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Acoustic Insults
It has been a long time since I experienced "airplane ear", but this weekend reminded me that all of us are subject to sudden acoustic insults. I spent the last few days at a conference for the California Academy of Physician Assistants in Palm Springs, where I was invited as a speaker. I am proud to say that I started this organization 33 years ago in my living room; funded by $500 of my own money. The organization now has thousands of members and a $1 million budget. This literally blows my mind.
Once you have been in this profession over 25 years, you earn the title of a "Dino", short for dinosaur, of course. I have been a Dino for many years now, so a Co-Dino and I were asked to speak to a group of students. Both of us were PAs before they were born, so it really made us feel very old. Every year, we see fewer Dinos and more of the younger clinicians. This is excellent since the youth of an organization and profession are the leaders of tomorrow. Long after I am gone, this organization will continue to flourish with this new transfusion of fresh blood.
One of the entertainment venues at the conference was a PA Idol competition and dance. When I saw those refrigerator-sized speakers being put up, I made sure that I found a place far away. When the music started, the volume was unbelievable. I put tissue in my ear, but no sooner that I did this act of protection, people started to talk to me. All that I saw was mouths moving. I would usually give an affirmative nod. If they seemed pleased, the nod was appropriate. If they looked shocked, I would shake my head "No". When you think about it, I had a fifty percent chance of responding correctly, even though I had no idea what they were saying.
The bass notes made my head roar and body shake. I had to get out there. Walking outside, I was finally able to achieve some silence. As I expected, this brief acoustic insult exacerbated my tinnitus. My ringing had doubled in volume. I also had a little vertigo. Needless to say, I did not stay and watch the completion. This increased tinnitus continues, but if I stay busy, it does not interfere with my daily life.
On the flight home, I experienced barotitis - ear pain associated with atmospheric pressure change; also called "airplane ears". Periodically, my ears would clog from leaving home (2500 feet) to working in the valley (300 feet), but they would usually equalize after an hour.
This was not a typical flight: faster take-off and rise to cruising altitude, and a faster landing. I suspect all of this was done to make-up time. Our flight was delayed about 25 minutes for some reason. About fifteen minutes into the flight, my left ear felt like it was going to explode. All of my self-equalization techniques failed. My left ear was nearly deaf at this point, with my tinnitus interfering with any remaining hearing. Fortunately, this was only a one hour flight so my ear pain improved, along with my hearing as soon as we descended to a few thousand feet. When I arrived home, I used an electronic device called an EarPopper to further help equalize the middle ear pressure. It seemed to really help.
The last time that I had a barometric-related incident was about twelve years ago while landing in Detroit. For some unknown reason, the plane suddenly descended (I would sure like to know why). The drop was so rapid, I thought we were crashing. I was sitting in the worst seat of the plane - two seats in the back, under the engine, near the stinky bathroom, and with no window. I was sitting with an elderly woman, perhaps in her eighties. She must have noticed the blood draining from my face and obvious fear. I was clutching my painful ear (other people were doing this, too) with one hand, and the other sweaty hand was clutching the arm of the seat. She started to gently stroke my arm.
"Don't worry, Honey. You will be fine."
Of course, we landed safely, but it took four days to be able to hear normally again; my left ear ruptured from this incident.
After my experience this weekend, my left ear is acting up again with loud tinnitus and diminished hearing. That brief acoustic insult from the loud music, coupled by this barometric incident has taken a toll on my aging ears. Hopefully, things will quiet down in a few more days.
Acoustic incidents can happen so fast; so unexpected, that we often have little opportunity to extricate ourselves. I quickly left the blaring music, but I had no way of escape from the plane. The human body has a remarkable ability to recover from these events, so I will be happy when my pre-existing tinnitus goes back to its normal, constant whine and squeal.
Related Topics:
Once you have been in this profession over 25 years, you earn the title of a "Dino", short for dinosaur, of course. I have been a Dino for many years now, so a Co-Dino and I were asked to speak to a group of students. Both of us were PAs before they were born, so it really made us feel very old. Every year, we see fewer Dinos and more of the younger clinicians. This is excellent since the youth of an organization and profession are the leaders of tomorrow. Long after I am gone, this organization will continue to flourish with this new transfusion of fresh blood.
One of the entertainment venues at the conference was a PA Idol competition and dance. When I saw those refrigerator-sized speakers being put up, I made sure that I found a place far away. When the music started, the volume was unbelievable. I put tissue in my ear, but no sooner that I did this act of protection, people started to talk to me. All that I saw was mouths moving. I would usually give an affirmative nod. If they seemed pleased, the nod was appropriate. If they looked shocked, I would shake my head "No". When you think about it, I had a fifty percent chance of responding correctly, even though I had no idea what they were saying.
