pardon? eh? anyone else gradually going deaf, due to occupation & biking? i wear earplugs 99% of the time cos i find i can concentrate better, takes the wind noise away etc... but my hearing is still fkt lol! for example the other day i was in a meat factory fixing a machine.... the fan was nackered so i told the guy i'd have to order him a new one... he said "ok, do you want me to get you some gaffer tape?" me - "uh??? no mate it's fkt, i cant fix it. needs a new one." him - uh? "no, i said do you want me to get you some gammon steaks"
Yes sure of it and also use earplugs but do also have a habit of using my ipod far too loud on the exercise bike as well which doesn't help.
My hearing is shot from the late 80's and early 90's when "real men" didn't wear the issued ear protectors, Was so noisy at times you could feel it as vibration in your stomach from 10 yards away. Screwed my high tone so I struggle to hear things when other noise is going on, like when you try and have a chat in a pub.
Same here matey, 30+ years in Telecoms have screwed my hearing, plus I can't stand earplugs, and ride without them on road or track. It has to be a real long journey to wear any. The flip side is that the wife really thinks I am going deaf, so able to ignore her with a get out of jail card.
I never wear them and so far I havent had a problem, my father was the same and his hearing is still okay and thats when they had to pudding basin type lids. but saying that I would say I would have been doing more damage at work and in the clubs over the bike.....when I used to DJ back in the 90's Raves my ears would ring four 2-3 days after.then when I was doing the aerospace work the machines used to hurt your ears they were that loud. I think its how much constant noise you are dealing with and the luck of the draw if your ears give out on you.
i had a hearing test at work a few years ago and failed miserable - there were whole blocks of frequencies missing. tbh i didnt really know what i was listening for - all i could hear is the cleaners hoovering up and people slamming doors and stuff. so they let me do it again. only i noticed that every time the machine thing emitted a sound, i could see the reflection of a little red led on the pc monitor at the side of me.... so every time i saw it i pressed the button lol. i passed! some of the machines i work with run at very low rpm, like 6-700rpm and the vibrations are so heavy that even if i double up on ear plugs and defenders i can still hear the reverb through my jawbone lol. gets very tiring. i know what you mean about in the pub - if its just 1-1 convo im ok but when theres a crowd i cant hear fk all, might as well be another language. i think over the years 1-1 ive sort of subcosciously learnt to lipread a bit. mad innit.
I get very frustrated trying to have a conversation in a pub for example to the point I can't be bothered anymore, well until I get too pissed to care.
owning the duke was the only time I can say I wore them, but that was for the longer runs as the ears started to get sore after a while lol.
tell you what, you dont half notice it when you get off if one earplug has come out. ringing in just one ear - so the plugs definately work. if you dont like them, maybe try a different type? i just grab a handfull everytime i pass a box on the wall, loads of different types. some are too soft for me, some go too far in the ear. but like the 3 bears porridge, some are just right
Tiz a funny & complex thing 'hearing' I have always been blessed with very good hearing yet conversely I've always suffered with Tintitus. I have a constant wine (not the Red in my hand now) in my ears with obviously is most noticeable at night, however it doesn't bother me in the slightest! I think because I've had it since a child my brain has 'auto-tuned' it out which is why it doesn't effect me, it can and does drive others insane! Despite all that I can hear things outside the house that my Wife whose 14 years younger than me or the Kids never hear! Funny aint it?
I also had the constant wine from a kid but not as bad as Tintitus as I know some with it and it drives them mad.My problem is I like the sound of the bike too much to wear plugs, even tried the ones that slightly dampen the noise but they still annoy me. same way I cant listen to music on the bike....or in the car If I am driving hard.
Sticking porridge in your ears is just plain wrong! I've always used earplugs, since passing big bike test anyway and that's 20 years now, this years annual hearing test for work was the first time I got told it wasn't perfect in one frequency range, but fortunately it was still only a minimal drop in hearing ability. The damage is being done whether you're detecting it or not, it just is, and its cumulative, little by little, plain medical fact ! Get plugs, not porridge!
