Your Outer Ear Boosts Sounds, Right?
- Thread starter JurgenG
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Well, for that matter, earphones are the only ones where the outer ear doesn't boost the sound.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK10908/
This mentions how some sounds get boosted a hunderd-fold by the outer ear.
This mentions how some sounds get boosted a hunderd-fold by the outer ear.
Whether or not the information on that website is true @JurgenG I don't think you should be reading that type of information, because it will only make worry due to concerns over your sensitivity to sound. This is not helping and in my opinion, will not make you progress and could delay your habituation if you are not careful. This is just my take on it. Forget this type of information and I strongly advise that you keep away from websites that promote negative thinking because that's exactly what it is and is won't do you any good.
Take care
Michael
Does that take into account the tensor tympani muscle? If that muscle is working correctly, it can help dampen loud sounds.
Here's a very basic explanation and illustration: http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/Sound/protect.html
Here's a very basic explanation and illustration: http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/Sound/protect.html
Might help, but it takes time to get activated and how would one know if it's working properly?
I know, but I have no idea what I can take, what is damaging, whatsoever.
I guess the forum is not the best place to be for me.
Tomorrow I have an ENT meeting, might get a few hearing-tests to see what has changed over the last year.
Might that be useful? I also want to ask WHEN I should take predisone, when is it justified etc..
- Feb 17, 2017
- 10,400
- Tinnitus Since
- February, 2017
- Cause of Tinnitus
- Acoustic Trauma
Tinnitus forums can be good and they can be bad. If you associate with negative thinking people and read website links that promote it, then the habituation process will be delayed and it's possible for the tinnitus and hyperacusis to become worse. Recovering from tinnitus and habituating takes time. Each person is different, but often this takes many months and sometimes up to 2 years. It can be helped by positive thinking and associating with people that have this mindset. These types of people are also at tinnitus forums. I have written posts that are available on my "started thread", giving advice on how to acquire a possitive mindset. There is nothing wrong with feeling occasionally negative about tinnitus or hyperacusis. However, it is important that it is kept in check and not allowing it to overwhelm you.
Michael
fishbone
Member
- May 5, 2016
- 2,594
- Tinnitus Since
- 1988
- Cause of Tinnitus
- loud noise and very bad sickness
I never seen or heard that our ears boosts a sound. Possibly an environment might boost or decrease a sound, but outer ear...I never heard of this. If you are hearing a certain DB level, then that's what you should be putting into your ears. Possibly headphones can increase the intensity of a sound, even at a certain db, but that's about it. Even that is not 100% accurate, on just how much louder it can become.
At the end of the day, protect your ears from loud sounds, simple as that
It is true though. It has to do with the shape of the pinna. If we only had the canal as a "hole in the head" without the pinna, we'd be hearing very differently.
"Outside shapes" can have a big effect on your hearing: if you cup your hand towards the source you are trying to hear, you can boost its perceived volume significantly. Ever seen those older guys cupping their hand when they ask you to repeat yourself? Well that's us now
- but more importantly it's because cupping the hand to hear better does help.That being said, I wouldn't worry about it at all in the context of the OP's question.
And you can change your hearing by pulling on your ear tragus. I tried this once and felt like my tinnitus was less noticeable, maybe because I could hear a bit better.It is true though. It has to do with the shape of the pinna. If we only had the canal as a "hole in the head" without the pinna, we'd be hearing very differently.
"Outside shapes" can have a big effect on your hearing: if you cup your hand towards the source you are trying to hear, you can boost its perceived volume significantly. Ever seen those older guys cupping their hand when they ask you to repeat yourself? Well that's us now
That being said, I wouldn't worry about it at all in the context of the OP's question.
There are stories of individuals claiming to have hearing problems after having their tragus pierced. I am not sure if it was the modification of it or from an infection of the piercing, but it does raise interesting questions if the shape of our ears impacts hearing.
100 dB is 100 dB
Agreed.
It isn't as if as if the outer ear takes a 100 dB sound and makes it 100 times louder at some frequencies. Instead, the anatomy of the outer ear (including the ear canal) is such that our hearing is much more sensitive at 3-4 kHz than it is at other frequencies. The difference in sensitivity across the frequency spectrum is large at very low sound levels and becomes smaller as sound levels increase. Fletcher and Munson developed the first "equal loudness curves" (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equal-loudness_contour ) that show soft or loud the sound must be at different frequencies to be perceived as equally loud. If you look at the lowest curve in the graph in the Wikipedia link, the ear is most sensitive at 3-4 kHz where the measurement is ~ -8 dB. At 20 Hz, the sound would have to be about 70dB to be perceived as having the same loudness. As you move to higher curves (i.e., higher sound pressure levels), the curves become flatter. This phenomena is the reason for "loudness" buttons on some audio equipment. These controls boost the low and high frequencies to make up for the difference in sensitivity when listening at low volumes.
So nothing to worry about. As has already been said, just be mindful of loud sounds.
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