Exposed To Burglar Alarm. Bit Worried and Afraid

Hello Everyone,

I wanted to see if I would hopefully be able to get a little support or information from some people who have maybe gone through my situation.

Yesterday I was exposed to the burglar alarm that we have set up at work. I had to enter a small building to get some work tape and was given the wrong pass code for access. Long story short, it went off and it was pretty loud (The alarm was about 15-20 feet away). I managed to get my fingers up and creating a seal as best as I could by plugging them (ironically my TRT devices made it a bit hard to get the best seal). Unfortunately, I had to unlock the gate to get out and had to take my finger out of one of my ears for 3 seconds so I would be able to pop the lock.

Anyways, as you can imagine my T is feeling quite loud right now. My H seems to be about the same, however my ears do seem to be feeling a little sensitive and in need of some rest until I go to work tomorrow. I think more then anything this has really shaken my emotional connection to my T and H. While my T is a bit louder and more reactive, it has shaken that emotional cage that many of us have in regards to our T.

I'm hoping that once again my T settles like it usually goes. It was just quite jarring and worry some as I have been doing so well as I've returned to work and everything was going great. Just feeling a little bummed and stupid right now that I let this happen to my ears.

I always hear that burglar alarms are just a bit louder then your regular fire alarm. So maybe that would put it in the 100-110 decimal range...which would be like a lawn mower eh? I am just trying to work at controlling my emotions right now and just remind myself that these sounds can be taken in small amounts - even with T and mild H - so it should hopefully settle a bit.

 

@kmohoruk -

There is a four-letter word for the particularly unpleasant experience you describe above. That word is: Life.

The bad news is that your tinnitus was exacerbated by this thing called Life.

The good news is that this thing called Life resulted in no permanent auditory damage.

The very good news is that in spite of this curve ball Life just threw at you, your tinnitus will likely settle back down within the next few weeks.

And the great news (in my admittedly biased personal opinion) is that in doing TRT you have taken some meaningful steps towards taking charge of Life and habituating your tinnitus!

 

WOW, Thank you for the very quick response @Dr. Nagler ! Yes, I agree with all of your statements there. If there's anything that my TRT devices have taught me, it's that I've been able to function pretty normally even with this interesting noise in my head and a mild sensitivity in my ears.

I am going to give them a good clean and then pop them back in tomorrow! (They are ocean blue, so they match my clothes for work as I wear ALL blue as a park patroller haha).

I'm going to try and just do some nice deep breathing exercises and try and hit the hay. Thank you once again Dr Nagler! Sometimes a little reassurances helps keep the boat from floating off course as they say - so I appreciate the extra reminder there.

 

I myself think 90% of alarms are pretty much useless and serve only to cause hearing damage. Think about it, how many times does a fire alarm, burglar alarm or any other types of alarm go off and it's an actual emergency? I would say it's below 10%.

 

Right.

It's a difficult balance, though, because when an alarm does go off during a fire or a burglary, you are grateful for it 100% of the time.

 

Well not an hour after I posted my rant about loud noises I went out to cycle and got caught in a storm, I promptly turned back but it was too late and got drenched but the worst part of it was that a lighting hit very near and there was a very loud thunderclap, I mean it was just so loud and it lasted for a a while. So now here I am pondering how much damage I just caused myself by not being more careful. Why does this always happen to me.

 

When I was still struggling with this thing over decade ago remember having similar experience. I was shit scared for weeks. Nothing happened. In fact, I'm not sure if the noises can make it worse. Tinkitus sound is what it is. Sure, your hearing could get worse making the sound "louder" but does anyone get permanent ear damage for burglary alarm...... ermmmm.... no.

 

I guess these two members of the forum must be imagining their tinnitus then...

Loudness of tinnitus does not depend on hearing loss per se. It depends on minimum masking levels (MML). And yes, some people do - objectively speaking - have worse tinnitus than others.

 

I just wanted to say...

While I am feeling much better now that I've had a couple days since the exposure to the burglar alarm. I just thought I would pass along a little food for thought...

It may not be the best idea to point out @attheedgeofscience instances where peoples T has come from/worsened from exposure to an alarm, IN a post where someone who has been exposed to an alarm and is now worried about possibly worsened T and/or damage to their hearing. That sort of defeats the purpose of the whole..."Support Part" of this forum.

