Damn Fire Engines! Can They Permanently Damage Already Fecked Ears?

Hey.

Can they permanently damage already fecked ears?!

Waiting at the lights to cross and 2 + 2!! Come zooming down. Wasn't straight past me though as they had to manoeuvre past a little bit of traffic!

I plugged my ears but feel it did nothing! I had nowhere to go expect to throw myself in front of the traffic

Sounds appealing these days!

They had to zoom right past as well

2 blaring the sirens!

Panicking now!!

 

@Bear0211 Awh hugs to you Misses. These unpredictable situations are so stressful and combined with the anxiety, it's no wonder we feel overwhelmed by it all xxx

 

@Vicki14
Just about ready to haul myself off a bridge! I keep messing up with these damn ears
Finding the stress too much to handle. Really making me ill!!! Xx

 

Hi @Bear0211

If you plugged your ears there shouldn't be any problems. It's a short term burst which technically wouldn't damage you even if you hadn't. Although try telling me that when I get ambulance sirens right next to me...

These things are way louder than they need to be, I've had spikes from them but never felt like any permanent damage has been caused.

 

Grammar ^ Wrote this in a panic. Still am.

Thanks @Steve ... My ears are definitely louder but my heart was pounding!! trying to get home from town was just a nightmare. Dodging leaf blowers and contsrtuction work everywhere!! Oh the stress! I ended up getting crap foam plugs from boots! I do have custom made plugs but my audiologist told me to try and not wear them too much...shopping ect. As I have hypercausis too. Meh.

But Yeah they didn't just zoom past as well. As some cars had to move out the way, wasnt just one. 2 fire engines!! So blasted twice really! SO LOUD . oh man. This is so relentless!!

My audiologist used to tell me ambulances and fire engines won't damage the ears unless your sitting under it for a good 5 minutes! Ppfftt.

These sirens are extremely loud and I just feel my ears are broken as it is

 

Hi @Bear0211 -

I'm sorry to hear of your experience and I can well understand your discomfort. In my area there are many private homes and since it is now summer, it seems everyone is engaging landscaping companies who use these extremely loud devices to trim their hedges, shape their trees, mow their lawns and clear leaves away. Add to the mix construction of new homes and/or renovations which are constantly being carried out in my neighborhood where your senses are constantly being bombarded and, indeed, it is maddening. At times you simply cannot cross the street unless you are prepared and who wants to walk around with earplugs in constantly! Of course, there are always the shrill sirens of ambulances passing by as well which add to the cacophony of deafening sounds. Oh ... life in the big city!

I hope that any after-effects you experienced have subsided now. It's impossible to protect ourselves against every sudden unexpected noise although it's only natural to cringe when we are nearby when it occurs.

Wishing you a pleasant day.
Barbara

 

Thank you @Bobbie7
My ears have definitely spiked. Hope to god this isn't more permanent damage!
I've read they sirens can hit 110 db!! 2 trucks went past! And it took a little longer as cars were in the way.

This is crazy! Seems I can't step outiside the door these days! And as I have hypercausis I've been warned not to over protect. Yet I seem to get caught out lots. This was the absolute worst today though!!

Finding the stress of all this very tough to deal with, and it's manifesting itself physically now. Constantly feel ill and rundown and the depression is too overwhelming now.

Oh the regrets with this....

 

im sure the spike is due to stress... since my onset i have had dozens of loud moments...no spikes at all really (nothing noticeably different). Just to give you an idea i was walking out of a restaurant a few weeks ago and a women was getting into her car and accidentally hit the hazard button with me right in front of her car. She then got it to stop but accidentally turned it back on again and well you know what happened to me after that lol. I wanted to kill her lol

 

Time for you to try to relax and do something you enjoy. Easier said than done but what else can we do when these things happen. Take care.

 

@Jomo haha!
Hope so. My ears just feel so broken and fragile read they sirens can reach 110 db!
And there was 2 fire engines! Think it must have been for about 20 Seconds or so! I did plug my ears. But I was freakin shaking so bad I don't think it helped much. Still so loud! Meh!

 

I can completely sympathise as I was similar when I was in the worst of my hyperacusis. That horrible feeling that these sounds are seriously damaging you.

The situation you described though is not something that will cause you harm. You have to ride out the anxiety. Those sirens may hurt and may feel horrible but they won'thave caused permanent damage. They will have spiked you and there isn't much you can do about that other than ride it out.

Having been in a similar place I know it isn't easy. I remember having a blast of compressed air one time. To me it felt like my eardrums had been perforated but nobody else was bothered. I was spiked for the rest of the day and I struggled to shake the same feelings you have right now.

It will get better.

 

@Steve
Thanks so much.
Yeah they have definitely spiked. And I'm trying to keep calm but boy it's tough. Trying my hardest not to pop a freaking diazepam! I wouldn't say my T is mild at all too! Hypercausis seems worse too. Boke.

Yeah and because they were trying to get through a little traffic so they didn't zoom past right away! No one else seemed bothered! I must have looked a nut! But guess this is what happens when you give yourself T the way I did

It's hard to get my head around the fact this won't permanently damage, since they were right by me and I couldn't exactly cower anywhere. Straight road. Meh.

Ride it out I'll have to.
Thanks again

 

I feel the same if an ambulance has caught me off guard or a fire alarm at work. I get very stressed, anxious and angry about these things at the time. I don't think they have done any permanent damage though. If you look up the safety guidelines the ears should be able to tolerate 110 decibels for about 1 minute without damage. Hopefully your tinnitus will settle down. Today I had a work function. A smallish room with 60 people talking and loud music in the background. I lasted about 10 minutes and had to leave. It was stressful leaving as folk tried to convince me not to leave and that they would turn down the music. By then, I felt too anxious and just needed to leave. I usually avoid these situations but thought I would give it try this time. Lesson learnt. I know my limitations and need to stick by them. Living with tinnitus can be difficult.

 

It is a good idea for people like us to carry Peltor muffs with us everywhere we go...

I hope your spike is only temporary.

 

Before the siren today have you had any improvement in you T in the last 5 months?

 

@jjflyman
Well Not really. It does fluctuate sometimes like. But my anxiety is so bad with it and depression too so no I wouldn't say so. The actual volume... no I wouldn't say it's went down. That's what distresses me. But like I say I can have one decent day. Then a bad day ect... then days like today. Boom. Hope this is just a spike

 

@Bear0211, I know the feeling hate them

 

Last autumn, an ambulance started its sirenes just behind me. My T didn't get worse afterward, at least not as I could notice. I had foam earplugs inserted deep enough to cut five decibels and maybe a bit more. You plugging your ears should generate a comparable protection.

 

@Vincent R
It's so nervewracking. Didn't previously bat an eyelid at ambulances and fire engines before this. The stuff we need to freak over now!

My ears have definitely spiked. Maybe because there was 2!

 

Hope you feel better

 

@fishbone
Aw thank you

 

Bear0211..did your spike subside ?

 

@Sean
Well yeah they had calmed down....
Better day yesterday but this morning they have spiked back up!
I have a bad migraine (chronic migraines) so I don't know if that's playing a part. Plus I clench and crack my jaw in my sleep so Im also unsure if that's affecting my ears!

 

unless you're actually riding in them I don't think they're going to cause any permanent damage; it's also pretty unlikely that they'd be 110db at the street level as they drove past.

 

If they were that loud, that would probably cause some serious damage to the firefighters' hearing! I don't think we have a lot of members who drive ambulances or fire trucks.

 

The smoke alarms for me are the worst. I hate them.