Some lawn mower sounds cause intense discomfort!

Hearing Loss
#1

I’m experiencing a strange phenomenon: my neighbour operates a YardWorks mower that I swear would wake the dead. I find the sound of it physically uncomfortable if I’m outside and wearing both a fully-muted set of HAs with acrylic moulds underneath my old gunner’s ear muffs … Painful is too strong a word. Physically uncomfortable is as close as I can get.

Even when I’m indoors and my HAs are muted, the sound makes me want to scream. I don’t know if it’s the frequency, or what …

However, my downloaded NIOSH sound level meter indicates her mower is only pushing 80dB when I’m inside the house, with doors and windows shut, and she’s mowing 50 yards away. If I recall correctly, that’s only as loud as a noisy restaurant, so it’s not that loud.

My question is this: is there something about my hearing loss that is making me hypersensitive to certain frequencies? (I’m not talking about psychological discomfort here - I’m talking about actual physical discomfort, similar to not being able to equalize your ears after a plane ride.)

I would appreciate any insights…

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#2

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This might help you understand how or why the mower hurts. Knowing the frequency might help program the issue out.

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#3

I totally understand that, so do leaf blowers, and grinders

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#4

Thanks, Rick, but how are we going to program it out if it’s still uncomfortable to me with my aids completely muted?

Thanks for your reply.

#5

I’m sorta glad to know that it’s not just me, Chuck!

Thanks for your reply.

#6

Did you get your UCL levels tested? That’ll help make sure the Aids don’t go too loud for certain frequencies.

#7

I am assuming you use open type domes on your aids.
Is that correct?

#8

Not 100% sure but I think he uses actual ear moulds.

#9

I am not sure but wanted to ask.
For him to mute the aids and still have pain from the loud mower. You see where this is going.

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#10

For me muting my aids help a little but not nearly enough

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#11

My last three sets of ear molds were soft silicone and 1 mm vents. If I muted the aids I couldn’t hear anything…
Using a Grasshopper commercial zero turn mower I could not hear it running. Now I just take my processors off. :kissing_closed_eyes:

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#14

I don’t have pain. I find the sound uncomfortable as when a pressure gradient is not equalized after flying or diving.

I wear acrylic moulds, and the sound penetrates them even if the HAs are muted.

My neighbour’s mower is so loud that the sound level is uncomfortable even if I’m wearing military grade artilleryman’s hearing protection over top of the muted HAs. (Granted, the muffs are designed to attenuate instantaneous concussions, not continuous sounds.)

Of course I always wear hearing protection when mowing.

#15

I’m thinking that perhaps that my tympanic membranes are vibrating sympathetically with the lawn mowers with sufficient amplitude to evacuate some of the air in my middle ear, creating a partial vacuum (similar to when leaving a pressurized cockpit).

Since I am currently suffering from my seasonal allergies, my Eustachian tubes may be inflamed enough to prevent the ingress of air back to the inner ear to equalize the pressure.

What do you think, @Neville, @Um_bongo?

#16

Inflammation and drainage can sure plug things up.
It’s something I deal with regularly.

Diaphragm pump. I can picture this. With drainage and swelling…hmmmmm.

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#17

Do you have battery or rechargeable aids? If you have battery operated does it help to open the battery doors?

If you have rechargeable remove them and use a ear plug for the short time your neighbor is mowing her lawn.

How do you cope when you mow your own lawn? What Db does your mower put out? Just curious.

#18

@Deaf_piper: Please read my original post. Note that my problem occurs even with my HAs turned off (muted) and additional, high-quality artillery muffs are being worn.

My John Deere X300 is quite quiet and my hearing protection is sufficient. Note that my original post refers to some, not all lawn mower sounds.

[it takes my neighbor 2 hours to mow her acre. My 2 take longer, although I don’t cut all of it, so we’re not talking a “short time”…]

#19

@SpudGunner my apologies, this is a world wide forum, different countries different words mean different things. So please be patient with people.

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#20

@Deaf_piper I’m very patient, however your initial post did not address the facts I originally posted. Nothing to do with different countries, I don’t think.

Besides, I think the problem is actually a mechanical one having to do with my middle ear and which @Raudrive (Rick) calls a “diaphragm pump”.

I intend to take an antihistamine the next time I see my neighbour getting ready to mow. I don’t believe my issue has anything to do with my HAs.

#22

I’m allergic to silicone. As I’ve mentioned, the problem is not with the HAs. The discomfort occurs even with my aids in and earmuffs worn over top of them.

I know what’s going on, and it’s nothing to do with the aids.

  1. My gunner’s muffs are designed to occlude instantaneous, loud sounds. They’re probably not the right type for the continuous operation of machinery.

  2. My neighbour’s machine is so loud that it penetrates the ear muffs and the acrylic moulds and causes my eardrums to vibrate at a low frequency.

  3. This low frequency, high amplitude vibration forces air out of the middle ear, via the eustachian tubes, creating a pressure differential on either side of the eardrum.

  4. I have allergies, so I’m stuffed up, and my Eustachian tubes are swollen so that air cannot get back into the middle ear to equalize the pressure differential, which causes the same discomfort as after a plane trip or scuba diving.

So, this explanation is the simplest one that fully corresponds with my discomfort. It’s not at all due to the performance of my hearing aids.

#23

This article suggests that I’m probably not wearing the right kind of ear muff. I need something for continuous, low frequency, high dB noise, not intermittent loud noises like gunshots.

This supports my hypothesis that enough sound energy is getting through to evacuate the air from my middle ear (diaphragm pump, per @Raudrive, is a good description). The ear will not equalize due to allergic stuffiness.