Pain Threshold (in dB)?

[Berik]

The other day an ambulance passed by and the siren actually hurt my ear.

When googling I found quite some differences in the mentioned pain threshold of hearing, ranging from 120 to 140 dB.

Typically, what is considered to be the pain threshold?

 

[RingerBell]

@Berik As far as I know, threshold of pain varies from person to another, and it's also depends on the frequency and the spectrum of the sound. It's quite hard to give a single value for noise pain threshold, but if a single value is given, it's usually somewhere in the range that you quoted.

Pure tones or other sounds where the signal consist of very few frequencies (like squeky brakes) are probably going to be painful at lower sound pressure levels compared to situation where the sound consists of many frequencies. Also sensitivity of our ears to different frequencies varies, so that probably contributes to the level of pain threshold too.

 

[Contrast]

Good question I have heard researchers say 120 to 125db, it varies an individuals. In cases of painful hyperacusis this threshold drops. https://www.ata.org/news/news/hyperacusis-related-damage-nerve-cells-inner-ear