My Professor Whistles Loudly with His Fingers Using Microphone

Usually I avoid going to university lectures, because the microphone is always too loud for me and causes pain in my ear. But today was the last lecture before the final exam and the Professor announced that he would go through important stuff for the exam today and that today's lecture wouldn't be recorded anymore. So I though I'll give it a try. --> Big mistake.

The first hour was ok. It was a little bit nasty, but I could stand it. Then suddenly the students became so loud, talking to each other, that the Professor put his fingers in his mouth and loudly whistles with it. Everyone was shocked, because it was such a high, shrill tone and now my right ear is hurting and I can't hear very well anymore. Is it possible that he worsened my hearing permanently and my hearing range is now diminished in the high frequency range. It was the highest, shrillest tone that I've ever heard in my entire life!

And even normally it is shrill if a person loudly whistles with his fingers. But my Professor was using a microphone! So the loud noise was even emphasized by the huge sound system at our lecture hall.

I really encourage every student here in this forum to avoid lecture halls in universities.
I'm really worried my hearing range is now even more limited by that.

 

It seems unlikely that the speakers would be loud enough (or that the sound was long enough) to cause immediate hearing damage, but I would definitely contact your professor (and maybe even head of department) to let them know what happened. It sounds like it was excessively loud even if you didn't already have hearing issues.

For now try to avoid loud sounds and try taking some magnesium and eating/drinking lots of high anti-oxidant foods (ginger, garlic, things with vitamin C). You could also try taking NAC for a few days but read about it first because it can have (minor) side effects for some people and its a fairly powerful antioxidant.

 

If it was amplified by loudspeakers it can be bad. Otherwise, you will be ok. You will know how your hearing definitely settles in about a month, its more or less the timeframe for this sort of thing.

 

He was definitely using loudspeakers.

Loud whistling can be very painful for ears, if someone does it normaly. But with loudspeakers it was 10000 times louder. The whole audience was wincing for a moment. I'm asking myself why an university Professor uses such methods like loud-whistling for getting attention. He's talking to 20 - 25 years old adults and not to kindergarden-kids or dogs.

I'm really scared.

 

@Juan where did you get this timeframe from??

Just relax about it, you weren’t in a club...x

 

I've read multiple posts where people mentioned their temporary spike beginning to fade within a month after the onset. My personal experience seems to confirm it too - myworst spike has also began to fade after a month. I can't recall reading any posts where there was no fading after, say, two months and the spike ending up being temporary.

 

Thank you for your replies, MSF, Juan, Candy and Bill,

It's not really a spike, it's more like everything feels dull and I can't hear on my right ear anymore. Somehow only the right ear seems affected, I don't know why. When I hold my right ear closed, I even hear my own voice quieter than usual. I'm assuming that the whistling-tone, emphasized by the loudspeaker, damaged the inner hear cells and now they're lying knitted and dead in my ear. I don't "feel" the voices anymore, probably because the nerve cells aren't working anymore and don't register senses and voices... It's more like having a plug in your ear.

I'm taking Magnesium and Ginkgo-tablets now. But it didn't help.

 

People with noxacusis (noise induced pain) are more prone to hearing damage then those without it.

A healthy ear is not the same as a damaged ear, a healthy ear can tolerate what a damaged ear cannot.

 

Hi @Contrast I hope you're well. Can I please have a source for that piece of info? This is something that interests me also.

 

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1855187/
Rodents exposed to loud noise at a young age displayed more signs of age related hearing loss.


We see evidence of this a lot, just read stories on the forum.

 

@Contrast
Thanks for the link.

 

I'm sure this is quite a traumatic experience, but try and not dwell on it too much for now. As others have mentioned, things should improve with time. I have been in a similar situation where a combination of loud music + train horn (at the same time!) left me feeling like my hearing was permanently muffled/altered but many months later my hearing is ok again. If you are really worried you could also check out NAC. Studies have suggested this is good for preventing hearing damage after acoustic trauma.

 

Thank you for making me hope. Unfortunately, I found out, that since this day, when I close my right ear, I cannot hear my own voice anymore. Usually I can hear my voice clearly, when I close my ears. But now I don't feel any vibrations in my ear, neither my own voice.

Disconcertingly only my right ear is affect, although the box was to my left side.

 

Sue the school. See a doctor. Go to the hospital. Document the damage. Get supporting witnesses.

 

This professor is such a douchebag !

Sorry for you about this spike...

But as other have said, a spike can definitely go down, even in a few months... Maybe you can go to get your ear checked...