have to look into them.

 

Same problem. I've got two pairs of hearing aids, different technology, neather works. I should have bought car parts. We just have to live with it, I think. Good luck.

 

I lost most of the hearing in my left ear over 30 years ago due to an infection, I also have shot over 250,000 rounds of ammo, used air tools ,spent a career often managing heavy construction projects etc. I have had ear ringing since the initial hearing loss , the good news is you get used to it and "do not hear it" after a few years. I still have a problem hearing in places with noise, the sounds blend in and all I hear is a wall of noise. USE EAR PROTECTION where ever possable.

 

nothing wrong with safety equipment, didn't use to have it is why it wasn't used, I wouldn't think of running an angle grinder without glasses and a face shield, I have a face shield with a cut off wheel embedded in it as a mater of fact, that could have been my eye easy. I'm 36 and wish i had worn ear plugs more often, it's getting hard for me to distinguish words. loud concerts, loud exausts loud stereos,loud machinery. now i'm going deaf. if you have safety gear use it. it's got nothing to do with the countrys downfall, people just didn't know better. I would rather have the pain of having the safety glasses then lose an eye. as to the chainsaw, ask some guys who lost fingers and hands, they would tell you to use it now. I knew a lot of them when i lived in ohio. I used to know a guy up there nicknamed zipper, he had a chainsaw kick back and hit him dead center in the face, 350 stitches to close it up. lucky he lived. it's much more fun being alive when you have both eyes and can hear your wife and the tv.

 

I am 68 and used some of the best hearing protection in the world, but I still have ringing in my ears. I still hear pretty good. I used ear plugs and ear muffs when trimming jet engs,and that is loud.

 

might not be a bad idea to invest in beltone , look at all these young kids with the bass in the cars, some of those cars have got to be around 120 db at least inside. if you can hear a cars bass from two blocks away, the level in the car has to be unreal. they park down the street here, and i can hear it inside of the house with the tv turned up, clearly. at least it will be revenge for them keeping me up at night with that shit.

 

christ, you fellas are makin my ears ring just readin this!

 

what? couldn't hear you. you got an ear ring? those went out in the eighties.

 

I've had ringing in my ears ever since I got married....kinda funny how it goes away when I'm not around my wife ??????

 

No ringing, but but being in an 175 MM artillery unit in the Army, big handguns, rifles, motorcycle racer/mechanic, body shop tools, broken eardrum waterskiing, etc. have taken their toll. If there is ANY background noise at all, I can't hear a thing. I'm always saying "WHAT???"

 

i have had a steady ring for over 20 years now, i realy only notice it when a thread like this comes along..lol..

 

If there is background noise, forget it. I cannot hear. If I'm looking at your mouth while you are talking, its not because I'm gonna kiss you. I can put it together if I see the mouth move and the snippets of noise I hear.

This has not been addressed yet, but if any of you get dizzy or have vertigo, and have the ringing too, there is another issue unrelated to noise exposure. I have been around loud engines, guns, etc as well all my life.

Its called Menieres disease, and depending on the severity, will make you fall over without warning. It affects the equilibrium in your head. In your ear are these Vestibular tubes that have a certain amount of liquid in them. Too much sodium causes your body to retain water, and too much goes in there and that upsets your equilibrium.
Cutting way back on salt will help alot. I have had this for almost 20 years. There is not a cure any doctor could come up with. I went on a low salt diet about 10 years ago, and have not fallen over since.
The ringing is still there, though.
You get used to it, I guess....

 

When discussing tinitus with a co worker, he said when he gets his ears tested there is a certain frequency that he can't hear - which happens to be the frequency of his wifes voice.

 

I understand there are 'hairs' within the hearing mechanism (not the external barn owl hairs that grosses out the chicks) and these 'hairs' break off causing the permanent damage.

 

53yo and can't hear squat for high end noise. I can trace most of my hearing problems back to the days of standing next to top fuel motors and thinking this was as good as it got. Wife thinks it's selective hearing...it's not, but some times that is a plus

 

And to think I always thought it was the Tequila that was making me fall over, now I learn its the salt on the Margarita glass.

