I almost lost my hearing from the lid on the tank of a toilet • Hacker News Board

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

#381

Post by csomar » Sun, Apr 01, 2018, 8:36 PM UTC

macintux wrote: post #380

csomar wrote: post #330

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Stop worrying. You are way more fragile than you think. That's why humanity created 7 billion people at the same time and around the world. Decentralization is important. On the other hand, it is bad news for you. You can catch a naughty bacteria and die. You can slip by the door step and become paraplegic. If you are concerned about your family, get insurance. If you are concerned about your life (paraplegic or blin…

Astonishingly patronizing, but...thank you I suppose.

I'm not sure which part sounded patronizing. I actually wanted to make sound rather re-assuring.

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

#382

Post by chrisdsaldivar » Sun, Apr 01, 2018, 9:04 PM UTC

brandall10 wrote: post #170

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…

I'm 42 years old and spent much of my teens and early 20s going to loud rock shows, raves, etc. I was rather stupid and always tried to get right up to the PA speakers at the front. I did not wear hearing protection. Many times I left shows with ringing for hours and that feeling like there is cotton stuffed in your ears for days. Not a handle of times - dozens of times. By my mid 20s it appeared I had tinnitus aroun…

How are you using an SPL meter to measure headphone audio? I've always been kinda worried about hearing damage.

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

#383

Post by nate_meurer » Sun, Apr 01, 2018, 9:58 PM UTC

creep wrote: post #379

nate_meurer wrote: post #371

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Alright so this will make you LOL a bit more... I recently started keeping a 3M dustmask in my car -- the paper sort with the small outlet valve in the middle -- to wear when traffic is real heavy, especially on cool, still days when traffic smog tends to hug the ground. Pollution where I live is nothing like China or India, and I'm not yet thinking about using a mask when jogging or biking, but in-car pollution in h…

Did you know that stress and anxiety increase your risk of heart disease significantly? 1 - http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/HealthyLiving/StressManagement... . 2 - http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.565...

Hmmm, I'm sensing a subtext here :)

Honestly, stress and anxiety are things I don't struggle with, at least not according to my vitals. My resting heart rate is typically in the high fifties (but I recorded 47 bpm at my last checkup). I actually struggle a bit with low blood pressure, often getting light headed when I stand up. I don't have insomnia, I'm on no medication whatsoever, I've never had stomach ulcers, I have a full head of hair, and people routinely guess my age about 10 years too young.

I think you might just be struggling a bit with the idea of someone who evaluates long term risk differently than you do. You might end up on the other side of that at some point. For example, I know a guy from Cambodia who thinks you're an idiot for insisting on wearing shoes when you leave the house. He'd say you're destroying your feet's physiological function by cramming them into shoes, and that your only problem is that you've refused to allow them to toughen up to the level they naturally would to match their environment. Now are you going to start motorbiking barefoot around town? I'm guessing not.

I get it from the other direction too. Some people think I'm stupid for allowing my kids to ride their bikes in the park without helmets. I can explain that my kids are much more enthusiastic about riding because I don't load them down with a bunch of uncomfortable safety gear. I can also explain that my kids are far more likely to get a head injury riding inside a car, and we don't wear helmets in cars do we?

These arguments sometimes work, but for the most part, people are pretty stuck on what they know from their own narrow experiences.

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

#384

Post by dag11 » Sun, Apr 01, 2018, 11:26 PM UTC

mgleason_3 wrote: post #337

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…

Wow, are you in the business or just a huge fan?

Just a fan. I did several co-ops at west coast tech companies (San Francisco and Seattle) that gave me ample opportunities to see my favorite bands touring. I kept track of my concerts with a spreadsheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1XIwkqPQmxT6jZE5UMjxU...

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

#385

Post by Para2016 » Sun, Apr 01, 2018, 11:30 PM UTC

nate_meurer wrote: post #268

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:/…

Not totally sure how to respond to this, as you don't seem to have actually read my comment, but here goes > "you are missing out on unimpeded hearing" As I said, my plugged hearing is now as good as my formerly unplugged hearing. The only thing I'm "missing" is a couple kHz at the very top, above about 18kHz. I don't miss that, really. And if I want super-human hearing (like when I'm reviewing audio equipment), gues…

Were you ever initially evaluated by an audiologist for your hearing loss?

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

#386

Post by nate_meurer » Sun, Apr 01, 2018, 11:40 PM UTC

Para2016 wrote: post #385

nate_meurer wrote: post #268

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not totally sure how to respond to this, as you don't seem to have actually read my comment, but here goes > "you are missing out on unimpeded hearing" As I said, my plugged hearing is now as good as my formerly unplugged hearing. The only thing I'm "missing" is a couple kHz at the very top, above about 18kHz. I don't miss that, really. And if I want super-human hearing (like when I'm reviewing audio equipment), gues…

Were you ever initially evaluated by an audiologist for your hearing loss?

