Ears Ringing after using Machinery

[GarageGuy89]

So I ran my old 031 Stihl chainsaw for about 30 minutes yesterday cutting down some overgrown bushes. Nothing I haven't done 100 times in the past.

This was the first time I ran this saw for an extended period as it was recently gifted to me. When I got done it was noticeable how loud it was, I could feel it in my ears, and not so much pain, but lets just say I felt how loud it was the rest of the night.

Wake up in the middle of the night to a ringing/numbness sensation, only to find a very noticeable ringing and slight loss of hearing in one ear.

Anyone else experience something like this, and how long before it came back to normal? It's only one ear...I've blown out my ear drums before and it tends to come back, but that was from diving off a bridge...long story. I found it odd that something like my chainsaw that I've done 100 times before now suddenly messes with my hearing.

Need to be more careful! Ear plugs are a must next time!

 

[ducksface]

So,
You're asking or telling that prolonged exposure to loud noises is considered harmful?

I'm kinda, but not quite at a loss for words as to how you think.
Let's just bet the ear that is worse is on your dominant side.

I sure hope this is a spoof or yank or troll or psa.

 

[Farrier]

Well duh

 

[bhonshell37]

You would preserve your hearing better by covering your ears

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

 

[LB-1911]

So I ran my old 031 Stihl chainsaw for about 30 minutes yesterday cutting down some overgrown bushes. Nothing I haven't done 100 times in the past.

This was the first time I ran this saw for an extended period as it was recently gifted to me. When I got done it was noticeable how loud it was, I could feel it in my ears, and not so much pain, but lets just say I felt how loud it was the rest of the night.

Wake up in the middle of the night to a ringing/numbness sensation, only to find a very noticeable ringing and slight loss of hearing in one ear.

Anyone else experience something like this, and how long before it came back to normal? It's only one ear...I've blown out my ear drums before and it tends to come back, but that was from diving off a bridge...long story. I found it odd that something like my chainsaw that I've done 100 times before now suddenly messes with my hearing.

Need to be more careful! Ear plugs are a must next time!

Did you routinely wear hearing protection those 100's of previous times?

You may want to educate your self on tinnitus.

 

[Brian_WK]

I developed tinnitus after a end blew off a air hose the high pitch loud noise of the rushing air. Now have a constant ringing in my ears worse on the left side some days are worse than others louder noises will set it off. I also always wore ear protection (except concerts). Sometimes it's just that one time. You could go see a specialist they may or may not be able to help.

Brian

 

[gungatim]

welcome to the world of tinnitus. I'm still looking for a go-back machine so I can wear hearing protection when I should have...

 

[Falcon67]

HF sells hearing protectors that cost little and do surprisingly well at it. I keep a bunch everywhere, including mower, chain saw, weed eater, band saw, race trailer, in all the trucks, etc.

 

[BuffettFan]

As someone who says "Huh?" a lot, USE HEARING PROTECTION!
gungatim, please let me know when you find that machine. 30years and counting in a machine shop has done a number on me.
I go to the dr 8/16 to see if they can do anything for the tinnitus and hearing loss.

 

[shoeless]

Yup wear hearing protection.

I've had ringing in my right ear for over 10 years now. When it started I was at about 50% hearing loss in that ear. It's definitely worse now. If I'm in public if I'm having a conversation with someone they have to sit on my left side or I have to turn and put my ear towards them or else I will not be able to understand them.

The bright side? I sleep on my left ear and don't hear the snoring coming from the other side of the bed.

 

[ducksface]

About tinnitus.
I am of the mind, a layman's mind, that someone with tinnitus could possibly pinpoint the exact frequencyby listening to a frequency generator.
I am also of the mind to experiment with a oscilloscope to maybe use a bone-o-phone to put the opposite frequency directly into you skull.

Just a thought.
Noise cancelation is a real science. Maybe it needs applied.

 

[jd_1138]

These ear muffs are only $3 at HF.

https://www.harborfreight.com/industrial-ear-muffs-43768.html

They block a lot of the noise. Probably advisable to even put some of the plugs inside your ears and then put these on over the ears.

 

[APEowner]

Hearing loss from exposure to loud noise is cumulative and typically permanent. All of those other times you've done that and not noticed anything have been damaging your ears and this last time just added enough that you've noticed it.

 

[BuffettFan]

Yup wear hearing protection.

I've had ringing in my right ear for over 10 years now. When it started I was at about 50% hearing loss in that ear. It's definitely worse now. If I'm in public if I'm having a conversation with someone they have to sit on my left side or I have to turn and put my ear towards them or else I will not be able to understand them.

The bright side? I sleep on my left ear and don't hear the snoring coming from the other side of the bed.

I was going to mention the "snore cancelling benefit" and the fact that my right ear is most affected so it helps in the car, but was afraid my wife may see the post....

 

[Brian_WK]

Also a weird trick that only gives temporary relief put your palms on your ears then using your middle and pointer finder. Cross your fingers pointer over middle then while pushing down with your pointer make it "snap" off your middle hitting the base of your skull just where your skull meets your neck. do this 10-15 times then take your palms off your ears and..... Silence. Just temporary relief though..

