Tech: Ear/brain/sound protection

Subject: Tech: Ear/brain/sound protection
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 14 May 20 - 03:09 PM

Some years ago on Mudcat, folks gave good and precise info on ear protection for loud music.I have not found that thread.

Currently, a FB friend in England is having a problem with reno going on in the apt upstairs. Maybe one of you UK folks could provide the info she needs. She is a terrific person,imo, and deserves help in this stressful time.

So, brand, purpose, and how to obtain. Her brain is addled from the constant six day/week noise.

Many thanks!

Subject: RE: Tech: Ear/brain/sound protection
From: leeneia
Date: 14 May 20 - 03:27 PM

I have sensitive ears and use hearing protection a lot. The best kind I have found is the soft, waxy substance that comes in a flat plastic box of little white or clear balls. Mack's is one brand, and I've seen generics. You can probably buy them at any chemists, though a big chain might be safer.

They are good at blocking machine noise yet allow a person to hear speech and music. On long plane flights, I put them over the ear opening, put headphones over them, and listen to music on my portable CD player.

Be sure she reads the directions and understands how to mold them to the outside of her ear opening.

On this page they are the box on the upper left:

https://www.macksearplugs.com/product-category/travel-ear-plugs/

Subject: RE: Tech: Ear/brain/sound protection
From: Mr Red
Date: 15 May 20 - 07:33 AM

It depends when she needs the ear protection. I wear etymotic earplugs at ceilidhs because they do a better job on the frequency spctrum for music. You can't easily sleep in them. For that I have the 3M yellow types, and have a box of 250 to give out at our ceilidhs should there be a complaint.

I also have some older noise cancelling earphones, (one pair is an in-ear jobbie) but the over-ear Bose types would do a far better job if I had some. I waited for wireless ones then the laptop BT failed. So never got round to them. You can find plenty cheap enough (even in red) on E-Bay here

But remind her to be aware of Mortimer's Reflex. It is when you can't hear yourself as well, there is a tendency to shout. Think phone users on the bus!

Subject: RE: Tech: Ear/brain/sound protection
From: Mr Red
Date: 15 May 20 - 07:49 AM

Yea The GF prefers the wax ones. More conformal.

https://www.macksearplugs.com/product-category/travel-ear-plugs/

But I have bought the wax ones from Boots &/or Lloyds &/or Superdrug (all common UK pharmacies). They come as a set of 6/8 blueish/clear blobs in a clear plastic box about 1.5" X 3". On E-Bay

I also bought a pair of QuietOn rechargeable in ear noise cancelling plugs. They were on a KickStarter project. Not really needed them. quieton.com

Subject: RE: Tech: Ear/brain/sound protection
From: leeneia
Date: 15 May 20 - 06:45 PM

Sometimes the sound at a concert gets too loud for me, so I put the Macks plugs over my ear opening but loosen them up a bit around the margins to let the music in without it hurting me.

If I apply the earplugs firmly, I hear the ringing in my ears all too clearly.

Subject: RE: Tech: Ear/brain/sound protection
From: GUEST,.gargpyle
Date: 16 May 20 - 07:31 PM

I have found myself at live concerts without ear-plugs....a trip to the toilet stall can help.

Throw away used commercial plugs, that is why they are packed 100 pair per box. (about $6.00 USD)

Soft cone shaped FEP-03
CE SNR 37 db
Work well, and you can still talk.
Different colors have different db.
Your local contractor supply.

They also have solid foam plugs, that feel like sandpaper.

Sincerely,
Gargoyle

THROW THEM AWAY !

A horrific inner ear, two year, (mastoid bone) fungus infection I trace back to reusing, my own, ear-plugs for up to a week in the middle-east. I never used the same ones for more than a week.

Subject: RE: Tech: Ear/brain/sound protection
From: Tattie Bogle
Date: 16 May 20 - 08:01 PM

What is reno?
If her neighbours are making excessive noise, she should first appeal to them to keep the noise down: if this fails then she could call upon her local Council to come and monitor noise levels and serve an ASBO (Anti-Social Behaviour Order) on the noisy neighbours. (Of course, the availability of such services may be restricted or curtailed under present Covid conditions.) She should not have to be buying ear plugs if the offenders could be made to behave more reasonably.

Subject: RE: Tech: Ear/brain/sound protection
From: Mr Red
Date: 18 May 20 - 04:09 AM

She should not have to be buying ear plugs if the offenders could be made to behave more reasonably. - agreed but:

The problemo is defined by "reasonably" - if they are indifferent to others, the chances are they will put themselves in the role of victim and probably wreak revenge in other ways. Friends used to tell me of their neighbour who was irrationally upset by their acoustic two guitar practice, she made their music impossible. She was basically unfit to live in a semi from what they said of her other antics.

It can be summed-up with the phrase "me generation" and Thatcher didn't invent the term, but she certainly gave it a huge shove.

Subject: RE: Tech: Ear/brain/sound protection
From: Mo the caller
Date: 18 May 20 - 05:57 AM

Maybe it's not the neighbours fault but the cheap construction of the building.

I remember that previous thread, I suspect I started it, but I can't find it either. Had some fun looking though.

Subject: RE: Tech: Ear/brain/sound protection
From: Jack Campin
Date: 18 May 20 - 08:17 AM

The Bose headphones really work but they're not cheap.

My Mad Ex-Girlfriend liked the pink wax ones (Muffles). They usually fell out at some point during the night and looked disturbingly like foetus fingers in the bed.

Subject: RE: Tech: Ear/brain/sound protection
From: leeneia
Date: 18 May 20 - 12:34 PM

The apartment upstairs is being renovated, no doubt with saws, hammers and sanders. There is no way to reduce the volume of those.

There are things that could be done to help Dorothy's Facebook friend, but many of them need to be done by people close to her. Start with the Mack hearing protection.

Play music or run a fan to blur the suddenness of the noises. If work goes on after quarantine, go to the library, the community center, the park, a film. Organize a group of friends and relatives willing to have her over for one afternoon a week. In the morning she can tough it out, and in the evenings work is unlikely.

Can she go to the lobby of her building and read a book?

Finally, it's only an apartment. How long can the work last?

Subject: RE: Tech: Ear/brain/sound protection
From: punkfolkrocker
Date: 18 May 20 - 12:55 PM

My neighbour is constantly rebuilding his home with power tools...
He is young and selfish.
But he also has 3 noisy small children..
So I can take comfort that they make his life a misery 24/7..

I could retaliate with extremely loud band stage amplification,
but I'm the one who would get a visit from the local council noise officials,
and risk having it confiscated...

Subject: RE: Tech: Ear/brain/sound protection
From: leeneia
Date: 20 May 20 - 12:06 AM

Life just isn't fair.