A List of Places Where You Could Be Exposed to Loud Noises. Places to Watch Out for.

Some places where you are at risk of being exposed to a loud noise are not obvious. I am hoping that in this thread we can compile a large list of those places that we could all use to avoid spikes in the future.

1. If you open a window when it is windy outside, make sure to close all doors (or to use a door stopper). If you don't do that, one of the doors might slam.

2. Take the batteries out of your fire alarm.

3. You may want to wear ear muffs over ear plugs when you are in a parking lot of a supermarket that uses metal shopping carts. Those things are loud, especially when a large number of them are being moved (and especially if the person moving them decides to turn them all 90 degrees, and does it fast).

4. Carry Peltor ear muffs with you wherever you go, in case a fire alarm goes off.

5.

Any other places where people like us are at risk of getting a spike? Any other tips or ideas related to the above?

 

I remember reading about someone here getting a spike after being exposed to the noise of his neighbour mowing the lawn.

 

I have one: if you sneeze or cough

Ever sneezed or coughed while wearing earplugs? It’s loud without plugs, I do not recommend it while wearing earplugs due to the occlusion effect.

That would be ironic, wouldn’t it? You could be wearing earplugs and earmuffs because you are worried that you might hear a loud external noise, then you suddenly sneeze or cough.

Or hiccup. Hiccuping can be loud, too.

 

Underground parkings, the high-pitched sound the tires sometimes make on the slick floor when turning or breaking can be very loud.

Anywhere around a kid carrying a balloon.

 

Probably not a great idea, don't get me wrong i don't like the noise they make but i think burning to death might suck too.

You might also take someones eye out, or your head might implode. Just sneezing at all makes my tinnitus go excruciatingly loud.

Anywhere around a kid in general, especially in a supermarket, so may kids screaming because they don't get what they want.

Also in your car, i found out the other day the noise in my car on the highway was getting up over 80 decibels and the noise on the train i caught the other day was hitting peaks up in the 90 decibels.

 

guys this thread is beyond paranoid. Worrying about any of that is not helpful at all.

Whatever you do.

DO. NOT. TAKE. THE. BATTERIES. OUT. OF. YOUR. FIRE. ALARM.

 

This is painful to read. Don't get taken in by this stuff.

 

I've sneezed with earplugs in. Kind of hard to control. Mostly it's been the pressure that bothered me when it happened.

 

I will definitely keep this one in mind. Thanks!

 

For the Love of God, take the batteries out of your fire alarm.

 

Perhaps you are fortunate, and your tinnitus is not spiking as a result of mild noises. (In this case, I am not sure why you would go out of your way to insult people who are not that fortunate.) Or perhaps your recklessness will eventually catch up with you, and then you will be surprised that your tinnitus is not fading or is gradually getting louder over the years.

Every one of my suggestions (except the one about fire alarm batteries) is based on what I learned THE HARD WAY. I am hoping that in this thread others will share what They learned the hard way (i.e., an innocent sounding situation resulting in a spike during which one becomes aware of contemplating suicide).

 

I've had serious, painful problems as a result of alarm exposure. I have changed my behavior significantly as a result, but not having alarms is something that should be a lot more worrying.

People who are literally deaf understand the liabilities involved, and set up customized systems capable of waking them in the event of a fire. If people who literally can't hear can find a solution to this problem which doesn't involve risking the lives of others, I am pretty certain you can as well -- and you might want to look into some of the alarm systems for the deaf.

Absolutely understand where your alarms are, how loud they are, and use alarms and position them in such a way that minimizes the risk to your ears if they go off. Actually disconnecting them belies a fundamentally sociopathic way of approaching the world: you are literally putting other people in danger of death out of your own anxiety. I don't care if you live by yourself in the middle of the woods, if your house catches on fire and you're inside it, EMS responders are going to put their lives in danger to try to save you.

Depending on where you live, willfully disconnecting alarms is quite possibly a prosecutable felony in the event that someone else is injured as a result; nearly anywhere in the US, it exposes you to significant civil liability and likely voids your homeowners insurance. So, if you're going to do this, you should probably think twice about talking about that online; we live in a world where any private or judicial investigation of a fire event is very, very likely to turn up all of your online identities and posting.

http://www.thewfsf.org/sap_usa_files/FEMA_StateSmokeAlarmRequirementsMay2010.pdf

 

This is an excellent point. Whether you live alone is irrelevant; you are part of a larger society and your actions impact the lives of others. EMS will risk their lives for you.

After the fire, the investigation process will uncover that your home did not have working smoke detectors. That likely will void your homeowner insurance and open you up to legal action if anyone was injured.

And for what purpose? The uncertain possibility that you may worsen your tinnitus, but to what level you do not know? Hearing an alarm is not a guarantee for catastrophic severe tinnitus.

If you’re going to worry about rare possibilities then why not worry about these options:

You could worsen your tinnitus from carbon monoxide exposure. So maybe it’s better to have an alarm alert you to get out of your house as soon as possible to limit your exposure.

Or you could be injured because your alarm did not alert you to escape. Then off you go in an ambulance with sirens blaring to a hospital with a wide range of loud noises.

