Should I Be Worried After This Experience of Neighbor Drilling Loudly?

Hi all

Yesterday i was relaxing in my room reading a book and then next door started drilling loudly.

I put my fingers in my ears (as I can't wear earplugs because cause ear pain - I have tried different ones but all give pain).

Anyways after about 2 mins they stopped but then started drilling again. It went on for an hour so I went to there and it was the mother who answered the door.

I explained about my tinnitus and just wanted to know how long they will be drilling as it was her 18-year-old son putting up shelves on the wall.

It was so loud. Let's just say she was very rude and did not care about tinnitus.

So I went for a walk but this was at 5pm and there was nowhere for me to go so I just took my dog for a walk to escape as I don't have a car at the moment otherwise I would have sat in my car and mom doesn't drive so I just walked for over an hour with my dog.

When I went back I went in through the back and mom came to the back door and said he's still drilling so I was stuck sat outside in the cold until 8pm when he finished.

My tinnitus did not spike and I was wondering if they do drill again in the future could I just put my fingers in my ears as it was freezing last night sitting out in the dark.

I'm scared if I sat there with my fingers in my ears that the drilling might cause my tinnitus to get worse? Should I be fine since it was next door?

 

You will be fine, worrying does certainly not help.
Personally I have found that its best to ignore these minor incidents and not to stress.

 

My guess is you will have no issues with drilling next door, especially if your tinnitus was not from acoustic trauma. Human ears are more resilient than you think.

One option for blocking out noise in the future (if ear plugs give you pain) is something like these:
ClearArmor 141001 Shooters Hearing Protection

I have them and they are comfortable and block out a lot of noise.

 

Thanks. I wasn't sure if drilling from next door would make my tinnitus worse or not so I knew it was best to ask.

And I did not like sitting in the cold for hours.

Since I can't wear earplugs does anyone know if maybe muffs might be ok to use when there are loud noises like if next door was drilling etc?

I can't wear earplugs as no matter what brand they all hurt my ears and I don't have compacted earwax. My audiologist thinks it has to do with my ETD.

My mom thought I should be fine too since the drilling is next door and not in our house. It just seemed so loud.

 

Thanks. Today the neighbor is banging but that doesn't bother my ears. And yes my tinnitus was not caused by noise etc. It was caused by a cold.

 

@Sarah200 I sure understand and have had the same problem on my street last summer with several houses being
renovated. The constant and horrible sounds of construction were awful for me.

I wore my bose noise canceling headset and that helped a lot. I also played my music therapy. But, I also use tightly rolled up cotton balls (no strands getting loose inside the ear canal).

I hope the situation gets better for you. Since you cannot use earplugs almost any type of ear muffs should help you so you do not have to sit out in the cold.

 

Thanks, luckily there's been no drilling today so I think it was a one off, I hope.

But I'm looking into buying a pair of muffs as I do not want to be sat outside again, it would be easier if they were more understanding neighbours.

 

Wear ear muffs and you will be fine.

 

For the love of God and everything that is holy, do not buy Clear Armor here muffs. Those were the first pair I ever got, went through two of them. They don't nearly protect as well as the 3M X5A Peltor and the cushioning hardens over time making then painful to wear for long periods. They are not nearly has comfortable either. Get the 3M X5A Peltor. It will make a world of a difference when neighbors start making loud noises again.

 

Thanks, I have been reading reviews on the Clear Armor ones and one reviewer said he brought them to protect his ears and to avoid getting tinnitus and the next morning he had tinnitus and they did not protect him so I won't be getting them and am looking for suggestions for ear muffs so I'll look into the ones you suggested.

If any more members have suggestions I will be glad to hear them.

And what about bone conduction? I don't know much about it but I read that ear muffs/headphones that have bone conduction protection are better?

 

Search the forums for 3M X5A Peltor. They are highly regarded as the best ear muffs you can buy from multiple members.

 

I'd sooner prefer a cold arse than a spike.

Arses take about an hour to warm up. Spikes take weeks if at all.

No brainer really?

 

True but a lot harder to do when tinnitus is not your only medical condition. And my other condition makes me very stiff and in a lot of pain when I'm very cold.

 

X5A provide the most noise protection and are the most comfortable. The only problem with X5A is that they are very bulky. I own both X5A and X4A. You can wear X4A when you need to wear hearing protection in public (seeing how you can't wear earplugs). They look a lot more like headphones, they provide pretty good noise reduction, and it shouldn't be hard to wear them for under an hour.

 

Can't you wear warm clothing?

 

Thanks. I'm thinking of buying both the X5A for inside and X4A for outside.

My other condtion is fibromyalgia and no matter how warm I wrap up if I spend long periods standing or sitting outside I get stiff which then leads to pain. And there's nowhere to sit down in the garden so standing then annoys my sciatica (it was getting long term sciatica that made me become a physiotherapist)

 

Cinema? Pub? Shopping Centre? Library? Friends house? McDonalds? Burger King? Police Station Foyer? Furthest room away in your house with musicians ear plugs; industrial hearing protection whilst a few towels wrapped around your head and mattress against the wall?

You have two choices - put distance between yourself or a barrier.

 

First off I can't wear earplugs. I have explained why above. Cinema is way louder than next door drilling plus I don't go there anymore. I don't go out at night either as my tinnitus is more reactive at night so going anywhere in town is not a good idea and library closes at 5.00pm, the drilling went on way past 5.00pm.

And there has not been any drilling since that day and like the others said I'll just wear muffs and I'll be fine.

 

The point I'm making Sarah is you either put distance between you and the noise source or you put a barrier between you and it or a combination of both. What measures you use are entirely dependant on your circumstances.