Adequate Hearing Protection in Traffic?

[CDNThailand]

What is adequate protection for being in traffic?

I have hyperacusis and tinnitus

Are Peltor 35 dB enough? Or should I double up with plugs?

I don't know my LDL, but faucet is loud and I can only handle being in the room or out at the beach for long periods of time (room is 30-35 dB and beach is about 35-45 dB)

If a motorbike drives by at 100 dB with my muffs will I be ok?

Any personal experience with this?

 

[lapidus]

How can the beach only be 35-45 dB? That sounds impossible. I would think a beach with it's wave sounds easily reaches over 70 dB.

 

[ScienceGuy]

I have a slightly higher threshold than you do perhaps, but for me driving within the city was hard at first. I used filtered earplugs all the way (25 dB I think). Perhaps use some that are slightly too weak in terms of damping. That way you will give your ears something to adjust and slowly push up your threshold bit by bit. Since that is actually the goal. Then start using them less and less depending on your comfort and pain level. Thats what worked for me the first time and my H actually almost disappeared with it back then (after coming back due to stressing out and getting back into the noisy world too fast).

 

[Juan]

How can the beach only be 35-45 dB? That sounds impossible. I would think a beach with it's wave sounds easily reaches over 70 dB.

I was going to say the same.. the beach produces a soothing sound, sometimes white-noise like, but even tiny waves are probably around 55 dbs and with wind etc can get noisy, in the region of 80-85 dbs easily.

 

[Juan]

What is adequate protection for being in traffic?

I have hyperacusis and tinnitus

Are Peltor 35 dB enough? Or should I double up with plugs?

I don't know my LDL, but faucet is loud and I can only handle being in the room or out at the beach for long periods of time (room is 30-35 dB and beach is about 35-45 dB)

If a motorbike drives by at 100 dB with my muffs will I be ok?

Any personal experience with this?

It's quite an individual thing, depending on how you feel. Many times I could not handle the loudest noises of traffic even with earmuffs + earplugs (the only option for me was not being around traffic). Anyway, sounds over 85-90 dbs will get through by bone conduction no matter what hearing protection you are wearing.

With earmuffs you know they will be adequately placed, whereas earplugs have the disadvantage of not knowing whether the plug is creased or crumpled (unless it is custom made).

 

[Lex]

I'd like to ask a question in line with this.

My ears feel fine in car rides (and I also like how they mask my T) but my sound meter app says it's around 75-80 db, so I started wearing earplugs. Should I still wear ear protection?

 

[MrBonk]

How can the beach only be 35-45 dB? That sounds impossible. I would think a beach with it's wave sounds easily reaches over 70 dB.

Next time I go, i'll measure it. I'd imagine the beach being between 60-70dbA Slow maybe. C scale, 5-10dB more.

I'd like to ask a question in line with this.

My ears feel fine in car rides (and I also like how they mask my T) but my sound meter app says it's around 75-80 db, so I started wearing earplugs. Should I still wear ear protection?

those apps aren't terribly accurate and it doesn'[t help if it's not telling you what scale it's measuring in either.

Most car cabins are pretty mellow in the mid to high frequency range. At 40MPH my HHR is only in the 60dbA range. (In low 70s on the highway.) But the low frequency content <500hz is about 20dB higher. Not much you can do about that. So likely, what it's picking up is the low frequency loudness.

And a lot of that is done through bone conduction AFIK, plugs may or may not make a difference.
If you are only driving short amounts of time, may not be an issue. But if you have H then I don't know...

 

[VRZ78]

I'd like to ask a question in line with this.

My ears feel fine in car rides (and I also like how they mask my T) but my sound meter app says it's around 75-80 db, so I started wearing earplugs. Should I still wear ear protection?

Check your car dB.
http://www.auto-decibel-db.com/

Like MrBonk said those app seems more sensitive to low frequencies. What device do you have ? If you have an iPhone check this link: https://blogs.cdc.gov/niosh-science-blog/2014/04/09/sound-apps/

 

[Juan]

I'd like to ask a question in line with this.

My ears feel fine in car rides (and I also like how they mask my T) but my sound meter app says it's around 75-80 db, so I started wearing earplugs. Should I still wear ear protection?

