So one weekend, I'm talking with a friend at a wedding reception. I think she had a difficult time hearing me speak. She checked a device in her right ear, which I assumed was a hearing aid and I asked her about it. "Yes," she told me, "I need to wear a hearing aid in my right ear and I'm completely deaf in my left ear. My hearing aid doesn't seem to be working, so I think I ought to get a hearing aid replacement or upgrade."
I asked her if there were any particular brand she were wearing. She said, "Starkey, I think". She fiddled with it, and I think she may have been adjusting it.
I don't know how it turned to this, but I mentioned to her that I wear a hearing aid of a different sort: a sound-blocker. Otherwise known as an earplug or ear plug.
I pulled it out and showed it to her. She said to me, Gosh, I wish I could be in your shoes. And I expressed to her: Oddly enough, I wish I could be in your shoes.
That's because although I consider myself a reasonable person possessing most major faculties and able to make reasonable decisions, I've been diagnosed with hyperacusis. Higher-than-average sensitivity to sounds. For example, last year at a summer picnic adjacent to a busy major southern California freeway, I found it a tough go trying to hear what people were saying due to the whizzing and roaring of the cars going by on the freeway. And I've written at The Daily Decibel that I'm sensitive to the repetitive and excessively loud noises of leaf blowers while I'm not aware of the same sentiment of any other residents in my area. Some audiologists or ear-nose-and-throat specialists might refer to my condition as misophonia. Some may use the two terms interchangeably. Both of the terms hyperacusis and misophonia (literally, "hatred of sound") are used to refer to a condition of higher-than-normal (or extreme) sensitivity to a certain few (or many different) sounds.
Obviously, my friend and I can't trade places. We can't step into each other's shoes. Well, I actually sort of could step into her shoes if I were to obtain a surgical procedure to induce deafness. Yes, deafness. I'm certainly not the only one who's had the idea cross my mind. I've read articles where individuals have considered having such a surgery in order to, basically, escape various noises that are worsening their overall wellness. But that's a topic for a different day. I haven't a clue how much the surgery would cost. I reckon it would require removal of the eardrum. And I enjoy classical music, so surgery to make me deaf in my right ear would probably hamper my ability to hear classical music in all its fullness.
Anyway, my favorite ear plugs are HEAROS Xtreme and Flents Quiet Time. The Xtreme Protection Series from HEAROS has an NRR 33 (Noise Reduction Rating of 33 decibels). I've been using HEAROS ear plugs for almost 3 years and they are awesome.
So anyway. . . back to the conversation with my friend and I. She was surprised (as are most people I meet) when they discover I wear some gadget in my right ear designed not to increase -- but to decrease -- the volume outside of the ear canal. And, I shall continue to wear them, as long as things are so noisy as they are and as long as I can afford a few bucks per package.
But it would also be fascinating if we could somehow trade places.
(Flents Quiet Time 10 pair are available from Amazon, Walgreens, and other fine stores.)
Permalink: http://www.thedailydecibel.com/2012/10/noise-my-friend-and-me.html
I asked her if there were any particular brand she were wearing. She said, "Starkey, I think". She fiddled with it, and I think she may have been adjusting it.
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| Fitting an earplug into the ear |
I pulled it out and showed it to her. She said to me, Gosh, I wish I could be in your shoes. And I expressed to her: Oddly enough, I wish I could be in your shoes.
That's because although I consider myself a reasonable person possessing most major faculties and able to make reasonable decisions, I've been diagnosed with hyperacusis. Higher-than-average sensitivity to sounds. For example, last year at a summer picnic adjacent to a busy major southern California freeway, I found it a tough go trying to hear what people were saying due to the whizzing and roaring of the cars going by on the freeway. And I've written at The Daily Decibel that I'm sensitive to the repetitive and excessively loud noises of leaf blowers while I'm not aware of the same sentiment of any other residents in my area. Some audiologists or ear-nose-and-throat specialists might refer to my condition as misophonia. Some may use the two terms interchangeably. Both of the terms hyperacusis and misophonia (literally, "hatred of sound") are used to refer to a condition of higher-than-normal (or extreme) sensitivity to a certain few (or many different) sounds.
 |
| HEAROS Xtreme Protection |
Anyway, my favorite ear plugs are HEAROS Xtreme and Flents Quiet Time. The Xtreme Protection Series from HEAROS has an NRR 33 (Noise Reduction Rating of 33 decibels). I've been using HEAROS ear plugs for almost 3 years and they are awesome.
So anyway. . . back to the conversation with my friend and I. She was surprised (as are most people I meet) when they discover I wear some gadget in my right ear designed not to increase -- but to decrease -- the volume outside of the ear canal. And, I shall continue to wear them, as long as things are so noisy as they are and as long as I can afford a few bucks per package.
 |
| Flents Quiet Time NRR33 |
(Flents Quiet Time 10 pair are available from Amazon, Walgreens, and other fine stores.)
 |
| Flents Quiet Time NRR 33 |
Permalink: http://www.thedailydecibel.com/2012/10/noise-my-friend-and-me.html
1 comments:
Please don't deafen yourself!!
You might appreciate my post on the topic of people who hear too little vs people who hear too much:
http://hearinghealthmatters.org/hearingviews/2012/more-sound-plus-less-noise-adds-up-to-stronger-human-connections/
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