Yes.

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

#387

Post by creep » Mon, Apr 02, 2018, 12:02 AM UTC

nate_meurer wrote: post #383

creep wrote: post #379

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Did you know that stress and anxiety increase your risk of heart disease significantly? 1 - http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/HealthyLiving/StressManagement... . 2 - http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.565...

Hmmm, I'm sensing a subtext here :) Honestly, stress and anxiety are things I don't struggle with, at least not according to my vitals. My resting heart rate is typically in the high fifties (but I recorded 47 bpm at my last checkup). I actually struggle a bit with low blood pressure, often getting light headed when I stand up. I don't have insomnia, I'm on no medication whatsoever, I've never had stomach ulcers, I h…

This is a good point, and I'm glad you explained it so well because it's something I haven't given much thought to. I do yoga and exercise to maintain my muscular system and ligaments, and eat well to maintain my bones and organ function, and etc., but I suppose I've never been raised to, or been given reason to, add extra physical barriers for my own safety. For example, to protect my eyes I have blue light filter on my devices, but I don't see the risk of gouging my eyes out as being very high. Mostly, in the physical world my life is pretty "safe". But perhaps when I start driving and running through thorny underbrush I will wear protective goggles and such :)

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

#388

Post by nate_meurer » Mon, Apr 02, 2018, 12:48 AM UTC

creep wrote: post #387

nate_meurer wrote: post #383

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hmmm, I'm sensing a subtext here :) Honestly, stress and anxiety are things I don't struggle with, at least not according to my vitals. My resting heart rate is typically in the high fifties (but I recorded 47 bpm at my last checkup). I actually struggle a bit with low blood pressure, often getting light headed when I stand up. I don't have insomnia, I'm on no medication whatsoever, I've never had stomach ulcers, I h…

This is a good point, and I'm glad you explained it so well because it's something I haven't given much thought to. I do yoga and exercise to maintain my muscular system and ligaments, and eat well to maintain my bones and organ function, and etc., but I suppose I've never been raised to, or been given reason to, add extra physical barriers for my own safety. For example, to protect my eyes I have blue light filter o…

> "I don't see the risk of gouging my eyes out as being very high"

You're absolutely right about this. The risk is very low. But the stakes are extremely high. It's the insurance problem: how much are you willing to pay to prevent a rare but extremely hazardous even in the future?

To a lot of people (maybe most) wearing glasses if they don't need correction seems silly. I can't argue with that, but in my case, my sunglasses saved me from an expensive, painful surgery and possible disability. The experience made me feel that the "insurance" of wearing glasses habitually was an acceptable cost to bear if it could keep that from happening again. I'm no actuary; it really is just a feeling. And feelings are what all of us rely on most when we evaluate risk, whether we like it or not. My feeling is not likely any more valid than yours, because it's based on my values and experiences, and your's may be entirely different.

Now, its totally possible for these extra barriers to interfere with one's life. Again I think about how many kids are discouraged from riding bikes because of the oppressive safety gear. Or suppose I miss a plane because I can't find my fake glasses. When that happens it'll be time to question whether my reliance on my protective barriers is healthy. I think that's the issue your comments anticipate, and you're right about that too.

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

#389

Post by chiph » Mon, Apr 02, 2018, 2:23 AM UTC

Bromskloss wrote: post #257

polack wrote: post #252

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, modern soldiers wear “comtac” hearing protection with integrated microphones that pick up speech but block out the noise. So you can still communicate decent by shouting even though there is heavy fire going on around you.

What about before such things were available? Did everyone get damaged hearing the first day?

Pretty much. You watch any film from the WW-II era and only artillery crews wore any sort of hearing protection (cotton wads stuffed in their ears). But many of them gave up doing even that after a while.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iuMytPAKQyU

Dad had significant hearing loss from his time in the infantry during the war.

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

#390

Post by melq » Mon, Apr 02, 2018, 2:37 AM UTC

nate_meurer wrote: post #383

creep wrote: post #379

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Did you know that stress and anxiety increase your risk of heart disease significantly? 1 - http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/HealthyLiving/StressManagement... . 2 - http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.565...

Hmmm, I'm sensing a subtext here :) Honestly, stress and anxiety are things I don't struggle with, at least not according to my vitals. My resting heart rate is typically in the high fifties (but I recorded 47 bpm at my last checkup). I actually struggle a bit with low blood pressure, often getting light headed when I stand up. I don't have insomnia, I'm on no medication whatsoever, I've never had stomach ulcers, I h…

Wait... do you seriously wear eye and ear protection around the clock, and not have any issue with your children not wearing helmets?

I'm not sure how you've determined that your kids are more likely to suffer head injuries in a car, but even if that were true that's a dubious line of reasoning to say the least.