20 Seconds Next to an Ambulance Siren with Ears Plugged — Ears Now Crazy

Hi all,

I was standing on a bus two days ago with all the windows open, and we got stuck next to an ambulance blaring it's siren. It was literally 3 meters from me, and as the windows were open I may as well of been standing outside next to it.

I was wearing silicone earplugs, and I also jammed my fingers in my ears hard to ensure the earplugs were 100% effective, so I'm sure I was receiving at least 25db protection (or the same protection as pressing in the tragus - 25db). I also faced away from the ambulance.

I was trapped in the bus next to the siren for about 20s.

Ever since both ears have been much louder.

Worst case scenario as i calculate it: 120db ambulance - 25db protection = 95db exposure for 20s. Surely not bad enough to send my ears into overdrive? Yet it seems to have done exactly that.

Anyone had a similar siren experiences?

Your help is much appreciated, as always.

Thanks,
R

 

Ambulance sirens always finish me off. Most sirens/alarms mess up my already messed up ears for days, sometimes weeks.
It's like the people setting them off are out to get you. I will be walking down the street and an ambulance will come quietly creeping up behind me and then suddenly blast off the siren just as it reaches me from behind as if to say "Gotchya. Have some of that you tinnitus sufferer."
I don't care quite as much as I used to as my ears are so crazy loud anyway. Not sure they can make any more noise.

 

Yeah, similar experiences. I live near a hospital too.

 

Yeah, I feel the same, almost like they abuse and overuse their sirens in unessessary situations.

Do your ears usually recover to baseline days/weeks after siren exposures, or is it ever permanent?

 

Same here, not far from a hospital.

Do your ears usually recover to baseline in the following days/weeks after siren exposures, or is it ever permanent?

I thought that by pressing my fingers in my ears it would be enough - despite the 20 seconds.

 

Can anyone give an insight why his T is spiking after only lets say 95 dB for 20 seconds? I never understood this mechanism behind T. Our ears are supposed to be equally to "healthy" ones, no?
I also treath them as more sensitive, but no one ever gave me the science behind it.

 

I just don't understand. My ears are crazy now thanks to being stuck next to that ambulance. Can anyone else offer anything?

 

Just wear the Peltor x5a they offer a guaranteed 31 Db on the US scale that's good for sounds 3 times as loud as 25db including sirenes and such

I live in a big city and even if most of the noise isn't truly damaging in the end , all this noise is just a waste of my hair cell movements. No need to hear that crap

 

Thanks @Bobby B , I actually brought those ear defenders based on your advice. They're great. Though I only use them around the house and think they're huge for going out with.

Usually when an ambulance goes past sticking my fingers in my ears is enough. Though this time it was a horrible situation of being trapped next to it for 20s. So annoyed the driver didn't turn the siren off. There was no need to keep it on.

 

You would not had such spike with those on


That's the bottom line mate

I live in a big noisy city and wear those all the time im pretty sure what other people think of the look has zero priority now

 

That's not how the ratings on ear plugs work. Just because it says -25db does not automatically mean you subtract 25 from the sound you're protecting your ears from.

According to the calculator I linked to below, if the siren were 120 db, the sound that reached your ear would be reduced to 111 db.

This is also why I think a lot of people with T should avoid places like concerts and clubs permanently. Even with ear plugs the noise levels are just too loud. Of course, everyone's tolerance is different, but it's good to be cautious and do everything you can to protect your ears from further damage.

https://www.noisemeters.com/apps/occ/prot-nrr.asp

 

Same situation as this just happended to me, trapped In a building with every single fire alarm going off inside. A meter above my head for about 2 minutes. Only had t for 3 weeks guess it's never going away after that

 

Yes, but I pushed in my earplugs deep into the ear with my fingers, where it was effectively the same as depressing the tragus on your ear. Online I have found reports of protection ranging from 25-35db protection when depressing the tragus.

I believe that the calculator you linked to is for NRR (not SNR) and the deduction from the protection level is to allow for real world scenarios when earplugs rev the properly inserted. Mine were.

Anyway, it doesn't matter now anyway

 

I'm not sure I have a baseline, as my tinnitus has just gradually gotten louder over time with multiple sounds. For most people spikes return to baseline unless the noise was at a dangerous level and caused hearing damage. I don't believe short bursts of sounds up to max 120 decibels will do permanent damage. But my tinnitus can be set of by constant high pitched noises that aren't necessarily very loud (e.g. certain computer fan noise). It seems to me that the frequency of the noise makes a difference. For example, a loud lower pitched base noise wont affect me. A high pitched sound, like a child screaming or an alarm will affect my ears and aggrevate high pitched electrical sounds I get.
I should think you will be fine in a few more days, as the noise level wouldn't be damaging.

 

I think that short term exposure to routine city sounds is probably fine.

Actually living in cities? Nah, that's terrible for your body for all sorts of reasons. Constant exposure to urban noises is probably neurotoxic (rat studies show brain damage from 8+ hr exposure to 70db+, note that despite OSHA, the EPA says that the maximum allowable 12 and 24 hour exposures are ~72db and 68db). Other studies have shown constantly elevated stress hormone levels in people exposed to urban noise, whether they felt "stressed" or not. And, noise is just one tiny slice of the pie... in cities you are inescapably exposed to tons of auto and other exhaust, which means carcinogens, neurotoxins, heavy metals, etc. Most municipal water in the US is what I'd call second-world garbage, too (when I lived in DC I was paying $50 a month to get water delivered, after spending a while analyzing the water supply quality reports as part of a hackathon project).

So... yeah. Cities are interesting places to visit, but actually living there requires that you put a higher priority on short-term stimulation than on long-term health.

 

Thank you. I'll post back how it goes. Right now - almost a week and no change. If anything it is worse. I'm hoping the upwards curve will start to turn soon and I'll be treated with a smooth decent into comparative quietness again! Take care of yourself my friend

 

True

 

Did you plug your ears? It can improve still, especially as you're in very early stages. Hope you're alright my friend

 

True, I think this more and more every day. I live in London and it's loud everywhere in the centre. Problem is I now worry that cities have ruined my ears and I won't be able to enjoy the peace of nature - due to lack of masking.

 

depends on where you are, but there's a lot more gentle high frequency noise in the woods around the house I'm renting now, than in the city I used to live in.

the winter is, of course, more like dead silence... I still like dead silence in the woods, tinnitus and all.

If I lived in London, I'd probably be trying to buy some acres in the woods or mountains in northern England... a big change from London, I know

 

@Rust how are you doing now? I just had a somewhat similar experice, so am quite interested in how you've managed.

Sending you positive thoughts and good vibes from NJ.

V.