Brood X Cicadas Are High-Pitched and Loud — Could Not Take a Walk without Earplugs

[Jen67]

Anyone else dealing with the hell-on-tinnitus-sufferers that are Brood X cicadas? I actually like the bugs, but we live in the woods and they are high-pitched and loud as hell.

As of today I realized I could not take my daily walk on our road without earplugs. Looking forward to July when they depart for another 17 years.

 

[billie48]

Did you have a spike or develop hyperacusis lately? High pitched cicadas sound is not friendly to our ears when that happens. Usually cicadas is great for masking high pitched tinnitus.

 

[linearb]

Did you have a spike or develop hyperacusis lately? High pitched cicadas sound is not friendly to our ears when that happens. Usually cicadas is great for masking high pitched tinnitus.

You'd think so, but did you know these little buggers can actually be 100 dB plus?

I remember visiting Roosevelt Island off DC during a brood year; that's directly in the flight path of DCA which is only 2 miles away so you have airplanes overhead in the 85 dB range, and the cicadas completely drowned out the planes, it was unbelievable.

I agree with you that this can often be a real nice masking sound, from a distance, but even for people without hyperacusis these little guys can just be too loud to be in the thick of them without earplugs! Absolute insanity, louder than a lot of rock concerts I've been to.

 

[Jen67]

Yes, @linearb is right! The periodical cicadas come out literally in the billions and get up to 90-100 decibels. So yes, they *caused* the hyperacusis/tinnitus spike! But after one bad day I started the earplugs and it's been ok. They will be gone by July, thank God (though I do find them fascinating as a phenomenon otherwise).

Am I really the only one on this board dealing with this?

 

[nocticolor]

Am I really the only one on this board dealing with this?

Well, cicadas aren't common everywhere. The first time I heard cicadas was on vacation in Greece when I was 23. My friend and I had to use Google because we were confused by the noise

 

[Jen67]

No, they are not common everywhere. But parts of the US are currently experiencing a once-every-17-year massive (e.g., trillions, literally) emergence. So I thought that some others on the board might be dealing with this problem also.

 

[billie48]

I agree with you that this can often be a real nice masking sound, from a distance,

That is really what I mean. I had to use cicadas sound to mask my ultra high pitched tinnitus during the worst initial period. My other masking sound was squeaky faucet.

Lol.

Sorry I don't mean this applies to everyone especially with real cicadas close by.

 

[linearb]

That is really what I mean. I had to use cicadas sound to mask my ultra high pitched tinnitus during the worst initial period. My other masking sound was squeaky faucet.

Lol.

Sorry I don't mean this applies to everyone especially with real cicadas close by.

Oh yea to be clear I didn't take it that way, I was just personally shocked to find out how loud these little critters actually are.

I'd been using cicadas on tape for masking for a while at that point back when I used masking sounds.

 

[twa]

We've just had our usual summer cicadas here. I did recently see this story about the Brood X cicadas in Cincinnati, Ohio in the U.S.

 

[whatdidyousay]

I had never heard of cicadas before but encountered them yesterday. They weren't the Brood X but were what I'm assuming were "annual" cicadas. I was walking around a lake/park that is completely surrounded by tons of tall trees. I've been there well over a hundred times in the past and had never heard the sound of these insects. It was extremely loud and a constant droning sound; there were so many of them. No one else was walking there and that was the first time I've ever seen a completely empty walking trail as it's usually pretty busy. Now I know why...

How loud do you think it'd be walking in a wooded park surrounded by TONS of these things? I could hear swarms from every part of the park and they seemed to just be everywhere. I only walked one lap, which is about a mile, and so maybe 20 minutes of exposure.

Do you think it'll cause permanent damage? I regret walking there now.