The bass notes made my head roar and body shake. I had to get out there. Walking outside, I was finally able to achieve some silence. As I expected, this brief acoustic insult exacerbated my tinnitus. My ringing had doubled in volume. I also had a little vertigo. Needless to say, I did not stay and watch the completion. This increased tinnitus continues, but if I stay busy, it does not interfere with my daily life.
On the flight home, I experienced barotitis - ear pain associated with atmospheric pressure change; also called "airplane ears". Periodically, my ears would clog from leaving home (2500 feet) to working in the valley (300 feet), but they would usually equalize after an hour.
This was not a typical flight: faster take-off and rise to cruising altitude, and a faster landing. I suspect all of this was done to make-up time. Our flight was delayed about 25 minutes for some reason. About fifteen minutes into the flight, my left ear felt like it was going to explode. All of my self-equalization techniques failed. My left ear was nearly deaf at this point, with my tinnitus interfering with any remaining hearing. Fortunately, this was only a one hour flight so my ear pain improved, along with my hearing as soon as we descended to a few thousand feet. When I arrived home, I used an electronic device called an EarPopper to further help equalize the middle ear pressure. It seemed to really help.
The last time that I had a barometric-related incident was about twelve years ago while landing in Detroit. For some unknown reason, the plane suddenly descended (I would sure like to know why). The drop was so rapid, I thought we were crashing. I was sitting in the worst seat of the plane - two seats in the back, under the engine, near the stinky bathroom, and with no window. I was sitting with an elderly woman, perhaps in her eighties. She must have noticed the blood draining from my face and obvious fear. I was clutching my painful ear (other people were doing this, too) with one hand, and the other sweaty hand was clutching the arm of the seat. She started to gently stroke my arm.
"Don't worry, Honey. You will be fine."
Of course, we landed safely, but it took four days to be able to hear normally again; my left ear ruptured from this incident.
After my experience this weekend, my left ear is acting up again with loud tinnitus and diminished hearing. That brief acoustic insult from the loud music, coupled by this barometric incident has taken a toll on my aging ears. Hopefully, things will quiet down in a few more days.
Acoustic incidents can happen so fast; so unexpected, that we often have little opportunity to extricate ourselves. I quickly left the blaring music, but I had no way of escape from the plane. The human body has a remarkable ability to recover from these events, so I will be happy when my pre-existing tinnitus goes back to its normal, constant whine and squeal.
Related Topics:
5 Comments:
"All Ears" and we get a much needed Ear post.
I can relate to the airplane pain, as I get it every year I travel. It usually lasts about 30 minutes when I can finally relieve the pressure and pain. It is such a relief I never would have expected to be so relieved. (too many relieves). My father also suffers from this, and it can escalate into a terrible tooth-ache for him.
As for the music goes, I participate in SPL competitions for car audio, and so far 140+ DB of < 45hz hasnt done too much. But im sure ill see that with age.
Bobby, ALL EARS started out to be "all ears", but quickly evolved into a different animal. Now, I sort of Blog about everything. In reality, I am "All Ears" when it comes to comments or suggestions, including a name change for this Board. Any ideas?
You can still wear ear protectors when you do that competition. At those decibel levels, you can cause some very significant damage. You want to hear your grandchildren say "Grandpa" some day, so be very, very careful about your acoustic environment.
Rod, didnt mean to criticize the name, I like all of your posts. Read them all over a 12 hour shift in 911 dispatch because we were slow.
As far as the SPL competitions go, I do my "burps" (full volume single tone note for max SPL) outside of the vehicle with a podium that has the radio in it. However, I do tend to get lazy when I am working on it at home and tend to be in the car when im testing. Its a hard compromise when you trust your senses so much to determine the difference in 2 settings, earplugs just dont give me the sensitivity I need.
But, I heed your advise, and will try to avoid the in-car full volume burps in the future.
As always, keep blogging, its always a fun read.
No, I didn't take it as criticism at all. We ARE bouncing around different names for this Blog. Perhaps, a name change will increase readership and make it easier to find.
Since you are a frequent-reader, I was truly asking for some suggestions on a name. Think about it....
I'm catching up on my reading here. Always enjoy reading your blog.
I have had airplane pain, too. Years ago, I flew from Detroit to San Francisco and somewhere along the way my eardrums 'collapsed'. Plugging my nose and 'blowing' just made the pain and itching worse. Things were almost back to normal when we returned to S.F. after a side trip to Mendicino and they collapsed again. The next day I flew back and was just miserable. A side benefit? was that I could barely hear the screaming baby in front of me. Right after I got home a storm front that lasted several days went through that didn't help at all.
Planning a flight to Florida soon and hope not to repeat the experience.
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