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Sounding the alarm: How noise hurts the heart (2021)

knowablemagazine.org

281–290 of 531 posts

Re: Sounding the alarm: How noise hurts the heart (2021)

#281
post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yep, I joined the tinnitus bandwagon in the beginning of the pandemic. I was locked up at home and neighbouring dogs wouldn't shut up all day, so I resorted to earplugs and here I am now. Surprisingly I met at least 5 other people with the same problem recently, and they were all told by doctors that it was due to stress and not earplugs/headphones. I call it BS.

Earplugs gave you tinnitus? Do you mean earbuds? Earplugs are typically hearing PPE.

Earplugs can give you tinnitus because they provide almost complete silence, in which your brain can latch on to the tinniest pre-existing tinnitus sound that was already there (which is pretty common in the current era of hearing-damaging equipment and environments), but you didn't notice it before. Once the brain notices it, it's basically impossible to unhear it. That's my theory at least.

Re: Sounding the alarm: How noise hurts the heart (2021)

#282
I spent a year working on an automatic volume control product[^1], but this smells of correlation...noise ~ heart damage? The most polluted and stressful places are also the noisiest. And what causes the noise? Burning of jet fuel and hydrocarbons. Leaf blowers are also some of the dirtiest burning engines ever invented.

[^1]: https://wallfly.webflow.io/

Re: Sounding the alarm: How noise hurts the heart (2021)

#283

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As someone who grew up playing piano, I'm sad that it's incompatible with urban living. I know some cultures are more likely to tolerate it than others, but overall I see it as on the way out.

There are electric pianos that are really-really good with feedback and feel and whatnot you piano players value, just plug in the headphones and practice away. Of all the compromises musicians have to make in apartment buildings this is one of the best and easiest.

Those still produce noise when you press the keys. Source: a friend can't practice after 8 because it bothers his downstairs neighbours.

Re: Sounding the alarm: How noise hurts the heart (2021)

#284
post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> instruments being practiced As a musician... although I understand that, in the end, instrument practice is still noise, it hurts to see this listed among the rest of your items. Last year, I had to move out of an apartment complex because our neighbors would not tolerate even 30 minutes of practice a day (in spite of the ~2 daily hours of lawn care racket, but whatever) and complained to building management. I get…

My issue with my current neighbor (which is why i listed it) is mostly being woken up by the playing. I sleep late on weekends, I guess he wants to practice at 9am on a saturday for a few hours. Its the first thing I hear, he wakes me up, then im stuck listening as i try to get up and out of the apartment. Its also random playing in duration and time. Sometimes I think hes finally done then i get shocked by some loud…

It's absolutely reasonable to not want to be harassed by noise in ones home. Even if that means a musician has to find another place to practice. Living stress free takes precedence over learning an instrument.

Re: Sounding the alarm: How noise hurts the heart (2021)

#287

This is one of the things I struggle with the most in life. I feel like most people don't seem to care about noise pollution and zero care is put into designing living spaces or cities to minimize it. I've moved into apartments and nearly cried because I realized that there was some noise pollution that wasn't apparent when I visited it (e.g. a water boiler that ran constantly at night, road noise during the day, etc…

hearing decreases or changes with age (see story on children and handdryer)

Re: Sounding the alarm: How noise hurts the heart (2021)

#288
post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I had this "conversation" with my neighbor (it was more like me being yelled at) It kind of blew my mind they didnt care about noise interruptions at all hours and told me its my problem. Like maybe if you got a full night of sleep you wouldn't be so angry? I guess this study supports that. The noise in my current apartment is endless, car alarms, screaming and crying kids along with their loud toys, idling cars, the…

> instruments being practiced As a musician... although I understand that, in the end, instrument practice is still noise, it hurts to see this listed among the rest of your items. Last year, I had to move out of an apartment complex because our neighbors would not tolerate even 30 minutes of practice a day (in spite of the ~2 daily hours of lawn care racket, but whatever) and complained to building management. I get…

I'm a musician too, and yes, it is absolutely awful to hear someone practicing next door. I'm fortunate to play mostly electric instruments so I always practice with headphones because I understand how painful it is for others.

Re: Sounding the alarm: How noise hurts the heart (2021)

#289
post #163
post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can’t speak about puerto rico, but in another latin american country i’ve spent a lot of time in it’s very common for every small store to have a loudspeaker and blast (imo shitty) music from 10 to 5. That isn’t even bad compared to the many discos right next to each other than play music as loud as possible to not be dwarfed by their neighbor. Whenever I’m in a Western city I’m grateful for how much more quiet it…

Hesitate to say it, but I think a lot of my current noise issues are because I moved into an immigrant Mexican community without realizing it. While I'm posting things that might sound bad, I think I've noticed a correlation with more noise and lower economic class people

>>> I think I've noticed a correlation with more noise and lower economic class people

This is true and it is true all over the world.

Re: Sounding the alarm: How noise hurts the heart (2021)

#290

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Normal" suggestions: earmuffs or earplugs; soundproof your bedroom (IIUC certain types of window roller shutters can mitigate noise); move :/ Insane suggestion: record the dump trucks every night (using good microphones - maybe even hire some), build up a compendium of recordings, get a really good speaker and amp setup (absolutely no buzzing/hissing/hum etc), then play the recordings in a loop progressively increas…

> earmuffs or earplugs Spending too much time in hardcore noise insulation can induce tinnitus, which is then pretty likely to stay around forever.

If you can control your environment i.e. you own your home, get triple glazed windows.

With good ones, the silence is deafening. Ambulances and super strong winds are one of the few things that break through.

And besides that you get better insulation for hot summer, cold winters, etc.

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