[Tyson]

This is precisely why we need to do away with medicare, I don't want to end up paying for hearing aids and other treatments for these idiots. In fact I don't want to pay for anyone else's medical expenses period. Too many stupid people in the world that cannot take care of themselves.

 

[jon_m]

I tried wearing my etymotic earplugs to the gym (am getting some IEMs, and wanted to see how much isolation I'd need) and even with the plugs the music (well, MTV sodding base with the amp/speakers turned up past distortion point) was still a fair bit louder than I'd have it at home... Spent part of the time sitting next to a guy who was listening on headphones - loud enough that despite wearing ear plugs and the music/background noise in the gym I could still follow the tune he was listening to

A worrying prospect is that, as individuals' hearing is damaged by too loud noise, the volume at which things are played is increased (including in public spaces) so the situation gets worse... For example, if I ask the staff at the gym to turn the music down they say it's too low to hear at a point where I can follow it quite clearly

Damage to the hearing of individuals can spread to have a wider impact...in for example the way that music venues/clubs seem to be installing bigger and bigger soundsystems as well...

Jon

 

[kramer5150]

WHOA!! serious tinnitus?

What do the parents say? Don't they care?

As a noob parent I honestly FRIEK out at some of the things parents do to their kids or allow their kids to do.
Chocolate milk and twinkies for breakfast... YEOW!!

YIKES!!
Garrett

 

[JahJahBinks]

From my experience, movie theaters in nyc in the part where I used to live was significant louder than theaters here in the middle of nowhere (it's next to an interstate exit)

 

[jon_m]

I found both cinemas and music venues a fair bit louder in the North-East of the US than they are here in England. Sure the UK will follow, though

Jon

 

[Ampl1tude]

I did notify his parents. They seemed mildly frightened.
They asked me, "Can we buy a medicine to fix it?"

I told them, "No, there isn't a cure for it. But you can save up your money and get him a hearing aid in a couple years if he doesn't stop what he is doing." *But i did give him Alprazolam (a drug) to help with the tinnitus*

He has Tinnitus at the age of 18 for god sakes!!!!!Yes, Tinnitus.

They then were frightened.

I had a appointment with him a few days afterwards. His parents don't seem to grasp the problem too seriously. He obviously still think's he's the king of the world. (I asked him once, "How about these earphones? *Showed him IEM's* He then replied, "Those are ugly. Look sissy, u kno? I ain't like that. I like them white ones speakers.")

He seems to be a lost cause, like other cases i had.


I guess i'll have to schedule him in for a hearing aid impression and diagnosis in a couple years.

***Important: His tinnitus wasen't serious, but it was considered to be serious because he got it at such a young age. I gave him some drugs to help with the effects of tinnitus.***

 

[marvin]

I'd imagine that since it's a "lifestyle" thing, other people hearing what he's playing on his 'buds loud and clear is a plus, not a minus for him.

 

[stewgriff]

I see a lot of this peer pressure/volume stuff in my high school classes ("I can hear your music from 20 ft. away! KICKA--!!"). But I have my own scare case...

After 4 years of going through marching band, a predisposed case of tinnitus (which I remember having as early as I remember) flared up about 3 months after I bought an iPod. The ringing scared the hell out of me (I could hear it when testing was taking place in school), and I did every step possible to stop the tinnitus...this included limiting my MP3 files (setting the default volume of the MP3 code) from 95-110 to 70-75 dB , restraining iPod levels to 40% if possible, and buying a Shure IEM (which opened the light to my ears).

2 months later, my tinnitus is better than it was before I had an iPod, my newest audiograms are all at good levels, and I'm at the relative level of an audiophile in school (with only a Shure E2C!!!). My only problem is that my classmates ask, "What the hell are those?" and "Why didn't you get Bose QC2/Sony EX-71?".

And one question, if I can hear people talking with my Shures in my ears and my iPod at 10-25% volume, does that speak more for my low listening levels or for the general noise level of this world?

 

[Ampl1tude]

An update on this... I went to toronto today, and while waiting for the metro, I saw some guy, probly in his 20's, with his PSP playing some song on his headphones. Wow... i say wow... I never heard anything this loud in my life... seriously, they were soooooooooooooo loud. I can't explain how loud they were..

It was really disguisting. He wasen't even wearing them, he had them hanging loose on his neck. I thought to myself.... "whats the point of having HEADphones if your gonna wear them on your neck, full volume?"

He never put them on, he took the same metro as me... he just kept them on his neck.

He obviously didn't goto school pass grade 2 where he'd learn the word "head" means the place where your ears, eyes and mouth are... and brain... or lack of brain in his matter.

 

[K2Grey]

Quote:

Originally Posted by stewgriff And one question, if I can hear people talking with my Shures in my ears and my iPod at 10-25% volume, does that speak more for my low listening levels or for the general noise level of this world?

