Tinnitus is the medical term for the perception of sound in one or both ears or in the head when no external sound is present. It is often referred to as “ringing in the ears,” although some people hear hissing, roaring, whistling, chirping, or clicking. Tinnitus can be intermittent or constant-with single or multiple tones-and its perceived volume can range from subtle to shattering.
The ATA estimates that over 50 million Americans experience tinnitus to some degree. Of these, about 12 million have severe enough tinnitus to seek medical attention. And about two million patients are so seriously debilitated that they cannot function on a “normal,” day-to-day basis.
Take a look at the video below for example of what it might be like to live with Tinnitus.
If you are one of the many that are struggling with Tinnitus, consider PROHIERAN, an all natural earing wellness supplement that can help reduce the effects of Tinnitus.
DandyID
Facebook Pages
Flickr
Friendfeed
Technorati
Twitter
YouTube
Delicious
LinkedIn Company
MySpace
An ADT alarm went off at my work and I was exposed for at least 5 full mintues until the alarm was turned off. It’s been a week and my ears are still ringing. I’m afraid the super loud decibels (140) has caused permanently damage to my ears. I am scared this ringing won’t ever go away. When I called the company, a lady said give it 24 to 48 hours and it should go away. It hasn’t…..
Amy, that’s really scary that an alarm was 140 decibels! While it’s important that everyone hear an alarm it’s unnecessary to broadcast the sound so loudly. I hope the ringing in your ears stops soon.
A sad story caused by rampant health and safety bureaucracy.
I live in a housing association flat. When I moved in two years ago I had no idea there was an ADT industrial alarm installed. The alarms are all linked so if one person in the next blocks alarm goes off everyone’s goes off. The very first time ot went off I literally nearly had a heart attack adn am not ashamed to say I think I suffered a little shock. I had never ever in my life heard anything louder. It didn’t matter where you went in these small flats the noise was unbearably loud so you had to leave the building whilst holding your ears because not only are these things in in every flat, they are in teh stairways. When I got outside in the middle of the night there were children, elderly people visibly shaken and some crying. A dog was uncontrollably shaken. I was absaloutely shcoked this housing association could have something so loud installed in every single flat.
Little did I know this was going to become a regular occurrence. Within a matter of days it happened again. After a few more times I wrote letters and telephoned the housing association to inform them these alarms were dangerous. I was fobbed off of course in the name of health and safety. This went on for a year until finally ADT reduced the sensitivity of these things.
All through that year though I complained to ADT (who slammed the phone down on me) and the housing association countless times. Now heres the thing. Im a sound engineer so I absolutely knew what I was talking about. I measured the noise and it was an incredible 160db covering a frequency range from 4000hz to 16000khz, basically the crucial hearing range…..
Ok, to cut a long story short one night about t3.00am the alarm went off and I was so angry I decided enough was enough and tried to smash the alrms. It was loud remember that I ha dto run at it, try and hit it with a pole and quickly run in to the other room and cover my ears. It didn’t work so I had no option but to get up closer and use a screwdriver to dismantle it there and then. It was the most stupid thing I ever done. Whilst I held my right ear on my shoulder my left ear was exposed because I had the screwdriver in my hand. I got in to that thing within 15 seconds but the damage was done.
Now heres the real kicker. I protested long before this happened and informed the housing association and ADT that there must be a way to reduce the volume. They denied this, but damn! I knew there must be a system to do this. Lo and behold when I got in to the alarm there were a series of dip switched which reduced the level massively.
My left ear is completely ruined. I cannot enjoy music at all. I cannot watch TV because of the constant crackling and highly irritating noise. The constant very loud ringing has made me a nervous wreck. I’m now unemployed because I cannot work in my industry. I have tried seeking help but no one will help. I contemplated taking legal action but an unemployed man doesn’t stand a chance. All i would have wanted is one of those special ear plugs that can cut out certain frequencies. At least then I could walk down the road and not be bothered by traffic noise. Everything irritates my ear, even softly spoken words. Sometimes I feel it would be better if I were deaf in that ear.
ADT and the housing association have literally ruined my life, prevented me from having an income. They both deny any wrong doing (of course). Interestingly they sneakily reduced the level of the alarms from the central box. I could tell straight away
As the two years have passed my left ear has gotten worse just by doing daily things. I’m very angry that no one has taken this seriously because it has seriously affected my livelihood. My ears were my livelihood.
Ironically all those years I protected my ears when producing music or listening to it were cancelled by PC correct, H+S safety obsessed bureaucrats.
Apologies for the longs story, but I just had to write this down and I can assure anyone reading this its the absolute 100% truth.
PS
The housing association had the cheek to bill me 280 pounds for the alarm. I have never paid it and never will. I wante dthem to take me to court at least that way someone may have listened to me. They never did and eventually stopped hassling me for the money.
Sorry I made a mistake. It was 160db, it was louder. That was a high as the noise measuring device would go. It was simply off the scale.