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I almost lost my hearing from the lid on the tank of a toilet

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Re: I almost lost my hearing from the lid on the tank of a toilet

#361

Post by verisimilitude »

rosstex wrote: post #315

I have a lot of earwax build-up, so whenever I wear earplugs they stick out stupidly. But this thread has scared me to death, so I think I'll keep on using them.

Oh oh I have something to help you! I used to struggle with them sticking out, too -- but since I watched this video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3S6dthcSVIM

I can pop them in and you can't even see them when you're looking at me head-on. You _have_ to use two hands to put them in -- pulling up on the ear is essential. The roll-down information is helpful, too.

Now, I can yawn and move my jaw every which way and the seal is never broken. Actually changed my life, since I wear earplugs for most of the night and a lot of the day.

Re: I almost lost my hearing from the lid on the tank of a toilet

#362

Post by DenisM »

Klathmon wrote: post #202
DenisM wrote: post #185

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That much worry speaks to anxiety, in the medical sense, and may cause an injury just by itself. See a doctor, and more than one if you get a run-around.

I don't think that is being overly worried. They are just talking about long-term disability!? I have it as well, for mostly the same reasons. I worry that if something were to happen to my hands, eyes, or brain that I wouldn't be able to provide for myself or my family. I don't think having disability insurance is "that much worry".

No objections from me to disability insurance. I was specifically referring to this part: now I'm worried about eyesight, and my hands, and everything else around the modern world. especially after having purchased insurance.

That sounds like a person who is on a lookout for something to be worried about, pretty much the definition of anxiety.

Re: I almost lost my hearing from the lid on the tank of a toilet

#363

Post by tokai »

polack wrote: post #203
lttlrck wrote: post #149

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It may recover with time. When I was a teen I dismantled a shotgun cartridge and removed the shot and paper charge (lots of tiny paper discs). I stuffed them down the thick end of a car telescopic antenna cut to about 4” with the end folded over. I threw in a couple of pieces of lead shot, tamped it down with a piece of paper, stuck the tube under a rock and set up a paper target 6” away. I was optimistic. Then, with…

When I was doing my military service another conscript fired his rifle down into the ground as we where standing close together without any hearing protection on. Seconds later our captain orders us to put the hearing protection on and leads us down to a completely dark cellar with beds in it. We then had to lay there for 48 hours in complete silence with noice canceling ear protection on with only breaks for toilet…

When I was a conscript, my initial hearing test indicated a small hearing loss. Before i joined up I had worked as a busboy at a nightclub, where I never wore hearing protection. Us conscripts with documented hearing loss had to wear double ear protection[0] on the shooting range, and during field practice with blanks. The test I got when I left the military shown my hearing had returned to normal. Youth might have something to do with it, but my experience mirrors yours in that silence can heal some damage.

[0] Earmuffs over earplugs. Conscripts normal hearing only had to wear earplugs.

Re: I almost lost my hearing from the lid on the tank of a toilet

#364

Post by badpun »

lttlrck wrote: post #149
fragsworth wrote: post #67

My hearing was ACTUALLY permanently damaged when a sticky iron weight fell on a leg press machine at a 24-hour fitness about 5 years ago. The weights looked like these: http://www.presentationzen.com/.a/6a00d83451b64669e201156eb4... One extra weight slab was "stuck" to the group that was supposed to get lifted. It was stuck because the weights at the gym were grimy from many years of use without being cleaned. The ex…

It may recover with time. When I was a teen I dismantled a shotgun cartridge and removed the shot and paper charge (lots of tiny paper discs). I stuffed them down the thick end of a car telescopic antenna cut to about 4” with the end folded over. I threw in a couple of pieces of lead shot, tamped it down with a piece of paper, stuck the tube under a rock and set up a paper target 6” away. I was optimistic. Then, with…

> The ringing lasted a few years but went away.

In my case, it also went away completely after two years, only to come back after another five. I'm stuck with it since :/

Re: I almost lost my hearing from the lid on the tank of a toilet

#366

Post by creep »

nate_meurer wrote: post #275
creep wrote: post #239

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why did you start wearing earplugs? I know in the online music community that developing tinnitus is a fear/paranoia akin to fear of surveillance in the tech community-- not that these fears are unfounded, but many of such types tend to obsess. Is this the case with you? What happened to you that impacted your life to this point?

