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I was partially deaf for the last couple of years

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Re: I was partially deaf for the last couple of years

#21

Post by Cthulhu_ »

I had it for a couple days, fun times having a cold while in an airplane, :p. Turning my head sideways and shaking fixed it.

As for the unease with noises, I guess it's understandable; one, the people that don't mind are probably used to it. Two, if you haven't been able to hear for a while, your hearing will get sharper and it'll have much more of an impact.

Three, I too get uneasy when having to listen to busy train stations and the like. I usually wear earbuds (with music) for that reason. And get stressed / uneasy whenever those don't work.

Re: I was partially deaf for the last couple of years

#22

Post by masklinn »

byuu wrote: post #10

I lost hearing in my left ear for the same reason. Ear kept blocking up more and more frequently until it stayed permanently shut. Tried the store peroxide kits, they didn't work at all for me. It's such an unnerving experience because you really fear it's something permanent. Finally got it cleaned out by a doctor, and just wow. It really is as if you have bionic hearing. Everything sounded enhanced, and had a lot o…

> But it quickly fades back to what you're used to as your ear builds up a normal, healthy amount of wax again.

No, it fades back because your brain re-adapts. It's somewhat similar to day/night vision, during blockage the ear/brain complex cranks up sensibility to try and hear things, once the ear's clean it dials back sensibility because there's no need for it.

There's no such thing as "heatlhy amount of wax" because it's not supposed to build up (let alone build up so much it block out the ear canal or presses against the eardrum, which is how it lowers hearing). Normally, earwax is secreted in the outer third of the ear and slowly travels outwards before flaking out.

(I say that being a frequent sufferer of accumulating and impacted earwax, earwax buildup is one of the banes of my existence)

Re: I was partially deaf for the last couple of years

#23

Post by kaybe »

ilanco wrote: post #2

Car horns are meant to be used in emergencies only, mostly to prevent accidents. Unfortunately in some countries like Israel (where I live) it has become more of a device for expressing anger or frustration.

German law states it can be used as a signal before passing. Nobody does it though, which is a good thing.

Re: I was partially deaf for the last couple of years

#24

Post by mgkimsal »

lmm wrote: post #18
shanselman wrote: post #5

It always strikes me how often we hear that folks either won't go to the doctor to get something looked at, or they go to the doc and get the answer and then simply aren't compliant. If it's broken, fix it. I've never understood the logic behind avoiding the doc.

It's hard to admit there's something wrong with oneself. Physical problems are easier than mental ones, but it's still not a pleasant admission. (Probably makes sense from an evolutionary perspective, where medical care wasn't available, and it was valuable to be able to affect being ok even when one wasn't)

Props on the use of 'affect'. :)

Re: I was partially deaf for the last couple of years

#25

Post by taeric »

WalterBright wrote: post #16
reeses wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The best are people who lie to the doctor. Unless you're hoping to defraud someone (get meds, insurance, whatever) it's not only pointless, it's so counterproductive. "I haven't pooped in a week." "Hmm, how many servings of roughage do you eat per day?" "All of them. I eat ten apples for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and I eat the solids left in the juicer after making my all-organic smoothies." "OK, I guess we'll ha…

I tried lying to the dentist when I was a kid about how often I brushed my teeth. He just laughed at me.

I always had the opposite as a child. They would commend me on how I must have done a decent job since the last checkup. Reality is I probably only brushed/flossed 3 or 4 times in that interval.

Re: I was partially deaf for the last couple of years

#26

Post by taeric »

shanselman wrote: post #5

It always strikes me how often we hear that folks either won't go to the doctor to get something looked at, or they go to the doc and get the answer and then simply aren't compliant. If it's broken, fix it. I've never understood the logic behind avoiding the doc.

For me, it is hard to know when things are actually bad.

I would hear stories of folks that can't see anything, look up and can make it out alright. Finally get in for a vision test at 34 to find that glasses help out tremendously. Sure, I could read before, but now it is just easy.

So, it isn't that I would avoid the doctor. But for many things, if you don't go to a specialist, the answer to the question of "how are things" is usually "getting along, no major complaints."

Re: I was partially deaf for the last couple of years

#27

Post by darklajid »

kaybe wrote: post #23
ilanco wrote: post #2

Car horns are meant to be used in emergencies only, mostly to prevent accidents. Unfortunately in some countries like Israel (where I live) it has become more of a device for expressing anger or frustration.

German law states it can be used as a signal before passing. Nobody does it though, which is a good thing.

Sure about that? You can use your lights to indicate that you're planning to take over, but the horn? Never heard about that one. Interesting.

Re: I was partially deaf for the last couple of years

#28

Post by brazzy »

Brajeshwar wrote: post #6
ilanco wrote: post #2

Car horns are meant to be used in emergencies only, mostly to prevent accidents. Unfortunately in some countries like Israel (where I live) it has become more of a device for expressing anger or frustration.

Similar happenings here in India. Everyone honks for every 10th breath they take while driving.

True story: I've worked on a QA workflow system for a large car maker. One of the tickets I saw said something like this:

Problem: Cars delivered to India come in for warranty repairs of the horns unusually often.

Root cause analysis: The horns are designed for 50k activation cycles. Due to the more intensive use in India, this is insufficient.

They were still debating whether to build in a sturdier horn everywhere or just for the Indian market...

Re: I was partially deaf for the last couple of years

#29

Post by brazzy »

As a kid I once lost a tooth and wanted to keep it, but since I had nowhere to put it at the moment, I shoved it into my ear. Then I forgot about it.

So of course a couple of weeks later I was at the doctor with a blocked ear. When it came out, he was rather surprised - said that he'd removed all kinds of things from kids' ears, but never before a tooth...

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