Brian

 

[nes999]

Buy the harbor freight ear muffs, then you will know how bad they ****. Save yourself the time and buy a real set for 40 to 60.

Sent from my VS988 using Tapatalk

 

[LX-Markham]

About tinnitus.
I am of the mind, a layman's mind, that someone with tinnitus could possibly pinpoint the exact frequencyby listening to a frequency generator.
I am also of the mind to experiment with a oscilloscope to maybe use a bone-o-phone to put the opposite frequency directly into you skull.

Just a thought.
Noise cancelation is a real science. Maybe it needs applied.

Tinnitus is the hearing of sound when no external sound is present.[1] While often described as a ringing, it may also sound like a clicking, hiss or roaring.

While I don't disagree that noise cancellation is a real science, it requires an actual sound wave to cancel out. Tinnitus is the sensation of ringing. The nerves in the ear are sending false impulses to the brain.

 

[isb cornbinder]

My hearing is plagued by tinnitus. I have a hissing sound 24/7/365. While I don't mind this "white noise" at night, it has made hearing conversation much more difficult, for me.

The foreman I worked for used to have a bit of fun with me and my situation by asking me to check for air leaks on one of the trucks. I used to say, "I can hear the leak a 100 meters away.
The ear damage is cumulative over decades of not using ear protection when the job was of short duration.
There is no fix for the damage. There are more than a few BS advertisements for "The quick fix." Save your money.
I often think of the Animal Crackers cartoon where Rog Bolen drew the snake telling another animal, " my uncle was an undertaker. He called his business "Hiss and Hearse."

 

[tjdux]

Hey thankfully medical science is getting close to bionic ears. If you live 50 or 60 more years and have a few million to spend you could likely get one.....

Otherwise get used to sleeping with a fan on to hopefully distract from the ringing sound.

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[tthornto]

What???

 

[fsae0607]

Buy one of these, mount on your wall. I did, and it's some of the best money I've spent for my garage.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Earplugs-20...rded-PVC-Free-NRR33-Moldex-6800-/131848326770

 

[McFarmer]

So I ran my old 031 Stihl chainsaw for about 30 minutes yesterday cutting down some overgrown bushes. Nothing I haven't done 100 times in the past.

This was the first time I ran this saw for an extended period as it was recently gifted to me. When I got done it was noticeable how loud it was, I could feel it in my ears, and not so much pain, but lets just say I felt how loud it was the rest of the night.

Wake up in the middle of the night to a ringing/numbness sensation, only to find a very noticeable ringing and slight loss of hearing in one ear.

Anyone else experience something like this, and how long before it came back to normal? It's only one ear...I've blown out my ear drums before and it tends to come back, but that was from diving off a bridge...long story. I found it odd that something like my chainsaw that I've done 100 times before now suddenly messes with my hearing.

Need to be more careful! Ear plugs are a must next time!

It might be too late but get some good headphones or you will be hearing that noise 24/7.

 

[Casey69]

Buy the harbor freight ear muffs, then you will know how bad they ****. Save yourself the time and buy a real set for 40 to 60.

cheapie HF version works fine for me. use them all the time. wouldn't use them if i were on an aircraft carrier's flight deck, but should handle most of OP's needs.

 

[nes999]

cheapie HF version works fine for me. use them all the time. wouldn't use them if i were on an aircraft carrier's flight deck, but should handle most of OP's needs.

I disagree I had the HF ones and notice no difference when used with a chop saw or table saw. I bought some 3m optime 105 and its silent.

Sent from my VS988 using Tapatalk

 

[rburke65]

I worked in a body shop of GM ....welding! Conveyors, etc. and always used ear plugs. And then my wife and SIL bought me a pair of Bose noise cancelling head phone...... No inexpensive....$300..... Unbelievable how well they functioned. Hard to believe what a great job it does. Hey.....ya only have two ears.

 

[GarageGuy89]

Have plenty of ear plugs and ear muffs in the shop...I'll admit I'm not a smart man when it come to this.

I usually tie a pair of those ear plugs with the plastic wire between them to tools that need them. Looks like I'll be adding it to the chainsaw now...

 

[isb cornbinder]

sssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss to you to!!

 

[Falcon67]

I disagree I had the HF ones and notice no difference when used with a chop saw or table saw. I bought some 3m optime 105 and its silent.

Sent from my VS988 using Tapatalk

We used them (The HF red models) at an Indy car race at TMS - cut all the high frequency noise from the engines turning 20K so we could actually hear what was going on. Otherwise the race sounded like sitting in a bowl of pissed off bee noise broadcast using a wall of Fender amps.

Also use them at the track around the big cars - works quite well IMHO.

 

[tarmy]

Learned a long time ago as a shooter...spend money on good hearing protection.

Check out shooting web sites...I use some fairly expensive ear protection for myself...as I figured 200 bucks was worth it...and I am thankful I did...