I wear plugs all the time now ,however its well to late as i have Tintitus mainly in the right ear and a loss of hearing in general mainly through years of construction i dont know how anyone can ride a bike without plugs as all you can hear is wind noise anyway and Phantom a kind word of advice please consider looking after your ears as they are the only ones you will ever get and up to now you ''have got away with it'' all 100% of us with hearing defects would gladly swop positions with you but would use the plugs at every opportunity this is not a sly dig just a logical view from someone would wishes he could turn the clock back.
Been deaf since a little boy.Had mumps and what caused it was the whistling kettle my mum put on burnt my high frequency nerve endings when it boiled/whistled.Ive only got 1/4 hearing in left ear and 1/2 in right ear.I wear a Unitron fuse8 in ear aid at work and home.I wear hearing protectors when out clay shooting and decent ear phones listening to music when out on the bike.Can't stand the wind noise without something in my ears whilst biking so music keeps it out.Of all the disabilities out there this deafness is probably the one to have cos it has advantages like quietness when you want it Tinnitus I do get in both ears when stressed.I just take a deep breath calm myself down and it goes.Lived with it for 40yrs I can now control it better than I used to.
Funny you should mention this but yes I am going deaf too. In fact I'm going to have an operation to correct it I went to see a consultant about having my tonsils out which is getting done at the start of July. While I was in there he asked if I had any other problems so I thought I'd mention my dull hearing in my left ear. He had a look in there and said straight away "Ah yes. I can see the problem". Apparently having a grommet in my left ear when I was a kid has left my ear drum weak and it's leaning against the bones which vibrate and sense the sound. When I block my nose and blow air into my ear everything gets louder because it pushes the drum away from the bones. Long and the short of it is that the surgeon's going to put something behind my eardrum to mechanically hold it flat. Apparently that'll sort the problem.
work wear plugs when ever i can, always have a stash under my seat cause "i'm soft and look after my hearing" but at 32 the only problem i have touch wood is them silly shop alarms.... should stop teenages hanging round..... i can still hear them fz. my teenag edaughter can..... i blame her ipod. i shoot often and work and really noisey area.... but sad i know plug or muff up . just as bad with eye protection
I've had bad hearing since I was a kid... both me and my mum have the same lack of response to higher frequencies. I then trashed my hearing further during the mid 90's by going to far too many raves. I now have no higher frequency at all...... which can be beneficial as I cant hear most house or car alarms! Also, as with "vvtr"... Totally... busy pubs are a nightmare. Also are motorway journeys in a noisy car... cant hear a thing anyone is saying, which is why I buy BMWs as I find they are quiet enough at motorway speeds to allow me to hear the missus/kids, not that its always a blessing! My missus reckons my hearing has taken a turn for the worse recently, and has forced me to wear earplugs when riding the bike. Had the first serious ride "plugged up" on the weekend, and found I rode like an absolute tw@t!
I do wear em but sometimes forget, its a worse of two evils of late cuz i just love the noise of this V4 and then the wind noise chimes in and i'm wishing i had the plugs in.....
I used to be in the dry cleaning business and for the obvious reason you need a lot of air extraction in this line. The general philosophy was the most brutal fans possible to achieve the required number of air changes per hour. Finesse and efficiency in layout and ducting were just an unecessary expense so I spent 17 years working right underneath things you normally see the word Westland stencilled to the side of. My hearing is pretty fecked now. As mentioned in the other posts, the higher registers have suffered the most. I'm most aware of it when watching television. It's a lot more difficult to pick up dialogue than it is sound effects and music. Tinnitus is, without doubt, the most irritating icing of the cake that is insomnia. If I can't sleep the bastard thing just mocks me. However, I feel very uncomfortable wearing plugs under my helmet. Hard to describe but it makes me feel detached from my surroundings, my situational awareness feels compromised. I'm lucky that my HJC helmet is quite quiet and there doesn't seem to be too much low frequency vibrations propagated through the air gaps in it. I've thought about some custom bespoke plugs but don't fancy the expense if I still don't get on with them.