This was my missed point regarding sneezing. You could do everything to avoid a spike and still end up with worse tinnitus. In fact, some of your “protective” actions might inadvertently lead to worsening tinnitus.

 

It's stressful when car sirens go off in parking lots. I carry earmuffs with me sometimes though.

 

You could install dead batteries.

If a loud door slam that lasts a fraction of a second can generate a huge spike for me, and a loud phone held by my ear for a fraction of a second can give me a permanent spike, I am pretty sure that exposure to a fire alarm will do me in. If you think you can survive being exposed to a fire alarm, then of course it makes sense to not disable your fire alarm.

I always carry my earmuffs with me. But as I learned, sometimes I can't take them out fast enough out of the bag they are in. So now whenever I am at a place where there is a chance that I will need to put them on, I take them out of the bag and carry them in my hands.

 

Newer fire alarms let off a loud intermittent beep or chirp if the batteries are dead. Even old alarms when I was growing up would beep when their batteries were dead. That would be rather unpleasant to live with.

 

I admit that I didn't think this one through. In fact, I took the batteries out of my fire alarm after it beeped as a result of its batteries being dead (the beep gave me a temporary spike). I placed the batteries right next to the fire alarm. This would make it harder to prove that the fire alarm didn't have any batteries.

But this thread is not about the fire alarm, it is about becoming aware of hidden dangers. Like I said, if you think that your chances for a long happy life are higher if you have a fire alarm, then by all means please ignore my tip regarding the fire alarm. That tip was intended for people who never thought about what a fire alarm might do to their tinnitus.

 

I secretly permanently broke the one in my room when I was eight because it was so damn annoying. It became a problem when we tried to sell the house.

 

In my opinion the advice on this thread should not be listened to. You're setting yourself up to get severe hyperacusis where every single type of noise results in a spike in T.

 

Bill I believe you are too paranoid about your T! Some tinnitus-specific CBT might help as it seems as if you have a ton of anxiety around a potential spike. These sounds are likely to do no permanent damage to your ears, but instead the anxiety will no doubt be damaging your mental health!

 

Or severe anxiety, which will worsen tinnitus.

 

I don't have much anxiety, now that I am in the habit of protecting my ears.

I am convinced that if one keeps getting these week-long temporary spikes, eventually the spike will become permanent. Also, it makes sense to me that each of these temporary spikes is interfering with my body healing itself, and reduces the probability that tinnitus will eventually fade.

 

This type of thread, really doesn't help one live a life. Removing batteries from a fire alarm that can save your house and life is beyond stupid, cmon folks.

I have severe tinnitus and this thread just doesn't make sense. Not all sound is bad sound, you cannot isolate yourself, from the world like this. I am not saying that we need to go to rock concerts or sporting events either.

This thread basically trains, your mind in the wrong way....

 

If I learn from the mistakes made by others and avoid a permanent or a temporary spike, then this Would help me live my life.

To quote a Prime Minister from 1970s: "Watch me".

I would say that acknowledging that our ears have been compromised and acting accordingly (even if that means that life will never be the same again) is the way to train your mind so as to maximize your chances of tinnitus fading or at least not getting louder.

 

Bill, let me break it to you. I been at this for 30 years. By people following this thread, there is no guarantee that their tinnitus will fade or go away. So please stop guessing and predicting. Your tinnitus is fairly new and you are hopeful it goes away or fades to a lower volume. People that follow this thread, will have paranoia and a lack of quality of life. AGAIN, try to avoid places that are LOUD, but DO NOT constantly train that mind in fear and look for a loud place or situation.....

If I followed your thread, i'd have no life. Not all sound is bad and people CAN still live with tinnitus!!!!

 

It looks like people who think that tinnitus spikes are harmless, or who think that it makes sense to live a lie and pretend that we are healthy in order to not let tinnitus win, who think that we can not only ignore reality, but also will be able to ignore the consequences of ignoring reality - those people had a chance to have their say, and get it all out of their system. I get it - not everyone is prepared to or is interested in protecting their ears. It is surprising to me, but I guess this is controversial. In any case, now can you please let people exchange tips on where one might want to be vigilant? Thank you.

 

1. No one says tinnitus or its spikes are harmless. They are painful and very frustrating.
2. I am VERY healthy, FIT and able and an annoying noise is not gonna change that. It's no lie, its a lifestyle.

I been at this longer than many and If you want to listen to me, go for it..if not.....all good as well

Not all tinnitus is the same. I walk the walk and have done it for 30 years. I had the most horrible hyperacusis for close to 2-4 years that was beyond hell. I handled that and now stuck with insane/loud ringing that been with me for 3 decades.

Your tinnitus is not even 1 years old and I get where you are coming from, but I been there as well and for sure know what I am talking about and come here to support those people (even you) that are dealing with this....

 

I DO SOMETIMES WONDER IF THIS A SUPPORT FORUM OR A SCAREMONGERING FORUM

 

>People who comment with caps lock

 

It is ok to be scared of (and as a result to try to avoid) dangerous things. So part of the support is helping people learn what it makes sense to be scared of.