I also wear them around my wife...far as I can tell she hasn't said a word to me in twenty years...

 

[No Noise Dude]

You are experiencing what is technically known as a temporary hearing threshold shift. It is believed to be caused by your ears trying to adapt to an over-exposure to loud noise.

When your ears go into defensive mode, chemical changes in the inner ear make your hearing less sensitive to sound. This may be a warning sign that your hearing is at risk of noise injury. Temporary hearing threshold shift can last for a few minutes up to many hours depending on the level and duration of noise exposure experienced.

 

[JohnnyK81]

Put more simply, you have damaged them. You don't get it back (you do get used to it). Take it from another guy in the 'oops' crowd.

 

[scooby074]

Get good muffs! Not cheapies. 3M. Peltor. After many years in various noisy industry I have occasional ringing in my ears and overall my hearing is not as sharp as it should be. We were supposed to wear plugs and they were provided, but the pressure hurt my ears. I was assigned muffs, but they were too hot to wear many days. My own fault for being dumb.

Now I wear muffs most the time there is loud noise, even trimmers and lawn mowers. Get the Stihl (Peltor) ones with the radio and you'll wear them all the time.

 

[B.C.Biker]

Second or third putting earplugs all around your shop. Also safety glasses. I have good quality hearing protection and safety glasses but buy the cheapies by the box and leave them everywhere so never an excuse. Always have at least a couple pair of plugs in my work pants. I'm a trucker and work around helicopters but use plugs doing just about anything. Even some movie theatres.
My Dad is well into his 90's and started working when things were just getting mechanized and nobody knew the consequences Two hearing aids now and still is left out of most conversations. It can be not just frustrating but lonely.
Please look after yourself.

 

[Sawdustmaker]

These ear muffs are only $3 at HF.

https://www.harborfreight.com/industrial-ear-muffs-43768.html

They block a lot of the noise. Probably advisable to even put some of the plugs inside your ears and then put these on over the ears.

That's what I do. Got a set of hearing protection muffs that block 34db and also use the ear plugs. Works great. Overkill? Hey you only got one set of ears. Same argument for safety glasses. When I worked on a logging crew (years ago) we were issued a combo helmet, hearing protection and eye protection. All in one unit. Only drawback was that it was hot. You might look into something like that. IMHO.

 

[Mikeske]

I cannot wear ear plugs in my left ear due to a medical condition of a blocked tube from my sinus to inner ear. I have had to endure 5 operations on my left ear, ear drum and numerous skin grafts to the ear drum, I now live with a permanent tube in my left eardrum. What began as a sinus infection that was not caught in time.

I have a pretty good understanding of the issues of hearing protection as I also spent over 40 years in the aircraft mechanics field. When ever I am around noise I use the hearing protection, a ear plug in my good ear and then ear muffs. I cannot have the ear channel blocked by a ear plug in the left ear as I need the air to move around the ear drum to keep it equalized.

I have a hearing aid for my left ear and at best it is ineffective but having normal hearing in my right ear, I am lucky but since I only have 20% hearing in the left, if I am in a situation where I need to hear I do have the tendency to move around to get the person or sound I need to hear going into my right ear.

 

[maverick302]

I worked in a body shop of GM ....welding! Conveyors, etc. and always used ear plugs. And then my wife and SIL bought me a pair of Bose noise cancelling head phone...... No inexpensive....$300..... Unbelievable how well they functioned. Hard to believe what a great job it does. Hey.....ya only have two ears.

Ear plugs will lower the sound pressure that reaches your ears. Noise canceling headphones add the inverse frequency of the sound around you to cancel it out. It still reaches your ears, you just can't hear it. This offers no protection beyond what the headphones can block out when they are turned off.

 

[gunguy]

I usually double up on hearing protection; foamies and muffs. If you're wearing hearing protection, you are probably doing something that requires eye protection too - sawing, power nailing, machining, shooting...

I find the temple pieces of safety glasses tend to break the seal of ear muffs hence the plugs. I got into the habit of leaving the plugs in whenever I was in an area of potentially harmful noise with other people. Saved me a number of times when someone went "hot" without announcing it.

Jim

 

[maxpower_hd]

I was involved in a firework explosion many years ago. I had my glasses blown off, a burn on my forehead and a broken ear drum on one side. I had ringing in my ears for days but it did go away. The tear in my eardrum however lasted a lot longer. I was told my actual hearing was fine after a test with beeps and blips. But I still don't hear correctly out of that ear when there are other noises involved. I haven't gone back to the Dr. since there wasn't a whole lot they seemed to think they could do. But the bottom line is that yes the ringing may very well be temporary.

 

[jimgood]

I wear ear plugs if I'm using a tool for long periods, like mowing, grinding, shop vac. If I'm only doing something for short bursts, like cutting metal on the chop saw, I use ear muffs.

 

[GarageGuy89]

Day 1 has passed and the numbness has subsided with almost all the ringing nose gone. Seemed to be somewhat temporary, either that or I have gotten used to it.