Mark... I don't get 'spikes' really unless I am being a real space cadet and missing a bad sound situation that hits me blindsided. As I am always using plugs for brief periods when in "danger zones" I avoid "spike material" - like kids in the library or food coop doing unpredictable kid-scream thing, or over-amped loudspeakers in supermarket suddenly blaring some request for more check-out folks (and yeah I tell the manager to turn the bloody volume down!), etc.
If I do get spiked, there seems to be a pretty direct relationship with a number of things:
1. If
I do the dumb thing myself, like drop a saucepan into the sink..."Ka-BLANG!" when washing up, I hardly get any spike at all. However, if my back is turned and someone else does it, I get spiked! I believe this is the ol' Stapedius Reflex at work because my body is catching the micro-second of action before the sound 'directly', so to speak. I'm doing the "ka-blanging" so my body
knows it's coming, and Stapedius kicks in from this prior viscerally connected 'knowledge'...Clear?!
2. So if someone else does it and I get spiked, the "zinnnnng EEEEEEEEEEEEEeeeeee" tends to just last for a short while depending on the intensity/volume/type of sound. Hard, sharp sounds last longer than louder, but soft lower frequency sounds. In any instance though I get zapped and immediately put my index fingers in my ears (after the fact - as by definition missed protecting myself right) and "waggle" my fingers inside my ears up and own, back and forth, generally making a fuss in there. So "Fuuuu-ffuuuuu-ffffuuuuu-fffffuuuu -fuff" type sounds in rapid motion. Not too vigorously and not for more than 10-15 seconds! But vigorous enough to kind of....hell I don't know??? "Distract the feedback loop"??? I also pull my bigger parts of my ears around and massage and pinch them a bit...Don't worry about the looks you get in public by the way.
All I know is that it seems to help and reduces the "grievance" of the spike and bring things back to baseline quicker. Could all be hogwash but it works for me most of the time. Could be a as simple as a mental distraction thing, but after decades of doing this why mess with what works! Maybe it's a sort of "acupressure" wanna-be thing too, as that is where a good number of the darn javelin size needles went during my acupuncture sessions in Bangkok!
3. Duration of the "spike causer" seems to be paramount to longevity. If it's a quick half second sound that did it I am 99.9% OK in short order. Now I am NOT talking gunshot or the like OK! If the sound exposure was longer, that gets more problematic and seems like the spike is more serious.
Though this hardly ever can happen as long as I have fingers...as they go in my ears immediately if I'm caught with my pants down and no plugs in time. E.G. Silent stealth Ambulance suddenly switching on a siren, on a quiet country lane, 50 feet behind me, where no ambulance should ever be, while I'm taking a walk listening to tweety birds in the trees, and not hearing the super quiet 'ambo-tyres' on the super new smooth asphalt...etc., etc.
4. If I get a more serious spike, like one that really gets my T up a good noticeable amount and has not come down after a minute or two, then I pray, or cuss, or freak. If it has been from "duration" of sound (like the threshold sound level in 2012 that zapped me without knowing it - see Profile), then that tends to be "permanent"! If it was brief and I semi-caught it in time, I immediately get out of Dodge, go home, take a benzo and get a good night's sleep. That will generally put me back to baseline...not that baseline is much fun by the way!
Ummmm...I think that covers it.
Take care, Zimichael
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