I'd be more worried about peaks of noise from traffic passing by (very loud motorbikes, truck, the odd construction work by the lane where one is stuck in traffic.. urban driving basically) rather than about long car rides. During long car rides, in my experience, wearing earplugs for hours on end will make things worse, as there is a component of conduction of sound from the tires and through your body (you can feel this move obviously on bumpy pavement or driving on a dirt track).

 

[bill 112]

I'd like to ask a question in line with this.

My ears feel fine in car rides (and I also like how they mask my T) but my sound meter app says it's around 75-80 db, so I started wearing earplugs. Should I still wear ear protection?

I wouldn't and still don't wear hearing protection whilst driving(not that I drive anymore anyway)

Driving isn't going to damage your hearing, if it did nearly every motorist on this planet would have T or worsened T from driving and I'm yet to see that happen.If your car is 70db and you wear earplugs for that then you may aswell wear earplugs when going to the bathroom as a toilet flush is rated at 75db on average and a shower is roughly 70db on average, your car is no louder than your shower and depending on how severe your H is this won't damage it further regardless of what anyone here says.

If your ears can tolerate the car drive without sensitivity, spikes or pain then keep driving without plugs and just be weary of passing sirens etc, drive with the windows up and radio off like I use to do and you'll be fine

When I developed H in Jan 2014 I was told to do sound therapy by my audiologist and do you wanna know what I used as my therapy? Music and driving, I drove every single day to different places and it NEVER worsened me I just got better and better until I was ultimately 85% back to my old self.Even to this day as a severe H patient I can honestly say driving has never worsened my condition, impulse noise is what got me.

 

[bill 112]

Bonk is right, when I got severe H I wore earmuffs when driving and it made it way worse as all the sound was passing through my ears via bone conduction, I started driving without muffs and I was in considerably less pain after driving.I even got my girlfriend to drive with earmuffs on and she found it much more uncomfortable, she said the road noise seemed more amplified whilst wearing them as all other noises were cut off.

Just wanted to add that.

 

[Lex]

Thanks, guys. I have most trouble with trucks and motorcycles. But it isn't the loudness that bothers me per se, but the vibrations. Not painful but uncomfortable because I can feel them go through me. Earplugs can't really do much about those.

 

[Foncky]

Bonk is right, when I got severe H I wore earmuffs when driving and it made it way worse as all the sound was passing through my ears via bone conduction, I started driving without muffs and I was in considerably less pain after driving.I even got my girlfriend to drive with earmuffs on and she found it much more uncomfortable, she said the road noise seemed more amplified whilst wearing them as all other noises were cut off.

Just wanted to add that.

I find that earmuffs tend to amplify very low frequencies. If you put earplugs under them, it's ok.

 

[bill 112]

I find that earmuffs tend to amplify very low frequencies. If you put earplugs under them, it's ok.

Earmuffs are awful for driving I find and earplugs are only slightly better.

The problem is vibrations, a lot of vibrations travel through a car whether it be the thousands of moving mechanical parts or from the friction of the tyres against the road, either way those vibrations are travelling through our body whether we like it or not.
If vibrations are travelling through our bodies then your quaranteed those vibrations are travelling through your ear via bone conduction and there's sadly nothing we can do about that, no amount of ear protection can stop bone conduction.

A car isn't loud, if you really think about it travelling inside a car is not a hazardous situation for ones ears, as I stated above most cars on average are no louder than your shower.

To give an example of how powerful bone conduction is, I remember purchasing a new electric buffer to polish my car with last year.
I spent AGES looking for one that wasn't loud or screechy and eventually found a completely silent ASD buffer online.

When it arrived I turned it in and it was as near silent as you could get, a low hum was all it emitted not even worthy of hearing protection.

But me being the cautious guy I am wore earmuffs just incase, the noise didn't bother my ears one bit but the second I picked it up and applied power my ears would immediately go(WOOOOOOOOOOOOP WOOOOO WOOOOOOOP)

I couldn't work out why this thing was affecting my ears the second I put my hands on it, it wasn't loud so how in the hell is it making my T go absolutely insane?I tried again with the earmuffs off, the noise had zero affect on my ears but the second I picked it up back came this overpowering WOOOOOOOOOOP noise in both my ears and even made my ears raw.

