Road Noise

[James Foley]

So for a few miles on my commute to work the local council have decided it would be a good idea to lay down those loose stone chippings instead of resurfacing the road. This means for roughly 10 minutes of my journey I've got to put up with 78 dB road noise (according to my phone), both coming in to work, and going home.

I know 78 dB for such a short period of time isn't going to do any permanent damage, and I know 78 dB is probably the max spike level (pretty sure it averages out at 75 dB), but it does mess with my tinnitus a little. I've tried vented plugs but I just get some weird rumbling rattly noise in my ears which is actually worse and louder than not wearing plugs at all.

Do I wear foam plugs for this portion of the journey, or just suck it up for the next few weeks?

 

[glynis]

Play some soft low masking in your car like a waterfall or ocean or forest when you go past the noise...
love glynis

 

[dingaling]

Is this 78dB with the window wound up or down?

Personally, I wouldn't wear any ear plugs when driving

I agree with glynis, play some music or soothing CD during that part of the journey

 

[James Foley]

78 with the windows up. The road surface is terrible and basically makes the whole car vibrate.

 

[RingerBell]

I've tried vented plugs but I just get some weird rumbling rattly noise in my ears which is actually worse and louder than not wearing plugs at all.

This is called the occlusion effect. Sounds conducted through bone and vibrations get trapped and reverberate in the ear because the ear canal is occluded, and the resulting sound is louder than it would be with open ear. It's problematic especially on rough roads when there are lots of vibrations present.

 

[Sisu]

I just put cotton balls in my ears. They are good for road noise, at least for me Worth trying.

 

[Mellow7]

Any sounds approaching 80db in my car, I put my ear muffs on for. That generally only entails driving on the freeway for me. I'm still in the early stages (5 months in) and that currently works for me. For the rest of my day, I avoid all ear protection, but my T doesn't like long exposure to 80db-ish white noise-like sounds.

 

[James Foley]

This is called the occlusion effect. Sounds conducted through bone and vibrations get trapped and reverberate in the ear because the ear canal is occluded, and the resulting sound is louder than it would be with open ear. It's problematic especially on rough roads when there are lots of vibrations present.

I'll give my custom moulds a go as I think they are better at preventing this. I'm just not a huge fan of sticking things into my ears that go pretty deep.

Any sounds approaching 80db in my car, I put my ear muffs on for. That generally only entails driving on the freeway for me. I'm still in the early stages (5 months in) and that currently works for me. For the rest of my day, I avoid all ear protection, but my T doesn't like long exposure to 80db-ish white noise-like sounds.

I do have muffs, but they are the 3M PELTOR OPTIME III and to be honest, I hate wearing them, especially when driving. They also have this odd suction effect which is horribly uncomfortable. Able to recommend a reasonably priced pair that look fairly normal (that don't look obviously like huge ear muffs) and are comfortable?

 

[Mellow7]

I do have muffs, but they are the 3M PELTOR OPTIME III and to be honest, I hate wearing them, especially when driving. They also have this odd suction effect which is horribly pretty uncomfortable. Able to recommend a reasonably priced pair that look fairly normal (that don't look obviously like huge ear muffs) and are comfortable?

Yeah those are pretty bulky. I'd only use those for the heavy duty stuff if you feel like they're uncomfortable. I've got another pair that doesn't feel so tight around the ears, which I bought at a local construction store. They're pretty unremarkable but they do the job. Not sure if they even have a specific brand name.