I have some tinnitus, but probably no more than the average person and it rarely bothers me. No, I just really like my hearing. I resolved to always wear earplugs out of the house one day after a particularly nasty bus with squealing brakes made my ears ring. I ride my bike a lot so that just made sense. At home, I was putting in ear plugs when putting away dishes, because I want to just get that shit done, pulling h…

Lol maybe you should start wearing a gas mask on the regular too? There are a lot of harmful chemicals in the air. Especially if you're on the road a lot biking.

Re: I almost lost my hearing from the lid on the tank of a toilet

#367

Post by DanBC »

nate_meurer wrote: post #228

A little PSA: there is some evidence that magnesium can help prevent/cure acute noise-induced hearing loss. Google returns several reputable studies. Also: earplugs, earplugs, earplugs. I keep foam earplugs on me at all times. I have some in my fifth pants pocket, I keep some in a pill container on my keyring, some in my backpack, in my car, etc. I cut them in half; the half size fits easier and takes up less space,…

> to the point that I now wear them most of the time.

You're risking ear infection, which could cause permanent loss of hearing, tinnitus, or worse.

Re: I almost lost my hearing from the lid on the tank of a toilet

#368

Post by tptacek »

et1337 wrote: post #319
dag11 wrote: post #297

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wow, this gives me hope. I'm 22 and in the past two years I've gone to ~100 rock concerts, seeing a total of 270 sets. For the first 23 concerts I didn't wear any hearing protection, until I had a scary event with my hearing at a Neon Trees concert that left my hearing very distorted for three days. Then for the next 80 or so concert's I'd wear my hearing protection most–but not all–of the time. In the past year I've…

I've had pretty bad tinnitus my whole life. In a perfectly quiet room it sounds deafeningly loud. I use a pink noise app in bed at night, but otherwise it doesn't really bother me. Point is, don't worry about it, your brain can adjust to anything and you'll be fine. As I understand it, tinnitus is only half physical damage anyway. The other half is neural. In my case I believe it's all neural. At one point it got way…

In my experience blood pressure and sinus inflammation (the symptoms of which can be pretty subtle) can both jack up chronic tinnitus.

Re: I almost lost my hearing from the lid on the tank of a toilet

#369

Post by Exuma »

matte_black wrote: post #236
JohnJamesRambo wrote: post #229

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is one of the weirder things I’ve ever read here and I read a lot of strange behaviors here. You wear earplugs full time man, that’s not normal, you are missing out on unimpeded hearing due to a fear of hearing loss that likely is not based on science. Normal level sounds don’t degrade hearing as far as I know and loud sounds aren’t that common, certainly not enough to warrant wearing earplugs full time. https:/…

It’s not that strange. I wear earplugs (although they are low profile hidden ones) if I’m going to a loud venue, such as a really loud bar, or club, or a concert. It increases my enjoyment of these places and also makes it easier to have conversations with people.

Key phrase being... " if I’m going to a loud venue"

The guy above wears them 24/7

Re: I almost lost my hearing from the lid on the tank of a toilet

#370

Post by code_duck »

code_duck wrote: post #350
sampo wrote: post #291

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is this story about Feynman looking at the explosion of an atomic bomb from behind a car window. He reasoned that visible light alone can not hurt eyes, only ultraviolet, which is filtered out by the glass. https://www.realclearscience.com/blog/2016/04/what_its_like_... I don't know what's the truth.

I work in a field where we are continually concerned with filtering light emissions (flameworking glass), but I don’t know the answer to that, either, whether visible light can cause permanent damage. I do know that infrared can cause serious problems, such as burns and perhaps macular degeneration. It is mainly what welding shades and our glassblowing glasses filter.

^ I should have noted that welding shades and glassblowing glasses also filter visible light heavily, of course (>90%). But what distinguishes them from sunglasses is the IR filtration. Glassblowing lenses also filter sodium flare, a glaring orange (visible) light emitted by some glass in a flame.

IR drops off adequately at spectating distances, and when I am at a demo, watching other people work, I don’t wear my glasses. Not sure about at a nuclear blast though.

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