It was then that I realised that it wasn't the noise that was causing it but the vibrations, the buffer had a rotating head that spun at like 600rpm causing moderate vibrations in my hands and arms but this vibration also ran straight through my ears also and made my T and H goes crazy.Sound is a vibration so it's silly not to think that soundless vibrations can also affect the ear in a negative way just as I experienced with the buffer.Never used it again after that, even with gloves, earplugs and earmuffs it made no difference whatsoever, it felt like I was standing front row at a concert the second I applied my hands to it that's how powerful bone conduction is.

 

[CDNThailand]

How can the beach only be 35-45 dB? That sounds impossible. I would think a beach with it's wave sounds easily reaches over 70 dB.

Waves right next to ocean were indeed 60-70 db

My 35-45 was on top of the beach, on a bamboo mat relaxing

 

[CDNThailand]

I'd be more worried about peaks of noise from traffic passing by (very loud motorbikes, truck, the odd construction work by the lane where one is stuck in traffic.. urban driving basically) rather than about long car rides. During long car rides, in my experience, wearing earplugs for hours on end will make things worse, as there is a component of conduction of sound from the tires and through your body (you can feel this move obviously on bumpy pavement or driving on a dirt track).

Am I ok with 29db muffs from motorcycles passing by? I drive a scooter so can't get stuck in traffic really, only loud noises I will encounter will be very brief.

 

[Foncky]

A car isn't loud, if you really think about it travelling inside a car is not a hazardous situation for ones ears, as I stated above most cars on average are no louder than your shower.

I wouldn't stay in the shower for hours...

All I know is, if I drive my car without plugs and earmuffs, I'm screwed. With protection, I'm quite ok.

 

[bill 112]

I wouldn't stay in the shower for hours...

All I know is, if I drive my car without plugs and earmuffs, I'm screwed. With protection, I'm quite ok.

You wouldn't drive for hours either unless of course it was going cross country or something to that extent.

I know this varies from person to person, my commute won't necessarily be the same as yours but it's not like you spend 8 hours a day everyday sitting in your car on a motorway where noise levels peak at around 80db depending on what car you have.Also it's not a constant 80db either, you have to account for stopping or slow moving traffic etc where sound levels are usually much lower than 80db.To me the biggest threat inside a car is its stereo system, airbags and driving with the window down apart from that I wouldn't call it a hazzard by any means.

But this all changes when severe H comes into the picture of course.
My car is exceptionally quiet(Toyota Chaser so basically a JDM Lexus)and pre severe H I drove it 12 hours across England without issue, now that severe H is here I'm lucky if I can drive the 1 mile to my local store without being in agony afterwards, I just found earmuffs made that 1 mile trip worse for me than when I drove without them, why?I'm not sure but I imagine it has something to do with bone conduction or increased emphasis on low frequency noise, earmuffs do little to help me anyway so maybe that's why I find them useless for driving.

If Alex can drive her car without pain or sensitivity then I think she should continue to do so, if I could drive my car 14 hours a day without pain I would.

 

[Juan]

Am I ok with 29db muffs from motorcycles passing by? I drive a scooter so can't get stuck in traffic really, only loud noises I will encounter will be very brief.

It's an individual thing.. I would not be ok just with earmuffs. I wouldnt be ok driving a scooter either..

 

[CDNThailand]

It's an individual thing.. I would not be ok just with earmuffs. I wouldnt be ok driving a scooter either..

But if i walk down the street, exposure will be identical to driving, only solution is be in a car or not travel and stay at home..

 

[Lex]

But if i walk down the street, exposure will be identical to driving, only solution is be in a car or not travel and stay at home..

For some people, that's the case. They're housebound and rarely leave. I guess it really all depends on one's tolerances.

 

[Juan]

But if i walk down the street, exposure will be identical to driving, only solution is be in a car or not travel and stay at home..

It depends on your tolerance. Many people with hyperacusis cannot walk on a busy street. Some people had to make a lot of adjustments to their life, the city where they live, the house or apartment they choose etc etc It is a matter of how damaging (or not) sound is perceived, and the reactions and symptoms it triggers.