Depends on what your tips are. I use Westone UM1, which I think are higher sensitivity than E2c, and my files are mp3gained to 89db. With 5G I have it at 25% or so, and I can hear people talking around me. But I'm using the soft flex tips, which have the least isolation, and I don't think I could hear if I was using triflange, or if I was listening to music that doesn't have quiet moments. If you really still have your music at 75db, your listening levels are unusually low

 

[stewgriff]

You can't take out your anger on people just because they need help in controlling their volume levels, although your inital kid with the tinnitus seemed unmanageable; of course, I only say this due to the fact that, as a stereotypical, straight-A Asian student, I would have my a-- pounded if I proselytized about volume levels.

But as an audiologist, I hope you won't be annoyed if I ask some questions about tinnitus.

Does tinnitus necessarily coordinate with hearing loss? As I stated, I'm a joint marching band member and iPod user with a mild case (I can now only hear it in bed when everything's silent), but I had an audiogram 2 weeks ago that said I was fine.

Does it recur spontaneously, or only as a warning sign that you're killing your ears?

I read that tinnitus can't be cured, but you mentioned drugs that can limit the ringing. What are those drugs?

I listen to my iPod at 55% max, 15-20% normal, with forcefully limited MP3 files that I know are at least 20dB lower than their original encodings. Is this a safe listening volume for about 2 hours a day?

Edit: To K2Grey, I made that comment about my E2C's outfitted with foamies, although they may have been deteriorated at that moment in time. I now use the soft gray tips, which isolate about the same, maybe 2-3dB less, while waiting for new foamies

 

[Jam_Master_J]

stewgriff,
I'm in a similar boat. I've got mild tinnitus but I use reasonable volumes. For example, on my Rio Karma I use only a volume of 1/30 over half the time with Shure E4s.

 

[Ampl1tude]

Quote:

Originally Posted by stewgriff You can't take out your anger on people just because they need help in controlling their volume levels, although your inital kid with the tinnitus seemed unmanageable; of course, I only say this due to the fact that, as a stereotypical, straight-A Asian student, I would have my a-- pounded if I proselytized about volume levels. But as an audiologist, I hope you won't be annoyed if I ask some questions about tinnitus. Does tinnitus necessarily coordinate with hearing loss? As I stated, I'm a joint marching band member and iPod user with a mild case (I can now only hear it in bed when everything's silent), but I had an audiogram 2 weeks ago that said I was fine. Does it recur spontaneously, or only as a warning sign that you're killing your ears? I read that tinnitus can't be cured, but you mentioned drugs that can limit the ringing. What are those drugs? I listen to my iPod at 55% max, 15-20% normal, with forcefully limited MP3 files that I know are at least 20dB lower than their original encodings. Is this a safe listening volume for about 2 hours a day? Edit: To K2Grey, I made that comment about my E2C's outfitted with foamies, although they may have been deteriorated at that moment in time. I now use the soft gray tips, which isolate about the same, maybe 2-3dB less, while waiting for new foamies

Tinnitus doesn't necessarily coordinate directly with hearing loss. Tinnitus can be caused by several different factors. But the percentage of patients that get tinnitus from loud noise is greater then the percentage of patients getting tinnitus from the other factors. **About 90% of patients with tinnitus has some level of noise-induced hearing loss**

But you might have a possible misconception of "tinnitus". You noted that you hear a noise when your alone, and everything is quiet. That noise could be caused by your internal organs and blood, the blood flows throughout your body, moving around. As it is moving it is affecting the "air" and space around it therefor it is producing some sort of sound.

Most people who get tinnitus only experience it for a certain amount of time, before it goes away. But there are people who experience it often, even 24hours a day, 7 hours a week, these are the patients that require medical attention.


There is no direct cure for tinnitus at this point in time, It is a fairly unknown problem. There are also no direct drugs specificly designed to cure tinnitus, but there are drugs that have successfully quieted the tinnitus for some people. These drugs don't cure tinnitus, they only make it more quiet.

And about your ipod. to my understanding, it is a reasonable safe listening level. Look inside the booklet you got with your Shure e2's and on the inside front page, by my understandings, it has information about the safe amount of sound pressure vs. decibel for a specific amount of time.

Thanks for asking, if you would like further information, feel free to PM me. I hope this helped you.

 

[Kirosia]

I used to listen at near full volume a few years back and it's probably the reason why I have some tinnitus.

I do think kids crank it up so others can know what they listen to, and thus making them cool to some. Why? Hard to explain, but the clues are there. These folks need to turn it down, or they're ears are gonna be screwed up in the long run.

 

[iSleipnir]

I feel sad that my generation is being suckered by marketing. I really don't know what to say. I don't want to be associated by people like that who don't understand and refuse to listen to the advice of professionals.