The Ryno Pen

The subject has been known to me for quite some time, but this post was prompted by a visit to one of Herself’s health professionals.

We often visit doctors and so forth together: I apparently tend to downplay symptoms (or so I’m told), while the Good Lady sometimes forgets to mention a detail here or there. Whatever: the waiting-room magazines are usually not worth reading, so I was in the office with her.

Ms Usual-Person was on holiday, so Ms Filling-In was taking her place.

Now for all my faceblind, autistic, total lack of body-language skills, I felt very inclined to ask Ms Filling-In if she was keen on dancing or strenuous gym-type exercise.

It wasn’t that I noticed anything exceptional in terms of build or musculature. My clue was that this young woman SPOKE IN BOLD CAPITALS.

All the bloody time.

I was a tad naughty, and I _{dropped my voice level} a bit.

Yup, suspicion confirmed. It’s hard to lip-read me, what with the whiskers and all.

Like so many of the personal stereo generation, poor Filling is losing her hearing way too early.

I won’t go into my own little horror story, “Mister Fuckwit Learns How NOT To Use Oxy-Welding Gear“, apart from saying I was very fortunate indeed to grow my eardrums back. Nasty business it was, and I still audiogram within the normal range for my age.

A point that seems to escape notice is this frightening truth: noise damage above a certain level is permanent. Yep, no recovery. Worse yet, that level is low.

^{Table borrowed from (USA) National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders.}

Here’s a few decibel levels I dug up, as an indicator:

Weakest sound heard     0dB
Whisper Quiet Library     30dB
Normal conversation (3-5′)     60-70dB
Telephone dial tone     80dB
City Traffic (inside car)     85dB
Train whistle at 500′, Truck Traffic     90dB
Subway train at 200′     95dB
Level at which sustained exposure may result in hearing loss     90 - 95dB
Power mower at 3′     107dB
Snowmobile, Motorcycle     100dB
Power saw at 3′     110dB
Sandblasting, Loud Rock Concert     115dB
Pain begins     125dB
Pneumatic riveter at 4′     125dB
Loudest recommended exposure even WITH hearing protection     140dB
Jet engine at 100′, Gun Blast     140dB
Death of hearing tissue     180dB
Loudest sound possible     194dB

OSHA Daily Permissible Noise Level Exposure
Hours per day     -          Sound level
8                                    90dB
6                                    92dB
4                                    95dB
3                                    97dB
2                                   100dB
1.5                                102dB
1                                   105dB
.5                                  110dB
.25 or less                    115dB

Let’s not forget, the energy pumped out by those earbuds has nowhere else to go but up the ear canal…

I’ll go away quietly now…