I respect and am thankful for all the tireless work that you do on this site and in regards to Tinnitus. However, I just wanted to pass along a little food for thought for the future.

Thank you

 

@kmohoruk he's a jerk, don't mind him.

 

The only reason I wrote what I wrote (which wasn't aimed at yourself) was because "some one" decided to join the forum and start mentoring others about the ups-and-downs of tinnitus. Now... let's just get the basic facts straight, shall we...? Physics of sound:

The layman's version of the above is that "proximity is everything" and as an example of that you can (unfortunately) read the following very sad - actually strike that - tragic story:

Now... you will find physicians in this world who will teach you that the human voice is not loud enough to cause damage...

...but as I (correctly) told you: proximity is everything.

Remember: 100db at 2m means that the noise is 106db at 1m (and 112db at 0,5m). Which means that the noise level (in db) is what at 0,25m...?

I would never have written a single entry in your thread if the person in question had not decided to introduce incorrect facts. Honestly. I would simply have moved along without pointing anything out. Why cause a stir when the damage (= the noise exposure) has already been done?

Suppose you were a cancer patient suffering from terminal cancer. Would you want to know the truth? Or not? Sugarcoating may of course help. Short term, that is. On the other hand, it may also prevent you from making the right decisions. Terminal cancer is "only" terminal as defined by "conventional" medicine. Conventional medicine does not include experimental medicine. But if someone does not know that they are terminally ill, why would they even begin to explore other options? Options such as experimental medicine, or... options in other countries, or... options within the private sector (= quicker treatment)?

More likely than not, these are the dilemmas that all human beings will be faced with at some point in their lives (in one form or another). I had a close relative who had the truth (about cancer) sugarcoated to her (by public doctors). Me being me - attheedgeofscience, that is, I "of course" knew that. But the close relative didn't. However... like most people, this person listened to her doctor (instead of me). Well, this person is no longer around. Which is why you are getting the story from me (and not her...).

attheedgeofscience
26/MAY/2015.

 

In less than two weeks I will be doing "something else" - I therefore hope... no actually... I pray that you therefore will be someone who can assist the unique and competent Team Trobalt and liaise with:

1. CEOs of otology pharmas
2. Track down clinical trial information
3. Ask relevant questions of researchers (and present it public) - not to mention finding them in the first place...
4. Compile clinical trial data

As a preliminary exercise for your future workload, why don't you account for the difference between a Kv3.x modulator vs. a Kv7.x modulator? Which clinical trials (in relation to tinnitus) are scheduled to go ahead in 2015? For Kv7.x channels, is "selectivity" more important than a "dirty drug" in relation to suppression of symptoms of tinnitus? And side-effects? What exactly is a dirty drug? Might the type of hearing loss (LFq/HFq) play a role in relation to how effective a potassium modulator is? Onset?

Good luck. The forum is counting on you.

 

@attheedgeofscience I don't need to understand any of this bullshit because I am habituated and living a happy and fullfilling life! Not waiting for a cure and not hoping for one! bye now!!

 

Me too. But I think you are forgetting that there are quite a number of members on this forum who are not habituated. And members who never will be "habituated" without pharmacological/surgical intervention as they have a clinical diagnosis of severe/catastrophic tinnitus. These are the patients that Team Trobalt - in part - are assisting. Relentlessly.

For your information.

 

I respect what you have posted above. And while yes, " facts are good" - however, in that moment that's NOT what I really needed. I was pretty upset when that all went down with the burglar alarm and really, I have no idea how loud it actually (I would say maybe 100 - 110db) was since I had no time to do anything except run for cover , plug my ears and try and unlock the gate to do so.

So as you said "What's done in done and whatever damage (If Any) is done. Yet what I came on here for was support and Dr. Nagler helped with that. I think for the most part he has a point that there is only so much that we can to protect ourselves from "Life" and now I understand that a bit more now.

What I was just trying to say is essentially.. Maybe its not THE BEST idea to point that out right when the person is still in that very upset stage.

I respect all the stuff that you do on this forum - honestly!, and I hope one day to hopefully be able to contribute in some way. However, right now I am still working at getting my life back after losing it to H and my new T. For a moment there I almost lost it like I did when this originally went down before last summer and I had to quit my job and move back with my parents.

Maybe next time, realize that sometimes it's better to focus on the "human and emotional" side of things before just telling it like it is and not "sugar coating it"

Food for thought (and just my opinion) as I always like to say.