![]() While most of us don’t spend hours with a hair dryer on a daily basis, sound levels from hair dryers have been measured at 95+dB. Indoor practice sessions can be especially loud due to reverberation of sound. ![]() High school, college, and competition bands-especially percussion sections-may produce sound levels ranging from 100-108-dB. However, depending on the distance from the instrument, noise levels in excess of 106-dB have been recorded from symphonic orchestras. Most people would expect that after a rock concert, but likely not in a high school band or symphony orchestra. A TTS occurs after exposure to loud sound due to metabolic exhaustion of the nerve endings (hair cells) in the inner ear. Tinnitus experiences for a short period of time is likely due to what is called a Temporary Threshold Shift (TTS). Ringing in the ears or tinnitus, can be a sign of hearing damage. When I take a case history from patients, most of them admit to having attended some rock concerts where they left with their ears ringing. Scientists have measured wind turbulence in the ear canal to produce noise in excess of 105-dB. The higher the speed, the louder the noise can get. High speed wind creates turbulence across the opening of the ear canal. This can happen with motorcycles, jet skis, boats, snowmobiles, even driving long distances with the window down in a car or truck.Ī study of noise and motorcycle riders showed potential for both temporary and permanent hearing loss due to wind noise. I mean air turbulence caused by rapid airflow past your ear. No, I don’t mean standing outside on a windy day. However, there are a number of dangerous sounds to which we are regularly exposed that you might have never considered. Some potentially harmful noises are obvious to even the most casual observer: That is enough to protect your hearing from most any noise, at least for a short term exposure. Cheap, foam earplugs, when installed properly, decrease sound pressure levels 15-20-dB. When in doubt, use hearing protection.Don’t use power equipment close to your head/ears. Get further away from a speaker at a concert. The more distance you can put between your ear and a loud noise the better.So if a noise or environment is loud (chainsaw, concert, music, equipment, etc.), limit your exposure time! The louder a sound is, the shorter amount of time you can safely be around it without permanently damaging your hearing.Here are 3 general rules for protecting your hearing from harmful noises: These 3 rules might just save your hearing. To keep it simple, the louder a sound or noise is, the shorter the time you want to be exposed to it and the further away you should be. In our previous post, we discussed how hearing can be harmed by noise and loud sounds.
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