Mines the same problem. It's called a notch loss. The response to mid range frequency is real low. This happens to be the normal range of the female voice. I had my Doctor write it down so I could take it to my Wife just to prove I wasn't ignoring her. Well sometimes I do, but now I have a Doctors excuse.

 

I always keep some form of ear protection around. Nothing as spectacular as shooting muffs, but I use the little yellow rubber behive looking deals on the blue string and jam them in my ear until things are quiet. shhhhh.... The biggest thing I have noticed is a huge decrease in fatigue. In our shop it seems like there is always some noise droning in the back ground (large fans, other work going on, etc.) and all that extra noise seemed to take a toll. So I've found that just leaving them in most of the time has really improved my energy level. The other thing is that you get a whole lot less crap in your ears. Except now I have to turn my music up louder when I work...

Protect them ears! I'm 32 and already regretting how much hearing I've lost from not being more careful. I always had loud stereos in my cars (till now), played drums since I was 11 and didn't take precautions earlier on in life. I love hearing... hope to keep on hearing.

 

Yeah, protect you're hearing, I've had tinnitus since I was a teenager, and it really does limit the quality of you're life. Yesterday my son got married, and I really couldn't hold a conversation with anybody at the reception because in a group like that all the noises merge into one noisy mess. You find yourself staring and smiling a lot, and hoping it's appropriate for what was just said. You can't go around explaining your hearing problem to everyone, so you come off as not being very friendly, or a jerk. I find that I just stay home a lot more rather than go through that.
So young guys, take care, you don't know what you've got till it's gone.

 

yes I have that, most of my hearing loss was caused by noise but I also got the other, great genes, I had wanted to get my pilots licience, but it got bad enough that when the plane banked, I would feel that I was still banking even after it was level. so that idea went out the window. I have learned to keep upright by visual clues.

 

I just turned 40 and have been wearing hearing aids for about 8 years. Even with them I have to be talking directly to someone to under stand them. Any background noise or being in a group of people and I am lost.

I am recently seperated from my wife and I know that the inability to have a decent conversation is at least partly to blame.

I did front end work for a while and I am sure that using an air hammer with no hearing protection had a lot to do with it, along with concerts and the drag strip. The ringing doesn't bother me but not being able to have a conversation with the people I care about does.

Nothing is more alienating than being out with a group of friends and they are all laughing and cutting up and you have no idea what is funny because you can't follow the conversation.

It would have been so easy to put in plugs or muffs when I was working but I was young and bulletproof. Now I pay for that mistake daily and the expense of my marriage, friendships, and my family.

Protect what you have, when it is gone it won't come back. The ringing is caused by nerve damage in most cases and nerves do not repair themselves. When they die they are gone.

matt

 

Thanks guys, I had my wife in training read some of these and now she understands that what I have been saying might have some truth to it. I also have problems hearing when there is other noise in the room. My hearing will zone in on the loudest noise and thats all I will hear. I keep telling her to make sure I can see her when she talks instead of trying to yell across the house. I bought a box of earplugs off of e gay yesterday after I read this post. I cant fix my hearing but maybe I can keep my boys from loosing theirs and mine from getting worse. Thanks again everyone, I thought I was alone in this.

 

Young guys listen up! You are not invulnerable. I'm another one that can't hear with background noise. It sucks bad, folks get pissed off at me because I can't hear them sometimes. My classroom has a noisy vent in the ceiling and it messes with my understanding others if they are more than about 10 feet away. I don't have full time tinitus, but when I get it I don't like it. A loud and annoying ringing tone, ironically it sounds like a hearing aid in the squealing feedback mode. If you don't take care, you will kick yourself in the butt. My downfall? Loud music, motorcycles with loud pipes, wind noise from bikes and cars, gunfire, air force work where I was the last with the fighters on the ground and first when they land, loud tools, etc. Even now I get stupid sometimes, like not wearing muffs when running my tractor. I gotta practice what I preach.